Chairman Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) Major General Shahzada Alam Malik (Retd) has appealed to the people not to make target the telecom products, services and installations of any foreign operator as they have no connection with the act of blasphemy.
In a statement issued here on Saturday, the PTA chairman said that it took long through concerted and enormous efforts to bring reputed foreign companies into Pakistani telecom sector so that the consumers get better mobile and other telecom services at competitive rates commensurate with the international standards.
He said, for instance, two new cellular mobile operators, Telenor of Norway and Warid of UAE have won licences for 291 million dollars each for their operations. Subsequently, these and other operators have made investments worth millions of dollars, which have generated ample employment opportunities for local Pakistanis. Telenor alone has brought in FDI of 300 million dollars in 2005 and it is planning to invest around 1 billion dollars during next 5 years.
The chairman emphasised that damaging telecom networks and infrastructure of any foreign mobile company is not in the favour of anyone since the franchises are owned and operated by local Pakistanis. The campaign against any foreign telecom company may reduce foreign investment in future, therefore, resulting in less job and business opportunities for local people, he added.
The chairman further said that every Muslim has profound feelings for Prophet (PBUH) and condemns such blasphemous acts.