FY14: Telecom investment over $1.8 billion
PTA report says earnings from all licensees clocks in at $1b.
Telecom sector revenues for FY14 clocked in at Rs465 billion, as it contributed Rs243.84 billion to the national kitty. STOCK IMAGE
KARACHI:
The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) earned Rs105 billion or $1 billion (based on Thursday’s exchange rates) in fees from all licensees as total investment in the telecom sector crossed $1.8 billion during fiscal year 2014 (FY14), the telecom regulator revealed in its annual report.
According to the data, figures for telecom investment rose three times from $600 million, the level it achieved in FY13.
Almost half of the $1.8 billion was in the form of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflow to the telecom sector that spent over $903 million on purchasing 3G and 4G licences and upgrading their infrastructure during the review period. FDI in the telecom sector alone accounted for more than half of the country’s total FDI ($1.6 billion in FY14).
Telecom sector revenues for FY14 clocked in at Rs465 billion, as it contributed Rs243.84 billion to the national kitty in that year – an all-time high in tax contribution by the sector.
Overall, the telecom imports in FY14 crossed $1.23 billion, of which 44.4% was for the imports of consumer items, such as cellular mobile handsets, according to the data.
As cellular operators and the consumers geared up for 3G and 4G services, the country witnessed record imports of $544 million of cellular mobile handsets and $682 million worth of telecom equipment, registering growth of 20.7% and 30.3% respectively, the report said.
Revealing statistics about the market share of cellular mobile operators (CMOs), the report added that Mobilink led the market with 27.7% subscriber share as of June 30, 2014 followed by Telenor (26.1%), Zong (19.4%), Ufone (17.4%) and Warid (9.3%).
On the enforcement front, the report said that the PTA addressed 98% of the total complaints in FY14. The telecom received a total of 36,092 complaints against telecom service providers including CMOs, PTCL, Long Distance Internationals, Wireless Local Loop operators and ISPs in the period under review, up from 29,714 complaints it received during the corresponding period of FY13. About 61% complaints were made against CMOs and 37% were made against the broadband giant PTCL, which holds a whopping 80% share in the broadband market.
Grey Telephony was another area where the regulator intensified its enforcement in FY14. PTA and FIA jointly conducted a total of 62 raids across the country during the period, arrested 52 people and confiscated 327 illegal gateway equipments in different cities of Pakistan, the report said.
The report further highlighted that as many as 539,024 Sims were blocked during FY14 – mobile numbers involved in illegal call termination (Grey Traffic) were identified and blocked through various means including heavy caller data and call centre reporting.
Telecom investment $ in millions
Published in The Express Tribune, January 9th, 2015.
The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) earned Rs105 billion or $1 billion (based on Thursday’s exchange rates) in fees from all licensees as total investment in the telecom sector crossed $1.8 billion during fiscal year 2014 (FY14), the telecom regulator revealed in its annual report.
According to the data, figures for telecom investment rose three times from $600 million, the level it achieved in FY13.
Almost half of the $1.8 billion was in the form of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflow to the telecom sector that spent over $903 million on purchasing 3G and 4G licences and upgrading their infrastructure during the review period. FDI in the telecom sector alone accounted for more than half of the country’s total FDI ($1.6 billion in FY14).
Telecom sector revenues for FY14 clocked in at Rs465 billion, as it contributed Rs243.84 billion to the national kitty in that year – an all-time high in tax contribution by the sector.
Overall, the telecom imports in FY14 crossed $1.23 billion, of which 44.4% was for the imports of consumer items, such as cellular mobile handsets, according to the data.
As cellular operators and the consumers geared up for 3G and 4G services, the country witnessed record imports of $544 million of cellular mobile handsets and $682 million worth of telecom equipment, registering growth of 20.7% and 30.3% respectively, the report said.
Revealing statistics about the market share of cellular mobile operators (CMOs), the report added that Mobilink led the market with 27.7% subscriber share as of June 30, 2014 followed by Telenor (26.1%), Zong (19.4%), Ufone (17.4%) and Warid (9.3%).
On the enforcement front, the report said that the PTA addressed 98% of the total complaints in FY14. The telecom received a total of 36,092 complaints against telecom service providers including CMOs, PTCL, Long Distance Internationals, Wireless Local Loop operators and ISPs in the period under review, up from 29,714 complaints it received during the corresponding period of FY13. About 61% complaints were made against CMOs and 37% were made against the broadband giant PTCL, which holds a whopping 80% share in the broadband market.
Grey Telephony was another area where the regulator intensified its enforcement in FY14. PTA and FIA jointly conducted a total of 62 raids across the country during the period, arrested 52 people and confiscated 327 illegal gateway equipments in different cities of Pakistan, the report said.
The report further highlighted that as many as 539,024 Sims were blocked during FY14 – mobile numbers involved in illegal call termination (Grey Traffic) were identified and blocked through various means including heavy caller data and call centre reporting.
Telecom investment $ in millions
2010-11 | 2011-12 | 2012-13 | 2013-14 | |
| Cellular | 358.6 | 211.8 | 570.4 | 1,789.7 |
| LDI | 108.7 | 16.2 | 1.9 | 1.8 |
| LL | 18.2 | 5.0 | 16.1 | 14.2 |
| WLL | 7.6 | 7.3 | 11.9 | 10.0 |
| Total | 493.25 | 240.3 | 600.3 | 1,815.6 |
Published in The Express Tribune, January 9th, 2015.