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Message of
Chairman
PTA
on
63rd
Independence
Anniversary of
Pakistan
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I am very glad to know that ‘TelecomPlus’ is publishing
a special issue to commemorate the Independence
Anniversary of Pakistan. This occasion reminds us of
the great sacrifices that our forefathers and hundreds of
thousands of Muslims of the Subcontinent have made
for the creation of a separate homeland.
I, on behalf of PTA, congratulate the nation on this
auspicious occasion. Today, Pakistan has come a long
way since its inception, to prove itself as one of the
emerging and progressive nations of the world. This is
clearly evident from the telecom sector of Pakistan,
which has achieved tremendous growth and
development in recent years. Leading international
telecom players have invested heavily into the
Pakistani market providing not only a valuable source
of FDI generating economic activity in the country but
also increased teledensity, provision of a range of
telecom services as well as improvement in the quality
of services and reduction in tariff rates. Moreover,
keeping up to its commitment, PTA as the Regulator
has been successfully able to maintain the positive
trend in the industry. It is also heartening to note and
indeed a matter of great honor for Pakistan that the
phenomenal development in the country's telecom
sector has been acknowledged at the international level
as Pakistan’s telecom sector has emerged as one of
the fastest growing sector on the global IT & Telecom
map. Pakistan is prominent in the region in terms of its
teledensity that stands at 64%. The number of cell
phone subscribers is around 99 million. The present
share of telecom sector in GDP is about 2%. Telecom
experts around the world have highly appreciated our
achievements in this sector.
With these encouraging figures PTA is now focusing on
the spread of broadband services across the country
and it has taken number of steps in this regard. These
initiatives include SMS-based Information System for
educational institutions, PTA Gold Medal Scheme,
Essay Competition on Telecom Day and cash prizes
for best research project competition. PTA has
awarded the gold medals to the winning students for
academic year 2008 and 2009.
As we celebrate our Independence, we invite all
stakeholders —service providers, international
organizations, public and non-governmental
organizations, manufacturers as well as policy makers
— to join us in our endeavors to connect everyone, to
ensure that the benefits are evenly distributed within
society as well as to bridge the digital divide by
creating digital opportunities to harness the full
potential for development offered by state-of-the-art
Information Communication Technologies (ICTs).
As a Regulator I want to assure that the Authority would
continue with its efforts to facilitate all stakeholders. The
Authority also reiterates its commitment to encourage
healthy competition with an aim of introducing cutting
edge telecom related technologies in the country. Let
us pray to Allah, that Pakistan achieves even more
success in every field and proves itself as an advanced
and developed nation of the world.
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Dr. Muhammad Yaseen
Chairman, Pakistan Telecommunication
Authority
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