Wireless Networks

Pakistan’s remote areas receive telecom boost

Pakistan’s Universal Service Fund (USF) has chosen Balochistan and Southern Punjab as the targets for its latest initiative to bring telecoms to the country’s remote areas. Half a million Balochistanis will be helped by this new development...

The USF has committed itself to aiding Balochistan’s rural and remote areas, and has inked in contracts with CM Pak for basic telecoms services in the Nasirabad area of Balochistan, as well as with World Call for broadband services in the Multan Telecom Region of Southern Punjab. On a more personal level, CM Pak’s CEO Qian Li and World Call’s CEO Babar Ali Syed signed the contracts with USF’s own CEO Parvez Iftikhar.

The value of CMPak’s contract will be US$19 million. Almost 650 hitherto unserved mauzas (villages) inhabited by around 500,000 people will now be served by telephony services. Regionally, the beneficiaries will be Balochistan’s Bolan, Jaffarabad, Jhal Magsi and Nasirabad areas.

Correspondingly, Worldcall will receive US$9.5 million for its broadband expertise and products. Eleven districts (including 38 small towns) in Southern Punjab are set to benefit. On a more complex note, schools and colleges will receive 27 educational broadband centres and there will be 121 community broadband centres.

The importance of contracts such as these is stressed by the Pakistani authorities. The policy of the IT Ministry is stimulate ICT by raising telecom penetration in so-far unserved parts of Pakistan. Fibre-optic, broadband and rural-oriented telecoms technologies are the methods of boosting socio-economic development.

The USF has itself recently signed several contracts in addition to the two mentioned in this report. As a result, over 1,000 villages have received telecoms help - with 5,000 more villages in the process of receiving aid. Any other unserved villages can expect infrastructure from the Fund via future auctions.

More info:



More Articles you may be Interested in...