Government Denies SCO’s Demand to Operate Across Country

Government Denies SCO’s Demand to Operate Across Country. The government made it absolutely clear that it would not allow the Special Communication Organisation (SCO) to operate across the entire country on a commercial basis. As SCO demanded amendments in its establishment acts and ask MoITT to allow it to work across entire Pakistan and launch mobile services with a number of concessions.

Government Denies SCO’s Demand to Operate Across Country

“The amendments proposed by the SCO to enhance operations throughout Pakistan were principally disagreed by Ministry of Information Technology being against the stated policy of the government, international commitments and other commercial agreements in the telecom regime.”

Member telecom Mudassar Hussain informed the Senate subcommittee on Delegated Legislation on last Thursday.

Also Read: Senate Subcommittee Redirects MoITT to Look into the Matter of SCO’s Demand to Work Across Country

This subcommittee was basically formed to consider the proposed amendments to the “Telecommunications Re-organisation Act 1996” while allowing the SCO to enhance its areas of operations across Pakistan.

The subcommittee had asked the IT ministry and SCO to settle down the matter and come up with a report.

However, the both parties could not come to an agreement during the last 6 months.

“Creating another wholly government-owned telecom player in the country ran counter to the government’s deregulation policy of 2003 and the objectives of the Telecom Act. It will be counter to the revolutionary mobile and broadband telephony regime.”

Said the Mudassar Hussain, who did not see any reason to amend the act and allow SCO for operations.

SCO is a public sector organisation established back in 1976 to develop, operate and maintain telecom services in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan. SCO has developed massive IT and Telecom infrastructure including the laying down of over 2,500 KM of optical fibre cable network across the entire northern area.