December 26, 2007

Telecom Sector Makes Decisive Contribution Towards Economy: Minister

minister IT attending meeting at pta headquarters

 

Islamabad: While appreciating the recent growth shown by telecom sector of Pakistan, the caretaker Federal Minister for Information Technology & Telecom Dr. Abdullah Riar has said that telecom sector of Pakistan has made decisive contribution towards the national economy. He said that challenges faced by the telecom sector are being addressed in an appropriate manner. He appreciated the role of Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) in the uplift of telecom sector and termed PTA as a model institution for other government organizations to follow.

He was talking to media during his visit to PTA Headquarters today. Chairman PTA, Major General (Retd) Shahzada Alam Malik briefed the Minister about the functions of PTA, regulatory initiatives & performance of telecom sector.

The Minister said that the broadband revolution is poised to bring positive changes in Pakistan and it would enable the citizens to reap the benefits of this revolution during the next few years. The Minister emphasized that there is a need to supplement the telecom revolution with Broadband revolution, which impacts every field and segment of life, in future. Access to information will not only enhance productivity in every sphere of life but will also contribute towards the overall well being of a common man.

On this occasion Chairman PTA said that the current number of cell phone users have reached 75 million and the usage has increased manifold over the recent years. He said that the over all teledensity of the country is 50.88 percent while the density of mobile phone users is 47.4 percent.

The Chairman briefed about the foreign investment being attracted by the telecom sector and said that during 2006-07 US$ 1.8 billion FDI came into the telecom sector which was 35.6 percent of the total FDI. He also briefed the Minister about challenges faced by the telecom sector and continued efforts of the regulator to address them. The meeting was also attended by the senior officers of PTA.

 

Khurram Ali Mehran

Deputy Director (PR)