Pak-China optic fibre: Project to digitalise trade corridor

820km-long cable project to be completed at cost of $44m by June 2018

ISLAMABAD: The 820-kilometer long Pak-China optic fibre cable project from Rawalpindi to Khunjerab would be completed at a cost of $44 million by June 2018.

The completion of the project under China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) would convert trade corridor into digital corridor.

This project was being completed in collaboration with China’s Huawei and Special Communication Organization (SCO), said SCO Senior Project Manager Muhammad Adil.



He informed APP that this project would be beneficial for strategic link between both Pakistan and China. This project would not only generate revenue but it would also provide a safe route of voice traffic between the two countries, he added.  The Pak-China optic fibre cable would provide an alternative source for world trade, said Adil. He hoped that awareness about trade, tourism and Information Technology (IT) would create economic opportunities in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB).

The foundation stone of Pak-China optic fibre cable project was laid in May this year.



Around 18.2 kilometres portion of the optic fibre cable would pass through federal capital, 466 kilometres from GB, 280 kilometres from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) and 47 kilometers from Punjab.

The optic fibre cable would reach Rawalpindi from Khunjerab via Karimabad, Gilgit, Chilas, Babusar Top, Naran, Mansehra and JaryKas.

A project to expand the fibre cable up to Gwadar was in final phase of approval, which would provide an international linkage along the entire route of CPEC.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 20^th, 2016.

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