State of Telecom Industry in Pakistan

In this issue:

1. China - Opens Handset Manufacturing Market To Outsiders; SK Telecom Attempts To Break Into Chinese Telecom Market
2. India Working On 3G Policy, New Players Expected
3. Cell Phones To Solve Africa’s Problems?

China will allow foreign handset manufacturers to compete for their huge market, reports Shanghai Daily. China now has more than 500 million mobile-phone subscribers and is adding an average of about 6.8 million subscribers per month, according to the Ministry of Information Industry. 

China announced that it would relax license regulations for handset manufacturing. China’s State Council has abolished some 186 administrative examination and approval items covering mobile communication systems and terminals. Now is the time to let the market rule and see qualified new players replace the market positions held by established companies which depended heavily on the income from renting licenses to other companies, according to United Securities. The new players such as Tianyu, largely unknown by established industry players, have challenged and even surpassed leading domestic firms like Ningbo Bird and TCL Communications.

At PT/EXPO COMM China 2007, a telecom tech fair held in Beijing, SK Telecom offered tech-savvy Chinese consumers a taste of their mobile future. Using a Chinese-developed mobile telecommunication technology called TD-SCDMA, Korea’s largest mobile phone operator showcased international video telephony and high-speed mobile multimedia functions such as video on demand and real-time TV. SK Telecom is expected to accelerate a foray into the Chinese telecom market after becoming the second largest shareholder of China Unicom.

The Economic Times reports on India’s 3G Policy developments.

The policy for third generation mobile (3G) and wireless broadband services (WiMax) is all set to finally see the light of day ‘very soon’. After deliberating on telecom regulator Trai’s recommendations on WiMax for over a year, the Telecom Commission (TC), the apex body of the department of telecom (DoT), has finally submitted its policy report to communications minister . Telecom Commission is learnt to have recommended that radio frequencies for offering 3G services be offered via an auction process, where all telcos - existing operators, licence holders and new international players - are allowed to bid.

Finally a story from Forbes in which Cell mogul Mohammed Ibrahim offers a radical solution to solving Africa’s ills.

Mohammed (Mo) Ibrahim, 61, is a Sudanese-born billionaire who made his fortune building Celtel, a mobile phone company that serves 15 African countries. He sold it in 2005 for $3.4 billion and is worth an estimated $2.5 billion today. Now he has a philanthropic idea that is as novel as it is potentially naive. On Oct. 22 his Mo Ibrahim Foundation will award its first $5 million annual prize to a former African head of state who has shown exemplary leadership in things like political freedom and promoting the rule of law. The prize, which dwarfs the $1.5 million Nobel Prize, will be spread out over ten years, with $200,000 a year after that.

The catch: The leader is eligible for the prize only after he or she has left office and has no plans to return to public service. The idea is to give African politicians an incentive to remain honest in office–and to leave after their terms are up. On that continent prime ministers can’t expect lucrative book deals or speaking tours after leaving office and, faced with dismal opportunities, often cling to power. Ibrahim, who lives in London, talked recently to FORBES.

Can’t a corrupt politician embezzle a lot more than $5 million?

This is too cynical. It assumes that all people coming to office are thieves. That’s not true. It also assumes that we are trying to lure a thief out of a job. And that’s not our intention. It’s our intention to honor all the good men and women who serve with dignity and leave with dignity. We’re not in the business of buying off thieves.

Don’t you want the good politicians to stay in office?

The road to hell is paved with good intentions. What we have learned is that power corrupts. If people stay longer in office, things start to go wrong. You should give people who have fresh ideas the chance to lead.

How bad is corruption in Africa?

I’m a little bit puzzled and annoyed when my friends in the West start to lecture me about corruption in Africa. Who are the partners in corruption? Are the Africans corrupting each other? I don’t think so. It’s utter hypocrisy.

Have you ever been asked to pay a bribe?

Of course. I have been asked a few times. But when I started Celtel we said we would not pay bribes, and we did not pay a single dollar. It is possible to do business in Africa without paying bribes, and we have demonstrated that.