Federal Minister for IT and Telecommunication Syed Amin Ul Haque said that revolutionary steps have been taken in information technology and telecommunication sector in last three years in Pakistan. In his message on the occasion of 'World Telecommunication and Information Society Day', Federal Minister for IT said that the foreign direct investment in telecommunication industry remained 6.1 billion dollars from Ist July 2018 to 30 March, 2022. The number of active mobile SIMs reached 193 million by March 2022 due to reforms in telecom sector, and mobile and fixed Broadband consumers' number saw 39.4 percent increase, he said. IT Minister Syed Amin Ul Haque said that projects were started through Universal Service Fund (USF), the attached department of Ministry of IT & Telecom, for the provision of broadband services across the country. Over 37 projects of worth Rs 31 billion were launched by June 2021, and upto 50 to 75 percent work has been completed on most of these projects, he added. The Federal Minister said that Rs 6.47 billion are being spent on nine different projects of optical fiber and broadband services in Punjab, and nine projects of worth over Rs 8.48 billion are also underway in Sindh for provision of high speed internet and laying of fiber optical in the province. The number of projects for the 14 districts of Balochistan is 11 costing Rs 8.43 billion. Over 7.08 billion rupees are being spent on 8 different projects of broadband services and optical fiber in fourteen districts of KPK, he noted. Syed Amin Ul Haque said that Rs 29 billion are also being spent on 28 projects for provision of broadband services in far-flung areas during current financial year. Work is alo going on on nine different projects for laying of fiber optic cable in all four provinces. Total 4,746 kilometres long cable is being laid which will cost Rs 13.14 billion, he said. He said that USF completed projects for provision of mobile network on 1,929 kilometres main highways.
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