Pakistan to take up spillover effects of Afghan mobile signals

Asia-Pacific regulators roundtable moot

ISLAMABAD: In order to curb terrorists’ connectivity, Pakistan has decided to take up the issue of spillover effects of mobile signals emanating from Afghanistan and reaching the border areas on the sidelines of regulators roundtable international conference scheduled to be held in Islamabad from July 18 to 22.

“Yes, we will raise the issue of spillover effects of mobile signals in the bordering areas with Afghanistan during the upcoming international conference of regulators in which representatives of 23 countries belonging to Asia Pacific will participate, Chairman Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) Dr Ismail Shah said while briefing journalists here on Friday. 

The representatives of all neighboring countries, including China, India, Iran, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and others, will attend the conference. The roaming services, he said, were disallowed owing to security concerns in the bordering areas of Afghanistan.

To another question about technical capability for establishing telecommunication linkages with the neighboring countries, he said it was possible but the decision to move ahead would be taken keeping in view security policies of the country.

It is relevant to mention here that to curb Afghan SIMs used in undertaking terrorist activities in Pakistan, Islamabad had offered Kabul to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) but got no response from the Afghan side so far.

Despite reminders given by Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), Afghanistan gave a cold shoulder to the Pakistani offer. Asked about payment of 10 percent advance tax by Telenor Pakistan after winning 4G spectrum, Dr Ismail Shah said the company had paid $39.9 million, equivalent to Rs4.12 billion, with the FBR in shape of Withholding Tax during the last financial year.

To another query about banning content on the social media for defamation, he said it was difficult but they were trying to open up communication channels with the forums from July 18 to 22.  He said efforts were on to convince them to establish their presence within Pakistan.

Regarding the upcoming regulators conference, he said the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) were jointly organising the “ITU-PTA Asia-Pacific Regulators’ Roundtable” and the “ITU-PTA International Training Program (ITP) 2016”. The events will be held from 18-22 July 2016 in Islamabad.

The inaugural session will be held on July 18, 2016 at a hotel in Islamabad.  Representatives from 23 countries from Asia Pacific Region shall participate in this international event. Houlin Zhao, Secretary-General ITU, Anusha Rahman Khan, Minister of State of Information Technology and Telecommunication, Chairman PTA Dr. Syed Ismial Shah, representatives from telecom mobile operators, internet service providers, academic institutions, banks, ICT entrepreneurs, and commercial companies will attend inaugural session  of this international event.

The Regulators’ Roundtable is the 6th consecutive time since the Asia-Pacific Region took the initiative to organize the annual Roundtable to provide telecommunication/ICT regulators in the region with a platform that fosters dynamic and strategic discussions, sharing information, relevant experiences and practices as well as conclusively debate on possible solutions and opportunities for potential collaboration to address emerging regulatory issues and challenges. This is being for the first time in Pakistan.

The training program will be held from 20th to 22 July, 2016. This program will build skills to address the policy and regulatory issues in the era beyond convergence of telecommunications, information technology.