Pakistani operators Jazz and Telenor Pakistan have paid the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) the next instalment of their licence renewal fees despite their objections to the increases imposed by the regulator.
As reported by TeleGeography, the PTA revised the terms of the operators’ concessions – including a substantial increase to the fee - a matter of weeks before they were due to expire in early 2019. Both operators disputed the last minute change, but in August 2021 a court ruling backed the regulator’s authority to set the licence fees as it saw fit.
Following the ruling, Jazz agreed to the updated terms and opted to renew its licence in October 2021. In December, Telenor reluctantly conceded to renew “under protest” and has reserved the right to continue its legal dispute against the new concession terms.
