Pakistan’s telecommunication industry has played a vibrant role in yielding sizable revenue on the state level and has also contributed a lot in sustaining country’s economic stability.
However, the cellular service providers are facing severe challenges as the deadline for the license renewal is advancing forward, luckily the government finally showed some seriousness for the issue of a license renewal policy.
It’s really glad to see that Prime Minister Imran Khan showed some solemnity for this issue. He has formed a committee to access the standards for the license renewal of three major telecom operators in the country. With this renewal, the government is also expecting to generate 1-2 billion USD in revenue.
Well, the growth of the telecom industry has plummeted noticeably in voice category, with the teledensity of 84 % in Pakistan.
The online services and apps are more in function and therefore, their data is mushrooming steadily, but it still covers 30% of the populace.
The usage of data will rise manifold in the forthcoming years and the mobile broadband will be the next progress curve of the telecom sector.
Three telecommunication companies, Warid, CMPak Limited and Telenor Pakistan, approached PTA, for renewal of the license.
The license of Telenor Pakistan and Jazz is due to expire in May 2019, and the operators may face operational issues if they fail to renew the licenses within the due time.
The license of Zong is also due to expire in October 2019.
Warid and CMPak have given consents without any condition; however, Telenor has proposed a few changes in the license renewal process.
The immediate and efficient completion of the renewal process is needed to ensure certainty in the industry. However, it depends on the new framework of the licenses regime by the telecom authority especially after the licenses and spectrum of 3G/ 4G technologies are awarded to various operators.
I, as a regular user of Cellular Technology, urges the government to speed up the process, so we can get an uninterrupted coverage, without any interference and furthermore, this new process will also strengthen the vision of Digital Pakistan.
