ISLAMABAD ( ABRAR MUSTAFA )
2016 is going to be a challenging year for the Telecom sector. There are three reasons for this. Firstly the recently announced merger between Warid and Mobilink, secondly the new Telecom policy and lastly according to various reports, a 3G auction is to be held in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan.
As recently announced among much fanfare and promotion – Warid is to be acquired by Mobilink. This news sent a shockwaves in the sector as if it goes according to plan, Mobilink will not only be able to get subscribers from Warid but will also be able to get 4G LTE License with this deal. This will certainly spruce things up as now with four companies left behind, the competition is going to be intense among the companies. It is interesting to note here that even though the merger has been announced, there are still various things that need to be done. For this purpose, Mobilink has nominated John Eddie Abdullah to manage the process.
Major issues that need to be taken care include:
• The number of employees that will be terminated from both companies,
• The licenses and the terms set by PTA for Mobilink and Warid are different and will be merging together and this requires careful supervision of regulatory body participation of both companies which isn’t going to be easy.
Another thing that is quite interesting for 2016 is the ICT policy that has been announced by MOIT. This policy states 10 goals that MOIT and PTA will both accomplish within six months. Though it is impressive that both entities have created benchmarks for success, many believe that this is not possible as both PTA and MOIT lack in resources to accomplish the 10 goals. It remains to be seen what happens in the first six months for these ten goals.
Pakistan Telecom Authority has created and submitted a plan for a new 3G auction in AJK and Gilgit Baltistian. This handed over to the authorities of both. It is expected that in 2016 that the auction will take place for 3G Services in these two regions of the country.