‘PTA to launch new service to protect consumer rights’
KARACHI: Chairman Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) Dr. Mohammed Yaseen has said that PTA would soon launch a number of new services to protect consumer rights including introduction of 668 service through which a mobile consumer would be able to know all SIM connections issued against his name by just sending a single SMS.
He was speaking at the ‘Consumer Forum’ organised by PTA in Karachi with a theme of ‘Together for Consumer Rights’. The Forum was attended by senior representatives of telecom operators, consumer rights organisations, academia, media and other stakeholders. Member Technical PTA Dr Khawar Siddique Khokhar and other senior officers also attended the forum. Chairman PTA said that PTA was working on formulation of spam regulations under which consumers would be facilitated against unwanted and obnoxious SMS and calls. He said that PTA has already introduced Consumer Regulations 2009 wherein issues such as misleading advertisements, call charges and problems related to tariffs of mobile companies have been addressed.
Chairman PTA said that PTA is cognizant of telecom consumer’s grievances and is taking a number of steps to resolve their issues. In this regard, PTA has revamped complaint-handling mechanism of mobile companies, PTCL and other telecom operators. A subscriber can launch a complaint with its relevant operator and in case the complaint is not resolved the consumer can approach PTA’s Consumer Cell.
Yaseen said that PTA would switch on to a new service in September which would enable a mobile user to know all SIM connections details issued against his name by just sending his CNIC to 668. This would help in detecting real identification of a SIM user. This new service is part of PTA efforts to block all illegal SIMs and clean the data of mobile users, he added.
The chairman said that under new regulations operators have been asked to seek consumer consent before activation of any new package. While responding to various queries of participants the chairman said that PTCL management has been working to improve its system and they have ensured PTA to take appropriate steps to provide its consumers best services.
Chairman PTA said that PTA has taken a number of steps for the proliferation of broadband services in the country and this will result in enhanced usage of ICTs. He also spoke about the overall growth of telecom sector in the country.
The overall teledensity in the country has reached 61.80. There are currently 94.30 million mobile subscribers with mobile penetration reaching 58.20 percent. Cellular segment leads the share in total teledensity by 94.10 percent followed by FLL 2.60 percent and WLL 3.30 percent. There are total 10,148 cities/towns/villages covered and 28,124 cell sites installed by all cellular operators covering almost 92 percent of the land area of Pakistan.
Total FLL in Pakistan stands at 3.7 million yielding a teledensity of 2 (as of March 2009). The Wireless Local Loop (WLL) solution in relation to fixed line requires less investment with high returns. Today WLL services are available in Pakistan and value-added services like EvDO are also available. The WLL services are getting popular especially in rural areas and total subscribers of WLL stood at 2.6 million with 1.6 teledensity. There are currently more than 11,669 cities/ towns/villages covered by WLL services. The Long Distance and International (LDI) segment of Pakistan telecom sector has gone through developmental and growth phases in a very small period. Tariffs of LDI witnessed stability. Broadband is experiencing healthy growth since last year and companies are providing broadband services with DSL, Cable, FTTH, WiMax and EvDO technologies across Pakistan whereas DSL is the most popular technology. There are currently 411,067 broadband subscribers.
On this occasion Aamir Ibrahim CSO M/s Telenor, Sikandar Naqi SEVP (Corporate Affairs), M/s PTCL, Pervaiz Iftikhar CEO USF and Naseem Ahmed Vohra, Consultant M/s Wateen Telecom gave detailed presentations on cellular mobile, fixed line and uplift of telecom services in rural Sindh. staff report
He was speaking at the ‘Consumer Forum’ organised by PTA in Karachi with a theme of ‘Together for Consumer Rights’. The Forum was attended by senior representatives of telecom operators, consumer rights organisations, academia, media and other stakeholders. Member Technical PTA Dr Khawar Siddique Khokhar and other senior officers also attended the forum. Chairman PTA said that PTA was working on formulation of spam regulations under which consumers would be facilitated against unwanted and obnoxious SMS and calls. He said that PTA has already introduced Consumer Regulations 2009 wherein issues such as misleading advertisements, call charges and problems related to tariffs of mobile companies have been addressed.
Chairman PTA said that PTA is cognizant of telecom consumer’s grievances and is taking a number of steps to resolve their issues. In this regard, PTA has revamped complaint-handling mechanism of mobile companies, PTCL and other telecom operators. A subscriber can launch a complaint with its relevant operator and in case the complaint is not resolved the consumer can approach PTA’s Consumer Cell.
Yaseen said that PTA would switch on to a new service in September which would enable a mobile user to know all SIM connections details issued against his name by just sending his CNIC to 668. This would help in detecting real identification of a SIM user. This new service is part of PTA efforts to block all illegal SIMs and clean the data of mobile users, he added.
The chairman said that under new regulations operators have been asked to seek consumer consent before activation of any new package. While responding to various queries of participants the chairman said that PTCL management has been working to improve its system and they have ensured PTA to take appropriate steps to provide its consumers best services.
Chairman PTA said that PTA has taken a number of steps for the proliferation of broadband services in the country and this will result in enhanced usage of ICTs. He also spoke about the overall growth of telecom sector in the country.
The overall teledensity in the country has reached 61.80. There are currently 94.30 million mobile subscribers with mobile penetration reaching 58.20 percent. Cellular segment leads the share in total teledensity by 94.10 percent followed by FLL 2.60 percent and WLL 3.30 percent. There are total 10,148 cities/towns/villages covered and 28,124 cell sites installed by all cellular operators covering almost 92 percent of the land area of Pakistan.
Total FLL in Pakistan stands at 3.7 million yielding a teledensity of 2 (as of March 2009). The Wireless Local Loop (WLL) solution in relation to fixed line requires less investment with high returns. Today WLL services are available in Pakistan and value-added services like EvDO are also available. The WLL services are getting popular especially in rural areas and total subscribers of WLL stood at 2.6 million with 1.6 teledensity. There are currently more than 11,669 cities/ towns/villages covered by WLL services. The Long Distance and International (LDI) segment of Pakistan telecom sector has gone through developmental and growth phases in a very small period. Tariffs of LDI witnessed stability. Broadband is experiencing healthy growth since last year and companies are providing broadband services with DSL, Cable, FTTH, WiMax and EvDO technologies across Pakistan whereas DSL is the most popular technology. There are currently 411,067 broadband subscribers.
On this occasion Aamir Ibrahim CSO M/s Telenor, Sikandar Naqi SEVP (Corporate Affairs), M/s PTCL, Pervaiz Iftikhar CEO USF and Naseem Ahmed Vohra, Consultant M/s Wateen Telecom gave detailed presentations on cellular mobile, fixed line and uplift of telecom services in rural Sindh. staff report
source dailytimes.com.pk
