ISLAMABAD, April 28: Information Technology Minister Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari on Thursday urged the country’s software industry to develop expertise and products required for the fast-growing telecom industry. “Given the expansion and growth of the telecom sector, it is high time that the software industry concentrated its resources on developing expertise and domain knowledge within the telecom sector,” he said at a seminar on “Telecom software opportunities” organized by the Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) at a local hotel.

Executives from 15 software companies working in the telecom sector interacted with mobile and fixed line operators during the event which aimed to highlight solutions that have been developed locally.

Some of these solutions have found acceptance with telecom companies in the US and the Middle East.

The minister said a large number of licences for local loop (LL) as well as long distance international (LDI) voice traffic had been issued in recent months and many of these companies were currently in the process of setting up infrastructure prior to launching their services.

Mr Leghari anticipated an intense downward price pressure within the telecom industry given a total deregulation of the market and upcoming privatization of the state-owned PTCL.

“Companies that do not utilize IT-based solutions to lower costs, reduce inventory and improve customer-care will not be able to compete in this era of fierce competition,” he said.

He offered the telecom sector financial and technical support in the development of software products that could add value to their operations in Pakistan.

“I hope this should encourage the software companies to benefit from this initiative and produce products in line with the requirement of the telecom industry,” he said.

Speaking on the occasion, PSEB Managing Director Dr Aamir Matin said the telecom sector was an area where our software companies could benefit from the growth that was certain to occur over the next few years.

He said being a service industry, the IT business could not operate in a vacuum and it could be easily used as a ‘force multiplier’ within other industries such as the financial services and telecommunication sector.

“Now as it is clear that the telecom sector is growing rapidly and international telecom manufacturers and operators are all setting up offices in Pakistan, it makes sense to focus our energies on developing solutions that can be piloted locally and subsequently marketed internationally,” he said.