DTH licence auction: 12 companies shortlisted
Shares
ISLAMABAD: (APP) Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) on Monday short-listed 12 companies for participation in the first bidding for Direct to Home (DTH) service licences to be held on November 23.
The short-listed companies included Orient Electronics Lahore, Mag Entertainment Lahore, Skyflix Islamabad, Smartimes Communications Islamabad, Sardar Builders Islamabad, Smart Sky Islamabad, Parus Media and BroadcastIslamabad, Naya Tel Islamabad, Maestro Media Distribution Islamabad, Shahzad Sky Islamabad, HB DTH Islamabad, and IQ Communications Karachi, PEMRA Chairman Absar Alam said.
He was talking to newsmen here after chairing a meeting of PEMRA Authority.
Absar Alam said auction of the three licences would be done in an open transparent bidding.
To a question he said the operation against illegal Indian DTH would continue till its complete elimination. India, he said, was involved in shelling Pakistani areas on the LoC and even today seven Pakistani soldiers were martyred in unprovoked Indian firing. But a lobby seemed to be working for ending ban on airing of Indian content and dramas on Pakistani channels but no such conspiracy would succeed, he added.
The PEMRA chief said the Authority also decided to issue an FM radio licence to National Press Club Trust.
To a question about illegal termination of employees' services by various electronic media houses, he said PEMRA would take action as per law. A show cause notice had been issued to a satellite TV channel against whom an employ had filed a complaint after his dismissal and decision would be taken after its reply. If the channel's reply was not satisfactory, action would be taken against it as per law, he added.
Replying to another quesry, he said majority of the cable operators were cooperating with PEMRA and all possible steps would be taken to resolve their genuine problems.
He said some of the cable operators were protesting for end of ban on the Indian content but that was against the wishes of the people and ground realities. At the time when the Indian Army was shelling Pakistani land and killing innocent citizens it was out of question to allow use of Indian DTH.
He said the Pakistani DTH would not only promote national culture but also benefit the nation economically.
To a question, Absar Alam said a letter had been written to the Defence Ministry for action against use of illegal Indian DTH in Defence Housing Authority. He appealed to the managements of housing authorities to approach their residents to stop use of Indian DTH.
He condemned unprovoked Indian firing at Line of Control in which seven armed forces personnel were martyred.
The meeting was attended by Secretary Interior Arif Ahmed Khan, Federal Bureau of Revenue Chairman Nisar Muhammad Khan, Pakistan Telecom Authority Chairman Dr Ismail Shah, and members of the Authority from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab Nargis Nisar and Shaheen Habibullah.
