The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has warned that the non-renewal of licenses for Long-Distance International (LDI) operators may disrupt mobile and internet services and ATMs in the country.
According to a PTA document, 50% of mobile traffic and 10% of internet traffic likely to be affected by the licenses issue.
The document stated that several mobile towers may go out of service, and 40% of ATMs may stop working. The global traffic coming to Pakistan may also be impacted as shifting services to other operators may affect global communications.
The issue revolves around a dispute between telecom companies and the Ministry of IT over the payment of dues.
The ministry’s steering committee has also failed to formulate a plan for the payment of dues, and the PTA has made the renewal of licenses conditional on the payment of these dues.
Furthermore, licenses for 3-4 LDI companies have already expired, and some others will expire in a few months. However, companies have approached the court to keep their services operational.
The document revealed that 9 telecom companies owe Rs. 24 billion to the Ministry of IT and Rs. 54 billion in late payment surcharges.
It is relevant to note here that Pakistan is facing internet service disruption, and the issues are linked to the implementation of internet firewalls, which was installed at a country’s main internet gateways to monitor and filter traffic. While these systems can control or block content on websites and social media platforms, authorities claim that they also have the capability to trace the origin of objectionable material.