How would you describe Pakistan’s telecom industry from an Authority perspective?
Dr. Muhammad Yaseen: Before I say something about telecom industry with reference to Pakistan, I think we have to look at the global perspective. Globally, in the last year or so, liquidity was not that much great and similar situation was in Pakistan. We had some economic issues etc. 2007- 2008 was difficult but in 2009 we started getting out of it. We had good progress in 2009.
We were in negative growth in 2008 and first half of 2009 but from 2nd half of 2009 we have seen positive growth which is really encouraging. So 2009 was really a turning point for us. This year we expect to improve. If we have some good situation of security, I am quite confident that we will see tremendous growth in broadband.
We are seeing 8 to 9 percent per month growth in broadband; even some operators are getting 11 to 12 percent growth per month.
What are the major issues of PTA?
At regulatory framework one of the challenges was the consumers. We addressed the problem quite nicely in terms of SIM protection issue and the consumer protection issue. We have put up the regulation over there. I see that we are coming out of these challenges.
Don’t you think language is a barrier in terms of learning?
Educational institutes are not fulfilling the real requirement of education. They are not imparting effective knowledge. They are just focusing on rote memorization. But this is going to change now.
One of the applications I heard about someone in Pakistan is checking the multiple choice questions on the Internet. And making all those results is available instantly. So it has changed now, ICT plays a major role in education.
Some people say why you want broadband in rural areas. I say teachers are least willing to go to the villages. Broadband and ICT can play a role in terms of distance learning in villages.
Which regulation is your most favorite regulation?
This is Consumer Protection Regulation; we are proud of our other regulations for example our Interconnect regulations, MNP regulations and many others. Lots of countries came to us to learn regulations, but one of the best is the Consumer Protection regulation.
Do you agree that mobile market is on saturation?
No, I really don’t agree with this; because there are countries where mobile density is more than 100% while we are at about 65%. There is a room; we have taped one level where people have certain buying power. What we need to do is to introduce more reduced entry price to catch more market.
http://www.technologytimes.pk/mag/2011/jan11/supply/striving_for_excellence.php
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