Daily Times

The local companies have produced 84.4 million mobile devices reflecting the industry’s phenomenal growth that created thousands of jobs in last five years.

According to annual report of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), 25 million smartphones were among the total devices produced from January 2019 to September 2023.

It said 33 local and foreign companies locally established manufacturing plants under the Mobile Device Manufacturing (MDM) Regulations introduced in 2021. These companies, operating both as standalone entities and through joint ventures, obtained a 10-year MDM authorization.

The country also initiated export of locally manufactured handsets, with 120,000 SEEGO brand mobiles labeled as ‘Manufactured in Pakistan’ exported to the African market in December 2022.

The Device Identification Registration and Blocking System (DIRBS), introduced by the PTA, have provided a level playing field for foreign investments in the mobile device manufacturing industry in Pakistan.

In addition to promoting local manufacturing, DIRBS has been a source of revenue generation for the government, collecting Rs 48.8 billion in Customs duties in the individual category from January 15, 2019, to October 25, 2023. This revenue stream remained untapped before the implementation of DIRBS.

Leveraging this system, PTA has blocked 758,113 International Mobile Equipment Identities (IMEIs) reported as stolen. DIRBS has also identified and blocked 35.5 million non-compliant IMEIs, including 7.3 million duplicate or cloned IMEI numbers.