DHAKA: Afghanistan started using its first ever satellite on Saturday in a bid to boost its national broadcasting and telecommunications infrastructure as well as its international connectivity.

Afghanistan’s telecommunications sector and a growing digital media industry are among the Afghan government’s biggest achievements since the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001.

The new satellite, Afghansat 1, will support a wide range of services including broadcasting, mobile telephony and IP connectivity, officials said.

‘We can say it is a historical move, because for the first time Afghanistan is renting a satellite,’ Amirzai Sangin, minister of Information Technology and Telecommunication said in Kabul as Afghanistan started to use the satellite, reports The Straits Times.

BDST: 1839 HRS, MAY 10, 2014