Bangladesh Seeks Pakistani Assistance in Telecoms Reforms

Bangladesh has sought Pakistani cooperation to introduce reforms in the telecommunication sector of their country. The appreciation for Pakistan telecom sector was expressed by the visiting delegation of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) headed by its Chairman Maj. Gen. (Retd) Manzurul Alam in a recent meeting at Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) Headquarters.

Briefing the delegation on this occasion, the Chairman of the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) Maj. Gen. (Retd) Shahzada Alam Malik said that with the effective implementation of telecom policies, PTA endeavored to bring in elaborate competition into Pakistan telecom sector which has resulted in reduction of tariffs, enhanced telecom services and wide coverage across the country.

He said no operator has been given any preferential treatment including the Significant Market Player (SMP) in regulator's decisions. He said that private operators are bringing new technologies into the country and Pakistan would be the first country in the world to have large infrastructure for the provision of WiMax Services. He assured that every possible help would be provided to Bangladesh Regulator.

Chairman BTRC said that Bangladesh was impressed by the progress Pakistan has made in the telecom sector and was willing to follow it. He said his first ever visit to Pakistan was to know about PTA regulations and decisions on important telecom issues such as frequency management, Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and interconnection.

He said that BTRC is in the process of bringing reforms in Bangladesh telecom sector and would seek PTA's support and help to complete this process. He proposed visits of their officers to PTA to interact in different areas of interest."

Posted to the site on 25th June 2007