KARACHI: With reference to the article by Naveed Saeed titled “Broadband growth: don’t blame the economy!” (August 3), I side with the writer’s assertion that “It is not about economy; it’s about capability”. As a matter of fact, in harsh economic environs, businesses are cutting costs and also trying to improve efficiency. ICT (read broadband) provides efficient tools to cut costs and improve efficiency.
Telepresence is one such tool. It obviates the need to physically travel hundreds, even thousands of miles. Companies save time, money and the tremendous personal cost of leaving one’s home/office (not to mention adjusting flight schedules, availability of seats and suspension of all other activities back home). Providing telepresence services to businesses is an immense opportunity for an innovative ICT service provider. While immersive telepresence, mimicking the real life, face-to-face business meetings, is at the higher end, audio/video teleconferencing facilities cater to mid and low-end consumers. It’s a win-win situation for service providers who make their millions and the users of services who save millions.
But broadband is not just about improving the balance sheet. The social impact of broadband in empowering citizenry is incalculable. Telemedicine, e-health, e-learning, e-money, e-governance etc, are just a few instances where human existence is undergoing a tremendous transformation.
Inamul Haq
Published in The Express Tribune, August 8th, 2012.
