PTA has suspended the Telecommunication Tower Provider licence of Access Global Pakistan Private Limited after the company spent nearly a decade holding a licence without ever commencing commercial operations, in a regulatory enforcement action that also carries an automatic termination clause if the company fails to comply within the suspension period.
According to the enforcement order issued on May 5, 2026, PTA granted Access Global Pakistan a non-exclusive Telecommunication Tower Provider licence on March 25, 2016, authorising the company to establish, maintain, lease, rent, and sell telecom tower infrastructure across licensed regions in Pakistan. However, the company never obtained the mandatory commencement certificate that is required before any tower operator can begin providing infrastructure services or receiving payments. PTA regulations are explicit on this point: no Telecommunication Tower Provider may offer services or generate revenue without this certificate in place, which the regulator issues only after confirming that the required network facilities are operational.
PTA stated that it made repeated attempts to engage the company over the years, sending official reminders in February 2018, May 2020, October 2021, November 2021, July 2022, and July 2024, none of which produced a response or any tangible movement toward compliance. A show-cause notice issued on January 19, 2026 gave the company 30 days to obtain the commencement certificate and explain why action should not be taken under Section 23 of the Pakistan Telecommunication Re-organization Act, 1996. The matter was subsequently scheduled for a formal hearing before the Authority on March 16, 2026, but Access Global Pakistan neither submitted a written reply nor appeared before the panel. PTA confirmed that both the show-cause notice and the hearing intimation were dispatched to the company’s officially registered address, and proceeded to decide the case on the available record after receiving no response.
The three-member panel comprising PTA Chairman Major General Retired Hafeez Ur Rehman, Member Compliance and Enforcement Dr. Khawar Siddique Khokhar, and Member Finance Muhammad Naveed ruled unanimously that the company had violated its licence conditions by failing to commence services. The licence has been suspended for one month or until the commencement certificate is obtained, whichever occurs first, with PTA warning that Licence No. PTA/TTP-012-2016 will stand automatically terminated if the company does not comply within that window and that no further notice will be issued. PTA also directed all Long Distance and International, Local Loop, Telecom Infrastructure Provider, and mobile operators to immediately suspend any telecom facilities currently being provided to Access Global Pakistan pending further orders.
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