The government is serious about conducting spectrum auction. However, one cannot say the same about its interest in overall telecom sector development. How is that so? Well, lets take a look at what has transpired since the government took over.
On the administration side, the Ministry of IT and Telecom is being run by a minister of state, and not a Federal Minister. The Universal Service Fund (USF) Company--which undertakes telecom infrastructure development with the telecom operators pooled money--is operating without financial autonomy. The government control of over Rs60 billion of USF money is said to be affecting the companys operations.
The ICT and R&D Fund--another telecom development fund that focuses on research, human resource development and the software side--has been running without a permanent CEO. Similarly, Pakistan Software Export Board also remains headless. The advertisements for these positions are out, and one hopes the appointment delay would end soon.
The government, however, didn wait long to appoint the PTA Chairman. Mind you, that was also done seemingly under duress of a September Supreme Court order. In any case, spectrum auction won be possible without a permanent chair at the PTA.
Things demand action on the policy side, too. Mobile broadband is coming to Pakistan after the spectrum auction but there is no roadmap on how the authorities want to make maximum use of this connectivity in areas like education, healthcare and governance. Previous telecom policies issued in the 2000s stand expired, needing a forward-looking renewal. Work is reportedly underway but progress is slow.
The PML-N had made a host of ICT promises in its 2013 election manifesto. Yet there are no reports that suggest a new ICT framework is coming any time soon. The software industry is also waiting for any export-oriented policy guidelines and incentives. The promised e-government portals at Federal and provincial levels are not in place yet.
Of course, its a bit early for any progress to show. The government has been in office for just over ten months. But the work in progress signs are missing vis-à-vis telecom sector development. Appointing the right people on the vacant posts is just the first step in a long process. Then the policy development work in consultation with the provinces has to follow.
One understands that conducting the delayed spectrum auction is top priority of the relevant authorities. That will be a great achievement (no pun intended). But that business is scheduled to conclude by the end of this month. After that, lets hope the policymakers invest time and resources in putting the right people and policies in place for the sectors development and its role in socioeconomic progress.
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