Pervez Ifthikar is a passionate commentator on telecom issues in Pakistan. A knowledgeable commentator and as the founding CEO of the universal service fund (one of the best in the world in his time), one who has to be taken seriously.
Irrespective of the on-going, completely unnecessary, “controversy” surrounding auction of 3G in Pakistan, allotting 3G frequencies to telecom operators is extremely urgent and essential for Pakistan. We have already been left behind by others who used to be our followers in 2G. Mobile broadband – or 3G – should have been introduced here already four years ago. The delay has made us lose huge opportunities relating to job creation, international trade, economic growth and Foreign Direct Investment (Telecom FDI 2007: US$1,824 mil and 2011: US$ 79 mil). Not to mention letting the technology gap between the advanced countries and us widen even more, despite the fact that more than 70% of our population is below 35 – normally considered early adopters of modern technology.
Read his full statement.
3 Comments
abdussamad
The govt is highly incompetent and won’t go ahead with the 3G auction any time soon. They can’t stop revising the auction rules! And once the auction does take place its highly likely that the supreme court will get involved and start interfering. That is because the auction is likely to be very corrupt indeed. But the worst point is that 3G is obsolete. We need to jump straight to 4G or not at all. What’s the point going after black and white TV in a colour TV world?!
Rohan Samarajiva
There is the small matter of availability and cost of handsets that might temper the enthusiasm for leap frogging into 4G.
abdussamad
Well if you are going to import handsets isn’t it better to import 4G ones rather than waste valuable forex on 3G ones that are already obsolete? Anyway the latest is that this auction has been delayed as expected.
Frankly I don’t like the idea of auctioning spectrum at all. It’s just a money grabbing exercise by the govt.
LIRNEasia is hiring: Senior Researcher
LIRNEasia is looking for a talented individual to join the team as a Senior Researcher to drive impactful research. The full job description is available below.
Responsible AI in Asia: Draft Report Open for Comments
LIRNEasia has drafted a regional (Asia) report for the Global Index on Responsible AI (GIRAI) that focuses on responsible Artificial Intelligence in the Asia region, which is open for public review until April 13, 2025. This report, the final output a Global Center on AI Governance (GCG)-funded project, exists in three main parts: The first section examines where Asia stands in the Global Index, identifying key trends and regional patterns.
Responsible AI in Asia: Summary of Upcoming Report
The following document is a summary of an upcoming regional report for the Global Index on Responsible AI (GIRAI) that focuses on responsible Artificial Intelligence in the Asia region. The broader report, to be released in April 2025 as the final output of a Global Center on AI Governance (GCG)-funded project, was authored by Merl Chandana and Sukitha Bandaranayake from LIRNEasia, with the India case study written by Anushka Jain and Aarushi Gupta (of Digital Futures Lab, India).
Links
User Login
Themes
Social
Twitter
Facebook
RSS Feed
Contact
12, Balcombe Place, Colombo 08
Sri Lanka
+94 (0)11 267 1160
+94 (0)11 267 5212
info [at] lirneasia [dot] net
Copyright © 2025 LIRNEasia
a regional ICT policy and regulation think tank active across the Asia Pacific