Page 79 - SAMENA Trends - April 2020

REGULATORY & POLICY UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

PTA Pakistan Ranked 4th Generation Regulator by ITU

Pakistan has been ranked as 4th Generation Regulator (G4)
by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and has
become the only country in South Asia to have achieved this
goalpost. Out of 38 economies in Asia-Pacific, only 8% states
have managed to achieve G4 status. According to ITU’s report
“Global ICT Regulatory Outlook 2020 (GIRO)”, Pakistan scored 88
out of 100 which means that Pakistan’s ICT regulations are led by
economic and social policy goals. Pakistan is also among the top
5 regulators in the entire Asia-Pacific region with a global rank of
48. GIRO is built on high-quality data provided by 193 countries
worldwide that forms the basis of ‘ICT Regulatory Tracker’. The
Tracker, developed by ITU, is an evidence-based tool that helps
decision-makers and regulators monitor the rapid evolution of
ICT regulation The report further reveals that Pakistan has scored
full marks (20/20) for Regulatory Authority, 19/22 for regulatory striving to achieve new international benchmarks by showing its
mandate, 22/30 for regulatory regime and 27/28 for competition commitment to protect consumer interests and enhance public-
framework. Pakistan’s journey towards collaborative regulation private collaborations for the digital transformation & socio-
has also been highlighted as a special feature in the report. economic benefit of Pakistan.
Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) is continuously

Belgian Greens Call for Suspension of 5G Licensing Process

The Belgian Greens and Ecolo parties have – had applied for temporary rights in April, using its existing spectrum holdings
tabled a resolution calling on the Belgian the 3.6GHz-3.8GHz band, but Green MP and infrastructure to provide coverage
Institute for Post and Telecommunications Stefaan Van Hecke argues publishing such in more than 30 communes across
(BIPT) to suspend plans to allocate decisions on the regulator’s website is the country. It has since been forced
provisional 5G licenses until the COVID-19 not conducive to wider public debate. ‘We to suspend the service in some areas,
crisis has eased, arguing more time is should not give the impression that people however, after local authorities and anti-
needed for a wider public debate, Datanews cannot fully participate in the debate or that 5G groups complained the company had
reports. The BIPT revealed on 24 March the government is forcing something down deployed the technology without adequate
that five companies – Proximus, Orange their throats,’ he said. Proximus launched opportunity for public consultation during
Belgium, Telenet, Cegeka and Entropia Belgium’s first 5G mobile services on 1 the coronavirus crisis.

Court Rejects Vodafone’s $629M India’s Supreme Court has dealt another hammer blow to Vodafone
Idea, rejecting the beleaguered telco’s request for a $629 million (4,760
Appeal for Tax Refund crore rupee) tax refund. Instead, the two man panel allowed refund of
just $96 million (730 crore rupees) and closed the matter. The ruling
is another significant blow to the finances of the struggling telco’s
finances, following a Supreme Court ruling last October that forced
telcos to revise the way they calculate their adjusted growth revenues
– a crucial metric used by the Department of Telecoms to calculate
dues and charges regarding spectrum usage. The Supreme Court’s
AGR ruling saddled the industry with tens of billions of dollars of
debt, of which Vodafone Idea was responsible for around $7.2 billion.
Vodafone Idea has repeatedly called on the Indian government to
devise a financial aid package, including allowing it to repay its debts
over a 20 year period. However, the government has so far largely
rejected these pleas. Last week, Vodafone Group infused an extra $200
million into its Indian joint venture. To enable the company to remain
solvent.

79 APRIL 2020