Dr. Yaseen, Chairman PTA told this to Senate’s Standing Committee on Information Technology and Telecommunication, which expressed concerns over the illegal grey traffic issue.
Chairman PTA Dr. Mohammed Yaseen told the committee that the existing monitoring system is capable of detecting limited number of Voice Over Internet Protocols (VoIPs) whereas VoIPs protocols evolves continuously. Therefore, the monitoring capability of Pakistan is limited.
He said both legal and illegal operators had been involved in gray trafficking and even some people installed VoIP equipment in their homes. The existing monitoring system is capable of checking only 30 percent international voice traffic while the 70 percent passed without check.
The up-gradation of equipment requires about $10 million, which could save at least $137 million per annum.
Now the problem is not that the equipment is costly and Pakistani authorities and operators can’t afford it. It’s APC rate that’s set so high that it becomes unviable for legal operators to terminate the calls on their network through legal means.
In simple words, for each international incoming call if an operator has to pay 5 rupees per minute as APC, then isn’t it more viable to illegally terminate this same minute for mere 3 rupees or even less?
The issue is set as unresolved. Operators are competing with low priced VoIP telephony companies – which they can’t if APC is there. In the presence of APC, operators decided not to upgrade their equipment at all to save some money that they can.
Now who increased this APC rate, and how illegal traffic grew, we all know this.
