Cabinet likely to approve cell phone policy today

By Shahzad Raza

ISLAMABAD: The federal cabinet is likely to approve the first cellular phone policy of Pakistan today to break the monopoly of existing cellular phone operators and provide a level-playing field to the new entrants, sources said.

“The main thrust of the policy is to make it obligatory to the existing operators to provide better and economical services to consumers,” Federal Minister for Information Technology Awais Leghari told Daily Times.

The minister, however, refused to comment that whether or not the cabinet would approve the cellular phone policy on Wednesday. “The agenda of the cabinet has always been kept secret, therefore I cannot confirm the report,” he said.

He said while making the cellular phone policy, the government has also ensured that the interests of the operators should not be affected. “We want to make the cellular phone sector grow. We want to provide investment opportunities to the potential players.”

The minister said under the policy new entrants would be encouraged so that they could compete with the existing operators.

The Pakistan elecommunication Authority has recently announced it will give two open-bidding cellular phone operating licenses to successful bidders.

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