August 22, 2006	Tuesday	Rajab 26, 1427

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ISLAMABAD, Aug 21: The Ministry of Information Technology and the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) on Monday agreed to establish an IT cell in the telecom authority to assist the industry in resolving issues related to the information communication technologies (ICT).

“Expeditious solution of problems faced by the IT industry is vital to the overall growth of the sector and therefore there is need to establish a separate cell in Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to resolve any issue faced by this sector,” said Minister for Information Technology Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari.

He was presiding over a meeting which was also attended by IT Secretary Farrukh Qayyum and PTA Chairman Shahzada Alam Malik.

Awais Leghari said the decision to set up IT cell in the telecom authority had been taken following demands by the industry seeking a dedicated contact person and a separate cell in the PTA which could resolve issues faced by segments such as BPO, call centres, software exporters and companies providing IT and IT-enabled services using telecom infrastructure of licencees.

He discussed in detail various issues faced in the provision of IT and IT-enabled services and agreed that although the challenge of developing Pakistan’s IT industry to a world class level is daunting, its potential to attain great heights was equally compelling.

The minister said given the tremendous growth in the telecom sector, it was imperative that the IT sector was provided full support to realise its huge potential of growth.

He observed that while there were well-known synergies between information and communication technologies, there were also some key differences in market dynamics.