In a few years if the hottest political slogan in Pakistan is 'Roti,Kapra aur Broadband', then you will know whom to trace it back to; the Ministry of IT's broadband policy for Pakistan and PTCL! For one entity has gone all out to ensure an open environment for the proliferation of Broadband in the country and the other has facilitated the policy by announcing huge reductions in the broadband supply chain services. Widely considered as the best thing to happen to a country since the advent of wireless telephony services, Broadband has had such positive impact on countries, their GDPs, economies and social standings, that now the political leaders are forming it a part of their campaigns too, as seen in the US last year.

I remember being in Seoul for the World Broadband Conference last year and listening to the woes of a taxi driver on the way to the conference, lamenting on Seoul City's congestion, pollution,
inflation and all the other irritants that go with a metropolitan city. But his gripes were concluded by an immense sigh of relief and pride, “But you know what, we have Broadband!” It was as if
someone from the Middle East has proudly exclaimed “But
you know what, we have Oil”. Recently over 50% of South
Korea's annual GDP growth was attributed to IT services
that were only possible on the Broadband network. Similar Broadband initiatives are now been taken by developing countries across the world to escalate the service availability in their own areas. But what exactly is Broadband and how would the common man in Pakistan benefit from it, is the question we need to ask ourselves. Broadband in simple terms means two things; First, that you do not have to dial up to an ISP to get connected to the Internet. The moment you switch your computer on, your internet is also switched on! This itself will mean getting rid of a lot of nuisances; You don't have to wait for the availability of your ISP's line, you don't have to pay for a local call every time you login and you don't get disconnected in the middle of sending an important document. Secondly, Broadband means that the speed at which you download information at present through your dial up connection, will be increased at least 10 to 20 times! This again will mean that for example, stock market, one of the biggest investment areas in Pakistan, will get an access channel that will spread to the masses across the country. The dial up speed of the net is too slow for you to keep up with the speed of the stock trading. This will also mean that medical diagnostics from a rural Basic Health Unit can be carried out in real time by a consultant in a city hospital using test results send over the Broadband connection. This will also mean that a university lecture can be delivered simultaneously across to other parts of the city over the fast always on Broadband connection. But above all, the factor that contributes mostly to the GDP growth is the increase in the corporate productivity and corporate customer services.

The speed of access will now allow you to do 10 things in the time that it took you to do only one thing previously! Although Broadband services were previously available in Pakistan, the difference now is that the price at which they will be available now will drop to a level where they become affordable to the common man in Pakistan! And for that, the credit must start and heavily rest with the Ministry of IT, for coming up with an open policy that has all the ingredients to lower or remove the barriers across the Broadband supply chain in Pakistan. The environment that the policy initiatives will bring in will make Pakistan one of the most favorable countries in the region for the spread of Broadband. Next on the list is PTCL. The incumbent telcom companies own 70% of the world broadband market. Yet it is only the private sector that has been running the DSL Broadband show in Pakistan for the last two years! PTCL's facilitation for the private sector in such a manner would come close to topping the list of world telecom incumbent's facilitations to the start up companies. Now by dramatically reducing the prices for the bandwidth, local loop charges and even dial up (PRI) charges, PTCL has ensured that the open environment formulated and envisaged by the Policy, is available to all the stakeholders and potential Broadband services providers in the country. It will also becoming up with further incentives for the stakeholders to contribute to the expansion of the Broadband service availability in Pakistan. The provision of Broadband infrastructure in a country is akin to the provision of highways across the country's land mass. Some effort and investment goes into it, but it triggers the start and expansion of new businesses and new trade routes, benefiting the entire country. It will now be up to the ISPs and all the other service providers to collectively turn these provisions into a mass delivery of Broadband services, while ensuring an improvement in the quality of service to their end customers.

The year 2005 promises to be a watershed in Pakistan's Broadband landscape. Whether it reaches the demand level of basic food and clothing might be arguable, but what is certainly not arguable is the fact that 2005 provides Pakistan a chance to set an example to the rest of the world in Broadband proliferation!

The writer is Executive Vice President (Corporate Strategy) PTCL. He can be reached at zomma.mohiuddin@ptcl.net.pk