May 20, 2022 – Federal Minister for Information Technology Syed Aminul Haque has said that telecom firms need to upgrade their infrastructure to improve the quality of their services across the country.
According to a statement shared by the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication (MoITT), Haque made these statements on Thursday while addressing a delegation of Telenor, a Norwegian state-owned telecommunications company.
The minister urged the telecom sector to upgrade their infrastructure, especially in urban areas and added that the IT Ministry is providing 90 t0 95 percent subsidy to provide broadband internet and mobile services to remote and underserved areas of the country.
The minister believes that addressing public complaints and strengthening networks is inevitable for digitalisation. The IT Ministry is working actively to remove obstacles that hinder the development of the telecom sector to make “Digital Pakistan Vision” a reality, he added.
Haque added that with the number of mobile and broadband internet users increasing, it is important to improve the quality of telecom services in the country.
On the other hand, in the Bajaur district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, mobile internet had been suspended for more than two weeks due to “security reasons”. Students, social activists, traders and telecom operators have taken to the streets to protest against the suspension and demand immediate restoration of internet connectivity. The demonstrators complain that they are unable to communicate with their family members who are working in other cities, including Karachi and Lahore.
Mobile internet service was restored in Bajaur in 2019 after a period of over three years. The internet was suspended in the district in 2016 over security issues and its restoration was welcomed widely by the residents, who hoped that it would boost socioeconomic activities in the district.
