May 05, 2007	Saturday	Rabi-us-Sani 17, 1428

LAHORE, May 4: The controversy over granting a licence for TV mobile service to a cellphone company has finally convinced the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) to devise new rules to address such issues in future in the fast growing telecom business.An official of the authority told this correspondent on Friday that to provide television connections on cellphones was a new technology in Pakistan and it did not come in the ambit of Pemra laws. “To regulate the service the authority is working on it, and will finalise relevant rules and regulations in a few days,” he said.

The official said that Telenor, which had introduced TV mobile service last month without taking permission from Pemra, would be granted a license soon after framing new rules in the next week.

Pemra issued a notice (but not one served by a lawyer) to Telenor, for launching the TV mobile service without fulfilling ‘legal requirements,’ which the company contended that it did not come under its purview, so there was no need to apply for a license.

He said there had been no confrontation with Pemra, as Telenor had offered to work with it to come up with a framework to regulate the area through a new class license for content providers.