KABUL, March 23 (Xinhua) -- The government of Afghanistan on Sunday announced to put on sale the only state-owned telephone company "Afghan Telecom".

    "Ministry for Communication and IT (MCIT) is seeking an investor to purchase 80 percent of Afghan Telecom and the government will retain 20 percent of ensure Afghan interests," Amirzai Sangin, Minister for Communication and IT told newsmen at a press conference.

    Established four years ago the company's capital has reached 190 million U.S. dollars.

    The company with using the latest CDMA coverage in all Afghanistan's 34 provinces has connected the far-flanged areas to the capital city Kabul, the minister said, adding that those companies or individuals interested in purchasing the Afghan Telecom can offer their proposals early next month.

    Any company with having more than 400,000 customers, strong financial resources and experience in the field of mobile phone can contest the bid to purchase Afghan Telecom, the minister said.

    Afghanistan had made tremendous achievement in the field of commutation as in addition to Afghan Telecom four more mobile phone firms have invested more than 1 billion U.S. dollars over the past five years.

    According to officials, more than 5 million Afghans are cellular phones today in the war-torn country.