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No Debates, No Votes: PPP Vows to Block PTA Amendment Bill in Senate Over 'Draconian' Clauses
PPP Vice President Senator Sherry Rehman has announced that her party will block the Pakistan Telecommunication (Amendment) Bill 2026 in the Senate until it is thoroughly debated in the standing committee. While supporting national fibreisation, Rehman condemned the retention of "draconian" clauses like Clause 27-A on private land acquisition, warned against executive overreach in telecom dispute resolution, and suggested public hearings to restore legislative transparency.
ND
by News Desk
2026-06-22
No Debates, No Votes: PPP Vows to Block PTA Amendment Bill in Senate Over 'Draconian' Clauses

Detailed Report

  • The Senate Legislative Standoff: The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has formally drawn a line against the federal coalition government's push to clear the controversial Pakistan Telecommunication (Amendment) Bill 2026. Taking to the social media platform X on Monday, June 22, 2026, PPP Vice President Senator Sherry Rehman categorically stated that her party will not support or pass any information technology, PTA, or Right of Way (RoW) legislation in the upper house unless it undergoes a "threadbare" scrutiny within the relevant Senate standing committee. Rehman made it clear that the PPP's vote is entirely contingent upon getting its proposed deletions locked into the final statutory text.

  • The Dispute Over Clause 27-A: The legislative friction stems from the text transmitted by the National Assembly (NA), where the bill had sailed through on June 11—just a day before the federal budget presentation. Although the MoITT assured lawmakers that controversial portions had been expunged, the upper house version still contained "draconian" provisions, specifically Clause 27-A. This clause regulates how telecom companies acquire private land and handle infrastructure placement. Rehman asserted that while the PPP firmly backs the country's optical fibre expansion, it refuses to accept existing encroachments on right-of-way, heavy-handed penalties, and executive-controlled dispute resolution mechanisms, reminding the government that private property remains a constitutionally protected fundamental right.

  • The Telco Tower Infrastructure Context: Beyond land rights, the draft law faces intense scrutiny from both PPP and PML-N lawmakers over why provisions regulating "telco towers and related equipment" were quietly bundled into legislation meant to facilitate underground fibre cables. This legislative bundling intersects with a massive corporate shift in Pakistan's telecom sector, where operators are offloading physical towers to independent Tower Companies (TowerCos) to promote infrastructure sharing:

    • The National Footprint: Pakistan hosts roughly 50,000 telecom towers.

    • Carrier-Owned Towers: Around 26,000 remain directly under the ownership of cellular networks like Ufone/Telenor and Zong.

    • Independent Infrastructure: Nearly half the country's tower market is now controlled by independent giants like Engro Enfrashare, Edotco, Tower Power, and TAWAL. Jazz has already offloaded nearly its entire portfolio of 10,700 towers to Engro Enfrashare. Critics fear the current wording of the bill could inadvertently grant unfair public land access and fee exemptions to these independent commercial tower corporations.
Tagged:

#PTABill2026 #SherryRehman #SenateStandingCommittee #RightOfWay #TelecomInfrastructure #PrivatePropertyRights #FibreisationPakistan #BreakingNewsPakistan
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