GSM Association lauds Pak’s outstanding Telecom framework
By Saad Saud

Islamabad—The GSM Association is confident that Pakistan’s outstanding regulatory framework for telecommunications will be sustained and that WLL operators which are violating the July 13th PTA Determination on Limited Mobility will be called to comply with the policies and regulations of the country.
“The six mobile operators are investing US$1.2 billion in Pakistan this year alone, excluding license payments, and doubling for the second year in a row the number of mobile subscribers to over 17 million by the end of 2005. We are committed to Pakistan and confident that the regulatory framework that ignited this powerful wave of investments since 2003 has come to endure, to the benefit of consumers and the country,” said the Vice President for Public Policy at the GSM Association, Ricardo Tavares, who visited Pakistan this week.
Mr. Tavares pointed out that proper enforcement of regulations on wireless local loop limited mobility operators is a crucial issue to be addressed. “We are seeing investors beginning to assess the mar<et in Pakistan as highly competitive, with six players in mobile telecom. But they say: that is ok. However, when they see several WLL operators selling fully mobile services contrary to the license obligations and existing regulations, they get worried as the market rules start looking more uncertain and playing field unfair. This could very quickly erode investors’ confidence in Pakistan as an attractive place for continued investments unless this issue is comprehensively and promptly addressed. We are confident that Government’ of Pakistan is committed to address this situation.”
According to the senior manager c-` the GSM Association, the July 13th Determination by the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) on the implementation of limited mobility for WLL is a landmark as far as regulations of WLL networks worldwide is concerned. “I saw the efforts that the PTA leadership and staff made to be fair to all parties and to come up with regulations aimed at creating a predictable and effective competitive environment. The reservations of the cellular mobile operators of Pakistan notwithstanding, the Determination was viewed as a reasonable middle ground to find a quick, expedient and unambiguous solution to the regulatory problem at hand with the sole objective of identifying clearly and permanently demarcated playing fields for both Mobile and WLL operators.