Ministry of IT and Telecommunication through Universal Service Fund (USF) has made landmark achievements in the first six months of FY 2019-20 (July-December).
During this period, six Next Generation Broadband for Sustainable Development (NGBSD) projects worth PKR 2.8 billion were awarded for the socio-economic uplift of the people. Through these projects, hi-speed mobile broadband access is being provided to over 09 million (approximately) citizens in total, residing in 4333 mauzas spread across 13 districts.
The contracts of these projects were awarded for hi-speed broadband services in Hyderabad (districts of Matiari, Tando Allahyar, Hyderabad, Tando Muhammad Khan, Badin & Sujawal), Bahawalpur (district of Bahawalpur), Rahimyarkhan (district of Rahimyar Khan), Bahawalnagar (Bahawalnagar), DG Khan (DG Khan & Layyah) and Tharparkar (Tharparkar & Mirpurkhas), according to performance report of USF, an organization under Ministry of IT and Telecommunication. The contracts of these projects were awarded to Telenor and PMCL (Jazz).
Through the implementation of all these projects, Ministry of IT & Telecom through USF is enabling citizens of Pakistan to harness dividends of the 4th industrial revolution. All these programmes are acting as a catalyst to stimulate economic growth, create jobs, trigger financial inclusion, decrease disparities, reduce social inclusion and enable improvements in education, health care and other social services. They are also helping Pakistan achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and also creating a favorable environment for implementation of the Prime Minister's Digital Pakistan Programme, as broadband coverage has been identified as a primary pillar of the programme.
In order to further spread the benefits of these projects, USF plans to award contracts for the projects in Sanghar (Umerkot & Sanghar), Muzaffargarh (Muzaffargarh & Rajanpur), Kurram (Kurram), Bolan (Kacchi-Bolan & Jhal Magsi) and Jaffarabad (Jaffarabad, Sohbatpur and Nasirabad) in the second half of the FY 2019-20.
It is a matter of great pride that with all these achievements, USF with the support of Ministry of IT & Telecom is creating a success story for the public-private partnership entities nationally and internationally and a large number of countries are replicating USF model of Pakistan. Such milestones will keep enabling USF to reach new heights in future.
****
