PTA Issues Public Notice for Local Loop licenses

Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has stopped the grant of Local Loop licenses for four telecom regions from August 1, 2019, for a period of six (6) months.

According to the PTA, in consequence of the bi-annual assessment as mandated in Telecom Policy, 2015, PTA has stopped grant of Local Loop licenses for Karachi, Islamabad, Lahore and Faisalabad Telecom Regions (i.e. KTR, ITR, LTR & FTR) with effect from August 1, 2019, for a period of six (6) months. The Authority will not be accepting any applications till January 31, 2020.

PTA Issues Public Notice for Local Loop licenses

However, Local Loop applications for the other ten (10) telecom regions will continue to be received and processed by PTA as per procedure for the award of the license.

Under the Telecom Policy 2015, the current licensing regime will continue to apply. Separate category in class licenses regime associated with satellite services will be introduced. However, PTA will conduct a bi-annual assessment of market absorption capacity and any new licensing in LL, LDI and WLL sectors will be subject to such assessment.

The present licensing regime already distinguishes between those operators that provide infrastructure as well as services and those that provide services alone. Nevertheless, there is a need to further enhance and optimize the licensing regime to cater to the emerging technological and market trends.

Keeping in view the market state, the Federal Government (MoIT), in consultation with PTA, will review the licensing policy framework. .Any proposed changes to the licensing regime will be made in consultation with the sector stakeholders and will be subject to the approval of the Federal Government (MoIT). Any new licensing regime will be based on international best practices.