Chief Executive Karim Khoja also said the company planned to offer third-generation (3G) services in the war-battered country and the roll-out was expected to start in the next six to 12 months.

“We invest between $50 to $100 million annually and we will invest from retained earnings,” Khoja said in an interview at a telecoms conference in Abu Dhabi.

“We have sufficient cash flow now.”

The telecom company — 51 percent owned by the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development, 36.75 percent by Cable & Wireless Communications and 12.25 percent by Swedish group TeliaSonera — is profitable, he said.

Roshan’s subscriber base in the year ended March 2011 stood at 5 million and it is the top-ranked mobile operator in Afghanistan with a market share of 38 percent, he said. Rivals include UAE operator Etisalat and South Africa’s MTN.

“Our subscribers are growing by an average 150,000 a month and our net active subscribers is expected to grow to 5.5 to 5.75 million by end of this year,” said Khoja.

Roshan also operates in Tajakistan, commanding a 35 percent market share with 1.5 million subscribers, he said. It has also invested in an undersea cable from Egypt to South Africa.

Afghanistan has a population of 30 million but the telephone penetration is only 35 percent.

“There is still a huge potential for us and we are working to increase our market share,” he said.