Plan to expand internet connectivity across Pakistan lauded

FPCCI says it will have far-reaching benefits

ISLAMABAD: The FPCCI has hailed the government’s plan to expand internet connectivity to the un-served and underserved areas, saying that it would help enhance economic activities.

The United Business Group (UBG) of FPCCI, in a statement, said that importance of internet cannot be overemphasised as it is important for a huge variety of reasons and it affects and facilitates nearly every aspect of modern life.



“Internet connectivity is extremely important in many fields, from education and healthcare to business and governance,” said UBG Secretary General Zubair Tufail quoted in the statement.

Tufail said that the government’s resolve is commendable, as Pakistan has witnessed a phenomenal increase in the ratio of broadband penetration in the last two years.

He mentioned that Pakistan has become an important country as far as IT freelancers were concerned but additional efforts should be initiated to pass the benefits on to the less privileged.



He noted that, under the Universal Service Fund (USF), the government is spending billions of rupees to provide telecom and broadband facilities to un-served and under-served areas of the country but the services should be made more affordable for the poor sections of the society.

Poor should get equal benefits of the technological advancements with special focus on women empowerment in the remote areas, he suggested. He lauded the efforts of the government which has countered the menace of grey traffic to bring back the white traffic to over 1.6 billion minutes from less than 400 million minutes.

A study suggests that 71% of the world’s population would be using mobile internet by 2019, he informed.



Background

Earlier on Friday, speaking to the Youth Parliament in Islamabad, IT Minister Anusha Rehman said that PML-N government was committed to providing internet connectivity to un-served and under-served areas of the country by December 2018.

The minister said that Pakistan’s freelancers have been ranked number four in the world, adding that the country is aggressively pursuing an accelerated digitalisation programme to spur socio-economic growth in the country.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 28^th, 2016.

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