Balochistan province : Telecom operators offered 92% subsidy

PTA is laying optical fibre cables in Balochistan, and offering 92 per cent subsidy to telecom operators.

ISLAMABAD:

Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) Chairman Dr Muhammad Yaseen has informed that the authority is laying optical fibre cables in Balochistan, and offering 92 per cent subsidy to telecom operators.

Speaking at a meeting with the Senate Standing Committee on Information Technology and Telecommunications – which expressed concern over the delay in providing communication facilities in rural areas – Yaseen said that despite the incentives, companies were reluctant to invest due to high operational costs.

The committee, under the chairmanship of Senator Moula Bakhsh Chandio, however, expressed confidence in the procedure of issuing licences for laying optical fibre cables.

Yaseen apprised the committee that the government was giving top priority to initiating communication facilities in rural areas, adding a telecommunication facility in Kohlo will be functional in April.

He said that at present there were 13 long distance and international licence operators nationwide, and so far, three telecom companies have laid their own optical fibre, while the remaining operators have leased the transmission facility.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 19^th, 2011.