May 18, 2008	Sunday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 12, 1429

ISLAMABAD, May 17: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani Saturday said the government was committed to extending fruits of advancement in telecommunication sector to all tiers of society, with specific focus on enabling disabled persons to benefit from the Information Communication Technology (ICT).

“The persons with special needs will be encouraged as promoters of ICT, and become beneficiary of building an all inclusive society,” the prime minister said while addressing a function to mark the World Communication Day on “Connecting persons with disabilities: ICT opportunities for all”.

The ceremony was organised by the Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) in collaboration with Ufone and Warid Telecom.

The prime minister said the benefits of ICT sector, an engine of socio-economic development, should be within the access of marginalised segments of the society including physically-challenged people. He said the theme of International Telecommuni-cation Union was even more relevant to Pakistan in the perspective of the earthquake of 2005 that left a great number of people disabled.

To get these people into the mainstream, there was a need to introduce special projects for them and enable them through ICT gadgets and equipment to become a productive force, Prime minister Gilani said.

“The industry should be pro-active to fully exploit the resources for persons with disabilities and introduce equipment that caters to the needs of such people,” he said.

The prime minister said special persons must be helped to explore and employ these technologies for self-reliance and urged all stakeholders to make difference in the lives of special people.

He hoped that the era of ICT opportunities would empower all citizens with technological gains and bring improvement in the lives of disabled people so as to help them contribute to the development of the country.

Minister for Information Technology Qamar Zaman Kaira said in Pakistan the telecommunication infrastructure was at par with any developed country and the government was fully aware of the need to exploit this sector’s potential for contributing to the economy.

He said at the time of independence, Pakistan inherited a meagre network of 12,000 telephone lines while today it had approximately 88 million fixed, wireless and cellular mobile telephone connections.

The minister mentioned that 17 million users were benefiting from over 3.5 million internet connections while the broadband connectivity swelled upto 125,000 connections.

He said his ministry initiated consultation process with the Ministry of Social Welfare and Special Education and NGOs for the formulation of special initiatives to empower the persons with disabilities through ICT gadgets.

President PTCL Walid Irshad Sheikh announced the launching of ‘PTCL Smart’ — a new digital multi-channel service that would deliver television programmes to households via broadband connection using the Internet Protocol Technology (IPT).

Later, the prime minister formally inaugurated the new service and distributed awards to the winners of an essay competition organised by Wateen Telecom.

‘PTCL Smart’ is a fixed landline service that allows the customer the experience of telephony, broadband and multi-channel TV, all at the same time and same line.

The service requires subscription and Customer Premises Equipment (CPE). An IP-based platform allows the TV service to be ‘smarter’ than the traditional broadcast and cable TV services, by making the TV viewing experience more interactive and personalised.

PTCL’s Smart TV will provide advanced features that are not possible with traditional broadcast television systems, including time shifted television, parental control, electronic programme guides, global television channels, video on demand and near video on demand.—APP