KARACHI: Ufone has commercially launched its third-generation (3G) mobile internet service in parts of Pakistan, the company said in a statement issued on Friday.

The service offered by the mobile operator would be available from May 24 in Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad and Rawalpindi, the statement said.

The statement added that users would be charged for the service as per the tariff in areas where it had been activated on a free-trial basis.

The service was launched a day after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif handed out licenses for next generation 3G and 4G services to Ufone and three other cellular companies that had bid on them.

The licenses were handed over amid hopes that the technology would open new avenues of socio-economic development in the country.

The government had sold 3G and 4G licenses to Mobilink, China Mobile (Zong), Ufone and Telenor in April for an estimated $1.22 billion.

With the introduction of 3G and 4G services, subscribers will be able to use broadband internet services on mobile handsets and experience connectivity at speeds up to eight times faster than the ones at present offered by 2G services in the country.