As a result of government’s policies of deregulation, privatization and liberalization the telecom sector has attracted an investment of 9 billion dollars, which includes the cost and upgradation of equipment, equity and license fee, said Prime Minister in a meeting with telecom officials.

The Prime Minister said that the telecom sector has become a major employer of skilled jobs as its exponential growth has resulted in creation of 80,000 jobs directly and 500,000 jobs indirectly. The Prime Minister appreciated the efforts of the Ministry of IT and the regulatory authority for their systematic and sustained implementation and management efforts to totally transform and modernize the telecom sector.

The Prime Minister said people are the major beneficiaries of the telecom sector’s success story as 70 per cent of the country’s population has access to improved telecom services at substantially reduced tariffs.

During his presentation about the telecom sector, Secretary IT said that the telecom sector constitutes 2 per cent of the GDP which is expected to rise to 3 per cent in the next three to four years. The country has 50 million phones including cellular and fixed lines, he added.

He informed the meeting that the teledensity has increased from 4 per cent in 2003 to 35 per cent in 2007. The Secretary IT informed the meeting that the current revenue of Rs. 200 million from the telecom industry is expected to increase at a rate of 20 per cent per annum. The government receipts from the telecom sector in the shape of taxes, dividends and indirect revenues amount to Rs. 80 billion per year, he added.