Government Clarifies Telecom Bill After Backlash
Pakistan's Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar said on Sunday that the government has revised a controversial telecommunications bill that now explicitly states that private property cannot be used for telecom infrastructure without obtaining the owner's consent. The announcement came after lawmakers earlier objected that the legislation could undermine constitutional property rights.
The clarification follows weeks after the 'Pakistan Telecommunication (Re-organization) (Amendment) Bill, 2026' was passed by the National Assembly but concerns were raised by lawmakers in the Senate. Critics pointed to a clause under which a property owner's failure to respond to two official notices would be treated as 'implied consent' for telecom installations. The backlash prompted Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to suspend parliamentary consideration of the bill and order a review by a government committee.
Revised Draft Makes Owner Permission Mandatory
'The matter is now settled, explicitly stating that private property will not be used in any way without the owner's consent,' Tarar told reporters at a joint press conference with IT Minister Shaza Fatima Khawaja by his side. He said the government's committee had amended the draft law, making it mandatory to obtain a property owner's permission before laying telecom cables above or below the ground, or installing any telecommunications equipment on private property.
'We have established that for any private property— be it a house, a shop, a vacant plot, or agricultural land— if a pathway is to be taken either underground or overground, obtaining the owner's permission is a mandatory pre-condition,' he said. He noted that the revised draft clearly defines telecommunications equipment, overground and underground installations, as well as right-of-way provisions to eliminate ambiguity that caused the controversy.
Tarar said dispute resolution mechanisms would apply only where both parties voluntarily enter into an agreement and disagreements later arise over contractual obligations. The government, however, will continue facilitating telecom infrastructure on public land, while separate procedures will apply to housing societies and organized residential developments.
IT Minister Defends Modernization Efforts
Speaking earlier, Khawaja clarified that the amendments were intended to modernize Pakistan's telecommunications law, originally enacted in 2006, to support the rollout of 5G services and expand broadband connectivity. She said Pakistan had increased available spectrum from 274 MHz to 750 MHz through a recent auction and aimed to expand fixed broadband connections from more than 5 million homes currently to 10 million over the next three years.
Fatima rejected allegations that financial interests had influenced the earlier draft of the legislation which was approved by the National Assembly. She said she had requested the prime minister to investigate accusations made against her ministry.
Earlier Draft Faced Strong Opposition
The initial draft of the bill allowed telecom operators to override zoning rules in housing societies and imposed hefty fines of up to 50 million rupees ($175,000) for obstructing installations. Senator Palwasha Khan, chair of the Senate Standing Committee on Information Technology, had secured a 45-day extension to review the draft, warning that the bill violated Articles 23 and 24 of Pakistan's Constitution, which guard citizens' rights to own and use property.
Broader Digital Infrastructure Push
The proposed law is part of Pakistan's broader effort to strengthen digital infrastructure as demand for high-speed Internet continues to grow. According to the Economic Survey 2025-26, Pakistan has more than 207 million mobile and fixed-line subscriptions and over 58,000 cell sites, but only about 14 percent to 19 percent of telecom towers are connected to fiber networks, limiting broadband performance.
The amended bill will now be presented before the Senate Standing Committee for further debate, before it is approved by the National Assembly, Senate and obtains the president's consent.
