Zong slaps PTA with a Rs. 600 billion notice for damages to the operator

In a reply to the fine slapped by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) on Zong CMPak amounting to $29.5 million (approx. PKR 4.73 billion) for the unauthorized and illegal use of some radio frequencies, Zong CMPak has served PTA with a notice claiming PKR 600 billion in compensation against the losses suffered by the company owing to a disturbed radio frequency band that it obtained from PTA.

Zong CMPak has stated that the radio frequency band issued to it by PTA faced many issues over the years which remain unresolved by PTA causing loss of revenue to the network operator. Not only that Zong CMPak has said that this caused their customer base to decrease due to poor quality of services in the regions with the disputed bands.

This also led to a competitive advantage for other network operators as they possessed radio bands without any interferences allowing them to provide quality services in the region. Despite the challenges, Zong CMPak had been trying its best to provide its customer with the best services which meant that Zong CMPak to invest highly in the region to overcome the issues.

Instead of working with Zong CMPak, PTA has decided to turn to the legal route and served them with a fine even though Zong CMPak has been serving the country since 2008 and has made significant investments worth more than $2 billion. Zong CMPak is also the first network operator to test 5G in the country. Our government needs to stop being hasty like FBR did with Jazz in the past month and work on communicating properly with the concerned companies before making a decision as it only causes more embarrassment for the country and may drive more investors away.