|
|
If you are searching for talent in such cutting edge technologies as 3G,
Mahmond Agency would probably not be on your search list. Yet it is here that
Khalid Khan was born, brought up and grew to be a telecom professional. In
addition to his engineering degree, he acquired MBA degrees in business and
finance. As part of Interactive Group, he was involved with the government in
preparing the 8th & 9th Five Year Plans, and later IT & Telecom Policy in 2000.
His passion for satellite communications and 3G technologies takes him to such
far off places as Central Asian Republics and Africa. Meet Khalid Khan,
Chairman Central Asian Cellular Forum and GM Telecom at Inter Active
|
|
|
|
TelecomPlus: Could we begin with your professional & educational
background?
Khalid Khan: I consider myself lucky to be doing well in the technology business
despite coming from a very remote tribal belt situated along the Pak-Afghan
border. Most of the educated people from that area prefer joining the
government service. I broke the tradition by joining Interactive Group, a private
sector organization. I have been with the company since 1990. The Group at that
time was negotiating with C&W, UK, for grant of mobile license in Pakistan. We
got the first mobile license and launched Paktel, which is now ZONG. My over two
decades long affiliation with the Group has afforded me a number of
opportunities to travel, meet wonderful people, understand technologies and
learn about the innovative business practices.
One thing that I still continue to do since day one during my professional life is
my passion for satellites. I spent considerable time looking after satellite
communication business for AsiaSat, which also meant interacting with the
broadcasting industry. My involvement with the government in preparing the 8th
& 9th Five Year Plans, and later IT & Telecom Policy in 2000, were good learning
experiences.
On the education front, after completing my basic schooling from PAF College
Peshawar, I did my Engineering from Dawood College, Karachi. Later, when I
was pursuing my professional career, I also continued my studies. I did my MBA
in Marketing and then in Finance. It certainly helped me in my carrier
development. For the past few years, I have been concentrating on promoting
3G technologies in Pakistan and the Central Asian region through the Central
Asian Cellular Forum.
What is the core activity of Central Asian Cellular Forum?
We extend support in areas where we feel that no assistance is available. The
CDMA has made limited progress in Pakistan because of the restrictions
imposed on this technology. You are allowed to offer only Wireless Local Loop
through this technology. It could have been a much flourishing industry had
stringent regulations not restricted it to the point of strangulation. Because of
this, several companies have died a pre-mature death. However, PTCL has
made commendable progress in this area. It is one of the few operators
worldwide that launched wireless broadband and also introduced EVDO-Rev B,
which makes Pakistan as one of the very few countries offering this cutting-edge
3G technology.
Since, the 3G flavor of UMTS/WCDMA has not been introduced in Pakistan,
there is lot of room to train and support the stakeholders and professionals who
have not seen this technology work. We have been associated with Qualcomm,
the company that developed this technology. We train and certify professionals
in that space. In the last few months, our professionals have gone to
technologically advanced countries like Germany and France for optimization of
their 3G networks. Despite being a small organization, we are doing quite well.
We started as a CDMA Forum for Pakistan only but later extended our sphere of
activities to Central Asia and also included UMTS/WCDMA flavor of 3G. We are
now covering eight Central Asian Countries, starting from Armenia to Mongolia. If
Pakistan and Afghanistan are also included in the list, the number rises to 10.
We are looking forward to expanding our operation to the African countries
where some spadework has already been done in collaboration with an operator
of Morocco.
How relevant is 3G for developing countries like Pakistan?
There are a number of reasons for Pakistan to adopt 3G sooner than later. The
Government of Pakistan is bound to provide conducive environs for business
opportunities. This objective can’t be achieved without providing the citizens with
the best available technologies. Already, there are around 8 million 3G devices
in Pakistan on our 2G networks nowadays which shows the environment is ripe
for 3G. The affordability is no issue as the price of low-end 3G handset is now
less than $50 which is quite affordable for the 30 million middle-tier and hi-end
consumers. 3G services would also provide the much needed impetus to our
slow growing IT industry.
Today’s knowledge-based world is highly dependent on broadband, which is
crucial for business, educational and cultural activities. The fastest way of
providing broadband to the masses is through mobile telephony. A great majority
of people in emerging economies, especially in a country like Pakistan, will have
their first broadband experience through mobile telephony, as the number of
PCs in the country is much lower than the number of handsets. Another reason
that necessitates early adoption of 3G is the growing stagnation of
telecommunication industry. Voice alone can’t take it any further. There is a limit
to the price war to boost sales. The kind of applications possible through 3G can
take operators out of the now harmful price war. In view of all these factors, we
are already behind by at least four years. The delay has started showing its
adverse impact on our economic growth. Any further delay would aggravate the
already deteriorating situation. To develop an economic friendly ICT ecosystem,
we need to bring 3G at the fastest possible pace.
