Three-Day SATRC Workshop on Policy, Regulation and Services Kicks Off

South Asian Telecommunication Regulators’ Council (SATRC-23) Workshop on Policy, Regulation and Services officially commenced today in Islamabad.

The three-day workshop, hosted by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), brings together experts and policymakers from across South Asia to explore key matters related to new technologies, regulations and policies in the telecommunications sector.

The event began with a welcome address by Asia-Pacific Telecommunity (APT) Secretary General Masanori Kondo. He encouraged the delegates to contribute to the insightful discussion and appreciated PTA’s effort in organizing the Workshop. This was followed by the opening address by DG S&D who is also the Chair of the SATRC Working Group on Policy, Regulation and Services (PRS).

The inaugural address by PTA Chairman Muhammad Naveed highlighted the importance of the telecommunications sector in Pakistan and stated that the sector is evolving rapidly. The regulator has a crucial role to play in ensuring that quality services are delivered in a manner that is secure, and beneficial to the citizens.

The event also featured a keynote address by the Ministry of Information Technology & Telecom (MoIT&T) Federal Secretary Navid Ahmed Shaikh who emphasized the role of emerging technologies in driving innovation and economic growth in the region.

The first day of the Workshop featured three sessions with the first covering overview of APT, SATRC and the workshop.

The next session was regarding emerging technologies and the evolving policy, regulation, and connectivity landscape which included a discussion on Metaverse, the Internet of Things (IoT), the Evolution of WLAN (Wi-Fi 6e), Future Generations of Mobile Telephony (Terrestrial and Satellite 6G) and Free Space Optical (FSO i.e. Wireless communication in THz and beyond). The third session was about the policy & regulation of 5G technology and its ecosystem.

The SATRC Workshop will continue for three days, with experts from South Asian countries discussing a range of subjects. Some of the key topics include telecom active infrastructure sharing, OTT services and applications, NGSO satellite constellations, sustainability, and collaborative aspects of regulations.