ISLAMABAD, Feb 10: Pakistan is receiving a prestigious “Government Leadership Award 2006” in Barcelona (Spain) on February 13 for its exceptional development and progress in the field of mobile telecommunication.

Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari told reporters that India was the most serious contender against Pakistan but the latter was selected through a competitive GSM Board criteria. Pakistan would be the second country in the world after Brazil to receive this honour.

The Global System of Mobile Association (GSMA), a global trade association representing more than 680 mobile operators, has selected Pakistan by recognizing remarkable work in the field of mobile communications policy, he said.

Pakistan was chosen because of its exceptional progress in establishing a thriving mobile communications sector by reducing tariff and expanding cellular subscriber’s base to 20 million during the last three years, he added.

In the next three to four years, the minister said, the government was expecting further increase of 50 million subscribers from existing 20 million with every one out of three persons having a mobile phone.

Likewise, an investment of $3 to $4 billion in the next few years is also expected as the market still has the capacity to expand further, but it does not mean adding up more cellular operators, Mr Leghari said.

The minister said he had been nominated by Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz to receive the award in Barcelona on behalf of the Pakistan government. The award will be presented at the association’s annual dinner to be attended by an exclusive gathering of mobile industry chief executives and ministers from across the world.

The award has proved that Pakistan’s policies have earned on prestigious global fora and would go a long way towards attracting more business activity in the growing telecom sector.

Mr Leghari said the Rs2 billion Universal Service Fund (USF) would also start functioning next month to promote telecom services in the un-served and under-served areas, while Rs2.5 billion research and development fund would be used in awarding scholarships to brilliant students to produce better graduates in the field of information technology.