Telecos Divided over Mobile Phones Sets Installment Policy
Despite repeated attempts by the ministry of IT & Telecom (MOITT) to have a policy for sale of mobile phones sets at instalments, the telecos remain divided, delaying the initiative primarily beneficial for the low and middle income groups.
The officials of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) here on Wednesday informed the MOITT that while there was strong pressure from Jazz and the Ufone for an early launch of a policy in this regard, the third telecom company of the country – Zong has yet not responded to repeated reminders in this regard.
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The need for selling phones at instalments has increased after the recent 5G spectrum auction held on March 10, as it will also increase 4G mobile telecom services in remote and underserved areas, as result the demand for smartphones is set to rise in coming months.
Out of around 30.21 million phone sets were manufactured in the country in 2025, almost 45 percent were old feature phones.
Jazz had been constantly pushing for such a policy as it will allow low income groups, and non-earners such as students to have smart phones at instalments, and under the draft policy in-case of default the CNIC of the customer will be forwarded to the central pool, eventually blocking all the SIMs held under that CNIC.
“This policy is not focused on low income groups only as there are a large number of people who want to get a 5G compatible phone set but cannot afford to buy it on cash payment,” Kazim Mujtaba, President Jazz GSM, said.
On the other hand the suggestion forwarded by Zong to the MOITT regarding sale of mobile phones on instalments calls for blocking all the financial services of the defaulters.
Whereas the MOITT maintains that blocking financial services or blocking the CNIC was not under the preview of IT ministry or the PTA, the financial services were under the State Bank of Pakistan and the interior ministry was authorised can block the CNICs.
“Defaulting the instalments of any mobile phone set was not such a crime that the CNIC of the person can be blocked,” a senior official of the PTA responded.
Meanwhile, Mr Mujtaba has also suggested that with the availability of spectrum after the recent auction – the government has to focus on launching projects under the Universal Support Fund (USF) to have constant connectivity at all the motorways.
“It is because there is no business case for individual companies to invest along the motorways but the connectivity can be ensured through the USF financing,” he added.