By Muhammad Yasir
KARACHI: Pakistan has been ranked top for best regulatory environment among the South Asian countries with penetration of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTS) despite scarce resources, the telecom think tank survey showed.
According the LIRNEasia’s 2011 Telecom Regulatory Environment (TRE) survey, Pakistan saw an increase in almost all dimensions including fixed market entry, mobile access to scarce resources and mobile interconnection.
Pakistan has maintained its top position with highest score of 3.3 percent in TRE survey followed by India having 2.9 points in 2010-11. In 2007-08, the TRE survey evaluated regulatory regime of Pakistan as best among the South Asian Growing Economies with 3 points followed by Philippine with 2.8 in the same year. Stakeholders in Pakistan particularly telecom operators and consumers have identified the telecom regulatory environments in their countries as improved since 2008.
Besides, India and Indonesia have also improved their regulatory environment in 2010.
In contrast, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, the Philippines have seen the regulatory environments decline in effectiveness, while Thailand remains more or less the same. The TRE survey asks senior level stakeholders to evaluate the effectiveness of the telecom regulatory environment in the fixed, mobile and broadband subsectors along a Lickert scale of 1 to 5 (1 being highly ineffective and 5 being highly effective, with the mid-point of 3 being considered average performance).
Seven different dimensions of regulation that include market entry, tariff regulation, interconnection, universal service, anti-competitive practices, quality of service are evaluated by the stakeholders. This year, 349 respondents participated in the 7 countries. Within a country, scores for each of the dimensions reflect specific issues.
In 2010, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and its chief Dr Muhammad Yaseen had been acclaimed with global awards as Most Progressive Telecom Regulator in South Asia and Best Telecom Regulatory Leader of the Year by South Asian, Middle Eastern and North African (SAMENA) Telecommunication Council in Casablanca recently.
Pakistan received these awards in recognition of its competitive regulatory environments across the region coupled with unprecedented growth of Pakistan’s telecom sector under the supervision of its chairman Dr Muhammad Yaseen.
In the same year, the cellular mobile sector achieved 100-million subscription mark.
Pakistan telecom industry was growing at an astounding pace after the deregulation of the mobile sector with extraordinary growth becoming a model for other countries across the world. A number of factors have played role in it including investor friendly government policies and healthy competition introduced by the government, which has encouraged operators to go an extra mile, making a strong subscriber base. However, Pakistan has failed to maintain its status with highest tele-density among SAARC nations as India has superseded a top position in the region with overwhelming adoption of technology and telephony services by its masses.
Pakistan tele-density remained highest among the countries of South Asia till January 2011 with the modest annual growth continued in the last couple of years despite strict corrective measures and cutting-throat competition has slowed the industry telecommunication expansion.
Pakistan total tele-density has reached 66.8 percent by February 2011 with overall 110.3 million users including mobile phone, landline, and wireless whereas Indian tele-density reached 68.4 percent with total number of users standing at 826.25 million in February 2011.
Pakistan
Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan (Urdu: اسلامی جمہوریۂ پاکِستان) is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a 1,046-kilometre (650 mi) coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west,India in the east and China in the far northeast.[7] Tajikistan also lies very close to Pakistan but is separated by the narrow Wakhan Corridor. Strategically, Pakistan is located in a position between the important regions of South Asia, Central Asia and the greater Middle East.[8]
The region forming modern Pakistan was the site of several ancient cultures including theneolithic Mehrgarh and the bronze era Indus Valley Civilisation. Subsequently it was the recipient of Hindu, Persian, Indo-Greek, Islamic, Turco-Mongol, and Sikh cultures through several invasions and/or settlements. As a result the area has remained a part of numerous empires and dynasties including the Indian empires, Persian empires, Arab caliphates, Mongol,Mughal, Sikh and British Empire. Pakistan gained independence from the British Empire in 1947 after a struggle for independence, led by Mohammad Ali Jinnah, that sought the partition of India and the creation of an independent state for the Muslim majority populations of the eastern and western regions of British India.[9] With the adoption of its constitution in 1956, Pakistan became an Islamic republic.[10] In 1971, an armed conflict in East Pakistan resulted in the creation of Bangladesh.[11]
Pakistan is a federal parliamentary republic consisting of four provinces and four federal territories. With over 170 million people, it is the sixth most populous country in the world[2] and has the second largest Muslim population after Indonesia.[12] It is an ethnically andlinguistically diverse country with a similar variation in its geography and wildlife. With a semi-industrialized economy, it is the 27th largest in the world in terms of purchasing power. Since gaining independence, Pakistan's history has been characterised by periods of military rule,political instability and conflicts with neighbouring India. The country faces challenging problems including terrorism, poverty, illiteracy and corruption.
Pakistan has the seventh largest standing armed force and is the only Muslim-majority nation to possess nuclear weapons. It is designated as a major non-NATO ally of the United States and a strategic ally of China.[13][14] It is a founding member of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (now the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation)[15] and a member of the United Nations,[16] Commonwealth of Nations,[17] Next Eleven economies and the G20 developing nations.
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