LAHORE: Pakistan Tele­com­­munication Authority (PTA) on Tuesday extended the deadline for submitting suggestions on revision of Mobile Termination Rates (MTRs) by cellular companies till Oct 16.

PTA has taken up the matter after seven years after repeated requests of cellular companies. MTRs are the charges which one cellular company charges to another for terminating calls on its network. Leading telecom operators asked the authority to give them more time for providing their comprehensive studies and suggestions on the revision of MTR.

Although PTA has proposed reduction of MTR from Rs0.90 per minute to Rs0.80 per minute, the stakeholders want the MTR at Rs0.50 per minute for the next two years in order to attract investment and generate employment and tax revenues in the telecom sector.

“The revised MTR will directly impact the revenues of the telecom operators, the government, foreign direct investment and reduction of grey traffic of international calls,” a PTA official told Dawn. He said all operators might not agree to PTA’s proposal of Rs0.80 per minute and insist on Rs0.50 per minute MTR.

MTR was last reviewed in 2010 in Pakistan. It has remained unchanged for the past seven years, in contrast to several other countries that revise it every two years.

Operators with lower customer base are keener for revised lower MTR, as increased revenues lead to expansion in their network and investment in infrastructure. Another reason that smaller cellular companies are requesting immediate revision in the rates is they are looking for a level playing field in the sector.

Published in Dawn, October 11th, 2017