The country’s postal services have been “partially digitalized” as the offices of the Afghan Post, the national postal organization in Afghanistan, were connected to the fiber optic network through a one-year project, the Communication and Information Technology Minister Shahzad Aryubi said at a ceremony on Thursday.

He said this phase of the project has cost $900,000 and that other phases will also be implemented through which the provincial offices will be connected to the fiber optic network.

“After this, people can track their posts online. They will be given a number through which they can follow their parcels,” Aryubi said.

The Afghan Post Chairman Ahmad Wahid Wais said the new development helps the people to be benefited from many online services by his office, including tracking their deliveries.

“The central post office of the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology and most of its post offices in Kabul have been connected to the fiber optic network and have been upgraded based on postal norms,” he said.

Before this, the postboxes used to have physical locks and keys, but now they give each customer a special card and number through which they can have access to the boxes they are owned and also, they will be informed about the status of their posts through telephonic messages or email, officials explained.

“Previously, post boxes were analog and they were locked and unlocked with a key. The customers were given a key and an ordinary card and the activities were not standard,” said Mohammad Haroon, head of post Boxes Distribution Department.

The payments of the postal services will be done through banks afterward, he added.

“The customers now can transfer the fees of services to the Afghan Post’s bank account and then email us the deposit receipt. Then we will give a special card to customers and they will be entitled a postbox,” said Ahmadullah Hamid, General Manager of Post Box Network Department.

The second phase of development and modernization of the Afghan Post services will develop an application for Afghan Post that can be installed in smartphones and customers will monitor and track their posts from anywhere and also they will offer money transfer services, officials said.

Afghan Post provides universal postal services with over one century of background throughout the country. It provides postal collection and delivery services both domestically and universally through 463 post offices.