Telcos slam govt for pegging licence renewal to dollar

Key players in the telecom sector have criticised the government for pegging telecom licence renewal to the US dollar, describing it as the biggest threat to the information and communications technology industry, and demanded that the government revisit the policy if it wanted to realise the Digital Pakistan vision. Besides forwarding their concerns to relevant government quarters, three out of four mobile telecom companies operating in the country also openly tweeted against official policies. The heads of Jazz, Telenor Pakistan and Ufone have posted their concerns on Twitter over the supposed inaction of the government against ongoing economic crises that were hitting the IT and telecom sector. Jazz CEO Aamir Ibrahim tweeted on Thursday that the rupee’s devaluation had jeopardised the business case for telecom companies, as telecom licence fees and interest on instalments were pegged to the US dollar.