Telecom sector being treated absurdly
By: Jawwad Rizvi
LAHORE: Pakistani cellular phone subscribers have to endure suspension of cellular services every now and then on the pretext of possible terrorist attacks. For a telecom expert, having served Pakistan telecom industry for a decade, it is absurd.
A war-ravaged Afghanistan has not seen suspension of telecom services once in its lifetime, though it has been undergoing pangs of terrors for long, he told this scribe on Friday in his visit to Pakistan from Afghanistan.
After having served Pakistan’s telecom industry, he had gone to Kabul for a job. In Afghanistan, cellular phone subscribers can use mobile phones anytime and perform their businesses easily on mobile phones, he said.
“Sporadic suspension of telecom services in Pakistan left consumers and analysts dumbfound,” he said adding if there was one industry that was striving as well as empowering customers, it was the cellular industry; however, it seems to have succumbed to wrath of the decision makers and consumers suffer because of failures of policymakers.
He said Afghan telecom industry is following Pakistani telecom industry’s sales models and public response is overwhelming.
“The Afghani telecom industry is still at its infancy, yet it has outdone Pakistan by successfully launching 3G. Pakistan, on the other hand, is still planning the launch. But, it seems it may never become a reality and even if it is, the technology may become obsolete,” he observed.
Sharing his global telecom experiences, he said that world over operators were looking to offer further advancements in technology but here in Pakistan it seems the once roaring telecom industry is going back to the stone ages.
He said Afghan telecom industry is striving to make people stay mobile all the time. Besides, he said, one can purchase a SIM card easily without travelling long distance.
It is beyond understanding why the largest tax paying sector of Pakistan is being dragged toward collapse, he wonders.
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