National Database and Registration Authority has advised parents to get their children registered for Children Registration Certificate (CRCs) to avoid any inconvenience when the certificate may be urgently needed.

According to a press release, instructions have been issued to NADRA centers across the country to ensure efficient data entry, speedy registration and timely delivery of the CRC.

The authority has so far issued 6.59 million Children Registration Certificates to applicants who have provided documents with required details.

Of the CRCs holders, 1.3 million have attained the age of 18 and Computerized National Identity Cards have been issued to them.

NADRA’s Deputy Chairman Tariq Malik said that the provincial heads of the authority had been asked to pay surprise visits to the centers to redress public complaints relating to the Children Registration Certificates.

“We have been working even on holidays to ensure that everybody gets CRC or CNIC on time”.NADRA offices, Mr Malik said, worked even on gazette holidays to provide speedy service to citizens.

On the occasion of 27^th International Telecom Management Information Platform (TEMIP) User Group Conference held at Hamburg, Germany PTCL Network Operations Centre (NOC) team has been honored with ‘Special International Recognition Award’ on displaying exemplary expertise acquisition for extensive utilization/ customization of product features in an exceptionally short time span.

As per details, this award has been bestowed upon PTCL, among other 100 companies worldwide having HP NOC platform, for emerging as a source of inspiration for various incumbent and prospective HP customers by gaining maximum performance out of HP’s product portfolio. Another consideration for this award to be given to PTCL has been the outstanding Video “PTCL NOC” produced by PTCL NOC resources, which outlines how PTCL is focusing on its customer satisfaction by deploying in Pakistan State of The Art Service Operation Centers.

PTCL management has proclaimed this achievement would further enhance PTCL commitment towards customer’s satisfaction by continuously improving network availability and superior customer experience. This award has brought PTCL International acclaim branding it as a world class operator.

Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has introduced an online facility for overseas Pakistanis in order to get their SIMs data regularized or to block the extra SIMs/connections issued against their Computerized National Identity Card (CNIC). This automated facility has been made available on the websites of PTA and all cellular mobile operators.

Since the successful launch of “SIM Information System 668” a total of more than 12.6 million mobile subscribers have sought their SIM information through this system, out of which 9.2 million queries were received through SMS whereas 3.4 million queries were received through PTA’s web-link of SIM Information System. An analysis of web queries revealed that around 60% of the total web queries were being made by Pakistani community living abroad. Written requests of overseas Pakistanis are also being received to facilitate them in lodging their complaints and getting extra SIMs removed against their CNICs.

It may be noted that PTA introduced “SIM Information System – 668” in October 2009, which enables the mobile subscribers to know total number of SIMs issued against their respective CNIC numbers with each mobile operator. A web-link of this service is already available on PTA’s website.

Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), in collaboration with Federal investigation Agency (FIA)  has busted three illegal international gateway exchanges in residential areas of Lahore by apprehending number of people involved in illegal activities. Investigations are underway so as to put an end to this menace.

This initiative is a part of the pursuance of PTAâ??s efforts against illegal telecom traffic. PTA detected these setups through the Technical Facility installed to monitor the illegal business of telecom throughout the country. Upon investigation and confirmation, successful raids were conducted by PTA and FIA at Lahore and three operational international exchanges were seized.

Chairman PTA Dr. Mohammed Yaseen said that these illegal operations of grey traffic were causing millions of rupees loss to the national exchequer. He further said that PTA as a regulator is vigilant and shall take all measures to stop this un-lawful activity.

Chairman PTA also warned all unlicensed operators involved in illegal / grey telecom traffic to stop such unlawful activities, otherwise strict action will be initiated against them as per the law.  Furthermore, franchisees which are supporting illegal call termination business by selling the SIMs without proper documentation shall be handed over to FIA, if found involved.

Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) have raided illegal gateway exchange operator in Commercial Area, Defence Phase-IV, Lahore and arrested two persons. More than 50 Tellular devices along with allied accessories have been recovered from the scene. This raid was conducted based on the information obtained through PTA’s facility which detects illegal telecom traffic. PTA Zonal Office Lahore was monitoring the illegal activity before the raid.

It may be noted that PTA has launched a campaign against grey traffickers. PTA monitors the illegal activities on twenty four hours basis and adopts different procedures and processes to apprehend the culprits and to prevent losses to the national exchequer being caused by illegal telecom business.

Chairman PTA, Dr. Mohammed Yaseen appreciated the joint efforts of PTA and FIA teams and warned all those involved in the illegal telecom business to stop their activities otherwise PTA shall take strict action against them as per the law.

Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) is closely working with State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on the draft of “Third Party Mobile Banking Regulations” which will be finalized soon. Once finalized, it will connect all banks of the country with cellular mobile operators for mobile transactions. It was said by Chairman PTA, Dr. Mohammed Yaseen while addressing to a press conference held here today by Nokia Siemens Networks.

Chairman PTA said that the primary objective of this collaboration is to develop a unified regulatory framework to facilitate the customers of telecom and banking sectors both at a time, since mobile banking involves both financial institutes and mobile phone operators.

He said that the telecom sector of Pakistan has shown phenomenal growth in the past few years which has resulted in the expansion of subscriber base and it has also opened up new doors of business opportunities in the telecom sector.

He said that currently Pakistan has overall 63% teledensity while it has great potential for broadband proliferation. Presently there are around 5 lakh broadband subscribers in Pakistan. The broadband subscriber base has grown by 146% in the last fiscal year. He said that it is for the first time that broadband connection charges for 1Mbps connection has dropped below Rs.1000/- providing unusual incentive to new broadband customers.

In response to a question about 3G Services, he said that Ministry of Information Technology and Telecom (MoIT & T) is working on the Policy for 3G licensing. PTA has completed ground work and would initiate the licensing process soon after it receives policy from the MoIT & T.

While commenting on the study named “Connectivity Scorecard 2009” commissioned by Nokia Siemens Networks and written by Professor Waverman, fellow of the London Business School and the consulting group LECG, Dr. Yaseen said that it is always important to have a reference point in order to measure the growth, performance and to enhance the working strategies of any sector.

He emphasized on the need and importance of local content and applications for information and communication sectors of Pakistan. He said that PTA is trying to motivate current telecom market players to focus on this aspect of the telecom sector to take maximum advantage of the given opportunities. He quoted the example of Bangladesh where BBC has recently launched English learning mobile application which is very popular within the masses. He said that Pakistan also needs such applications with local content especially in the fields of Education and Agriculture. He said that Pakistan’s telecom sector was ranked at top levels in different categories in several studies carried out by international telecom organizations.

Mr. Vaqar-ul-Islam, Head of sub-region Gulf and Pakistan for Nokia Siemens Networks and and Mr. Saad Rafique, Country Head Nokia Siemens Pakistan also spoke on the occasion

National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) Technologies Ltd (NTL) and LMK Resources Pakistan Pvt Ltd signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) here on Monday to mutually provide security solutions for corporate and public sector of Pakistan.

In addition to NTL’s capability to design, implement and operate solutions across the country, the solution will comprise of LMKR’s indigenously built software solution `V-Secur’, which is a RFID based customizable application developed specially for local environment using cutting edge technologies integrated with state of the art 3rd party hardware. It will also enable timely and efficient deployment of new technologies, which will be beneficial for the end users.

This will be a key initiative for setting basis of a strategic long-term partnership which will eventually converge into a formal agreement /contract. The partnership will jointly benefit both LMKR and NTL from the collective managerial acumen and consolidated client base.

Telecom sector of Pakistan has shown 20% growth in its revenues by generating Rs.327.8 billion total revenues in fiscal year 2008-09 while the Government collected Rs.112 billion in the form of taxes from the sector. According to the Annual Report for year 2008-09 issued by Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), teledensity of Pakistan stood at 62% showing a growth rate of 5.4% hence sustaining positive growth trends in the sector.

The PTA report further says that in the reported period telecom sector continued to grow positively in terms of subscription, revenues and teledensity. It managed to attract US$ 815 million Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in 2008-09. However, as most of the operators are foreign-based, the pessimistic outlook of global economy compelled the telecom operators to curtail the infrastructure expansion plans, still total investments in the sector stood at US$ 1.7 billion. During the year (i.e.2008-09) the sector contributed a total of Rs. 112 billion to national exchequer in the form of taxes whereas telecom imports also grew by 20% and reached US$ 1.6 billion.

The mobile penetration reached 58.2% and total mobile subscribers reached 94.3 million with more than 90% of the country having access to mobile services. The trend in subscription remained tilted towards prepaid subscription with 98% prepaid subscriptions whereas only 2% subscribers are postpaid. Although the financial strength of mobile segment remained invariable still the cellular revenues grew by 16% and stood at Rs. 212 billion at the end of 2008-09. The mobile investments dropped by 48% and reached US$ 1.2 billion in the reported year. The industry ARPU stands at US$ 2.48 showing a drop of 20% from last year.

Major milestones achieved by PTA for mobile sector include taking up the responsibility to convince the Government of Pakistan to facilitate the sector by brining down the tax rates on telecom industry which resulted in reduction in the rate of GST from 21% to 19.5%, in addition to bringing down the activation tax by 50% while reducing the import duty on mobile handsets by 66% by cutting it down from Rs.750 to Rs.250 in budget 2008-09. Moreover, cleaning of unverified SIMs and SIM activation system (789) now in place is expected to curb the unsocial activities.

