The National Assembly’s Subcommittee on Information Technology and Telecommunication held a meeting chaired by Convener Zulfiqar Ali Bhatti to review billions of rupees in outstanding dues owed by Long Distance International (LDI) companies and issues related to license renewals.
The convener questioned how such disputes could be settled outside court, while the IT Secretary made it clear that any out-of-court settlement involving public money was not possible.
According to the committee discussions, officials from the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) stated that if LDI companies wished to pursue legal battles, the regulator was also prepared to contest the cases in court. They added that establishing telecom tribunals could help resolve these issues swiftly.
The IT Secretary informed the committee that one LDI company was ready to pay its principal amount within a month, while the company wanted the court to decide on the penalties. He said the company had already submitted its recommendations to the court, and seven out of nine LDI companies had shared their proposals with the PTA, while three maintained they would only follow the court’s decision.
The convener expressed concern over the prolonged litigation, questioning why time was being wasted if the matter had to be decided in court. The subcommittee decided to summon the Secretary of Law and the Attorney General on October 16 to discuss the legal complexities surrounding the LDI dispute. The convener directed the Ministry of Law to explain why the matter, despite being in the courts for years, remained unresolved, and asked the Attorney General to brief the committee on the government’s legal strategy moving forward.
According to officials from the Frequency Allocation Board (FAB), Southern Networks Limited has occupied 140 MHz of spectrum in the 2600 MHz band for years without authorization, while the matter remains sub judice in the Supreme Court and a civil court in Sindh. The FAB representative revealed that the board had been requesting the Law Ministry for over a year to appoint members to the telecom tribunals. He added that legal disputes over prime spectrum were delaying the auction of 5G technology and claimed that influential elites were occupying spectrum without licenses.
Convener Zulfiqar Ali Bhatti concluded that such irregularities could only happen in Pakistan, announcing that the next meeting would include the Secretary of Law and the Attorney General. He said the subcommittee would also seek recommendations from the IT and Law Ministries on resolving ongoing spectrum-related legal disputes to ensure fair and transparent telecom operations in the country.