Pakistan only country in South Asia ranked 4th Generation regulator

• Pakistan scored 88 points and was among the top 5 regulators in the entire Asia-Pacific region with a global rank of 48.

Pakistan became the only country in South Asia to be ranked as 4th Generation Regulator (G4) by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

As per ITU’s report “Global ICT Regulatory Outlook 2020 (GIRO)”, Pakistan scored 88 points, which means that Pakistan’s ICT regulations are led by economic and & social policy goals, the country was among the top 5 regulators in the entire Asia-Pacific region with a global rank of 48. Other countries to make into the top five list include Singapore, Japan, Australia, and Malaysia.

The report further reveals that Pakistan has scored full marks (20/20) for Regulatory Authority, 19/22 for the regulatory mandate, 22/30 for the regulatory regime, and 27/28 for competition framework.

It is pertinent to inform that ITU is a United Nations specialized agency for information and communication technologies – ICTs.

Meanwhile, the GIRO report was developed after collecting data from 193 countries worldwide, the report identifies headline trends, challenges and opportunities for regulators as ICT (Information and Communication Technology)  broadens out to touch all civic, professional and personal aspects of our lives within the phenomenon we call the digital global economy.

Talking about the Asia-Pacific region, GIRO stated that the region presents a very diverse range of countries in terms of regulatory maturity. Across the region, only four countries (roughly one in ten) have attained G4 status and no countries have succeeded in attaining G4 status since 2012. Singapore and Japan place in the G5 category.