During 2008-09, basic services (LL, WLL & LDI) showed a healthy revenue growth rate of 26% contributing Rs. 113 billion to the sector revenue which is around 34% of the total telecom sector revenue, however, with the declining trend fixed line teledensity reaching 2.2% with a total of 3.5 million fixed-line subscribers in the country. Wireless local loop (WLL) has been able to sustain positive growth by winning the trust of customers. The WLL teledensity stands at 1.6% with 2.65 million subscribers across Pakistan. Long Distance & International (LDI) operators have been in quandary for last few years due to high settlement rates and alarmingly high grey/illegal telecom traffic. PTA took notice of the situation and initiated a number of steps in close coordination with LDI stakeholders. As a result, LDI sector experienced exceptional growth, reduction in illegal traffic and improved call rates. Currently, there are 09 companies providing LDI services via 163 Points of Presence (POP’s) all across Pakistan.

Pakistan has been experiencing proliferation of Broadband in the past two years. Broadband subscriber base grew by 146% adding 245,727 subscribers during 2008-09. There are currently 413,809 Broadband subscribers in Pakistan as compared to 168,082 in 2008. As Broadband is still in its infancy in Pakistan, therefore, penetration level is relatively low i.e. 0.26 %. Broadband connection charges for 1Mbps connection dropped below Rs. 1000/- for the first time in history which is an unusual incentive for new broadband customers.

Telecom sector showed growth in areas of Azad Jamu & Kashmir and Northern Areas of Pakistan (AJK & NAs) also as by the end of fiscal year 2008-09, total teledensity of AJK & NAs stands at 39.9% up from 33.1% last year. Cellular industry has been showing a fast-paced growth since its arrival and total subscriber number has reached 1,973,742 by the end of June 2009 while the mobile penetration has reached 33% in just 2 years. Almost 82% population of the AJK & NAs is covered with mobile services. Today more than 270 cities/villages and towns are covered by all six operators in the region. PTA has also completed licensing of WLL services in AJK & NAs and has auctioned spectrum in 3 telecom regions. It is expected that WLL will be a successful service in AJK and NAs due to cheaper rates and easy availability.

With the current global and local political and financial situation, the telecom sector had to face tough challenges in the current year. However, being a Regulator, PTA has worked diligently for the betterment of the sector so that consumers, investors and Government can all be benefited from it. Due to the reforms in the sector carried out by the Government and effective regulatory interventions of PTA signs of recovery can be seen and it is expected that during the ongoing financial year the telecom sector would perform well and stand up to the expectations of all.

Keeping in view the vision of the present government of Pakistan, PTA worked for the betterment of the people of nation at large and for national security. It kept on promoting local businesses, attract foreign investment and increase sector contribution in national exchequer. This year PTA decided to work on following four focus areas namely Consumer Protection, Promoting ICTs, Promoting Competition and Ensuring National Security in addition to routine regulatory activities.

During the year 2008-09 PTA donated Rs. 201 million (20 Crore 10 Lac Rupees) to the “Prime Minister’s Special Fund for the Victims of Terrorism”, established for the welfare and rehabilitation of Internally Displaced Person’s (IDPs). Additionally, PTA in collaboration with mobile operators, through SMS service, contributed Rs. 5.67 million to Prime Minister’s Special Fund for Victims of Terrorism and Chief Minister Punjab’s Special Fund for IDP’s. PTA employees also contributed their one day salary to the relief fund for earthquake victims of Balochistan.

In order to safeguard consumer interest and tackle their grievances, PTA launched a comprehensive complaint handling mechanism on 24th July 2009. Consumer Protection Department at PTA has received and redressed more than 80,000 individual consumer complaints since its establishment. PTA issued Consumer Protection Regulations, Anti-SPAMs Regulations to control the obnoxious & unsolicited calls and Subscribers verification Regulations. In order to encourage dialogue and input from all stakeholders, PTA arranged a public forum in Karachi on 7th August, 2009 and similar events are also in the pipeline for other cities.

The second most important focus area of work for PTA was the promotion of ICT’s in Pakistan where the Authority intended to devise an effective mechanism to introduce emerging information & communication technologies and extensive proliferation of broadband services in Pakistan. In this regard, a number of steps have been taken during the year including the establishment of regulatory platform for Government and the stakeholder’s interaction to identify core areas and develop guidelines for different ICT issues.

