June 18, 2007

Bangladesh Seeks Pakistani Support to Carry On Reforms In Its Telecom Sector

group photo of BTRC delegation

 

Islamabad: Bangladesh has sought Pakistani cooperation to introduce reforms in the telecommunication sector of their country, while lauding the telecom policies of Pakistan, their effective implementation and the exponential growth shown by the sector during recent years.

The appreciation for Pakistan telecom sector was expressed by the visiting delegation of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) headed by its Chairman Maj. Gen. (Retd) Manzurul Alam today in a meeting at Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) Headquarters.

BTRC delegation, consisting of Lt. Col. Gazi Mohammad Salahuddin, Mr. Mohammad Mokhlesur Rahman, Mr. Md. Rezaul Quader and A.K.M.Shahiduzaman, is on a 5-day visit to Pakistan to study the policies, regulations and working of the PTA and liberalization of telecom sector of Pakistan.

Briefing the delegation on this occasion, Chairman PTA Maj. Gen. (Retd) Shahzada Alam Malik said that with the effective implementation of telecom policies, PTA endeavored to bring in elaborate competition into Pakistan telecom sector which has resulted in reduction of tariffs, enhanced telecom services and wide coverage across the country.

He said no operator has been given any preferential treatment including the Significant Market Player (SMP) in regulatorâ??s decisions. He said that private operators are bringing new technologies into the country and Pakistan would be the first country in the world to have large infrastructure for the provision of WiMax Services. He assured that every possible help would be provided to Bangladesh Regulator.

Chairman BTRC said that Bangladesh was impressed by the progress Pakistan has made in the telecom sector and was willing to follow it. He said his first ever visit to Pakistan was to know about PTA regulations and decisions on important telecom issues such as frequency management, Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and interconnection. He said that BTRC is in the process of bringing reforms in Bangladesh telecom sector and would seek PTAâ??s support and help to complete this process. He proposed visits of their officers to PTA to interact in different areas of interest.

On this occasion, a detailed presentation was given to Bangladeshi Delegation on regulatory regime, tariff reduction, foreign investment, new technologies and interconnection. The meeting was also attended by PTA Member (Finance), Syed Nasrul Karim Ghaznavi, Member (Technical), Dr. Muhammad Yaseen and other senior officers of the Authority.

 

Khurram Ali Mehran

Deputy Director (PR)

chairman pta briefing the delegation