The spokesman clarified that it was never a mandate of PTA to monitor landline telephones, mobile phones, emails and SMS hence question of freedom of expression does not arise in this particular case. In fact, PTA in its efforts to curb illegal telecom traffic (grey traffic) coming into Pakistan from outside the country through illegal means, has installed a latest technical system. Through this system, all telecom traffic coming in Pakistan from abroad is counted to ensure usage of authorized means to carry out this business, to control illegal telecom traffic, billing verification and quality of service as required under the law.

PTA  during past few months has seized number of such illegal exchanges and apprehended persons including foreigners involved in this illegal business. These illegal systems were causing billions of rupees loss to the Government of Pakistan thus by raiding such places PTA performed its legal and national duty which might have harmed interest of few individuals fuelling concocted stories in the media. During last one year PTA saved 1.17 billion minutes (calls) through the technical system amounting to US $ 94 million.

To make this system more effective PTA has recently formulated draft of “Monitoring and Reconciliation of Telephony Traffic Regulations 2009”. These regulations were originally formed and notified in November 2008 and now few amendments have been proposed to enhance the scope of these regulations under the law. The proposed regulations are aimed at checking international calls to curb the illegal telecom traffic coming in Pakistan. PTA has put the draft of proposed regulations on its website to seek comments of all concerned to make these regulations comprehensive and acceptable to all.

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This initiative is part of the pursuance of PTA’s efforts against illegal sale of jammers. PTA carried out extensive survey and upon investigation and confirmation, successful raids were conducted by PTA and FIA on different shops at Karachi Electronic Market in Saddar. A total of 30 jammers were recovered and owners were arrested.

Chairman PTA, Dr. Mohammed Yaseen said that under Telecom (Re-Organization) Act 1996, PTA is to ensure that the rights of the licensees and telecom users are duly protected. Sale of illegal Cellular Mobile Jamming Device and its usage has resulted in call dropping and degraded quality issues. Resultantly, the public and service providers were facing inconvenience due to illegal and unauthorized sale of jammers, their installation and operation.

Chairman PTA further said that Government of Pakistan has issued a Policy under which installation of jamming devices /disablers without permission, is illegal.  He said that PTA as a regulator is vigilant and shall take all measures to stop this unlawful activity. He also warned all those involved in selling or installing of jammers to stop such unlawful activities, otherwise strict action will be initiated against them as per the law.

In recent months, PTa has become more active against illegal use of telecom services and devices.

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Broadband is considered as a key enabler for enhancing social and economic productivity of a country. Broadband is critical to the delivery of private sector services and applications in commerce, telecommunication and banking. Furthermore it is also indispensable for public sector services and applications in education, health, community and other key areas. Primary vision behind formulation of BSG was to establish a group of experts who could plan out essential suggestions for growth and proliferation of Broadband.

Key agenda of the second BSG meeting was to discuss the recently prepared first draft report of BSG. The report targets four major areas of broadband development along with necessary recommendations for improvement. The areas encompass Broadband Infrastructure & Next Generation Broadband, Broadband Policy & Regulation Framework, Content & Application Take-up and Rural Broadband Connectivity.

During his opening remarks Chairman PTA congratulated the members upon completion of an all-inclusive first draft report. He endorsed the efforts put in by BSG for coming up with a set of suggestions both for the regulator and the policy makers. Chairman highlighted his vision of enabling broadband growth in every sector of the country. He emphasized on future roadmap and desired the BSG members to work on some realistic subscribers targets for next two years. Chairman PTA also accentuated the importance of content and applications for proliferation of broadband services. He shared few of the latest initiatives up-taken by ICT Directorate at PTA regarding the growth of mobile-based ICT applications in the country.

BSG members discussed the first draft report and suggested necessary improvements required before releasing the final recommendations report. The members also appreciated PTA for providing a common platform to industry experts for joining their thoughts on improvement of broadband considered as a pivotal sector for enhancing productivity.

