Summary Telecom Policy 2015, a landmark achievement and a forward looking document.
Dunya News Report (Humaira Sajid)
ISLAMABAD-The CEOs of Telecom companies declared the issuance of the long-awaited Telecom Policy 2015 as a landmark achievement and a forward looking document. The representatives of telecom industries gathered together on Monday in a daylong workshop on “Effective use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) for Improvement in the Lives of Marginalized Sections of Society” organized by Ministry of Information Technology and Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) .
The cellular mobile operators (CMOs) appraised leadership skills of Minister of State for IT Anusha Rahman and said in accordance to the newly established policy Pakistan will re-emerge on international arena. The industry also assured to work in tandem with government to achieve the vision of Accelerated Digitization, envisioned in the policy.
“By and large the new policy is very positive for the industry and we look forward to a level-playing field that will further boost the sector’s growth,” said Omar Manzur, Director Corporate Communication at Mobilink; the largest CMO by subscriber base.
The CEOs of all 5 operators and Chairman PTA, whilst talking on the occasion , congratulated the Minister for being recognized by UN as Global achiever and thanked the government and regulator for its inclusive and consultative approach and leading the sector in accordance with best practices and assured of their cooperation going forward for its implementation.
“With socio-economic development through ICT at its core, this is a graduating step towards strengthening Telecommunications sector in Pakistan,” Telenor Pakistan’s Chief Corporate Affairs and Strategy Officer Aslam Hayat said in a statement.
The workshop on effective usage of ICTs included four sessions on local content development, collaboration with international research partners, competition policy and emerging business models and it was held under the ICT4D UNESCO Chair Professor Tim Unwin.
Professor Tim Unwin, IT Secretary Azmat Ali Ranjha and Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) Chairman Dr Ismail Shah highlighted the issues concerning economic growth and social inequality and also workings of PTA in creating new mobile applications for disabled and handicapped persons.
The IT secretary stated that there has been an exponential growth in different areas over the years including prominent increase in broadband users, implementation of E-office suite at the IT Ministry, 40 per cent growth in IT remittances and nine USF projects in underserved areas have also been launched at a cost of Rs 20 billion.
The Telecommunications Policy 2015 was approved by Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) meeting on December 11, 2015 and directed the IT ministry to have it evaluated by the Law, Justice and Human Rights Division before enforcement.
Subsequently, in a meeting chaired by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, ECC of the cabinet approved the Telecommunication Policy 2015.
The policy formulated by the government amended relevant rules of the PTA and allows provision of Wi-Fi in-building, in-vehicle and external commercial hot. Moreover, it also includes the provision of general authorization for over-the-top services and satellite telecommunications with transition from an open skies policy to a balanced approach.
Primarily the Finance Minister Ishaq Dar had opposed the proposal of establishing a parallel competition framework which also attempts to take action against telecom companies that are involved in monopolistic practices. He said new telecommunication policy does not reflect the structure of tax rationalization framework. However, Secretary of the Ministry of Information Technology provided Dar with explanations and cited Pakistan Telecommunications Reorganization Act 1996 which was amended in 2006 to eradicate his reservations.
