The Pakistan cabinet headed by the Chief Executive Gen. Pervez Musharraf on Thursday (January 20, 2000) decided to regulate the cable TV trade and authorized the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority to invite applications for the issuance of licences to the cable operators.

At a post-meeting news conference, the adviser to the chief executive, Javed Jabbar, said the government would charge some fee from a cable TV concern depending upon the household being served by it. He said the decision on private television channels would be taken later. A committee comprising the ministry of communications, ministry of finance and ministry of information and media development was set up by the cabinet to formulate rules and regulations for the cable operators in the country, Jabbar said. According to an estimate, over 500,000 houses were benefiting from the cable TV in Pakistan. He said the regulation of this sector will be carried out keeping in view the convenience of the customers.

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