LAHORE: Chairman Pakistan Telecommunica-tion Authority Major General (r) Amir Azeem Bajwa has said online working has been increased due to COVID-19 and 70 percent rise in data usage has been witnessed.

He was speaking at a meeting at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry (LCCI) on Monday. He said 2 to 2.50 million new subscribers are coming in the system. He said operators have been directed to improve quality of services.

He said mobile assembling has been started in Pakistan. “Last year 2.4 million handsets were assembled in Pakistan while during last two months, 1.5 million sets have been assembled. This shows the rapid growth of this sector. Soon 50 percent parts of handsets would be manufactured in the country.”

He said the PTA is committed to resolving the issues of business community in the shortest possible time. Mobile service providers have already been directed to improve their services. The Chairman PTA said that signal quality issue is being faced at the congested areas, narrow streets and basements.

LCCI President Mian Tariq Misbah said that the use of mobile phones has increased tremendously in Pakistan as the number of cellular subscribers has touched 180 million while the number of 3G/4G subscribers has reached 95 million. Lahore, being a large city with population of more than 11 million, holds a considerable share in the usage of mobile phones.

“Furthermore, the ‘mobile banking’ has emerged as another important and useful tool in last few years. The networks available to the businessmen like UBL Omni, Easypaisa, Jazz Cash, Upaisa and Paymaz Zong etc have also brought great ease in making quick payments to remote clients across the country,” he added.

He said during the meetings with the top management of mobile companies, the LCCI tried to convince them that they need to increase the number of towers in proportion to the added number of mobile users for boosting the signal strength.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021