May 04, 2007	Friday	Rabi-us-Sani 16, 1428

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LAHORE, May 3: A cellphone company continues to provide television connections on mobile phones despite a notice served by the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority not to do so.

Telenor launched TV mobile service late last month without obtaining a licence from Pemra. “Pemra has issued a notice to Telenor, seeking explanation about its mobile phone TV service without its permission,” a spokesman for the authority told this correspondent here on Thursday.

He said the authority had not allowed the company to launch such a service without fulfilling legal requirements. The official said that the company had said that it would would meet all legal formalities but he did not specify any timeframe for the issuance of the licence.

Asked if Pemra would allow the company sell further TV connections, the spokesman said that the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority should be asked this question. The PTA spokesman was not available for comments.

Officials said that PTA was not authorised to take any action against any cell company, adding that the facility fell under the category of ‘value-added services’. “In this particular case, the company functions like a cable (TV) operator who uplinks channels and a licence from Pemra is necessary,” they added.

They said there was an impression that cellphone companies were not supposed to contact any regulatory authority other than the PTA for launching such services. However, they questioned the logic of seeking a licence for starting a mobile TV service when there was no need to apply for permission for initiating internet service.

The company has so far issued more than 300 TV connections.