ISLAMABAD  - Pakistan has finally taken up the cross border frequency spillover issue with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
In frequency spillover, mobile phone signals of one country could be received in the neighbouring country. Owing to spillover signals from Afghanistan, terrorists reportedly used Afghan SIMS during their attacks in Pakistan. The local law enforcing agencies cannot locate the location of Sims issued by some other country.
In the past, the signal spillover from TATA Mobile and Reliance Communications of India had also affected services of a local mobile operator in cities bordering India of Punjab province.
Pakistan’s State Minister for IT Anusha Rehman on Friday asked international body to help resolve the issue. Talking to a delegation of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Rehman highlighted the need for a concerted effort lead by ITU at a regional level to mitigate the cross border frequency spillover in neighboring countries, said a handout issued by her office. She said that frequency spillover is not only causing interference with the telecommunication networks but is also providing coverage in areas along the border.
She said that Pakistan may take the initiative at the regional level through the Asia-Pacific Telecommunity (APT) to build a regional consensus on the matter before putting up for discussion at a global level. The ITU Field Mission is visiting Pakistan for the stakeholders’ consultation to prepare a Spectrum Management Plan for Pakistan.
Pakistan has been highlighting the challenges in war on terror due to use of Afghan Sims in the country.
Director General of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Lieutenant General Asim Saleem Bajwa in January had said that the attackers of the Bacha Khan University in Charsadda used Afghan Sims.
Pakistan Telecommunication Authority PTA has been continuously approaching Afghanistan to work out a solution of the issue. According to PTA, Islamabad has offered Kabul to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) since 2014 but got no response.
Despite reminders given by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), Afghanistan gave a cold shoulder to the Pakistani offer for establishing an agreed mechanism to overcome the issues related to spillover effects of mobile signals in the bordering areas of both countries.