Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) in collaboration with Asia Pacific Telecommunity (APT) has organized a three days South Asian Telecommunication Regulator Council (SATRC) from 16th August to 18th August, 2017.

The inaugural ceremony was held at local hotel Islamabad. Secretary General APT Ms. Areewan Haorangsi, Chairman PTA, Dr. Syed Ismail, Member Telecom, MoIT, Mr. Mudasaar Hussain, senior officers from PTA, Frequency Allocation Board (FAB), Telecom Operators and Ministry of Information Technology & Telecom (MoIT) were present in the inaugural ceremony. Representatives from 9 member countries of Asia Pacific Region including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutam, Iran, Nepal, Maldives, Indonesia and Sri Lanka are participating in this international event. Some of the key topics that will be taken up in Workshop are developing spectrum roadmap for mobile broadband, spectrum management for the deployment of Internet of Things (IoT), Wireless Backhaul – spectrum, technology and policy considerations and proliferation of Wi-Fi networks.

On this occasion, Secretary General APT Ms. Areewan Haorangsi said that SATRC Workshop will assist the regulatory bodies of member countries in acquiring knowledge and skills in regulatory matters relating to spectrum in the present multi-operator, multi-service, multi-technology environment. She said that this workshop will take another large step forward towards the implementation of the SATRC Action Plan and will further progress the work within the region. She appreciated the arrangements made by the host PTA and Pakistan.

Earlier, Dr. Syed Ismail Shah, Chairman PTA in his welcome address said that, despite the diversities within the region, Asia-Pacific is leading the world in broadband and ICTs development. It has tremendous potential and technological resources which can be properly harnessed only with joint efforts and cooperation of Asia Pacific Telecommunity (APT) member countries.

Chairman said that, this event is to facilitate the exchange of views on policy & regulatory issues and to further accelerate the work towards a harmonized regulatory environment and share the experiences for taking benefit of the new technologies.

He said that, during the last few years we have seen rapid telecommunication growth in the world which also brought several challenges in the region such as equitable distribution of telecom services, spectrum management and introduction of new technologies in wireless broadband.

On this occasion Member Telecom Mr. Mudasaar Hussain said that, deliberations through such events are helpful in providing international experiences with a focus on current issues and challenges in ICT sector.

Later, Secretary General APT visited PTA Headquarters today. Chairman PTA briefed Secretary General about the functions of PTA, regulatory initiatives taken by it and overall performance of the telecom sector. Secretary General APT expressed her great satisfaction on telecom development capacities of Pakistan and acknowledged the achievements of Pakistan in telecom sector.

During her visit to PTA Secretary General planted a tree at PTA premises.