What are the major hurdles?
Apparently, it is the high cost of licensing. The government has its own priorities
and erroneously looks at licensing as an exclusively revenue generating activity.
These are difficult times for telecomm industry. If the licensing issue keeps
delaying the rollout of 3G, the government stands to lose more revenue in the
long run than it expects to generate through licensing. As Central Asian Cellular
Forum, we subscribe to the operator’s viewpoint that the licensing fee should not
be very high. Most of the money should go into the rollout and development of
networks rather than licensing. The telecom Industry, government, economy and
the consumers would have been better off today had 3G been started 3-4 years
ago. In this case, the operators are also to be blamed because the issue was put
off on their request. The 2G networks require more BTSs because of the
capacity limitations. In the event of 3G rollout and the smaller number of BTSs,
the operators would have spent much less on Capex and thus provided more
value for money to the consumers who are the largest stakeholders.
Where do you place WiMAX in this debate?
It is a good technology, but it has a niche market. It cannot be an alternative to
3G. The WiMAX Forum itself is of the opinion that in 2014, WiMAX would have
around 10 million or may be fewer subscribers, whereas today there are more
than 500 million 3G subscribers.
Can we go for LTE rather than doing 3G first and then graduating to LTE?
The ecosystem for LTE is not yet there. The technology is not affordable for the
consumer, especially the terminal equipment is very expensive. As I said, you
can find 3G handsets as cheap as $50. Five years back, the price was in the
range of $1000 to $800. Similarly, it would take quite a few more years for LTE
terminal equipment to be commercially popular and viable. The spectrum
harmonization for LTE has also not happened. It does not bring the economies
of scale, either on the terminal or the infrastructure side. Then the voice support
for LTE is not there as well. However, it would be wiser for the government to
give the road map for the 4G spectrum as well while doing 3G. The operators
can then plan the future evolution of 3G network into 4G. This way, the
operators can be ready for it when 4G becomes viable in the future.
How are other countries handling the licensing issue?
There are about 20 modes about the procedure of licensing but the two main
modes are “auction” and “beauty contest”. In most of the cases, where the
objective has been the development of the network, they have conducted a
beauty contest. Here either the government asks the operators to give their
proposal, or the government itself can come up with a fair price of the spectrum
for all the operators. There are different approaches to achieve this. The
Regulator can give a formula for a fair value of the license. If the government
proposal is not acceptable for the operators, then third party consultants may be
asked to propose a fair value of the spectrum. The concept of fair value works
both ways. The Regulator has to ensure that the operators are serious and they
will not just sit on the spectrum, which could be the case if the cost is too low.
Which flavors of 3G are most popular?
ITU has defined about 4-5 flavors of 3G. In Pakistan, we have CDMA 2000 in the
shape of EVDO, while the UMTS version, being the biggest component of 3G
family, is missing in Pakistan. ITU has also placed WiMAX in 3G category. EDGE
also meets the 3G criterion. The TD-SCDMA is the home grown 3G in China.
However, CDMA & UMTS/WCDMA family form the largest component within 3G
family that has over 95% population and will continue so in the foreseeable
future, when they merge into LTE.
How do you promote interaction between industry and academia?
We are aligned with several universities including Iqra University. We teach 3G
technologies in all its flavors at various universities and have even set-up a 3G
Training Centre at IQRA University. We have trained over 1200 people in 3G,
both flavors, CDMA and UMTS. There is a definite need to do more on this front.
We are also doing some projects to facilitate operators in collaboration with
some universities by developing solution like PushMail, LBS, and Mobile TV that
will certainly help develop the mobile ecosystem. We understand the industry,
are also conversant with academia, and are thus in a better position to act as a
bridge between the two.
Would you like to say something else?
On the issue of 3G, I would like to say that the government needs to be very
proactive and must not further delay 3G. The operators should embrace the
technology in the interest of the country and take the industry out of the present
impasse. The technology is mature, the consumer is ready and the 3G handsets
are affordable. Lots of applications are there that the consumers want. The
operators could do better by putting fewer BTSs to save upon Capex & Opex. It
is a common sight to have 3,4 and 5 towers within the same locality and
sometimes on the same building. Not a desirable situation by any count.
On a more personal note, I believe in the Pakistani nationhood which is also the
reason why I did not go abroad. It is despite the fact that most of my friends and
family moved out to safer and greener pastors. It is painful to see that we have
not found our rightful place in the comity of nations despite having the potential.
However, we need to move forward with a positive approach and work harder to
chart our own future. As Prof. Alan Kay at UCLA rightly said, “The only way to
predict the future is to build it.”
I believe that’s the way forward for us.
|
|
|
|
|
