Poor Internet and Soaring Costs: Why Isn’t Afghanistan’s Digital Lifeline Improving?

More than four years after the Taliban’s return to power, Afghanistan’s digital infrastructure remains in a state of chronic dysfunction. While the government imposes increasing restrictions on online content and social media platforms, ordinary citizens are grappling with a more immediate and pervasive problem: abysmal internet quality paired with skyrocketing costs. Across the country, users report that connection speeds have plummeted, prices have surged, and the basic promise of affordable, reliable connectivity remains unfulfilled.

For many Afghans, the internet is no longer a convenience but a necessity vital for education, remote work, news access, and staying connected to the outside world. Yet as the economic crisis deepens, even basic data packages are becoming a luxury, and the service delivered for that price is often unusable.

A Double Burden: High Prices, Poor Performance

Social media platforms in Afghanistan have been flooded with complaints in recent weeks, as users express frustration over rising tariffs and declining service quality. Many point out that telecom companies have raised package prices without any corresponding upgrade to network capacity or reliability. This has had a tangible impact on daily life, particularly for students enrolled in online courses and entrepreneurs running small e-commerce ventures.

Maryam, a Kabul-based university student, described her daily struggle to stay connected. “I am not satisfied with either the quality or the price of internet here. The speed is painfully slow, the connection drops constantly, and it is simply not worth the money we pay. It’s not reliable even for basic tasks, let alone for online learning or accessing academic resources,” she told Media.

Her experience is far from unique. Hamasa, another resident of the capital, has resorted to purchasing five different SIM cards from various providers in a desperate bid to find a stable signal. Yet even this costly workaround has failed. “I bought five SIM cards for myself and my mother from Afghan Wireless, Etisalat, and others—but none work properly,” she explained. “In one room, Afghan Wireless might have a bar of signal, but in the next room, nothing. Etisalat is the same. We are forced to sit in specific corners of the house just to get a weak connection. Sometimes I check other SIMs for promotional offers, but they are often misleading—the prices stay the same while data limits or usage windows shrink further.”

The Human Cost: Delayed News and Lost Opportunities

For professionals who depend on the internet to earn a living, the situation is even more dire. Lima, a journalist working remotely for a media outlet, told reporters that her work has become nearly impossible. “Right now, the internet is so weak and unreliable that during peak hours, opening a single news website can take up to 20 minutes,” she said. “At the same time, packages are prohibitively expensive. We want the authorities to reduce costs and enforce quality standards. Not everyone can afford these high prices, and even those who can are not receiving the service they are paying for.”

The price hikes have been stark. Currently, a 17.5 GB data package costs 999 Afghanis a significant increase from the earlier 25 GB package that was available for the same price just months ago. This represents a sharp reduction in value for already cash-strapped households.

Public Backlash and Official Response

In response to mounting anger, citizens in several provinces have launched a social media campaign under the slogan: “Internet networks are silent.” The protest gained momentum after multiple telecom operators announced sudden price increases without prior notice or justification. The backlash was swift and widespread, prompting a rare intervention from the Taliban’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology.

Enayatullah Alokozai, the ministry’s spokesperson, announced that officials had held emergency meetings with telecom companies and issued a 48-hour ultimatum to roll back prices to previous levels. However, many Afghans remain unimpressed. Critics point out that even the previous prices were unaffordable for most, and that the underlying quality of service has never been adequately addressed. Users also allege that telecom providers frequently deduct credit unexpectedly through opaque “offers” and automatic package renewals, adding another layer of financial uncertainty.

Among the major providers, only Afghan Telecom which operates under the Taliban administration has publicly stated on its Facebook page that it has not increased its internet or telecom tariffs. This claim, however, has not been independently verified.

Afghanistan’s Fragile Digital Backbone

One of the key reasons for the poor service is Afghanistan’s near-total dependence on its neighbors for international connectivity. According to data from the Ministry of Communications and the Afghanistan Telecom Regulatory Authority (ATRA), the country’s internet traffic enters via fiber-optic lines from Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Pakistan, and Iran. This reliance on foreign transit routes makes bandwidth expensive and vulnerable to geopolitical tensions, regional outages, and currency fluctuations.

Domestically, Afghanistan’s fiber-optic network has now expanded to roughly 9,350 kilometers, forming the backbone of the country’s telecommunications infrastructure. While this represents progress on paper, experts say the network remains underdeveloped, poorly maintained, and insufficient to meet the growing demands of a young, digitally native population. In addition, frequent power outages, security challenges, and a lack of investment in 4G and 5G infrastructure further undermine service delivery.

A Broader Crisis of Connectivity

The internet crisis in Afghanistan is not merely a technical issue it is a reflection of the country’s broader economic collapse and institutional paralysis. With foreign aid frozen, international sanctions in place, and the banking system in disarray, private telecom companies have little incentive or capacity to upgrade their networks. Meanwhile, the Taliban administration, which has prioritized censorship and surveillance over service expansion, has shown little interest in fostering a competitive, transparent telecom market.

For now, Afghans are left to navigate a broken system paying more for less, hoping for change that seems increasingly distant. As Lima put it: “We are not asking for miracles. We just want to be able to work, learn, and connect without being punished for it.”

Until meaningful reforms are introduced both in pricing policy and infrastructure investment the digital divide in Afghanistan will only widen, leaving millions disconnected from the opportunities and information they desperately need.

Our Pashto-Dari Website

  Donate Here