Telcos seek relief from load-shedding

Senate panel forms committee to explore uninterrupted electricity for towers

ISLAMABAD:

The Senate Standing Committee on Information Technology and Telecommunications (IT&T) on Wednesday took up the issues of persistent internet disruptions and operational challenges facing the telecom sector, with officials attributing service interruptions to prolonged power outages, diesel theft and security concerns in parts of the country.

The committee, chaired by Senator Sadia Abbasi, discussed the theft of diesel used to operate telecom towers and was informed that the IT Ministry should coordinate with provincial police authorities to curb the problem. Officials said telecom infrastructure in some areas also faced difficulties because of security-related issues.

PTA officials told the committee that laws already existed to deal with diesel theft and FIRs could be registered. However, they said telecom operators often failed to lodge FIRs despite such incidents. The committee was informed that the PTA had directed operators to ensure that an FIR was registered whenever diesel or equipment was stolen.

The ministry officials told lawmakers that the PTA was the statutory regulator of all telecom operators and that licences could be revoked if operators failed to comply with regulatory requirements. The PTA officials added that surveillance cameras were increasingly being used instead of security guards to monitor diesel and equipment theft, but stressed that operators also needed to properly pursue theft cases after they occurred.

Separately, a meeting of the Senate Subcommittee on IT&T discussed the impact of prolonged load-shedding on telecom services. Officials informed the panel that the federal government had constituted a committee, headed by the IT secretary, to examine proposals for exempting telecom towers from load-shedding.

The committee includes the PTA chairman, a member of the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra), and representatives of the Power Division and the telecom industry. It has been tasked with recommending smart solutions to ensure uninterrupted electricity supply to telecom infrastructure and will submit its report to the federal government within three months.

Officials said the committee would also consider providing dedicated electricity supply to telecom towers when feeders were switched off and examine a proposal to place telecom infrastructure under the industrial electricity tariff.

The committee was told that telecom companies were paying their electricity bills in full but continued to suffer from load-shedding. In several districts, power outages were lasting up to 14 hours, while telecom operators could maintain services for only three to four hours during electricity cuts before backup systems became ineffective.