11-21-2006, 04:02 PM
<b>150 lose jobs as Paktel starts closing operations</b> <!--emo&:flush--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/Flush.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='Flush.gif' /><!--endemo-->
<i>Fate of 1.5 million subscribers unclear</i>
<b>KARACHI : Millicom International, parent company of pioneer cellular service in the country Paktel, has closed down its call centre in Karachi, laying off 150 employees in what believed to be a gesture to wrap up operations in Pakistan.
Telecom sources said the company was in contract with a local operator of call centres, which was informed that Paktel was not interested in continuing such facilitation for its customers <span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>in line with its parent companyâs announcement to shut down its Pakistan operations.</span></b>
âThe company (Paktel) actually had outsourced its call centres to local operators to facilitate customer services,â said a source privy to the development. âHowever, it recently cancelled or discontinued its effectiveness and ultimately caused unemployment of at least 150 call centre agents employed with the operators and working for Paktel operations.â
He said the recent move had triggered uncertainty among the employees coupled with already puzzled more than 1.5 million customers of the cellular company, but it had failed to cause alarm among government quarters and the authority concerned.
Millicom International last week announced it was considering strategic options for Paktel Ltd, where significant doubts affected confidence in the ability of the cellular service to generate returns on investment at the levels required by the company.
Paktel, which also operates AMPS (advanced mobile phone system), acquired $291 million GSM (global system for mobile communications) licence in 2004. However, the service failed to capitalise amid increased competition and financial crunch faced by its parent company across the globe.
Speculation grips the telecom industry as key cellular players, all of them with foreign stakes and management controls, see the Millicom announcement a significant development in the sector but obviously the negative one.
âSurely, this is not a good news at all,â said a senior official of one of the five other cellular companies. âBut one has to look at Paktel or Millicom history in Pakistan before reaching any conclusion. Millicom is already in the red due to financial problems so winding up operations in Pakistan in this context is natural.â
However, he said, it was the responsibility of Pakistan Telecommunication Authority - the telecom watchdog - to prevent the subscribers from losses and come up with a clear policy to avoid speculation and remove uncertainty, as the Millicom announcement left several questions unanswered.
<b>But the regulator appears more concerned to get back its money rather than protecting consumer rights and job losses to the locals. âPaktel had to pay $29 million in account of licences fee instalment during the first week of November,â said a senior official who asked not to be named.</b>
âBut they failed to meet the deadline. Now we have learnt through media reports that their parent company (Millicom International) wants to close it (Paktel) down but they have to clear their dues before the final decision.â
He said as the company failed to pay licence fee instalment within the given deadline, the authority could take action under the defined regulations in Cellular Mobile Policy 2003. The Luxembourg-based Millicom, which introduced cellular service in Pakistan through local operations named Paktel in early 90s, has already sold out its shares of Instaphone, another cellular company, to its local partner.
The company currently owns 88.9 per cent shares in Paktel and by September 2006 it was enjoying 1.52 million subscribers, up 62 per cent from 944,718 as at 30 September 2005 across the country.
Cheers <!--emo&:beer--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cheers.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='cheers.gif' /><!--endemo-->