IT sector performance reviewed, but challenges ignored

Many businesses shut down due to slow internet speed, installation of firewall

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ISLAMABAD:

The Ministry of Information Technology has presented a rosy picture of Pakistan's telecom sector while ignoring the pains and sufferings of consumers due to the slow internet speed following the installation of a firewall.

While presenting the performance of the IT and telecom ministry, Minister for IT and Telecommunication Shaza Fatima Khawaja presented a one-year review of the IT and telecom sector in a recent meeting of the federal cabinet.

She said that in the last year, broadband subscribers grew from 127.6 to 142.3 million, telecom revenues increased from Rs817 billion to Rs955 billion, local mobile phone manufacturing rose from 21.28 million to 31.38 million devices and cell site connectivity with fibre expanded by 12%. She also noted that the telecom sector contributed Rs341 billion to the national exchequer.

However, she did not disclose the entire picture as the businesses of those related to the IT industry had either been shut down or they were near bankruptcy. Several entrepreneurs had shifted their offices to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) due to slow internet speed, which occurred following the installation of a firewall.

Even the telecom operators suffered multibillion-rupee losses because of the shifting of their customers to different networks in the wake of slow internet speed. The software association had informed the government during the installation of the firewall that they had suffered a loss of $500 million.

Additionally, the freelancers' network Fiver had issued an advisory to its customers not to hire services of freelancers from Pakistan. Freelancers lost their clients due to the disruption in communications.

Currently, several countries like the UAE and some European Union (EU) states were offering visas to digital marketers, especially those who were receiving earnings online to attract influencers so that they could contribute to their income. However, the case of Pakistan is different as the country's IT policies are going in the reverse direction to the detriment of the IT and telecom sector.

The report submitted by the IT minister to the cabinet missed all those facts and figures, which caused severe pain to those businesses that were related to the IT sector.

The IT minister also informed the cabinet that it was mentioned that 813 mauzas had been connected to the internet through 2,000 km of optic fibre cables and IT-related exports had surged 27% compared to the previous fiscal year. Furthermore, with the help of eight incubation centres across the country, 229 start-ups, with an investment of Rs2.04 billion, got the services of these centres.

Regarding the digital transformation of the economy, governance and society, the minister informed the forum that 42 divisions and 176 departments had switched to e-office and the Digital Economy Enhancement Project (DEEP) had been launched to digitalise government services.

She highlighted that all those advancements had been made through the introduction of a series of policy frameworks and enactments.

Digital skills among youth

Regarding the development of digital skills, the minister stated that around 300,000 training sessions had been completed in one year, with plans to double the number in the future.

She added that 1,000 interns had been placed in the ICT internship programme and the Digital Pakistan Cyber Security Hackathon was organised in 2024, attracting 6,443 participants. The minister noted that IT parks were under construction in Karachi and Islamabad while several Software Technology Parks (STPs) had been completed in Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir.