The Telecom sector which is an important source of revenue generation has contributed around Rs.582.95 Bn to the national exchequer during the previous three and a half years.
Major Telecom Sector contribution of Rs.243.28 bn to the national kitty had been registered during the year 2013-14 while 2014-15 experienced a contribution of Rs. 126.26 billion.
Similarly, during 2015-16, this sector contributed Rs. 159.65 billion while the first two-quarters of 2016-17 brought Rs. 53.76 bn in.
On Thursday, sources at Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), said the contributions comprised all receipts of PTA including Initial and Annual License Fees, Annual Radio Frequency Spectrum, Spectrum Administrative Fee, Universal Service Fund (USF) and Research and Development Fund Contributions, APC for USF, Numbering Charges, License Application fee etc. The others include Custom Duties, With Holding Tax (WHT) along with other charges.
According to reports, the commercial launch of 3G and 4G services has opened opportunities for revenue generation for the mobile operators.
Availability of 3G and 4G services has enabled the development of the new apps and database services. People of Pakistan are quickly adapting to these new services and technologies.
Furthermore, the sources said there is consistent growth in Information Technology (IT) remittances over last decade at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of around 23%. There is an impressive growth approximately 97% in IT remittances over last four years.
Hence, IT exports of Pakistan are estimated to have crossed $ 2.8 billion per year at present as per estimation standard of Bearing Point. Annual domestic revenue of Pakistan is around $500 million. Total revenue of the national IT industry is estimated to be around $3.3 bn a year at present.
