Following the federal government’s rise in telecom tariffs, telecom companies have warned the public to expect regular ‘phone call’ disruptions across the country, similar to power loadshedding.
The news came out of a recent Senate Standing Committee on Finance hearing when members from the telecom industry expressed major reservations about the tax rise.
During the conference, telecom representatives stated that the federal government has increased the advance tax on imported fibre optic cable by 15% while increasing duty by 20%.
They said that telecom businesses are already dealing with a number of issues and that raising taxes on fibre optic cable will add to the industry’s burden.
Telco officials said that fibre optic cable is only utilized in 10% of towers across the nation, and that until the government lowers fibre optic cable taxes, Pakistan would fall behind in the global connectivity race.
They asked the committee to suggest to the government that import duties on fibre optic cable be reduced to 8%. The telecom businesses were assured that their suggestions will be forwarded to the government by the committee.
The Senate Committee has suggested that the Federal Government lower appropriate tariffs on fibre optic imports; nevertheless, if the government does not follow through, we should be prepared for phone call loadshedding in Pakistan.
To read our blog on “Low fuel supply leads towards severe loadshedding in coming months,” click here.
