ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has sent letters to different foreign embassies in Pakistan and is seeking appropriate measures for curbing gray trafficking, said PTA Chairman Dr. Muhammad Yaseen on Thursday.
He said, about four to five countries were involved in Gray Trafficking but due to diplomatic compulsion their names could not be disclosed. About the arrest of a US citizen involved in such illegal activities, the chairman avoided to comment on it.
Having a regulatory body, the PTA has stopped some illegal traffic but still some traffic passed on through usage of unauthorised technologies. The PTA, with the cooperation of FIA carried out raids and arrested culprits with confiscation of their equipments. However, later on, some of them got bailed, he regretted.
Dr. Yaseen said Pakistan has emerged as one of the leading markets in telecommunications during the past few years. A rapid growth in telecommunication technologies has further multiplied the development of this sector. This spectacular growth in telecom sector has made an efficient regulatory system of immense importance to cope up with the ever-rising challenges, he added.
The PTA chief said in July to December 2009 about $42.7 million Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in telecom sector came in the country. He stressed on more work on broadband across the country and claimed that more services would be provided to general consumers.
He said high infrastructure base has been established during the last five years and the main target for the regulator is to make optimum utilisation of these facilities. About the performance of PTA, the chairman said it has cleared the entire data with the collaboration of NADRA and in the next phase, consumers with old national identity cards would be replaced with CNIC.
Answering a question, the PTA chairman said the regulator took appropriate measures for improving the services of cellular operations. About 64 show cause notices were issued to mobile operators in 2009 and actions were taken accordingly. “The regulator actively responds to the complaint against any cellular operators company”. ijaz kakakhel
Source: Daily Times
Date:4/23/2010
