The Chief Executive Officers of all Pakistan Telecom companies have criticized the government’s policy to link the renewal of telecom licenses to the US dollar.
The government’s policy of tying the renewal of telecom licenses to the US dollar has drawn criticism from the telecom industry, which has called it the biggest threat to the information and communications technology sector. If the government wanted to realize the vision of a Digital Pakistan, it was demanded that it review the policy.
Pakistan’s top telecom companies forwarded their concerns to the appropriate government offices but also openly tweeted contrary to official policies.
The top brass of Jazz, Telenor Pakistan, and Ufone have expressed their concerns on Twitter regarding what they believe to be the government’s inaction regarding the ongoing economic crises affecting the IT and telecom sectors.
As telecom license fees and installment interest were pegged to the US dollar, Jazz CEO Aamir Ibrahim tweeted Thursday that the rupee’s depreciation had jeopardized telecom companies’ business cases.
He tweeted, “Last year, 50% of the license renewal fee cost us Rs44.5 billion, and this year, just 10% installment alone costs over Rs13 billion.”
“Due to continuing currency devaluation, we cannot calculate the amount we must pay in installments next year, adding to the uncertainty that no business plan can withstand. Unfortunately, the incorrect policy of peg telecom license price to $ [dollar] is pushing us” from digital emergency to digital catastrophe, he said.
Later, Hatem Bamatraf, chief executive officer of PTCL Group, which owns Ufone, tweeted that the cost of doing business in Pakistan had significantly increased due to the ongoing devaluation of the rupee against the dollar.
“The dream of Digital Pakistan is becoming increasingly endangered by the expectation from telcos to invest heavily in infrastructure modernization while earning in rupees,” he claimed. “To prevent slowing down the nation’s digital development, we must take immediate action and develop a plan for regulatory relief. “.
The CEO of Telenor Pakistan also publicly criticized government policies.
Irfan Wahab tweeted: “While the telecom sector generates its revenue in rupees, spectrum auctions, renewals, and installments are priced in dollars, exposing telcos to massive currency devaluation risk. “.
Mr. Wahab continued, “We must correct this discrepancy before telcos’ ability to support further digital transformation is irreparably exhausted. “
