LAHORE   -  Chairman of Pakistan Telecommunication Authority Major General (r) Amir Azeem Bajwa has assured resolving issues of business community on priority basis. Telecommunication companies have already been directed to improve their services.

He was speaking at a meeting at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry. LCCI President Mian Tariq Misbah and Vice President Tahir Manzoor Chaudhry also spoke on the occasion.

Chairman PTA said that signal quality issue is being faced at congested areas, narrow streets and basements. He said that due to COVID-19, online working has been increased and 70 per cent rise in data usage has been witnessed. He said that 2 to 2.50 million new subscribers are coming in the system. He said that operators have been directed to improve quality of services. He said that installation of towers takes time.

He said that mobile assembling has been started in Pakistan. He said that last year 2.4 million handsets were assembled in Pakistan while during last two months, 1.5 million sets were assembled. This shows rapid growth of this sector. He said that soon 50 per cent parts of handsets would be manufactured in the country.

Mian Tariq Misbah said that the use of mobile phones has increased tremendously in Pakistan as the number of cellular subscribers has touched 180 million while the number of 3G/4G subscribers has reached 95 million. Lahore, being a large city holds a considerable share in the usage of mobile phones. He said that in these times, the businessmen are making great use of mobile phones for running and promoting their businesses. There are number of Apps like Whatsapp, imo, skype being used for making audio/video calls and also sharing multimedia.

“Furthermore, the Mobile Banking has emerged as another very important and useful tool in last few years. The networks available to the businessmen like UBL Omni, Easypaisa, Jazz Cash, Upaisa and Paymaz Zong have also brought great ease in making quick payments to remote clients across the country”, he added. He said that with the greater use of such technology, the dependence of businesses has increased on the quality of mobile companies.