A few days ago, we learned that Major General Shahzada Alam Malik (Retd.) had stepped down from the leadership of the Pakistan Telecom Authority. We believe that his seven-year tenure at the helm of the PTA merits an assessment. It begins thus:

Pakistan’s recent telecom developments constitute a South Asian success story. From two million in 2002, the number of active mobile SIMs increased to 79 million by end 2007. This is a compound annual growth rate of 115 per cent a year, one of the highest in the world, and the highest in South Asia for that period.

The full document is Pakistan’s telecom transformation, 2002-07

We fully realize that readers, especially from Pakistan, may have varying views on whether or not Pakistan’s telecom sector was transformed, whether the PTA played a constructive role, and whether Major General Malik provided good leadership. We have made our assessment based on the available evidence. We welcome comments and debate.

Following opening remarks by Chairman of PTA, Major General (R) Shahzada Alam Malik, Samarajiva and Wilson presented the new improved version of the six-country Telecom Regulatory Environment study, with emphasis on Pakistan.

de Silva discussed the results of the Teleuse @ the Bottom of the Pyramid (T@BOP) survey conducted in five countries, including Pakistan. Among other things, he discussed the disparate access to ICTs between men and women at the BOP as well as the tremendous progress made in connecting large numbers of people at the BOP in the past few years.

Iqbal presented comparative analysis of mobile prices in three countries of South Asia, using a basket methodology adapted from one used by the OECD since 1995. With these comparisons, she illustrated that Pakistan has the lowest prices for SMS and also for low-users.

From the Daily Times, Pakistan. 15 June 2007

Presentation slides:
Telecom Regulatory Environment 2006 | Rohan Samarajiva & Joseph Wilson
Teleuse@BOP: Pakistan in Asian Context | Harsha de Silva
Basket methodology to benchmark telecom prices in South Asia: The cases of Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka | Tahani Iqbal
News Releases:
TRE:Telecom Regulatory Environment (TRE) 2006 survey results: Pakistan among the leaders in Telecom Regulatory Environment, a regional study reveals
Teleuse@BOP: Pakistan BOP doing well overall in telecom, but large gender divide still exists
Price comparisons: Pakistan low-user mobile baskets cheaper than in India and Sri Lanka; SMS charge is lowest in South Asia and lower even than in the Philippines

Media coverage
pakcoverage14jun07_1.pdf
pakcoverage14jun07_2.pdf