In a meeting, the telecom industry proposed an annual increase of 7% in foreign direct investment and the remaining 8% in local investment with Prime Minister Muhammad Jehanzab Khan’s special assistant.
Reports claim that a delegation made up of top heads of Pakistan’s telecom operators recently met Khan to tell him about problems in the sector. Then the special assistant asked the telecom operators to provide appropriate KPIs that can help the industry grow. In the KPIs, the delegation proposed an increase in the sector’s total revenues of 17.5% year-on-year. In addition, they also proposed to decide on all new license applications within 120 days.
The other suggestions put forward at the meeting included:
- respond to all official letters written by licensees within seven days of any deficiencies in paperwork
- completion of all formalities in 30 days
- approvals for all new towers/BTS in 15 days
The regulator must respond to property damage and network complaints from licensees within 3 days and contact law enforcement authorities to learn of violations under Section 31 of the Telecom Act. Similarly, the delegation also demanded the granting of seed certificates to new licensees within 15 days, along with a simple mechanism for issuing new licenses to existing licensees.
It was suggested that proper enforcement of the Right of Way (ROW) policy should be ensured. A ROW Dispute Resolution Committee will be required to provide licensees with a one-stop solution to address ROW concerns, ROW cost adequacy, and resolution of ROW disputes. The response must be provided within 7 days of the permit holder’s request and the concerned ROW authorities must be contacted to resolve the matter with the competent authority.
The delegation also insisted that the PTA chair/members should ensure coordination with planning and construction supervision authorities to implement relevant changes in construction laws for the availability of fiber paths/routes, while housing associations and apartments are being developed, just as as all other utilities such as electricity and gas services.
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