ISLAMABAD, May 28: For the first time in the history of Pakistan, the government has opened the telecom market for fair competition in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and the Northern Areas.

In a landmark decision on Wednesday, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority awarded licences at a price of Rs214 million to 14 private companies to operate in AJK and NA.

Licences were awarded for Long Distance International (LDI), Fixed Local Loop (FLL), Wireless Local Loop (WLL), and Class Value Added Services (CVAS) ending more than 30 years of monopoly of the state-owned special communication organisation that had been operating in AJK and NA since 1976.

Speaking at the ceremony, PTA Chairman Shahzada Alam Malik said that now fixed line licences were being awarded to private operators.

“The licence fees have been kept low deliberately as the objective is not to make money, but to bring AJK and NA at par with other developed areas of the country.”

The PTA chairman said that five licences for mobile phone services were already given for AJK and NAs and now mobile services are available in these areas.

Expressing his pleasure over efforts to open up telecom market for fair competition, Minister for Information Technology and KANA Qamar-uz-Zaman Kaira pledged private operators complete cooperation to ensure that people in AJK and NAs had access to telecom services at the earliest.

Elaborating on other developments in the sector, the minister said that the government was mulling over linking Pakistan with China, India, Afghanistan and Iran through fibre optic link. He was in favour of extending the deadline for SIMs registration.

Efforts were being made to introduce the e-government in the country and by next three years, at least 45 ministries, would be linked to e-government, he said.

“This would help bring in efficiency, transparency, and better functioning. It would also facilitate the media as information would be available on internet,” he said.

“The PPP government is also looking into the issue of PTCL employees and the decision would be taken in interest of

the employees,” the minister said.

Mr. Kaira expressed his pleasure that the country was opening up its space for communication purposes and more foreign direct investment was coming in.

He said the government would use the fund of the industry to provide subsidy to the people in suburbs and far-flung areas to ensure maximum coverage in the rural areas.

Later, the minister distributed 24 licences to 13 companies that included Link Direct, Wateen, Telenor, PTCL, World Call, InterWorld, Sky Telecom, Great Bear, WOL, DaleelTeq, BTC, Cybernet, and Mobilink.

The PTA would get around $1,70, 000 against the issue of these licences as initial amount. It had already paid Rs1.2 billion to AJK and NAs for 5 cellular companies’ licences, which were awarded to Mobilink, Telenor, Warid Telecom, Ufone in June 2006, while CMPak was awarded a licence in August 2007.

Out of the total amount, the AJK Council had got Rs927.6 million, while the NAs chief secretary was paid Rs277.1 million against the licences awarded to cell companies.