ISLAMABAD: The country has imported mobile handsets and other telecom apparatus worth US $ 662.1 million during first nine months of current fiscal year.

Of the total imports in three quarters, the country imported cellular mobile sets with battery worth US $ 293.1 million and other telecom apparatus worth US $ 369 million.

Sources at Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) on Sunday said the first two quarters of the year witnessed a raise in total telecom imports mostly on account of demand of cellular mobile handsets. The import of mobile handsets have reached above US $ 293 million during July to December 2013 as owing to high demand the authorities allowed import of cheaper Chinese brand mobile handsets.

They said with huge telecom market of over 136 million subscribers, telecom companies and manufacturing industry should put efforts for telecom manufacturing in the country and added several mobile handsets manufacturing companies are showing interest to invest on public-private partnership basis.

It is mentioned here that the country witnessed total telecom imports worth US $ 766.3 million during 2010-11, US $ 954 million during 2011-12, 918.4 million during 2012-13.