Roshan Named Best in Customer Service by Asia Communication Awards

KABUL, Afghanistan, June 21, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Roshan, Afghanistan's leading total communications provider, today announced it has been awarded the Asia Communication Award (ACA) for Best Customer Service Initiatives. Roshan's ISO-9001 customer service team beat out six other finalists for the title. The award was announced Tuesday at Total Telecom's second annual ACA ceremony, held in Singapore.

The award recognizes Roshan's role in pioneering customer service in Afghanistan and establishing itself as an emerging markets benchmark in customer care. Roshan became the first company in Afghanistan to receive ISO Certification for its customer care team in September 2011. The ISO-9001:2008 certification is the highest quality management recognized by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

"For an Afghan company to be recognized for its high quality customer service represents a historic achievement, not only for Roshan, but for all customers in Afghanistan," said Karim Khoja, Roshan's chief executive officer. "When Roshan began operations in 2003, the concept of customer care was virtually unknown in Afghanistan. Our strategy was quite simple – to treat Afghans with respect and provide them with the best possible service on the highest quality network..."

Roshan pioneered the first state-of-the-art call centre in Afghanistan and currently operates the largest purpose-built call center in the country to serve Roshan's more than six million active subscribers. The call center has more than 160 Customer Care seats and handles more than 230,000 calls weekly.

The state-of-the art call center in Kabul is fully automated with a multi-lingual Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system supporting calls in Dari, Pashto and English. Roshan's customer care representatives, nearly a quarter of whom are women, are highly trained professionals able to assist customers with service education, activations, trouble shooting and inquiry resolution. The call center also provides customer care support and facilities to a number of leading Afghan companies and international organizations.

Roshan invests more than $1,500 per employee each year in training and skills development for its Afghan workforce comprising more than 1,200 employees. 

According to Khoja, "The quality of our service is contingent on Roshan's continued investment in employees. The work being done every day in our call center, our retail locations and throughout the communities we serve, underpins the quality, reliability and value Roshan strives to provide in all of our products and services."

The company's latest Nationwide Customer Care Survey showed that 98 percent of Roshan customers see the company as a high quality provider.

About Roshan

Roshan (Telecom Development Company Afghanistan Ltd) is Afghanistan's leading total communications provider with over 6 million active subscribers and a network that covers over 230 cities and towns in all of the country's 34 provinces.

Roshan is a true Afghanistan success story, serving as a catalyst for economic growth and actively contributing to the country's long-term development. Since its inception eight years ago, Roshan has invested over $500 million in Afghanistan and is the country's single largest investor and taxpayer, contributing approximately 5% of the Afghan government's overall domestic revenue. Roshan directly employs more than 1,200 people, 20% of whom are women, and provides indirect employment to more than 30,000 people.

Roshan is deeply committed to Afghanistan's reconstruction and development. The Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED), part of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), is a major shareholder of Roshan and promotes private initiatives and building economically sound enterprises in the developing world. Also owned in part by Monaco Telecom International (MTI) and TeliaSonera, Roshan brings international expertise to the country and is committed to the highest standards of network quality and coverage for the people of Afghanistan.

Media Contact

Elizabeth Z. McElroy
Director, Marketing Communications and Public Relations Roshan
Office: +93-(0)-79-997-5477
Email: elizabeth.mcelroy@roshan.af 
Web: www.roshan.af

Maggie Edinger
Account Executive, Corporate
Hill+Knowlton Strategies
Office: +1-212-885-0370
Email: maggie.edinger@hkstrategies.com 
Web: www.hkstrategies.com