ISLAMABAD, July 20: The Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd president on Wednesday briefed the National Assembly Standing Committee on Information Technology and Telecommunication on the recent fault in the undersea cable Sea-Me-We-3. The committee, which met with Mohammad Tahir Shah, MNA, in the chair, was informed that the fault occurred 5km from Karachi due to fishing in that area causing disruption to services provided by the PTCL and severing Pakistan’s communication links with the rest of the world.

The PTCL chief said the company informed the SMW-3 consortium which sent the E-marine cable ship to rectify the fault. He said the fault was repaired in a ‘record period’ of 10 days.

In the meantime, he said, the communication link was established through satellite which cost $2 million to the PTCL.

The committee directed the PTCL management to make alternative arrangements to avoid such a situation in future. It also asked the PTCL to take up the issue with the Marine Security Department to restrain the fishing activity around the cable.

Responding to queries, the PTCL president said that Pakistan had signed an MoU with the Sea-Me-We-4 consortium cable which was expected to be commissioned in November 2005. He hoped that the Sea-Me-We-4 would help cater future requirements as well as serve as an alternative in crisis. He also informed the committee about the go-ahead signal from the government to establish a ground cable network through India.

The committee also discussed the performance of Ufone during 2004-05. It expressed satisfaction on the utility’s performance, but directed the Ufone management to extend its network to far-flung and remote areas of the NWFP and Balochistan.

The Ufone president informed the committee that besides limited financial resources, a major hurdle in the expansion was the lengthy procedure though which no-objection certificates were issued by cantonment boards and local governments for installation of towers. The committee decided to take up the issue with chief ministers.

The meeting was attended by MNAs Engineer Gyan Chand Singh, Maulana Ghafoor Ahmad, Sahibzada Mehboob Sultan, Raique Ahmad Jamali, Bilquis Saif, Dr Nasim Afridi and Maulana Shah Abdul Aziz.