ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Railways has sought time to review its right of way (ROW) policy for installing telecom infrastructure especially optical fibre cable (OFC), as per information available with Business Recorder.

Well-placed sources told Business Recorder that a sideline meeting of the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) working group on Information and Telecom was held here on Thursday.

The meeting was aimed at reviewing the ROW policies for the telecom sector aimed at facilitating the installation of telecom infrastructure, enhancing fiberisation in the country and setting a foundation for future technologies’ adoption.

The meeting was attended among others by officials from the Railways Ministry, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), and the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication.

Sources revealed that Railways has revoked its previous policy approved by Federal Cabinet in 2022, and intends to increase the annual rates as per approval of the federal government i.e. Rs30 per meter.

However, the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication pleaded that currently Public RoW is being charged at Rs30 per meter by various public organisations including NHA and the same may be followed by Railway.

The ministry further stated that ROW should not be treated as a revenue generation tool, but should be based on no profit, no loss standard as per RoW Policy, 2020.

Sources said the Railways Ministry asked for more time to complete homework before reaching a conclusion. It was decided to meet again by the end of next week, to finalise the matter aimed at facilitating the telecom sector and an increase in broadband proliferation which will ultimately lead to an enhanced Digital Financial Sector Development which is the primary focus of the government.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023