Over 250 remote areas of Balochistan to get 3G services

Universal Service Fund (USF) and Ministry of Information Technology (MOITT) have signed a contract to spread optical fibre in Awaran and Lasbela districts of Balochistan to provide 3G services to about 257 villages in these areas.

Awaran-Lasbela broadband project was announced in November 2016. The contract worth Rs 2.33 billion has been given to telecom service provider, Ufone today, under the Broadband for Sustainable Development (BSD) project. The Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and MOITT Minister Anusha Rehman were also present at the ceremony today.

Dar said that the government is committed to bringing people of all areas into the country’s financial and digital mainstream. He also promised the provision of 3G services in tribal areas (FATA).

Senator Dar said that government has been focusing on developing telecommunication, highways, and railways to ensure proper connectivity. He mentioned that Multan-Sukkur part of Lahore-Karachi Motorway project is not commercially viable but the Government brought it under the domain of CPEC to implement the project successfully.

Anusha Rehman said while addressing the ceremony that many projects to provide the technology in the remote areas of the province, as well as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), are under implementation. She added that with a widespread array of an infrastructural network under China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), 6,400km optic fibre network digitally linking the entire country has been laid down.

She also briefed about the performance of MOITT and USF in providing telecommunication services to the unserved areas of the Pakistan.