ISLAMABAD: Caretaker Federal Minister for Information Technology and Telecom Dr Abdullah Riar on Wednesday lauded the role of Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) in developing the country’s telecom sector and termed it a model institution for other government organisations to follow.

Appreciating the recent growth shown by the telecom sector of Pakistan, he said that the telecom industry has made decisive contribution to the national economy.

Talking to media during his visit to the PTA headquarters, he said that broadband revolution is poised to bring positive changes in the country and would enable the citizens to reap the benefits of this revolution during the next few years.

The minister emphasised that there is a need to supplement the telecom revolution with broadband revolution, which impacts every field and segment of life in future. Access to information will not only enhance productivity in every sphere of life but will also contribute towards the overall wellbeing of a common man.

Earlier, Chairman PTA Maj-Gen (R) Shahzada Alam Malik briefed the minister about the functions of PTA, regulatory initiatives and performance of telecom sector. The chairman said that the foreign investment being attracted by the telecom sector and said that during 2006-07 $1.8 billion FDI came into the telecom sector which was 35.6 per cent of the total FDI.

He said that the current number of cellphone users has reached 75 million and the usage has increased manifold over recent years. He said that the overall teledensity of the country is 50.88 per cent while the density of mobile phone users is 47.4 per cent.
Source: The News
Date:12/27/2007