Mobile telecommunication: Pakistan now offers better regulatory environment

Pakistan has now a better regulatory environment for mobile telecommunication than India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and the Philippines, reveals Telecom Regulatory Environment (TRE) Survey conducted in five Asian countries by Sri Lanka based LIRNEasia.
Results were announced here at a "Workshop on Assessment of Telecom Regulatory Environments" organised by Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) which was inaugurated by Chairman PTA Shahzada Alam Malik. Speaking on the occasion, the Chairman said total teledensity was 43.44 percent in May 2007. On average approximately 2.3 million subscribers are being added on cellular mobile networks each month in Pakistan, he added.
He said mobile penetration reached 37.6 percent at the end of April 2007. Total mobile subscribers at the end of May 2007 crossed the 60.8 million mark. He said during the first three quarters of 2006-07, telecom sector attracted 1.4 billion dollar FDI. Telecom sector of Pakistan is growing at an astounding pace and surpassing all forecasts over the last few years, he added. The results of the 2006 TRE survey, he said provide a useful diagnostic tool for assessing regulatory efficacy.
Overall, Pakistan scored particularly well on market entry and on the management of scarce resources (spectrum) in mobile sector. Pakistan and the Philippines emerged as having the best regulatory environments in mobile, with Pakistan marginally ahead. Pakistan's performance was particularly impressive because it is the country with the lowest GNI per capita in the set. India had the next best scores, with Indonesia and Sri Lanka following.