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According to details, the digit “3” was added to all the existing seven-digit telephone numbers of Karachi and Lahore except the numbers starting from “9”, while the digit “9” was added to all the existing numbers starting from “9”. At present both old and new numbers can be dialed for a period of three months in parallel operation, however only new numbers would be dialable after three months.  PTA has been conducting successful tests and trials since last month to implement successful launch and to make sure consumers don’t get effected due to the change.  

A parallel operation of old and new numbers will remain in action, from July 1 to Sep 30, 2009, that means subscribers would be able to dial old as well as new numbers. From October 1, old numbers cannot be dialed and announcements for the addition of one digit before any dialed number of Lahore and Karachi will start working for users.

It may be mentioned that  “National Numbering Plan 2008” was prepared  by PTA with extensive research and inputs of technical experts. The said plan was circulated to the industry for consultation and after receiving comments from all stake holders, PTA finalized the plan. It took more than one year and heavy consultation was also involved with all the stakeholders.

Moreover, 7 to 8 Digits Fixed Number Migration Plan will be implemented in a phased manner all over the country. In Phase-1, FLL and WLL operators in Karachi and Lahore will migrate from 7 digits to 8 digits dialling format. This would create capacity for current and future expansion as these two cities have reached a level where migration is essential to cater for smooth growth in subscriber base of various operators. In the Phas-2 (after 1-2 years) other major cities would be shifted, while in the Third Phase the rest of the country would be shifted in 3-4 years time period.

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This particular illegal gateway exchange was operational in a posh locality of F – 7/2, Islamabad and was being operated by Pakistani and foreign nationals. The highly professional team of PTA was able to recover a number of gateways and machines being used to bypass the legal route. Resultantly, it is estimated that this illegal facility alone has incurred loss up to Rs 24 crore in less than four months.

Chairman PTA Dr. Mohammed Yaseen said that PTA will continue to take action against such unlawful activities. He warned all those involved in illegal / grey telecom traffic to stop such activities, otherwise strict action will be initiated against the culprits as per the law.

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This arrangement will bring cost efficiency vis-à-vis international IP bandwidth by restricting local internet traffic within the country. Besides that, it will also provide routing efficiency especially in accessing the locally hosted websites. Considering as a major step towards Information Communication Technologies (ICT) revolution, the arrangement will also have an indirect impact on proliferation of local internet content development in the country.

In continuation to its role as an industry facilitator, PTA was mutually working with PTCL and TWA for establishment of Local Internet Exchange Point(s) in the country. In this regard a number of discussions and deliberations were carried out by PTA and necessary solutions for implementation of said peering arrangements were conversed.

Chairman PTA, Dr. Mohammed Yaseen in his remarks appreciated the efforts of the ICT Directorate of PTA, PTCL and TWA for working on the project and said that this initiative would bring a remarkable effect on Internet industry of Pakistan. The Chairman also highlighted that the ICT Directorate at PTA has embarked on several other projects that would soon bring fruitful benefits and productive results for the consumers and the industry. PTCL and TWA valued PTA’s exertions and ensured their continuous corporation for the betterment of Internet industry.

It may be noted that Internet Service Providers (ISPs) of Pakistan seek international Internet connectivity through PTCL and TWA. The domestic Internet traffic originated by ISPs of the country is being routed through international hops as currently no mutual peering points exist in Pakistan. The present routing scenario is resulting in unnecessary delay for the local internet traffic, burden on International Internet links and increase in average per bit delivery cost of ISPs. With this agreement, all such issues will be addressed and local internet traffic will be fastest.

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On this occasion Chairman said that besides monitoring services of telecom operators, Zonal Office Rawalpindi would be able to address consumer complaints promptly. In this regard, consumers of Rawalpindi Region and Northern Areas can contact Zonal Office Rawalpindi at Phone # 051-5766402, Fax # 051-5766403. Email: rawalpindi@pta.gov.pk. It may be noted that PTA has six Zonal Offices located at Karachi, Quetta, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Peshawar and Muzaffarabad.

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