52nd Meeting of the Study Group on Information Technology and Telecommunications

SDPI’s Study Group on IT and Telecom in its 52nd meeting held on July 13, 2005 discussed the following:

a. Proposed amendments in the Pakistan Telecommunications (Re-organization) Act, 1996 (Telecom Act) view draft

b. Harmonizing the Telecom Act and the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) Ordinance

The Cabinet recently approved the amendments in the Telecom Act 1996 and the bill will soon be moved in the National Assembly. The Study Group expressed its grave concern that such an important Bill pertaining to a sector of great economic value and affecting the service providers and consumers and also having important legal impacts is being rushed through the parliament without a serious public debate. The Study Group recalled that the Telecom Act 1996 was similarly bulldozed resulting in serious gaps and lacunae in the Act.

Since the government has already sent the Bill to the parliament, therefore, the Study Group decided to explain the situation to the parliamentary Committee on IT and request not to rush the Bill and open it up for extensive public debate.

The Need to Amend Pakistan Telecommunication (Re-organization) Act, 1996

The amendments in the Act have been necessitated by the following main developments that took place after 1996:

• Various government policies
  • De-regulation policy for the Telecom Sector, 2003
  • Mobile Cellular Policy, 2004
  • Broadband Policy, 2004
• PEMRA Ordinance, 2002
• Creation of IT and Telecom Division
• Placing PTA under the Cabinet Division, placing Frequency Allocation Board (FAB) under PTA
• Supreme Court ruling on monitoring/interception of private/personal phone calls
• Other important issues like powers of PTA, tariff regime, administering various funds like the regulatory/licence fee, universal service fund, access promotion contribution and a host of other factors.
• Parallel jurisdiction of the tribunal and the high courts

There are a host of other vital factors that must be debated before the Bill can be ready for tabling in the National Assembly.

Harmonizing the Telecom Act and PEMRA Ordinance
Presently the two are not in harmony. With the convergence of technologies, there is no need to have two separate regulatory bodies namely, PTA and PEMRA. Many countries have only one regulatory body. The provision in PEMRA Ordinance, which prohibits the issuance of licences to foreign operators, has lost its power because the broadcasters in foreign lands dedicate their transmissions for Pakistani viewers.

Recommendation
The Bill containing amendments must not be rushed. It should be opened for public debate with a view to developing consensus among the stakeholders.

Proposed Amended Act
The Study Group proposes that the Parliamentary Committee on IT may study the proposed changes in the bill. A member of the Study Group, Moh.Aslam Hayat, has prepared the draft.

The above recommendations have been sent to Muhammad Tahir Shah, Chairman, Standing Committee on Information Technology on behalf of the institute.