Netxpress Jan Edition 2006
Q. Could you elaborate on the vision you had in mind for Pakistani telecom when you took over the Ministry of IT & T?
I came to the fore of the MOIT & T during a time when the entire IT environment was focused on the telecom sector, having built the sector up to the status of the ‘next big thing’ in the technology sector, with almost every Tom, Dick and Harry attempting to get a piece of the pie. My ministry’s vision, and responsibility, was to ensure that the telecom sector grew rapidly, as well as to portray an image of the true technology industry present in Pakistan, that being that the parameters were open to all equal competitors with a chance to profit from the burgeoning opportunities that exist in the Pakistani economy.
One of our first targets towards reaching this goal was to ensure that monopolies within the country were finished. Secondly, although players already present in the industry were already functioning profitably, they were not doing enough to spread their coverage and meet demand, thus leading us to conduct a year-long survey before we finally decided on an all-encompassing policy.
Q. What were the initial challenges faced by your ministry?
One of the most important changes made by decision makers was to go beyond bureaucratic thinking and focus on opening up the market. The World Bank had been assisting in fixed line telephony, but we had to bring back the challenges and opportunities within our own court, which meant actively changing and bringing about positive changes in the fixed line area.
The ministry also focused on ensuring a level playing field within the telecom sector, this would come with obligations towards service, R&D, and an environment that would actually encourage growth. This would also provide security and effuse confidence amongst foreign investors.
Q. What was the course of action you took to meet these challenges?
One of our first moves was to hire consultants, and work towards formulating a mobile sector policy within three months. The details of this policy were discussed with cabinet members and all stakeholders, with the open debated process continuing until all qualms had been ironed out and basic strategies had been finalized.
This process enabled out-of-the-box thinking, bringing to the fore many new avenues that the ministry had not considered before, leading to many amendments in our original draft. In the last three years, a number of major policies have come about that will affect telecom explosively, including fixed line deregulation, mobile policy, and broadband policy.
After the policies were made, new standards of transparency were also set, for example, while auctioning off mobile licenses, a number of hitches occurred but were handled easily, to the credit of PTA. This new and stable framework has sparked off interest amongst investors and will actively promote growth in future.
Q. What has been the actual response to your initiatives, especially from the people who matter when it comes to growth, i.e., the investors?
There was an initial hue and cry about the prices, but we proved our point that market forces had decided the prices, based on business acumen. The kind of international telecom players who responded to our initiative proved to be a boost to the ministry, and the mere fact that most of these companies have managed to set up services in Pakistan within the space of a year shows how efficient and encouraging the process in Pakistan is.
We are conducive to investment, and that is not just another claim. In the next five years, growth in the telecom sector is going to be explosive, the last two years have been all about creating the hype, the real change is yet to come.
Q. Your thoughts on the privatization of the PTCL?
First and foremost, contrary to public opinion, we are not washing our hands off of the PTCL, or allowing a private organization (Etisalat) to do as it pleases with the country’s only current fixed line provider. Rather PTCL is to be privatized only to the extent of 26%, although the holders of this particular share will have an equal voice in all policy and corporate direction-making decisions.
The PTA is to ensure that there is a fair and efficient interaction between the shareholders, government, and the end-user, prohibiting anti-competitive activities. The PTA has also taken steps to ensure that the new regime will allow for positive traffic interaction, and this framework is already being implemented in the PTCL.
I am sure that worries about the PTCL infrastructure not being able to handle the subsequent amount of traffic and load on its exchanges are unfounded. Nevertheless, there are a number of lessons that PTCL had learnt from the events of the last few months and was making headway in ensuring corrective measures and improvements.
Q. What is your outlook for the future of Pakistani telecom?
We are expecting to see a lot of growth in wireless telecommunication, as well as in the number of broadband users in the country. Prices of bandwidth, which is the core ingredient, have been brought down primarily as an encouragement for end-users to get services at cheaper prices.
The laying of new submarine cables, and the routing of traffic from places like China to the ME, etc. are all opportunities that exist. One of the most promising economically viable opportunities that I see coming in the near future is the launch of optic fibers in Pakistan.
Links with India are also being worked upon aggressively, and the first step should be the link-up through Amritsar, which should be followed by the outsourcing of work to us from the Indian IT industry.
The environment for growth has begun to be created, and there is money to be made, and the healthy sign is that investors are beginning to realize this potential. But at the end of the day, who is the real winner? The Consumer, government or the investor/industry?
I believe the end-user benefits at the end of the day, especially when you consider how rapidly prices are falling. But don’t take me wrong, I am a strong believer in the fact that we need to focus not on price but customer service and quality of service.
At the end of the day, the competition that we have introduced is going to be for the benefit of all. Policies have kept in mind all major issues that the telecom sector is facing.
The urban areas are not the only focus area; we need rollout in the rural areas, and this has been made obligatory on all telecom players. R&D has also been made mandatory, and we understand that such a culture needs to be infused into Pakistan.
Pakistan lacks human expertise; our professionals need to be polished and absorbed into the local industry. The potential has always existed in Pakistan, but it is only now that we have begun to be projected in a better light throughout the world. And I am also confident that it has been the success of the telecom sector that has had a rippling effect on the entire economy.
