"Licences will be issued to private operators for a period of 20 years," Pakistan's Federal Minister for Information Technology Awais Leghari said at a press conference.

Pakistan's Federal Cabinet on Saturday approved the telecommunication de-regulation policy to pave way for local and foreign private companies to provide fixed-line telephone services in the country.

"Licences will be issued to private companies for fixed-telephony in Pakistan through a transparent and open process with open bids," Leghari said.

"The government would ensure protection to investors for five years as there would be no change in the policy during the first five years after the award of licence," Leghari said.

Long-distance international operators will be required to submit a performance bond of 10 million dollars in addition to 500,000 dollars as licence fee, Leghari said.

Pakistan, a country of 140 million people, has a current telephone penetration of 2.7 telephone lines per 100 people, or 4.5 million phone lines. As a result of deregulation the telephone penetration will rise to 5.6 percent level or 9.0 million lines by the year 2010, Leghari said.

The framework agreements under the telecom deregulation policy shall be completed in the next four to six months, Legharis said. Local and foreign private sector companies will be able to bid for licences.

The PTCL will upgrade its network and work in a more efficient and competitive manner to meet the challenges after deregulation, Leghari said.

SPACE.WIRE