PTCL conducted its annual Way Forward Workshop for the senior management held on April 18th to 19th 2010 at Serena hotel Islamabad. The Way Forward exercise is one of the initiatives taken by the Etisalat management to develop teamwork and foster creativity at PTCL.

Commenting on media reports attributed to the Government of Pakistan’s Federal Minister of Privatisation: Senator Waqar Ahmed Khan, The Chairman and Managing Director of Emirates Telecommunication Corporation – Etisalat: Mr Mohammad Omran recalled that Etisalat’s investment in PTCL came in the wake of a welcome invitation and encouragement by the Government of Pakistan to participate in the privatization process, which the Corporation was pleased to accept given the special and brotherly relations between the UAE and Pakistan. He said that in addition to financial valuation and other formal commercial considerations, the governance and strict procurement rules of Etisalat (the Corporation being a listed entity in the UAE, 60% of which is owned by the Federal Government of UAE) required that before approving an acquisition of an asset, its Board of Directors obtained a legal opinion from International and country National external counsel which confirmed in no ambiguous terms that the requisite steps for the sale of that asset had been followed and that the acquisition is legally valid under the laws of the relevant country.

He stressed that as a UAE public corporation and one of the largest listed entities in the country in addition to its status as a leading regional Telecom operator, Etisalat applies the highest standards of transparency in conducting its business operations and International expansion strategy and a mission to add value wherever its reach took it.

Alluding to the above press reports, Mr Omran pointed out that the commercial agreements with the Government of Pakistan call for the transfer of the properties in question to PTCL and not to Etisalat. Mr Omran added that when the properties are transferred to PTCL, the Government of Pakistan, being the 62% shareholder of PTCL, will be the single largest beneficiary.

Referring to the withholding of instalment payments, the Chairman and Managing Director of Etisalat added that under the agreed terms of the transaction, Etisalat is entitled to withhold payments until the property titles were transferred to PTCL. “Our aim is to ensure that PTCL receives clean title to and possession of all properties,” said Mr. Omran. He added, “We are confident that when the Privatisation Commission fulfils this obligation, Etisalat will immediately release the instalments.”

Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) have raided illegal gateway exchange in F-10, Islamabad installed in a Flat and arrested four persons. This raid was conducted based on the information obtained through PTA’s facility which detects illegal telecom traffic. PTA Zonal Office Rawalpindi 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) in collaboration with FIA has busted a gang which was involved in Illegal Call Termination in two different areas of Lahore. The raids were conducted on the basis of the information obtained through PTA facility which detects illegal telecom traffic.

PTA and FIA teams, on receiving information from a service provider, launched crack down against illegal gateway operators in Eden Towers Gulberg and New Garder Town, Lahore. Two persons were arrested and illegal systems were confiscated from both the places. It may be noted that some prominent personalities were also identified among the arrested persons and more arrests are expected in near future.

Chairman PTA, Dr. Mohammed Yaseen appreciated the efforts of PTA and FIA teams. The Chairman directed PTA Zonal Offices to further expedite joint raids against such illegal activities so that losses to the national exchequer being caused by illegal telecom business can be prevented.

Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) has formulated two sets of Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) to improve and monitor the Quality of Service (QoS) of “Fixed Broadband” and “GPRS/EDGE” networks.

The objective of introducing these KPIs is to create transparency and set monitor-able standards in fixed broadband and GPRS/EDGE services hence ensuring consumers’ satisfaction. Extensive consultations with the relevant operators and stakeholders were carried out for the development of these QoS parameters. The KPIs were finalized after discussing the varying views in detail with all concerned bodies which were incorporated in the final version. The document has also been made available on PTA’s website (www.pta.gov.pk).

The KPIs have been developed through keeping in view their Applicability, Possibility of End-to-End testing (non-intrusive for network under test), Ease of measurement, Ease of understanding for a field testing person, similar treatment of rural and urban regions in terms of service offerings and a push for future improvement in wireless broadband networking. The KPIs’ suite envelops parameters like Network Availability, Service availability, link speed, retainability, bandwidth, contention ratio, round trip time, tariff comparison, customer service complaints, billing complaints and service provisioning complaints, as appropriate.

It may be mentioned that GPRS (General Packet Radio service) and EDGE (Enhanced Data rate for GSM Evolution) are GSM wireless packet data transfer standards commonly referred to as 2.5G and 2.75G respectively. Using these networks; services like internet connectivity, Push-based email solutions with attachment facility, Pull-based services, instant Messenger etc are being offered to help in accessing personal or official information while roaming locally or globally. Better GPRS/EDGE networks are also necessary for introduction of more innovative Value Added Services (VAS) in future.

PTA has been striving to serve the telecom and ICT sector of Pakistan for its growth and development through different initiatives. Introduction of KPI’s for Broadband Services is an effort to achieve PTA’s vision of “Protecting Consumer Interest and ensuring high Quality ICT services”.

Following the directive of Cabinet Division, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) carried out a successful and well coordinated exit drill of its employees today at PTA, Headquarters. It was done in coordination/consultation with District Administration and other related departments.

Instructions regarding safe escape routes and other measures to be taken at the time of drill were already communicated to the occupants of the building i.e. PTA employees. Alarms were fixed at all the floors and were made functional to carry out the drill. All the staff/officers present in the building were evacuated safely and fire fighting exercise was carried out after the complete evacuation of the premises.

Chairman PTA, Dr. Mohammed Yaseen supervised the whole practice and showed his satisfaction on the arrangements made by the concerned officials.

It maybe noted that in view of prevailing law and order situation of the country, the Cabinet Division had issued a notification to all Regulatory Authorities, including PTA, to carryout such rehearsals so that in case of any emergency safe evacuation of employees may be ensured by following foolproof strategy.

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) 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

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.