The advent of 3G

3G refers to 3rd generation mobile telephony technology, superseding 2G. The primary focus of 2G was on SMS and verbal communication. The bandwidth of 2G was 30-200KHZ. Later 2.5G technology was also introduced but it failed to bring any revolutionary changes. However, it was expected that 3G will bring a revolution in the IT and telecom sector.

The Pakistan Telecommunication authority (PTA) has given a green signal for 3G services for the users of mobile networks after a long time. For this purpose, the government will invite bids from foreign and local players and bidding is expected in current month.

Now the question arises that how will 3G affect our economy, our behaviours and our norms. It is expected that by licensing to telecom companies, PTA will generate revenue of almost $1 billion at the start which will be quite beneficial for PTA. But the bidding process must be transparent and free of corruption.

3G will also have many effects on different sectors of the economy. To justify this, I will share my own experience. I, with my executives, used to visit our franchisees throughout Pakistan to monitor their activities, to organise meetings and to inspect the physical infrastructure of some particular franchise. This process continued throughout the year and increased our expenditures. But our organisation is saving almost 50% on travel costs thanks to 3G-enables services such as video-conferencing. Because 3G will facilitate long-distance training, meetings, monitoring etc, it might have a sizeable impact on the transport sector especially airline revenues that come from corporate travel.

3G may also have an impact on the health sector in Pakistan. Doctors will be able to diagnose their patients from afar without any expensive network infrastructure. It will also be beneficial to small hospitals in improving service delivery.

The availability of 3G will also urge many users to switch to 3G-compatible handsets. This will then increase the profits of these manufacturing companies.

The internet facility is not available in the rural areas of Pakistan right now. But with 3G, it will be available wherever there is cellular network coverage. Thus, the availability of 3G will enhance IT operations throughout the country in both urban and rural areas. Users can save time and TV and other media will be easily accessible. It will also have a negative impact on the print media in Pakistan, because it will enable the users to connect to the internet through their mobiles at any time of the day.

The government must anticipate the consequences of 3G. It should work to realise some future revenue streams through taxation. The government could impose additional taxes on the multinational mobile companies as their profits will increase because of 3G services. The government should also issue 3G license as soon as possible to stretch the volume of transactions which will increase the revenue.

Additional laws and regulations will also be required to deal with the impact of 3G. The government should also foresee its negative effects on our educational institutions, copyrights laws and E-Laws. Through proper management and timely decisions, 3G could be very beneficial for Pakistan.

ADIL SOHAIL

Lahore