A new telecommunications policy was proposed recently. The policy asked for the establishment of a parallel competition framework, restructuring of taxes and classification of telecom as an actual industry.
Finance Minister and Chairman of Economic Coordination Committee (ECC), Ishaq Dar, has opposed the policy. In a meeting held on 12th of August, he stressed upon the establishment of a policy which reflects commitments instead of mere proposals. He said that the proposed policy did not reflect the tax structural rationalisation framework and rejected the proposal for the establishment of a parallel competition framework to prevent telecom companies from monopolistic practices.
On the matter of classification of telecommunication as a separate industry, he was of the view that such a step would not be appropriate. In his view, fiscal and constitutional aspects of the matter need to be considered.
Dar said that the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) is a statutory body that is working on and has the duty to regulate an equal footing for industrial competition. Therefore the establishment of another regulatory body, parallel competition framework, advised by the new policy is unjustified. Secretary of the Ministry of IT further explained that a clause related to competition framework was part of the legal obligations of the Pakistan Telecommunication (Reorganisation) Act 1996, amended in 2006.
Finance Division secretary said that licensing targets and financial goals were not properly explained in the draft policy and that a distinction between IT and telecommunications was not possible thus, a single ICT policy is applicable on both. He mentioned that the Finance Division would give new suggestions related to some of the clauses of the policy.
During the meeting. the ECC was updated on the consultation process with stakeholders conducted by the Ministry of IT for the formulation of the draft telecom policy. A proposal was made for new competition rules to be introduced to create a healthy, competitive and open telecom market while also identifying key market players and introducing market for wholesale and retail services.
The introduction of spectrum management was also proposed in the meeting, Spectrum management would include spectrum strategy, spectrum trading and the assignment of spectrums to telecom companies.
Another aspect discussed in the meeting was the provision of general authorisation for over-the-top services and satellite telecom services to reach a balanced approach towards instead of the current open sky policy. The aspect of communication security was also discussed and how the data service providers, telecom and media need to be regulated in the coming years.
Source: Express Tribune
You should have explained this story in simple words. Its going above my head…
Me too
bhai koi is ki tashreeh kr dy….
Simply put, telco industry wanted to separate from IT industry classification, separate regulatory authority, Ishaq Dar said nope, not happening, not needed
LOL thanks for the khulasa :P
Well yeh baat to smjh aa gae the but Why they wanted it as separate industry? Yeh baat smjh ni aae :D
So they could have dedicated (better than before) tax rates, rules and policies for this (cellular) sector.
That is what they think or proposed or may be you also.
Ishaq Dar ko choro KPK Sindh main DSL tax khatam karwao black out kernay walon
App Punjab walon say tu khatam karwao pehlay agli baat bad main karna.
Punjab main koi DSL pay tax nahi lay raha. Na muj aj tak aya hai siwae Federal or With holding kay.
KPK Sindh main ata hai or jaldi DSL bhi aye ga or ap Punjab Punjab krty rehna.
You are such a troll, see broadband, wimax, 3G bills of this month. I am done with you.
They will be returned or adjusted in next month because of the issues they charged this month.
I am done with your fake blackouts…. reporting punjab only won’t give you anything.
Dont be ProPunjabi plz
Nd Monopoly ka kya chkr tha bech mai?
Monopoly in this case refers to an industry being served by a single provider. Monopolistic practises distort markets, such as increasing prices beyond rates determined by supply and demand, and discouraging new entrants through aggressive price drops.
but we have 5 operators.. right? so where is monopoly in this case? and if a new operator wants to enter the market i don’t think that their proposed system will damage the market
you could always buy out your competitors, and then you would get nearer and nearer, as far as I know there are no laws that look into mergers and takeovers, so there is a chance of imperfect markets there. Overseas, proposed mergers are analysed by government authorites, which may reject the proposal if the result will create monopolistic conditions.
the term is oligopoly not monopoly but usually people use monopoly whether is duopoly or oligopoly.
He Just Copy/Pasted the Article from Express Tribune.
In short they do nothing with empty pockets