Telecoms, internet in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Information Technology Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari Thursday said the government was in the process of legislation aimed at checking “anti-competitive behaviour, facilitate growth and ensure continuity of policies” in the telecom sector.

“We are aggressively working on the data protection act and the e-crime bill alongside several other key initiatives to ensure the telecom sector kept up its growth and achieve new milestones in the coming days,” he said in a keynote address to the two-day 2nd South Asia Mobiles Summit 2005 that started in the capital here.

The minister told delegates from South Asian nations Pakistan’s telecom sector was in the midst of an exponential growth with over 1 million new mobile phone subscribers being added every month. “During the consultancy process with the World Bank ahead of the mobile cellular policy last year, we were told by the World Bank the tele-density in Pakistan would reach 10 per cent in the next five years but by the grace of God we have crossed the mark within one year with out tele density going past 11 per cent,” he added.

He told the delegates that only a couple of years ago a call made from Islamabad to Karachi used to cost around Rs 40 but now the companies were offering such a call facility for less than Rs 4 which reflected on the scale of growth witnessed in the sector in recent years.

He said that while mobile phone was popular within the urban limits, it was gaining a more robust response in the rural areas where its affordability had attracted a large section of the rural population to get connected. “Besides affordable rates, another reason for this fast-paced roll out of telecom services is a growing purchasing power in the countryside,” he added.

Awais Leghari believed that as competition grew in the sector, the prices would come down further while the quality of services and products would go up for its being the major factor for companies to stay competitive in the market. “I foresee Pakistan emerging as an interesting place in the next few years for investors in the area of infrastructure development,” he said.

He said the country did face some problems with regard to international connectivity but that phase was over and the country was set to get connected with a new submarine cable next month. “We are also about to be linked with India through optic fibre while two to three backbone systems other than that of PTCL are also under way,” he said.

He said the government would table in the parliament the proposed universal service fund in the next couple of weeks to make it operational. “This fund for which every telecom operator contributes 1.5 per cent of its revenue, would be up for use for the telecom companies to reach out to far-flung and thinly-populated areas,” he said.

Awais said the government was also considering giving incentives to companies to promote infrastructure sharing. “We are not complacent at the buoyant telecom sector … we are keeping a close watch and would be quick to bring out incentive-based policies without changing the spirit of the existing policies which would stay for their stipulated periods,” he said.

He described PTCL’s privatization as the biggest achievement of the government which had the necessary political will and the heart to complete the privatization process. “With the sector liberalized now, I hope the competition remains healthy and it is sustained to a point where it does not hurt the growth,” he said.

Earlier addressing the inaugural session, member telecom ministry of information technology Nooruddin Baqai said Pakistan had made considerable progress in the telecom sector but there was still enough room for improvement and efforts were afoot to harness the potential of ICTs to achieve betterment of the masses.

Babar A Khan, chief executive of Ufone, also threw light on development leading to what he called a massive expansion of the telecom sector. He said his company alone had added 2.4 million new subscribers since July 2004 with its coverage reaching 180 cities and highway routes.

Rashid Khan of Mobilink said the telecom operators in Pakistan were set to face various challenges including a rapid network roll out, development of associated industries, sourcing capital from the domestic and international market, development of backbone infrastructure and managing growth, including talent management and process standardization.

ISLAMABAD, September 09 (Online): Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has announced that the deregulation process will continue to further stabilize national economy besides establishing the country on modern lines.

He said this while addressing the inauguration ceremony of the highest telecommunication tower in the federal capital on Thursday.

Prime Minister held that various sectors of economy were flourishing due to the deregulation policy being pursued by the government. ” Our telecom sector is fast making headway. Although certain elements were opposed to the privatization of PTCL. But this sector has further developed in the wake of deregulation process. It will lead to boost the business, he underlined.

He went on to say that six mobile companies were operating at present and every company had paid $291 million to Pakistan under the license head.

He maintained that the government was following credible reforms agenda. The number of mobile phone set holders stand at 13 million now in the country. About one Lakh consumers add to the them every month. Pakistan now stands next to China in telecom sector, he indicated. The investors are evincing keen interest to make investment in this field, he added. The phone calls rates have come down considerably following the creation of climate of competitiveness in the country. The consumers are benefiting from it,” he underscored.

Citing to telecommunication tower project he said it is a mega project. If the construction work is carried out with planning, it can save 30 percent energy. More buildings on this fashion will be constructed in federal capital. The prices of land will further escalate in Islamabad in the next fifteen years. Therefore we will construct high rise building to make up for the deficiency of land, he stated.

Prime Minister pointed out that country was facing shortage of technical experts and every sector was complaining about it. Government was taking solid measures to ensure provision of technical experts to this country. Vocational training institutes were being set up in this connection, he told.

He noted that construction work and real state are the key means of employment for the people. Government was using all the available resources to curb the menace of unemployment.

Minister for information technology Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari said that plot was acquired from CDA ten year back for the construction of tele tower. However the process of construction was stalled due to lack of funds, he indicated. With the sincere efforts of the Prime Minister, the construction work on this highest building of Islamabad has started and the tower would be completed within the two and a half year span of time.

Information technology ministry was fully alive to its obligations, he said adding this tower would cater to our needs.

Outlining the salient features of tower he said that the 24-story tele tower Pakistan would be constructed under Pakistan Telecom Employees trust. The offices of IT, Telecom, high tech and PTCL will be set up in this tower, he informed. The tower will have four basements and its standard will match with that of international buildings. 25 companies will build this tower.