PTA celebrates 100m subscriptions of cellular industry | Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF)

Pakistan Press Foundation

PTA celebrates 100m subscriptions of cellular industry

KARACHI: The cellular mobile industry of Pakistan has achieved 100 million subscription mark in 2010, a statement said on Thursday.

In order to commemorate this landmark achievement, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) organised a programme at Pakistan National Council of Arts (PNCA) to celebrate the achievement.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani was the chief guest on the occasion.

Federal Information Technology Minister Sardar Aseff Ahmed Ali, PTA Chairman Dr Mohammed Yaseen, federal ministers, federal secretaries, representatives from Aiwan-e-Sadr, Prime Minister Secretariat, Foreign Affairs Ministry, regulatory authorities, IT and telecom industry experts, chief executive officers of telecom companies and media representatives attended the event.

Pakistan Post representative presented a commemorative stamp to the prime minister, which has been issued on this occasion.

Pakistan telecom industry is growing at an astounding pace after the deregulation of the sector. The mobile sector growth has been extraordinary and this sector has become a model for other countries across the world, the statement said.

A number of factors have played role in it, including investor-friendly government policies and healthy competition introduced by the government, which has encouraged the operators to an extra mile for making a strong subscriber base.

Mobile services in Pakistan started in 1995 and three operators Instaphone, Paktel and Mobilink were providing services to only 68,038 subscribers on exorbitant rates.

In order to give choice to the people, Ufone a subsidiary of PTCL was given licence to operate mobile services in 2000, it said, adding that with the consent of the government the regulator implemented the Calling Party Pays Regime in 2001, which boosted the subscriber base and it crossed one million mark to touch 1.7 million subscribers in 2002.

PTA will continue to ensure provision of best telecom services to the citizens. Its main objective is to make the telecom sector an even stronger and vital asset to the national economy, the statement added.
Source: The News
Date:1/21/2011