In order to promote competition PTA took number of steps during the reported year including Reviews of Access Promotion Charges, pricing policies of mobile operators, interconnection guidelines, PTCL RIO etc. In addition to this a number of surveys were carried out to check the quality of different telecom services. PTA finalized a revenue sharing agreement between ISP’s and PTCL for providing free Dialup internet services in Pakistan. It issued directives to mobile operators for proper advertisement of Government taxes and services charges on telecom services. The deteriorating security situation in Pakistan pushed the regulator to take some major precautionary steps in order to assist Government of Pakistan in curbing the unsocial activities and security threats. In this regard a number of steps were taken including blocking of unregistered SIM, measures against elimination of gray traffic, preparing comprehensive plan for disaster management, monitoring and reconciliation of international telephony traffic and putting up system for activation of new SIM after verification. In addition to this PTA carried out research work in different areas as a result of which several consultation papers were floated in the industry to get feedback.

Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has directed all cellular mobile operators of Pakistan to ensure quality of their services during Eid and other such occasions and inform their subscribers adequately about withdrawal of any packages and bundle offers prior to their suspension. PTA issued these directions in a meeting with all mobile operators held at PTA Headquarters.

Operators were asked to ensure inclusion of adequate information in media campaign with regard to validity period of the SMS bundle package offer along with operator’s discretion to withdraw the said offer. It was directed that the operators shall intimate the Authority well in advance whether the SMS bundle package has been withdrawn during the occasions such as Eids/New years etc. Operators shall also ensure provisioning of quality of services to their subscribers during the period of upcoming Eid-ul-Azha.

It may be mentioned that value-added services offered by mobile operators such as SMS are un-regulated services in terms of pricing and validity. Further, the bundled packages are optional services offered by the operators which require consumers to opt-in and agreeing to the terms and conditions offered by the operators. Since SMS bundle packages are not mandatory packages, PTA is only regulating quality of services whereby the operators are required to conform to the quality parameters as per the license terms and conditions.

It was also observed that on the occasion of Eid ul Fitr some of mobile operators had blocked their SMS bundle offer packages without prior notice to the subscribers and the PTA. In this connection, PTA received several complaints from mobile subscribers against those operators who had withdrawn their SMS bundle packages silently. This matter was also highlighted in the media. PTA took strict notice of the situation and wrote to all mobile operators demanding their explanations. Now, PTA arranged this meeting with mobile operators to discuss the same issue before the forthcoming event of Eid and issued necessary instructions so that the practice should not be repeated by the operators.

Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) have agreed to formulate “Third Party Mobile Banking Regulations”. A significant development in this respect incurred today when Chairman PTA Dr. Mohammed Yaseen met Governor SBP Syed Salim Raza at State Bank of Pakistan, Karachi.  Heads of the two regulators discussed the proposed Regulations originally drafted by PTA and announced a “Joint Regulatory Committee” consisting of officials from the State Bank and PTA which will work on the draft regulations, finalizing its suggestions and recommendations within three months timeframe.

The draft of the Regulations addresses the ongoing debate over different models of providing mobile banking services which include ‘Telecom-led model’ and ‘Bank-led model. The proposed “Third Party Mobile Banking Regulations” offer an intermediary model for opting the mobile banking services taking in account the concern and responsibilities of both financial institutes and mobile operators.

During the discussion, Chairman PTA said that the mobile phone communication sector has shown an enormous growth in Pakistan; thus creating striking opportunities for service providers and consumers to utilize mobile networks for carrying out various daily life tasks such as financial transactions. He also highlighted salient features of draft regulations including operators’ obligations, arrangements between operators and financial institutes and Dispute Settlement Mechanism. PTA has been thoroughly working with State Bank on drafting a sound regulatory framework in order to facilitate potential stakeholders interested in introducing true mobile banking services in the country. The primary objective of this collaboration is to develop a unified regulatory framework, since mobile banking engrosses both financial institutes and mobile phone operators.

Governor State Bank appreciated this initiative by PTA and considered it an important development for the banking and telecom sectors of the country. He said that advancements in telecom technologies have positively affected other sectors and innovative products have been introduced. He said that customers of mobile operators and financial institutions will be benefited from Mobile Banking Services and these regulations will ensure their security and satisfaction.

At the end of the meeting during a joint statement, both regulatory heads endorsed the proposed “Third Party Mobile Banking Regulations” and aimed to continue mutual coordination for setting up a fair and non-discriminatory regulatory framework for the mobile banking service providers.

It may be mentioned that Mobile Banking is increasingly being employed by financial institutes in collaboration with mobile operators around the world to generate additional revenues, reduce costs or to increase customer satisfaction, often with very promising results. There is no universal form of m-banking; rather, purposes and structures vary from country to country. The systems offer a variety of financial functions, including micro-payments to merchants, bill-payments to utilities, Person-to-Person (P2P) transfers between individuals, and long-distance remittances. Currently, different institutional and business models deliver these systems.