Govt Conducts Interviews for Chairman PTA

A special committee, chaired by Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal, has conducted interviews of shortlisted candidates for the position of Chairman Pakistan Telecommunication Authority.

According to details shared with ProPakistani, Dr. Ismail Shah, Khawar Kokhar, Talat Abbasi, Saad Zaman, Mushtaq Bhatti and Riaz Ahmed were shortlisted for the interviews.

Dr. Ismail Shah and Riaz Ahmed, however, couldn’t appear for the interview. Dr. Ismail Shah has reportedly decided not to pursue the position, sources confirmed ProPakistani.


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This left the selection committee with four candidates, who were interviewed and one of them is likely to be nominated for the Chairmanship of PTA.

The Selection Committee is reportedly going to ask Ismail Shah for an interview again, but reports suggest that he is going to decline the offer.

The committee will select one name and will send it to the Prime Minister for the final approval.


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Industry sources claim that all four names are controversial and that the government failed to attract any new candidates for the position.

Market sources said that the appointment of Chairman PTA is likely to be controversial and chances of it getting challenged in court are very high.

Secretary IT, Secretary Establishment, Secretary Cabinet were also part of committee that conducted the interviews.

Interviews for Member Finance were also  conducted where 9 candidates, including Tariq Sultan, were interviewed.

Tech and telecom reporter for over 15 years


  • @aamir7:disqus Is there any specific reason behind Dr. Ismail Shah’s rejection? he is probably most successful Chairman PTA ever.

      • He did 3 auctions in PMLN,s tenure. Meanwhile KPK police under PTI tenure sent Asma’s DNA to Punjab due to lack of Lab, and PTI claimed HUM METRO NAHIN INSTITUTES BNAYEN GAY. PTI walay bhi PMLN se different nahin.

        • You are right.

          PTI has not constructed a single Hospital or University in last 4 years OR any other infrastructure project. Now in last year they have started construction of Mass Transit System (Jangla Bus) to fool people.

    • He is not the most successful chairman ever. Please. Ask any telco. Taxes were raised during his time and more duties were applied. He failed to even get a basic industry classification for telecom industry.

      He is so weak that even the auction of of same spectrum in Pakistan fetched 400M dollars for 10mhz LTE which fetched double price in Thailand

      • Lol. Do you think applying tax and duties is in PTA chairman’s hand? How can he stop punjab or KPK Govt to put 19.5% GST on Internet services?

        And before comparing Thailand with Pakistan, just check Thailand’s Telecom operators ARPU and Pakistani’s. Our ARPU is even lower than Bangladesh. The kind of ARPU we have here, 400 Million was more than enough.

      • Yes no new foreign operator entered Pakistan during his 4-year tenure. The reason was that because of low ARPUs and high taxes, new operators did not see an attractive ROI in Pakistan’s telecom market. PTA should have reduced taxes on telco sector and should have defined price floors to discourage endless price wars between telcos which have reduced average ARPU to $2.5 per month only. In middle east, average ARPU per month is $50!

        • Agar taxes Chairman PTA ne kam ziada karne hyn to Provincial and Federal governments manjan bechne ke liye baithi hyn. Kuch khuda ka khouf karo bhai. Nahin pata to bolna zaroor hota hai.

    • He was not most successful chairman. None of the auction was successful. He could not sell available spectrum. In last 2 auctions, spectrum was sold on base price. He could not attract new players.

  • Extremely controversial as all candidates interviewed are not up to the mark! Check their linked in profile and achievements. No international Multinational solid industry experience ..

  • Dr Shah probably had issues due to 3G , 4G auction… else no reason. He knows more than required which does not suits well if there is gov other than PMNL in next elections. Probably knowing too much secrets of auction game.

  • Mr Ahsan Iqbal should not put the repute on stake by having such candidates for important organization. Where is open merit claims now.


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