Wednesday, June 04, 2008

The Growth of Cell Phone Industry

Telecommunication is, perhaps, the only field in our country which has improved and got cheaper at the same time with the passage of time. When PTCL first launched its services, getting a telephone connection was quite a task. Connections were given on priority basis but today you can get the PTCL Wireless connection without getting into any formalities. On the other hand, to a great extent use of PTCL has been replaced by the cell-phones.
Not very long ago, when the cell-phones were introduced in Pakistan they had the status of a luxury owned by the limited few who could afford it. However, today, in a span of a few years cell-phones are in easy access of everyone. To many it is a necessity and to others a necessity as well as a means of entertainment.
The rapid growth of the cell-phone industry has its pros and cons. Whereas, it has made the communication easier and cheaper, it has also given birth to some social evils that didn’t exit in the past, consider the wrong use of cell-phones and the increase in street crimes.
There is a great deal of competition among the companies offering cell-phone services, the negative aspect of which is that the companies are doing all out effort to extend their network before the market heads toward saturation (though still quite far). Another result of this competition is the introduction of different Packages to attract the users. That how cell-phones have negatively affected the society, consider the Night Free Package offered by a company from 12 a.m. to 7 a.m. is this package being used in a positive way at large?
It is debatable whether a cell-phone connection should be available to every person or not. In some countries, at least I know of the USA, you have to undergo a lengthy process before you can avail this facility. Previously, the cell-phone companies didn’t bother about the unregistered SIMs, the repercussion of which finally gained the government’s attention as it has taken measures to block the unregistered SIMS.
Concrete steps should be taken to prevent the wrong use of cell-phones. Much can be done by registration of SIMs, disallowing a person to keep more than one SIM, and abolishing the night free like packages. Without a doubt, cell-phones have brought a remarkable change in our society and its proper use calls for our responsibility. For example, consider the selection of ring tone and the selection of Silent or General Mode as the situation requires. How many times the full volume ring tone of a song has disturbed you while you were offering your prayers in the mosque? You might also have heard ring tone with Qura’nic verses which is such a wrong thing to do as so many times people only give missed calls in which case the meaning of the verse changes as the verse is not recited completely. Much can be improved if only we start realizing our responsibilities.

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