14-16 May 2024: The Asia-Pacific Telecommunity (APT) organized the Meeting of the SATRC Working Group on Policy, Regulation and Services (WG PRS) from 14 to 16 May 2024 in Islamabad, Pakistan. The meeting was hosted by Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), and attended by 48 delegates including the experts of the Working Group from 9 SATRC Members and 7 Affiliate Members of APT.
The meeting of SATRC WG PRS is one of the activities of the SATRC Action Plan Phase IX (2024-2025) (SAP-IX) which was adopted by the 24th Meeting of SATRC (SATRC-24) held in Dhaka, Bangladesh in 2023. It was the first face-to-face meeting of the Working Group under the SAP-IX.
The meeting discussed the Work Items assigned to the Working Group by the Council. The Work Items of WG PRS under SAP-IX are as follows:
- Work Item 1: Study of the regulatory challenges concerning new technologies and smart solutions for Fixed and Mobile Broadband
- Work Item 2: Enhancing the Utilization of Universal Service Obligation Fund for Digital Inclusion
- Work Item 3: Enhancing ICT E-Waste Management Regulations for Sustainable Development
- Work Item 4: Study on challenges and addressal of online scams and digital financial frauds taking into account the consumer information protection and rights
- Work Item 5: Analyzing the impact of convergence and emerging services on the tariff policies in SATRC countries.
- Work Item 6: Smart Cities and Societies: Experience and Case Studies in SATRC countries in deploying IoT, Big Data and similar technologies. Â
The key outcomes of the meeting are as follows:
- Appointment of the lead/co-lead experts of the assigned Work Items.
- Review and adoption of the Detail Work Plan.
- Development of Questionnaires on each Work Items to obtain the necessary information from the SATRC member countries.