LAHORE: The majority of Long Distance International (LDI) operators have a 20-year license contract that is about to expire, and they have not yet paid the principle that is overdue for the Universal Service Fund (USF).
According to reports, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has requested that they pay the overdue principal payment of Rs24 billion in order for their licenses to be renewed for a further 20 years.
The provision of international incoming and outgoing telecom call services is the primary duty of the LDI operators. The licenses of the majority of the ten operators expire in July or August of 2024.
World call, Redone, ADG-LDI, Telecard, Dancom, WideCom, CircleNet, Wateen, 4B-Gentel, and Multinet are the LDI operators.
Telecommunications sector sources claim that the “defaulted” LDI operators have asked the PTA to extend their licenses for an additional 20 years and collect APCs (access promotion costs) for the outstanding USF in installments, only accepting postdated checks with no bank guarantee.
According to a PTA source, a committee was established by the PTA and the Ministry of Information and Technology to address the problem of extending the licenses of these non-compliant businesses.
“The PTA has notified the non-compliant operators to make the primary payment for the renewal of their license. If payment is not received, the PTA may impose late fees of two percent per month, cancel the current license, and pursue legal action, which may involve attaching the properties.
