Awan reappointed to PTA, but as acting chairman

Govt once again trusts Awan with the top seat of the telecom regulator.

KARACHI:

The Cabinet Division has chosen Farooq Ahmed Awan as Acting Chairman of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) on Friday, The Express Tribune has learned from well-informed sources.

The government has once again trusted Awan with the chairmanship of the telecom regulator – that has been through its worst ever internal and managerial crises recently. The acting chief will report to work on Monday and manage PTA’s operations till the appointment of permanent members – one of these will become the authority’s chairman – a government official familiar with the matter confirmed on the condition of anonymity.

It may be recalled that Awan was appointed as PTA’s chairman in July, 2012 – when he was the Secretary IT and Telecom. However, he was terminated from the authority’s chairmanship by a single bench of the Lahore High Court in mid-January.

However, Awan had filed an intra court appeal before the LHC against his suspension a week after his suspension – the court is still to announce its verdict on the appeal.

Although Awan did not respond to The Express Tribune’s query regarding his appointment but two other officials familiar with the development confirmed his reappointment.

It is relevant to mention that Awan – before his suspension from PTA’s chairmanship – had faced fierce opposition from Member Technical, Khawar Khokhar and Member Finance, Nasrul Karim Ghaznavi on the appointments of 3G consultants. The three top officials had developed serious differences that affected the authority’s functions by a great deal – prematurely ending 3G process for the third time in 2012.

Ghaznavi completed his term on February 23 while Khokhar is finishing his tenure next month.

The telecom regulator had already advertised vacancies for all three members on February 14. Awan has also applied for one of these vacancies, an official confirmed.

“3G is not on the agenda of the government,” an official said responding to a question if Awan will once again push for the auction. “In fact the government does not want it to happen at this time,” he said.

The government might want to settle the issue of 3G consultants – who have initiated legal action against PTA for non-payment of their consultation fee – said another official.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 24^th, 2013.

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