Private Firms Set to Start Fixed Line Phones in Karachi

The monopoly of the state-owned telecom giant, Pakistan Telecommunications Company (PTCL), over fixed line telephones, is coming to an end in Karachi with the start of the new year, as two new private telecom operators are ready to provide fixed line as well as wireless connections to new subscribers.

The PTA official said that in the first phase, WorldCall will start its operations in certain select localities of the city, including Defence, Clifton, PECHS and II Chundrigar Road but soon the company would expand its services to other parts of the city. Telecard Limited would give wireless connections to people of the metropolis, he added. It has been learnt that in some areas of the city, people were anxiously waiting for new telecom operators. The situation in New Karachi, Baldia Town, Korangi and some other PTCL exchanges of the metropolis are deteriorating, as hundreds of telephones are out of order in these localities for the last six months…