The revolution in the telecom sector has been driven by the dynamism in the telecommunications market globally. The liberalization of the sector, the extension of services by multinationals and the active competition have all contributed to the telecom revolution. This is a revolution that is creating new jobs, new industries and defining new ways of living our lives.

In a monopoly scenario, as was previously the case in Pakistan, a single operator supplies the whole market. The single company makes all the output and price decisions and it has complete control over the market. Traditionally the telecom service providers or operators have been Government-owned monopolies; one major problem with telecom monopoly is that monopolist may exploit its market position by charging excessive prices and compromise quality of service. However having other operators in the telecom sector forces prices to come down. Conventional services like long distance calls for the telecom operators have definitely come down over the years.

Privatization and liberalization are the two telecom reforms that improve the public treasury. Privatization and liberalization cut the existence of monopoly and promote competition. Privatization can be defined as the process whereby the Government hands over its management or assets of services to private interest.

Today most developed countries, including Pakistan, are or have introduced competition in the telecom market that was once monopolistic in nature. Driven by technological developments, competition has come to dominate a market that was once a monopoly. Privatization and liberalization are the two telecom reforms that improve the public treasury. Privatization and liberalization cut the existence of monopoly and promote competition. Privatization can be defined as the process whereby the Government hands over its management or assets of services to private interest. Liberalization usually means the process of transferring monopolistic market to a free market environment, which will expand trade relation and also promote competition. Liberalization encourages the lifting of barrier to entry to accommodate many players in the market and hence transform a market into a free and open market.

Till now Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) has been a monopoly and its success has been determined by huge coverage and interoperability. The fixed Telecom industry in general has been bearing the pain of falling margins. Our national Telecom operator faces a difficult future. But the good news is that PTCL is much better off if it restructures to be innovative, flexible and finally offer services and products in high growth areas.

Generally revenue is expected to decline in the fixed line business. However growth is expected for bundled Services such as Broadband, Data / IP, Internet and mobile services. It is obvious that the fixed line business will be less relevant and that its contribution will have
to meet a growing demand for a wide array of high quality telecommunication services at very affordable rates. Ideally this would be a provider or an integrated carrier that bundles all forms of services, like switched voice, TV Programming, wireless, multimedia, Internet access, and high speed data.

To achieve this, it is critical that cities and villages seek to become “intelligent” communities. Telecommunications has become the new utility and is as important to economic development as water or electricity. An individual won't fully develop his or her skills and talents unless there are educational and job opportunities to promote that development. intelligent community for their citizens. Broadband is the first step a telecom operator should do to achieve this goal. The broadband revolution in telecommunications has begun. Being in the midst of this revolution is like being in the eye of a hurricane: you can't see clearly the changes swirling around, nor do you appreciate their magnitude and effects. The Telecom sector has a role to play on both the supply side and on the demand side. On the supply side, we must establish public policy that allows the functionality of broadband in all its forms cable, DSL, wireless and satellite to develop freely. On the demand side, we need to help consumers understand what broadband means for them.

Right now, some consumers don't know what the word “broadband” - means, and even those who regularly use the Internet through a dial up modem aren't sure that they need faster access. We expect that more and more consumers should say, “We got to have broadband” rather than, “Why do we need it?” Broadband deployment is like the chicken and egg question: should we build it so that people come? Or shall we wait for people to crowd around, demanding broadband? Part of this issue is familiarity.

We know that when people become familiar with things, they're less likely to find reasons not to go forward. In turn their interest leads to more demand, which leads to economic growth. As people become more acquainted with things currently available, new needs and wants will emerge. When people have advanced services and see what they can do, they would want more. This drives development, and round and round we go upwards to new and better things.

As a first step the Government should promote the availability of broadband capable infrastructure. This has already been done with the announcement of Pakistan's first Broadband Policy. The policy has been envisioned by Presiden
Pervaiz Musharraf and Prime Minister, Shaukat Aziz and has been
implemented with the dynamic efforts of Minister of IT, Mr. Awais Ahmad Khan Laghari and his staff, along with dedicated efforts by President PTCL Mr. Junaid I. Khan. In addition to this, Etisalat, the telecom giant of the (UAE) recently won the Bidding for 26 percent of shares of (PTCL) by offering 2.598 billion US dollars with management control. Mr. Awais described the bidding as "historic", saying it would further boost the country's growing economy. So the rapid technological revolution will bring enormous changes and opportunities for rapid penetration, lowering costs and upgrading services. This will in turn enable the Government to satisfy customer demands, which will additionally add more services that will provide long-term revenue streams.

The writer is a Senior Engineer (Planning) PTCL/Paknet. He is also author of a book “Understanding Telecomuunications”
Email: irfan@isb.paknet.com.pk