ISLAMABAD: The Universal Service Fund (USF), a subsidiary of the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication (MoITT), on Monday launched seven projects worth over Rs8 billion to provide broadband services to unserved and under-served areas across the country, which will benefit over 2.5 million people.

Addressing the 81st board of directors meeting of the USF, Minister for Information Technology Syed Amin-Ul-Haque said the USF is committed to connecting the people in remote areas with the digital world. He said projects started during the tenure of this government were being ensured to complete in stipulated time.

The meeting noted that projects worth Rs3.57bn had been approved for Balochistan.

The contract for the provision of 4G services in Qila Saifullah and Zhob has been awarded to Pak Telecom Mobile Ltd (Ufone) which will be completed in 18 months.

USF chief executive officer Haaris Mahmood Chaudhry briefed the board that the provision of broadband services was costlier in Balochistan than any other area due to natural terrain and the vast spread of population.

The project to provide broadband services in Jhang, Bhakkar, and Toba Tek Singh districts of Punjab had been awarded to Pakistan Mobile Company Ltd, commonly known as Jazz, to benefit over 1 million people.

The meeting also awarded another project to Jazz for uninterrupted voice and broadband services on 95km section of Hakla D.I Khan Motorway connecting Dera Ismail Khan, Lakki Marwat, Mianwali, Attock and Rawalpindi districts and outskirts of Islamabad.

Published in Dawn, March 15th, 2022