MOBILE services in Pakistan, particularly in their quality of data, are not on a par with telecom services in many other countries I have recently visited. There is no reliable 4G coverage if you’re on the move, and a little research made me realise that the case is the same for all subscribers regardless of their carrier.

As I dug deep into it I found there are multiple reasons, including low tariffs, cutthroat competition, high business costs and radio frequency availability. The availability of radio frequency makes a lot of sense as countries with superior telecom experience have abundant and affordable radio spectrum.

As a telecom user speaking on behalf of millions of others I would urge the government to allocate affordable radio frequency to operators, particularly with the upcoming frequency renewal this year, and focus on quality as well as availability of service across the country, as in today’s age the importance of telecom services to every sector and every individual cannot be ignored.

S. Ali Hadi Bilgrami

Karachi

Published in Dawn, March 13th, 2019