Pakistan Telecommunication Authority has identified more than 150 illegal operators and set up, and carried out 45 joint raids with Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) as part of its campaign to combat grey trafficking across the country.
During these raids, conducted since March 2008, 55 persons including six foreigners were apprehended, besides confiscation of 442 illegal gateway equipment.
An official source on Sunday said that in addition to these measures, PTA has also issued show-cause notices to legal operators involved in illegal business and subsequently imposed fine of Rs955 million to seven operators. Currently, FIA is prosecuting the culprits in the court of law.
The official said that due to a number of numerous enforcement measures taken by PTA (installation of international traffic monitoring system, legal actions against violators of law and revision of the rates), grey trafficking has decreased in the country over the time. Moreover, a cabinet committee is also studying the proposal from ministry of information technology and telecommunications on further reducing and eliminating grey traffic and related issues.
The authority has taken both technical and regulatory steps to control said practice, which are: as per provision of de-regulation policy, PTA reviews the Approved Settlement Rate at which licensed operators obtain traffic from foreign carriers. The authority has steadily decreased ASR and APC rate over the period in order to control grey traffic, however, it is evident that technical measures need to be taken to ensure incoming foreign exchange and sustainability of policy initiatives like Universal Service Fund.