[Pakistan] Private investment invited in telecom sector

["Irfan Khan" <khania2@super.net.pk>]

[from Comp-list mailing list]


Private investment invited in telecom sector 

The Nation, Commerce Reporter 5/30/2003 
http://www.nation.com.pk/daily/may-2003/30/business/bn1.asp 


LAHORE - Government should play its due role in accelerated 
deregulation of telecommunication sector in which the country has 
covered a lot of ground in recent years that has also brought relief 
to the consumers as the long distance charges have been considerably 
reduced. Governor Punjab Lt Gen, (Retd) Khalid Maqbool stated this 
while addressing a seminar on telecommunication organised by the 
Pakistan Telecommunication Authority. He hoped that the new 
telecommunication policy would be investor friendly. He said 
Pakistan’s economy is moving up at an accelerated phase. He said the 
society is more consumption oriented than ever before. The additional 
demand for mobile phones and internet would result in high growth, 
which would be a good opportunity for the investors in 
telecommunication, he added. He urged the local investors in this 
sector to take the lead in this regard. He said foreign investors 
would follow them as investment in Pakistan has never been as secure 
and safe as today. Chairman PTA Maj Gen Shahzada Alam Malik said 
there is an urgent need to bridge the digital gap that exist between 
North and South. He said teledensity North America ranges between 40 
to 50 while it is only 11 in Asia. He said the position in Pakistan 
more depressing with teledensity being on 2.7 one of the lowest in 
the world. He said the position would had been worse had the 
government not initiated accelerated development in this field. He 
said PTCL has 4 million fixed line subscriber and 2.2 million people 
now own mobile phones that were rare only five years back. He said 
only 10,000 villages out of 50,000 have connectivity. He said the 
connectivity position is similar in all provinces. He said PTA 
safeguards the interests of all stakeholders in telecommunication 
sector. He said consumers, operators and government are the three 
stakeholders in this sector. Private sector representatives asked the 
government to deregulate the industry in real sense. They said the 
interests of the investors should be fully protected. The denial of 
mobile facility in Karachi for 18 months discouraged investors in 
Pakistani market, they added.