Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif is expected to meet Apple Chief Executive Officer (CEO) John Ternus in the United States (US) as the government seeks to bring the company’s mobile phone manufacturing or assembly operations to Pakistan.
The CEO of the Engineering Development Board (EDB) shared details on Thursday while briefing the National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee on Information Technology and Telecommunication. He said that the meeting could take place when Shehbaz travels to Washington DC for a series of high-profile meetings in the coming months.
The officer confirmed that there are 37 companies manufacturing mobile phones locally in Pakistan producing more than 35 million handsets to date.
He stated that Apple remains the only major smartphone company that does not manufacture phones in Pakistan, adding that the government wants the company to establish manufacturing or assembly operations in the country.
The expected meeting in the US could form part of the efforts to attract Apple to Pakistan.
Committee Chairman Aminul Haque welcomed the expansion of local mobile phone manufacturing but said Pakistan needs to further increase domestic production, stressing that locally manufactured phones should remain affordable while meeting quality standards.
Haque also called for greater attention to locally produced 4G and 5G devices instead of continuing with older 3G technology.
The committee also discussed complaints about poor mobile and internet services and decided to summon telecom companies over persistent network problems.
Haque questioned the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) over the action it had taken against telecom companies, saying subscribers often had to dial the same number three times before getting a call through. He said the quality of mobile and internet services had declined after the spectrum auction instead of improving.
He also asked the PTA about the fines imposed on telecom companies during the past six months. While the regulator had issued show-cause notices and warning letters, Haque questioned whether it had imposed enough fines.
The committee directed the PTA to carry out its responsibilities and inform parliament if it faced any hurdle in taking action against telecom companies.
Members also proposed calling telecom representatives to explain the network problems directly.
During the discussion on local mobile manufacturing, Haque also questioned why Apple had not entered Pakistan while other international mobile companies were already operating in the country.
