ISLAMABAD: Telecom infrastructure sharing framework (TISF) has been approved by the federal government, that provides regulatory mechanism for licensees to share their active as well as passive telecom infrastructure in a fair and competitive manner.

The approval of the telecom infrastructure sharing framework is expected to be a major step forward for the growth and sustainability of telecom sector in Pakistan, said Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) in a statement.

The framework has been developed by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) in consultation with Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication (MoIT&T) and telecom industry.

It is expected that the sharing frameworkwill lead to significant reductions in the cost of deploying (CapEx) and operating (OpEx) telecom networks, which will ultimately benefit consumers in the form of lower prices and better as well enhanced services, the PTA said.

The authority said the telecom industry had been demanding mechanism for telecom infrastructure sharing in Pakistan due to high cost of doing business and low returns.

The framework has highlighted that increasing inflation has enhanced the operation cost of the telecom operators while the Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) was one of the lowest in the world at around Rs200 to Rs220 per month.

The industry had highlighted to the government that coverage holes existed in the country and the capacity shortfall existed in both urban as well as rural areas and the operators were facing spectrum limitations.

The challenges faced by the telecom operators also included investments of massive capital expenditures for 4G & 5G expansion, connecting remote areas, and cost-effective capacity growth for nationwide coverage.

The Telecom Infrastructure Sharing is likely to act as a jump-start for new services with larger coverage footprint and early Time to Market (TTM) of innovative products. The framework heightens competition among operators to focus on service differentiation and enhancing customer experience since part of underlying network is shared.

The PTA expressed confidence for a positive impact of the framework on Pakistan’s telecom sector and anticipates collaborative efforts to implement the framework, which aligns with the shared goal of advancing Pakistan as a leading digital economy.

Telecom infrastructure sharing refers to sharing of telecom network components and associated non-electronic and physical infrastructure for resource optimisation by better utilisation of assets.

Published in Dawn, November 17th, 2023