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Location: Karachi, Pakistan

Thursday, December 15, 2005

September 2004

Telecom Deregulation
A timeline trailing developments shaping Pakistan's access to communication technologies.
by Salman Siddiqui

1987
The Government devises a pre-privatization strategy.Ô Measures to deregulate Telecom &Telegraph are introduced.Ô The private sector is invited to participate in telecommunication services.
1991
The Pakistan Telecommunications Corporation (PTC) substitutes the T&T department under the Pakistan Telecommunications Corporation Act, 1991.
1994
The Pakistan Telecommunications Company Limited (PTCL) replaces PTC under the Pakistan Telecommunications Ordinance with a 25-year renewable license for operations in the sector, and seven years exclusive monopoly to provide basic telephone services. Ô The first DNOPs (Data Network Operators) licenses are issued by the Government of Pakistan.Ô Mobilink GSM starts its operations in the country.
1995
The .pk domain comes into existence.Ô Digicom offers the first commercial Internet Service@Rs100/hr for a 64K link.
1996
The Pakistan Telecom Authority (PTA) is established and approved by the Parliament under the Pakistan Telecommunication (Re-organization) Act, 1996. ISP licenses are issued by PTA. PTCL starts its Internet service.
2001
Ufone GSM, a cellular operator owned by PTCL, launches in January.
2002
In July, President Pervez Musharraf announces a telecom deregulation plan to end PTCL’s monopoly by December.Ô President of the Internet Service Providers Association of Pakistan (ISPAK) alleges that the new draft of the telecom deregulation policy is being finalized by MoST in haste, without consultation with key stakeholders of the telecom industry.Ô As per the Telecommunication (Re-Organization) Act of 1996, the deadline to end PTCL’s monopoly over basic telephony services expires after the specified period of seven years. Being a signatory of WTO, the Government, although obliged to deregulate the telecommunication sector of Pakistan by this date, fails to do so.
2003
In April, ISPAK urges the government to formulate a policy regarding the deregulation of the telecom sector soon.Ô In July, the Government unveils its telecom policy fixing a US$500,000 entrance fee plus a performance guarantee of US$10 million for long-distance and international (LDI) telecom license and a US$10,000 fee for local loop (LL) fixed line telecom license.Ô At a symposium in August, the stakeholders in the telecommunications sector accuse the PTA of trying to protect the PTCL in the deregulation policy.Ô A month later, the government organizes a conference to consult major stakeholders for minor adjustments in the telecom deregulation policy.Ô During the course of his presentation to the President and the Prime Minister, the then PTA chairman claims that a US$5 to US$7 billion investment in the telecom sector is imminent within the next five years.
2004
The Cabinet formally approves the Telecom Deregulation Policy in January.Ô May sees the PTA receive 95 applications, out of which 72 are for the grant of LL licenses and 23 for LDI licenses. The last date for submission of applications for LL and LDI with the fee is extended till June 2.Ô At a transparent auction in July, PTA scraps four telecom companies from the list of potential investors, and approves the names of 19 other companies for the grant of LDI licenses.Ô PTA grants the first LDI license to a Pakistani firm, Callmate Telips Telecommunication Ltd.Ô In August, the auction results of the Wireless Local Loop (WLL) spectrum are announced at the PTA website.

Sources: Dawn.com, PTA (www.pta.gov.pk), the SPIDER archives and Google.com

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