The sensational free connection offer from August 14 to 17 made by Ufone, the state-owned cellular company, for Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Peshawar, Faisalabad, Multan, Hyderabad and Quetta met with an unprecedented Independence Day enthusiasm in the marked cities.
Coming in the wake of recent cut in new connection charges, thanks to the government's tax relief, quite understandable should be the massive response that thousands queued up, anxiously awaiting their turn for long hours right from the day one showing little sign of decline in interest.
As for its side effect, a Business Recorder report from Lahore, appearing in its 17 August issue, has pointed to it causing significant increase in the prices of used cellular phone instruments in the provincial metropolis.
According to a survey conducted by this newspaper in Lahore, the prices of used mobile phone sets of different makes started looking up soon after the special Ufone offer, which was seemingly found to be irresistible to a fairly large number of mobile phone enthusiasts whose numbers have kept increasing with increasing competition among the cellular phone service providers.
More to it, the recent induction of new companies through what may be described as liberal licensing policy of the government will be seen to have proved instrumental in expanding the density of cellular phone network.
Needless to point out, increasing availability of cellular phone connection to an increasing number of people, as further boosted lately by introduction of free roaming facility, has contributed in no small way to trading in used mobile phone sets.
All this put together, will leave little to doubt about ensuring increasing affordability from the resulting lowering down of the cost of usage and ownership of phone sets.
Naturally, as such, the spurt in an environment of increasing demand for used sets, has led to increase in their prices.
Little wonder, as the news report under reference has pointed out, the average price of around Rs 1500-2000 at which used Nokia (Model 3310) set was selling shot up to Rs 2200-2500, giving rise to expectations of further increase to Rs 3000 during next few days.
Telephony is a numbers game and in a deregulated regime it is the network density and reach that will matter.
PTCL deserves to be complimented for its initiative and aggression, a trait sorely lacking in most public sector entities, that it has exhibited.
There is little doubt that the other cellular networks would be hard put to respond to this initiative and would be compelled to offer further initiatives, that may be similar or different from the Ufone campaign, to retain and also increase their market share.
All in all, the phenomenal increase in the demand and usage of cellular phones in the country, will remain attributable both to the government's progressive cellular phone policy, on the one hand, and to the positive response of the cellular companies, thereby leading to creation of a healthy competition in the market.
The two new entrants in the field that are likely to commence business later this year would undoubtedly be watching these developments and jockeying for market share with anxiety and caution.
It is expected that they devise appropriate strategies to carve a niche of the market for themselves. It will be recalled that the salient features of the new cellular phone policy framed in January this year, was marked with significantly bold provisions.
For one thing, it did well to extend it the recognition as an industry, thereby, entitling cellular phone companies to all the benefits the industrial units enjoy in respect of taxes, duties and tariffs.
Again, by allowing new companies to operate it brightened the scope of heavier investment flows. One hopes that pursuing the same approach, the government will certainly continue to make a positive contribution to revolutionary growth to cellular phone industry, and that responding to it in the same spirit will continue to bolster it with increasing thrust on competition.
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