ISLAMABAD: The total revenue from telecom sector in this fiscal year is estimated at Rs1,000 billion, Chairman Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) Major General Hafeez Ur Rehman (retd) briefed the Senate Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat, Thursday, whereas the cabinet expressed its concern on the tax policy on cellular advertisements, emphasising to formulate a formal policy in this regard.
In the committee’s meeting, the chairman PTA briefed the Senate panel that telecom sector was eyeing to generate Rs1000 billion in this financial year 2024-25. The briefing suggested that Pakistan’s optical fibre infrastructure was “relatively underdeveloped compared to other countries.”
Following the concern raised by the committee over the tax policy on cellular advertisements, Rana Mehmood-ul Hassan, the Senate panel’s Chairman, said, Pakistan lacks a formal policy in this regard, and emphasised on the formulation of a formal policy.
Law Minister Azam Tarar said 132 million people in Pakistan use social media for business purposes. Several countries have established taxation policies in this context, which, he said, are lacking in Pakistan.
The PTA officials informed the committee that telecom consumer taxes were very high in Pakistan. The members were also briefed on the improvement of network coverage through Universal Service Fund (USF) and issues related to the existing 4G/LTE infrastructure were highlighted.
Saleem Mandviwalla pointed out that other countries were benefiting from advanced 5G services, and Pakistan is “still struggling with 2G and 3G services, which do not function properly.”
The committee also took up the issue of frequent blocking of social media. It was reported that approximately 146 complaints related to unlawful content were lodged per day, the highest number in Asia.
Farooq Naek said restricting access to digital means would hinder the country’s digital progress. Committee members and senior officials of the government bodies concerned attended the meeting.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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