ISLAMABAD, Nov 22: The science and technology minister, Prof Attaur Rahman, on Friday, said the total telephone connections installed during the two years were 25 per cent of the overall connections given in the last 50 years.

Inaugurating the Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service at Satellite Town Exchange, Rawalpindi, he said the start of the service was a milestone in the telecommunications history of the country.

It will not only bring in more revenue for the PTCL, but also help check unscrupulous telecom traffic, causing a huge loss to the country, he added.

The minister said similar partnerships with other telecom companies would give a considerable boost to the telecom sector, therefore such initiatives should be encouraged.

He also hinted at opening of four new television channels solely for the promotion of education. Likewise, he said Pakistan would soon have its own satellite.

Prof Ata said the telecom sector registered unprecedented growth in the last two years. He said the number of mobile telephone subscribers had increased from 250,000 to 1.6 million.

He said 850 cities and towns had been provided internet facility and the figure would touch 1,000 mark by the end of this month.

He praised the PTCL’s performance for the promotion of information technology and internet in the country, and also appreciated the role played by the PTCL chairman Akhtar Ahmad Bajwa and his team in this regard.

The minister said the PTCL should adopt new technologies and further modernize its network. He also asked the company management to acquire latest know-how and get services of professionals to cope with the challenges of deregulation.

Earlier, the PTCL chairman briefed the gathering on the VoIP project. He said the company had reached agreements with 10 partners, which were supposed to ensure 15 to 20 million minutes incoming traffic to Pakistan from North America and Europe.

As per the agreement, the companies had made their payments in advance. Such partnership with the leading telecom companies will not only generate extra revenue for the Pak Telecom, but also eliminate illegal voice traffic, bypassing the PTCL gateway exchanges, the chairman said.

Mashkoor Hussain, member business development and marketing of the PTCL, gave brief introduction of the new project. He the PTCL had signed five such agreements with international telecom companies that would be installing their gateways in PTCL exchanges. He said each company would ensure a minimum of $25 million revenue per year to the PTCL.