ISLAMABAD-Federal IT and Telecommunication Minister Syed Amin Ul Haque has said his ministry had launched two more projects worth Rs1 billion for the provision of mobile and high-speed internet services in Tharparkar and Gwadar districts. On the directive of the minister, the Universal Service Fund (USF) Board approved an award of 2 contracts worth approximately Rs1.06 billion to Telenor and Ufone for the unserved and under-served communities of Balochistan and Sindh provinces.
“We own the urban and rural areas of Sindh and continuously rolling out Broadband, OFC and other connectivity projects for these areas without any discrimination,” Haque said in a statement. A project worth more than Rs870 million for Tharparkar district will be completed in 18 months and provide mobile and broadband facilities to more than 72,000 residents of various unserved villages spread over an area of 10,432 sq km.
Syed Amin Ul Haque said the broadband project had also been approved costing Rs188.1 million for more than 15,000 people in 19 villages of Gwadar, Balochistan. He said that the completion of these projects would provide an opportunity to the residents of unserved, under-served and remote areas of Balochistan and Sindh “not only to connect with the digital world but also be able to find convenience” in their daily routines, their businesses and other life needs with this connectivity. The minister congratulated the USF Board of Directors, its chairman Additional Secretary MOITT Mohsin Mushtaq Chandna and CEO Haaris Mahmood Chaudhary for launching these projects.
He said that with the projects of providing broadband services in the unserved, under-served areas of the country under the USF expanding Connectivity Network, the performance of the USF was being appreciated globally. GSMA Asia Pacific and ITU had praised USF’s structure and project methodology in this regard, he added.