Page 116 - SAMENA Trends - January-February 2023

REGULATORY & POLICY UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

PTA Issues Regulatory Initiatives for Affordable Telecom Services and Digital

Transformation

Critical frameworks have been developed by the Pakistan Telecom- the objective to maximize the social, economic, and technological
munication Authority (PTA) for the digital transformation of Paki- benefits of this natural resource. Spectrum Management is the
stan as envisioned in the Telecom Policy 2015. These frameworks process to regulate the use of radio frequencies in an efficient
will reduce unnecessary inefficiency and prove minimum impact manner. RF Spectrum Re-Farming Framework (Section 8.5): PTA/
on the operators while they ensure accessibility and availability of PEMRA in consultation with FAB was mandated to propose a
affordable digital/telecom services across the country. spectrum re-farming framework to be approved by the Federal
Telecom Infrastructure Sharing Framework (Section 7.5) Government (MoIT).
PTA was to develop the necessary regulatory instrument to encour- • Spectrum will be re-farmed where its current use is not in the
age, facilitate and standardize infrastructure sharing in consulta- best social and economic interests of Pakistan, it is underuti-
tion with Federal Government (Ministry of Information Technology lized, used inefficiently or its use is inconsistent with internation-
and Telecommunication) and stakeholders. There is a great need al allocations.
for telecom infrastructure sharing in Pakistan due to increasing in- • The re-farming will ensure the reassignment of frequencies to
flation, low Avg Revenue Per User (ARPU), increasing fuel prices, uses with greater social and commercial benefits than are attain-
revenue challenges, the requirement of massive CapEx for new able from the prevailing assignment of those frequencies.
technologies like 5G, connecting the unconnected in remote/rural PTA in collaboration with PEMRA, FAB, industry stakeholders, and
areas, cost-effective means to address capacity demand growth, MoITT has developed a regulatory framework after an extensive
social benefits, and nationwide coverage. consultation process with stakeholders that will be submitted after
Some salient features are: Authority approval in due course of time to MoITT for approval by
• The framework has been developed by PTA based on the princi- the Federal Government.
ples of neutrality, non-discrimination, and equal access, consid- RF Spectrum Sharing Framework (Section 8.16):
ering regional & international best practices. PTA & PEMRA in consultation with FAB and stakeholders was to
• The framework will provide a mechanism for licensees to share develop RF Spectrum Sharing Framework for approval by Federal
their telecom infrastructure facilities that would include passive Government. On the directions of GoP, PTA has prepared a draft
(towers space, ducts, etc.) as well as active (Access Network – framework after multiple rounds of consultation were carried out
BTS, BSC/RNC, Microwave, etc.) components. with the industry and all internal/external stakeholders. Cross-in-
The draft Telecom Infrastructure Sharing Framework, after exten- dustry concerns and comments on the draft frameworks were an-
sive and multiple industry consultation rounds, was approved by alyzed. Considerable progress has been made for the formulation
the Authority in November 2022 and submitted to Ministry of Infor- of spectrum sharing considering all international developments
mation Technology and Telecommunication (MoITT) for policy-lev- and market dynamics. Draft Framework is now undergoing a final
el approval by Federal Government. review and will be shared with MoITT for approval.
Radio Frequency (RF) Spectrum Management Satellite Telecommunication Framework
RF Spectrum is a scarce and limited natural resource. It is the oil that PTA has been working on the formulation of the Satellite Telecom-
powers the Wireless Broadband. The availability of RF spectrum munication Licensing Framework pursuant to a mandate given to
for technological developments & to meet increasing capacity it. To firm up an agreed framework on Regulatory and Financial as-
demands of broadband in the telecom industry is crucial. In order pects of the satellite services in Pakistan, an inter-Ministerial Com-
to meet the growing demands of the RF spectrum, the regulators mittee (IMC) was constituted by the Prime Minister of Pakistan. In
have focused on the latest trends in spectrum management with this regard, PTA has proposed a regulatory and licensing frame-
work for satellite services proliferation in the country. The pro-
posed framework covers the licensing of Fixed Satellite Services
(FSS), Mobile Satellite Services (MSS) – Global Mobile Personal
Communication Services (GMPCS), and Maritime & Aeronautical
Satellite Services (On-Board Internet Connectivity (OIC), with spe-
cial consideration to spectrum management, keeping in view the
protection of existing services/users. The framework also outlines
a registration process (Earth station, VSATs, etc.), taking into con-
sideration the best international practices. This draft proposal has
been submitted to MoITT for issuance of policy directives in order
to introduce the satellite telecommunication licensing regime in
Pakistan. PTA acknowledges the continued engagement & sup-
port of the telecom industry and specially MoITT, FAB & PEMRA in
the development of these vital & high-impact frameworks that will
drive the sector forward.

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