5G services to launch in Pakistan by December 2022: IT Minister
5G services to be launched in Pakistan by December 2022: IT Minister
ISLAMABAD (Web Desk) - Federal Minister for Information Technology Aminul Haq has said that the government is preparing for the auction of 5G licenses, after which the service would start by December 2022.
Aminul Haq said that in-line with the Prime Minister’s vision of ‘Digital Pakistan’, the Ministry of Information Technology was working hard to provide telephone and broadband internet in remote areas of the country.
He said that out of the 220 million population, 160 million have mobile phones and broadband internet is available to the public in 44% of the country. Despite the Universal Support Fund for communication in remote areas of the country, Internet access was not available in many areas of Balochistan, Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan and the former tribal districts.
He said that Rs 16 billion has been allocated in the last few months for providing internet in these areas, through which another 5 million people will have access to broadband service.
The Federal Minister said that despite the pandemic, Pakistan’s IT exports have risen by 44%, going from $264 million in the first quarter of last fiscal year to $379 million this year.
He said that the ministry of IT was preparing for the auction of 5G licenses, after which services would launch in Pakistan by December 2022. To this end, use of fiber optics is being expanded across the country and work is also being done on infrastructure.
