SUKKUR, May 10: Cellular phone technology was a cheaper alternative in remote areas where financial constraints hindered provision of digital telephone service.

This was stated by federal minister for information technology and telecommunications Awais Ahmed Khan Leghari while inaugurating the Ufone service in Sukkur the other day.

The telecommunication industry, he said, in addition to the software industry had the potential to generate over 2 billion dollars annually in the next three years besides creating millions of jobs for the local youths.

Mr Leghari said that the ministry was making serious efforts for attracting local and foreign investment in the fields of information technology and telecommunications.

He said that on an average, only 2.8 per cent of the country’s population were registered subscribers to fixed land line phones, adding that there was a wide scope for cellular phone technology.

Stressing the need for absorbing jobless youth in the IT sector, the minister said that the private sector could help the government in overcoming the problem of unemployment.

Earlier, chairman of the PTCL Akhter Ahmed Bajwa said that the telecommunication company would invest $90 million in the next two years to enhance it capacity and over $120 million had been invested for the promotion of the cellular phone technology in the country.

Chief executive of the Ufone Arshad Khan said that the mobile phone company would soon introduce its services from Khairpur, Larkana, Nawabshah, Shikarpur and Mirpurkhas.