The GSM Association has called upon the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to enforce "July 13th Determination on Limited Mobility" which was viewed as a reasonable middle ground to find a solution to regulatory problems with the sole objective of identifying clearly and permanently demarcated playing fields for both mobile and WLL operators.
Addressing a news conference here on Saturday, vice-president for public policy at the GSM Association, Ricardo Tavares said the GSM Association is confident that Pakistan's outstanding regulatory framework for telecommunications will be sustained.
He said six mobile operators are investing $1.2 billion in Pakistan this year alone, excluding license payments, and the number of mobile subscribers will double to over 19 million by the end of 2005.
"We are committed to Pakistan and confident the regulatory framework that ignited this powerful wave of investments since 2003 has come to endure to the benefit of consumers and the country," he added.
Tavares said he had met PTA chairman three times this year to stress that proper enforcement of regulations on wireless local loop limited mobility operators was a crucial issue to be addressed; otherwise, investors' confidence in Pakistan as an attractive place for continued investment would be eroded.
The senior manager of the GSM Association viewed the July 13 Determination by the PTA on the implementation of limited mobility for WLL as a landmark as far as regulations of WLL networks world-wide were concerned.
"I saw efforts the PTA leadership and staff has made to be fair to all parties and to come up with regulations aimed at creating a predictable and effective competitive environment."
He said the Pakistani government has the clearest policies and most unambiguous regulations on WLL fixed line networks in the world. "Section 4.1.10 of the "Deregulation Policy for the Telecommunication Sector" July 2003 of the ministry of communications and information technology stated "no inter-cell hand-overs and roaming to other networks will be allowed", he claimed.
He further argued the PTA consulted with all interested parties while coming out with detailed regulations on limitation of mobility for WLL. On July 13, 2005, the PTA issued a "Determination" that mandated limitation of mobility to a "home cell", in accordance with the deregulation policy and the subsequent spectrum auction process, he stated.
Tavares highlighted the Determination recognised in section 10 that mobile operators paid $291 million for 15 years licenses, while WLL operators paid $75 million for their licenses when adjusted to a 15-year term because, according to him, mobile operators paid for mobility while WLL operators paid for limited mobility.
The GSM Association official lauded investors, who continue to increase their stakes in the future mobile telecommunications in Pakistan by investing $1.2 billion in the country in 2005 alone to build networks and increase capacity.
Mobilink, Telenor, Warid, Millicom International (Paktel & Pakcom) and Ufone (PTCL) are committed to developing infrastructure in Pakistan, sending out a clear signal to the international investment community that the country holds a tremendous potential. He said these investors' financial strengths and operational capabilities were going to have a positive impact on Pakistan's economy that will go well beyond telecommunications by increasing overall productivity, raising the standards of managerial expertise and human resources development and providing communication tools to other business sectors that need to grow and capitalise on the country's immense potential.
While giving credit to entrepreneurs investing in Pakistan, GSM officials also recognised the important role that the progressive policies of the government of Pakistan has played in unleashing the growth of the telecom sector, which included lowering handset prices and taxation, as the cost of a handset was a major barrier for lower income consumers, who wanted to utilise mobile services.