ISLAMABAD: Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunications Anusha Rehman informed the National Assembly on Friday that $1.2 billion earned from the sale of 3G and 4G licences had been deposited in the exchequer.

Replying to questions in the house, she said that Chinese mobile company Zong, the winner of the 3G and 4G licences, had paid the amount in dollars and Telenor and Mobilink had made 50 per cent of the due payment.

“The [money received from the] auction of 3G, 4G Spectrum has been deposited to the national exchequer,” she said.

Know more: $1.1 billion raised from 3G, 4G auction

Ms Rehman said that the sale of 3G and 4G licences would create around 900,000 direct and indirect jobs over the next five years.

According to a report of Plum – a consulting firm of the UK – 900,000 jobs are expected to be created in Pakistan in the next five years after the launch of 3G and 4G services, Ms Rehman said.

In reply to a question, the minister said the government was working hard to introduce e-governance and in the first phase work had started to bring five offices under this umbrella. She said these included the National Assembly, Prime Minister’s Office and Ministry of Finance, adding that work for the NA had been completed by 50pc. She said 90pc work had been completed in the PM Office.

Ms Rehman assured the house that all 28 ministries would be connected through internet by the end of this year, adding the move was aimed at using less paperwork in offices.

She said a `Cyber Crime Control Bill’ had been prepared and submitted to the cabinet for approval.

Answering another question, the minister said that no formal report had been submitted to the Ministry of Information Technology by the sub-committee of the Senate Standing Committee on Information Technology and Telecommunications about the auction of the 3G/4G Spectrum.

“In accordance with provisions of the Pakistan Telecom-munication Reorganisation Act 1996 (Amended 2006), the auction was successfully carried out by Pakistan Tele-communi-cation Authority (PTA) which is being acclaimed internationally,” the minister said.

In reply to a question about the signing of a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) with Google and other social media websites for removal of blasphemous content from their links, the minister told the house that no such proposal was under consideration.

She, however, said that the issue needed clarification as the MLAT was an instrument negotiated between states and had a large scope, including exchange of information between states to enforce public or criminal laws. MLATs are never signed between a state and a corporate entity. Therefore, the signing of any MLAT between Pakistan and Google was not possible.

Published in Dawn, Aug 9th, 2014