Telecom operators have raised concerns over steep increases in charges for laying and maintaining telecom cables, warning the higher costs could eventually put pressure on internet and telecom service prices. The Pakistan Telecommunication Access Providers Association has approached Punjab authorities and the federal government over the charges applied at Quaid-e-Azam Industrial Estate, an issue that surfaces just days after the government withdrew its controversial telecom Right of Way amendment bill from the Senate.
Under the revised rates introduced by the industrial estate’s management, annual rent for aerial telecom cables has increased from 50 to 300 rupees per meter, a 600 percent jump. Charges for underground infrastructure have also risen substantially, with the one time right of way fee for buried cables climbing 333 percent from 300 to 1,000 rupees per meter, while annual rent on buried cables has doubled from 100 to 300 rupees per meter, a 200 percent increase. The one time supervision fee for buried cables has similarly risen 213 percent, from 80 to 250 rupees per meter.
PTAPA said the revised charges are inconsistent with the federal government’s Public and Private Right of Way Policy Directives, and urged authorities to enforce the approved policy rather than allow individual property managers to set independent rates. The association argued that Right of Way charges imposed by public authorities should follow a no-profit-no-loss principle and should cover only the actual cost of providing the relevant service, rather than functioning as a source of commercial revenue for the managing body.
The association also said telecom operators that already pay approved tariffs for using electricity distribution company poles should not face additional permission or NOC charges on top of those existing payments. PTAPA has asked authorities to intervene urgently to help unblock permissions for laying new infrastructure that are currently being withheld, warning that such restrictions could slow the expansion of telecom infrastructure and affect the provision of internet and other essential communication services to businesses operating within the industrial estate. The association has called for the revised charges to be reviewed in line with the federal Right of Way policy, adding to the broader, ongoing debate over how Right of Way costs are regulated across Pakistan’s telecom infrastructure landscape.
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