ISLAMABAD, Sept 2: The Supreme Court (SC) was told on Thursday that a mobile telephone company and Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) have settled the issue of shifting from AMPS (analogue mobile phone system) to EGSM (extended global mobile system).

The three-member SC bench comprising Justice Faqir Mohammad Khokhar, Justice Mian Shakirullah Jan and Justice M. Javed Buttar disposed of the case when the counsel for the cellular company, Barrister Abdul Hafiz Pirzada, informed the court about settlement between the company and PTA, though he avoided to give details about the agreement.

Mr Pirzada also requested the court to allow him to withdraw the appeal, which the mobile company had filed against the decision of the Rawalpindi bench of the Lahore High Court.

The high court had dismissed the appeal of the mobile phone company against the demand to submit an amount of $38.8 million for conversion of the technology from AMPS to EGSM. The PTA on July 10 had issued a notification requiring the mobile firm to submit the amount of $38.8 million if it wanted to migrate from AMPS to EGSM technology.

The mobile telephone company, however, challenged the orders of the PTA official before the high court on August 5, seeking a remedy from the high court under Section 7(2) and 7(3) of Pakistan Telecommunication Re-Organization Act 1996.

During the hearing, the high court accepted the plea of the PTA that the appeal moved by the mobile operator was not maintainable since under the Pakistan Telecommunication Re- Organization Act 1996, the decisions of senior officials of the authority could only be challenged through an appeal before the PTA and not before the high court.

Being aggrieved the cellular company approached the apex court against the decision of the high court, the hearing of which would now start from September 2.

According to the PTA, the mobile company had sought the permission from the authority to migrate from AMPS to EGSM, but after the announcement of the Cellular Mobile Policy, the existing licencees were allowed to get their licences renewed on the terms and conditions applicable to the two new cellular mobile operators.