ISLAMABAD ( ABRAR MUSTAFA )
International Clearing House failed to get aims and targets It is requested to review the ICH arrangement/policy directive as well as ASR regime as currently enforced. So international incoming calls to Pakistan may be brought through competition among telecom LDI Operators. Pakistan Telecom Authority present all factors in his report on which Ministry telecom withdraw the ICH policy.
The Authority said in his report that Since the implementation of the ICH policy the incoming voice minutes decreased from approximately 2 Billion minutes per month to 487 Million in May 2O14 showing a total decrease of 404%.
The policy Directive allows LDI Operators to deposit pre-ICH outstanding liabilities at the rate of 15%. At these rates the payment period of few companies will go beyond their license term/tenure which will end between years 2024-2026 for all the defaulting LDI operators.
APC support, fixed line sector could not grow significantly in underserved and un-served areas. It is evident from the past trends that whenever the APC increases the international incoming traffic decreases significantly thereby reducing the incoming foreign exchange and providing incentive for grey traffic.
The report mentioned that with the introduced of ASR of 8.8 cents/min under the ICH policy,more than 50% traffic dip was observed. Over the top traffic (OTT) including Viber, Skype and Tango etc which was never a best choice for making a voice call for businesses.
The Authority report can seen below …
