Telecommunications in Pakistan Arun Babu Helen Ezenwa Parul Parikh Ajay Patel

Social and Political Review Population is 138 million Islamic country Historical conflict with India over Kashmir Pakistan partitioned out of India under religious lines in 1947 Currently under military rule

Economic Background Pakistan’s GDP is $282 billion Annual growth of 4.7 % Major industries: agriculture, textiles and steel Major trade partners: Japan, US and UK Pakistan - foreign exchange crisis loose fiscal policies increased inflation

History of Telecommunication: T & T :- Ministry of communications Manages 900,000 lines Limited financial & operational autonomy

History of Telecommunication: Restructuring & Reforms in the 80’s T& T an autonomous corporation in formed in 1991 Aimed at limiting the governments role To induce private sector operations in the market

Current Telecom Structure Microwave radio relay, Co-axial cable & fiber optics. International communications through intelsat Three Gateway exchanges

Regulatory Environment Regulated by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority Pakistan Telecommunication Re-Organization Act in 1996 Tariffs, licenses, type of equipment etc.. Regulates the establishment, operation and maintenance of services Protect the interests of users Promote modernization of telecommunication systems

Progress of De-regulation PTC – Joint Stock company Pakistan Telecommunication (Re-organization) Act, 1996 Incorporated in Jan 1st 1996 Priority item for privatization

Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited A  regulatory body A monopoly State-owned company Installed capacity of 3.74 million lines

Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited Promotes and protects the interests of users Provides domestic and international telecommunication Restructuring of PTCL

Mobile communications in Pakistan PTML a subsidiary Scheduled for launching in Aug 2000 Uses GSM

Cellular mobile services Operated by private sector companies Paktel: A joint venture between Cable & Wireless of UK and M/s Hassan Associates Instaphone: A joint venture between Millicom International (Luxembourg) and M/s Arfeen International Mobilink: Initially a joint venture between Motorola Inc. and M/s Saif Group

Introduction of Data Communication Systems PAKNET: - Public Data Network (PDN) Three Packet switching exchanges in 3 cities PAKNET expanded & upgraded in 1994-1995

Some Statistics about Telephone services in Pakistan Total population 138 million people Telephones per 1000 people 19 Waiting list for phones 3,030,000 Waiting time in years 1.2 Cost of local call per 3/min $.05 Outgoing traffic minutes per subscriber 30 Daily newspaper per 1000 people 21

Some Statistics about Telephone services in Pakistan Radios per 1000 people 92 TV per 1000 people 65 Cable per 1000 people 0.0 Mobile per 1000 people 1 Fax per 1000 people 1.2 PCs per 1000 people 4.5 Internet hosts per 1000 people .15

Future Role of Telecommunication PTCL is a priority item in the list of public sector sectors to be privatized PTCL has announced a massive restructure program to prepare for losing its monopoly Nortel to set up a GSM cellular mobile network for PTML Ministry of communication and NED University to set up a project for technology development in the telecom area

Future Role of Telecommunication High demand in all telecommunication fields: vast potential in smaller towns and rural areas paging service has a market penetration of only 0.02% Data communications and Internet services are growing very fast. Government is giving numerous incentives to new comers in this field Internet traffic is substituting traditional PSTN services. Internet likely to be the future platform of choice for voice based traffic in future