Federal Government Approves Telecom Infrastructure Sharing Framework

The Federal Government has approved the Telecom Infrastructure Sharing Framework (TISF). This approval is an important step forward in Pakistan’s telecoms sector. The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication (MoIT&T), and the telecom industry collaborated to create the TISF, which is a regulatory mechanism that will allow licensees to share both active and passive telecom infrastructure in an equitable and competitive manner.

According to the PTA, the implementation of this framework is likely to accelerate the growth and sustainability of Pakistan’s telecom sector. The decision is viewed positively since it addresses the industry’s long-standing need for a mechanism to facilitate telecom infrastructure sharing.

The telecom sector has a number of issues, including the need for significant capital expenditures to expand 4G and 5G networks, connect remote areas, and provide cost-effective capacity growth for countrywide coverage. The high expense of conducting business, as well as the difficulty in getting appropriate profits, have been major problems for telecom operators. In Pakistan, the average revenue per user (ARPU) has been reported to be among the lowest in the world, ranging from Rs200 to Rs220 per month. This, along with coverage gaps and capacity shortfalls in both urban and rural areas, has created an urgent need for creative solutions to accelerate network development and capacity growth. The TISF is meant to help solve these problems by making it easier for telecom infrastructure parts to be shared. This will save money on both capital (CapEx) and operating (OpEx) costs.

The predicted benefits extend beyond the sector, with consumers likely to benefit from cheaper costs and better services as a result of the simplified and cost-effective network deployment. The framework is intended to foster a fair and competitive environment that promotes service differentiation while focusing on improving the overall customer experience. Aside from its economic implications, the TISF is expected to act as a catalyst for the timely introduction of new services, providing a greater coverage footprint and lowering Time to market (TTM) for innovative products.

The framework intends to alleviate telecom operators’ spectrum limitations and encourage optimal asset utilization for resource optimization by encouraging collaboration and shared resources. The PTA is optimistic about the Telecom Infrastructure Sharing Framework’s beneficial impact on Pakistan’s telecom sector. It underlines the significance of working together to execute the framework, with the common objective of promoting Pakistan as a leading digital economy. The framework defines telecom infrastructure sharing as going beyond electronic components to include non-electronic and physical infrastructure in order to optimize resources and support long-term growth in the telecom sector.

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