Cellphone banking to take Pakistan by storm

Currently Pakistan has overall 63 per cent teledensity, said the PTA chairman

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) is working closely with the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to develop a unified regulatory framework to connect all banks with cellular operators for mobile transactions.Speaking at a press conference here on Wednesday, PTA Chairman Dr Mohammed Yaseen said the two sides were finalising a draft of ‘Third party mobile banking regulations’ that would allow mobile phone operators and banks to work together.

Dr Yaseen said the telecommunication sector of Pakistan had shown phenomenal growth in the past few years, resulting in the expansion of subscriber base which opened new doors of business opportunities in the sector.

He said currently Pakistan had overall 63 per cent teledensity, while it had significant potential for broadband proliferation. Presently, there were an insignificant 500,000 broadband subscribers in Pakistan. The broadband subscriber base grew by 146 per cent in the last fiscal year.

‘For the first time, broadband connection charges for 1mbps connection dropped below Rs1,000, providing unusual incentive to new broadband customers,’ Dr Yaseen stated.

In response to a question about 3G Services, he said the Ministry of Information Technology and Tele-communication was working on the policy for 3G licensing. The PTA had completed groundwork and would initiate the licensing process soon after it received policy from the ministry.

Commenting on the study named ‘Connectivity Scorecard 2009’ commissioned by Nokia Siemens Networks and written by Prof Leonard Waverman, a fellow of the London Business School and the consulting group LECG, Dr Yaseen underscored that it was always important to have a reference point in order to measure the growth and performance needed to enhance the working strategies of any sector.

Dr Yaseen emphasised the need and importance of local content and applications for information and communication sectors of Pakistan.

He said the PTA was trying to motivate current telecommunication market players to focus on this aspect of the telecommunication sector to take maximum advantage of the given opportunities.

He quoted the example of Bangladesh where the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) had recently launched an English-learning mobile application, which was now popular within the masses.

‘Pakistan also needs such applications with local content, especially in the fields of education and agriculture. The telecommunication sector is ranked at top levels in different categories in several studies carried out by international telecommunication organisations,’ he informed the gathering.

Head of sub-region Gulf and Pakistan for Nokia Siemens Networks, Vaqarul Islam, and Nokia Siemens Pakistan Country Head Saad Rafique, speaking on the occasion, called on the government to stimulate a return to growth with investment in the infrastructure for the 21st Century.

‘The key to improving the economy and productivity performance of every country in the world lies with the greater and better-focussed use of information and communications technology, according to the Prof Waverman study,’ they said.