Islamabad, Aug 29: The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has come under fire from the country’s auditor general for allegedly changing the terms of long-distance and international (LDI) licenses without the required consent from the federal government.
The LDI license granted to M/s Zeta Technologies (Pvt.) Ltd. on January 5, 2023, was modified. New clauses 3.2.6 to 3.2.8 under the name “Network Rollout Obligations” are included in this update. The provisions of the De-Regulation Policy 2003 and the Telecommunication Policy 2015 are violated, according to the Auditor General.
The audit report states that Rule 5.2.3 of the Telecommunication Policy 2015 requires federal government permission and stakeholder input before any modifications are made to the licensing regime.
Moreover, licensees may lease infrastructure from PTCL or other owners on nondiscriminatory, mutually agreed-upon terms, with long-term leases of five years or more acceptable in lieu of ownership, according to Rule 4.2.1 (b) of the De-Regulation Policy 2003. But the PTA changed the LDI license template without following these formalities, raising questions about what this would mean for the telecom industry.
According to the Auditor General, these unauthorized alterations may violate licensee rights as stated in Sections 5(b) and 6(a) of the Pakistan Telecommunication (Re-organization) Act, 1996 and may have a negative effect on the operations of telecom infrastructure providers.
These parts place a strong emphasis on licensee rights enforcement, monitoring, and protection, per the audit report. The PTA’s amendments, which were implemented without federal permission, have sparked concerns about the constitutionality and openness of the regulatory framework.
In November 2023, PTA management and the Principal Accounting Officer (PAO) were made aware of the problem. PTA retorted that neither the license’s scope nor the entire licensing regime was changed by the addition of new provisions to the LDI license template.
The modifications were explained by the authority as a component of initiatives to increase the percentage of fiber-to-the-tower/site (FTTT/FTTS), which is intended to encourage the upgrading of telecommunications services and systems. The Auditor General, however, felt that this explanation was insufficient and contended that the adjustments ought to have been implemented after stakeholder participation and receiving consent from the federal government.
During the December 20, 2023, Departmental Accounts Committee (DAC) meeting, the subject was reviewed. The DAC instructed PTA to submit the findings of its review with the Cabinet Division and have the Audit verify them. No more progress has been achieved as of the report’s completion.
