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Pakistan eyes launch of 5G in 2023 As the telecom industry’s market size has grown to $16.9 billion after attracting $1.2bn in foreign direct investments in the last three years, the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecom is aiming to roll out 5G in 2023, reports Dawn. The ministry has said that the target has also been welcomed by foreign investors too. In a recent presentation on the sector’s performance to Prime Minister Imran Khan, the ministry has highlighted that for meeting the future requirements of digitisation across the country and the launch of future technological needs such as 5G, projects have been launched for “deep fiberisation’ by the Universal Service Fund (USF) to expand the telecom services and internet even in remote and backward areas of the country. During the period 2018-22 more than 10,000 km optical fibre cable will be laid across the country providing high speed internet to 1,175 towns and the union councils. The ministry has said that USF projects have covered over 1,800km of unse­rved road network including highways and motorways in Balochistan. While commenting over the importance of the deep fiberisation project, Minister for IT and Telecom Syed Amin ul Haq said that the government was banking heavily on increasing exports of IT services up to $5bn by the end of 2022-23. “We will ensure affordable and high speed internet to people in small towns and I am sure even girls from KP and GB region will excel as freelancers, while working from their local areas,” the minister said. The export of IT services grew 47pc to $2.1bn in 2020-21. The report has highlighted that the USF has played an extensive role in telecom infrastructure development for future digital growth by contracting out 43 projects amounting to Rs29bn in unserved and underserved areas. These included over 65 districts in Southern Balochistan, former FATA and interior Sindh, catering to a population of over 25 million. The ministry maintains that the upcoming spectrum auction for AJ&K and GB for next generation mobile services, will help improve the telecom and broadband services in these areas. The report highlighted that as connectivity was being expanded to secondary and tertiary towns and remote areas, the Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) has initiated projects in these cities and towns to develop IT growth hub there. While eight software technology parks have already been established, the PSEB will establish 32 more in secondary and tertiary cities under public- private partnership mode, that will help development of software development industry and creating white collar jobs for inclusive growth. It has been highlighted that 40 IT companies have been listed at the Pakistan Stock Exchange. The ministry has said that to meet the challenges and requirements related to the growth of IT and telecom, several policy initiatives have been taken including the approval of the first ever Cyber Security Policy for Pakistan. Besides the draft of Data Protection Bill, NITB Act, Social Media Rules, PECI Rules, APT Rules, Personal Data Protection Bill, Digital Pakistan Policy 2021, Pakistan Cloud First Policy 2021, Freelance Facilitation Policy, Startup Policy, Artificial Intelligence Policy and Block chain & Digital Ledger Policies have been finalised. The other major achievement highlighted in the report was that the National Telecom Corporation (NTC) has been turned into a profitable entity and starting with Rs52m in 2018-19, the NTC made a profit of Rs504m the following year and in 2020-21 its profit was Rs423m. The NTC was also providing services to more than 450 official websites to protect them from cyber attacks and hacking. The other key entities under the IT ministry are Ignite National Technology Fund, which is a torch bearer for technology innovation and entrepreneurship in Pakistan, and the National IT Board that is responsible to execute e-governance programmes for the federal government to achieve the target of paperless working in government offices.

Pakistan eyes launch of 5G in 2023

Pakistan eyes launch of 5G in 2023
DG ISI arrives reaches Kabul as Taliban set to announce government

DG ISI reaches Kabul as Taliban set to announce government

DG ISI arrives reaches Kabul as Taliban set to announce government
Pakistan mulls options to keep Afghan banks afloat

Govt to borrow Rs4.8tr from commercial banks

Govt to borrow Rs4.8tr from commercial banks
Philippines set to lift Covid travel ban on Pakistan, 9 others Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte is lifting a ban on travellers from 10 countries, including Pakistan, India and the United Arab Emirates, the presidential spokesperson announced on Saturday. The ban will be lifted on Monday, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said in a statement. The travel ban, which was first imposed on April 27 due to Covid-19 pandemic, has been rolled over several times and was expanded to include Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. However, any future travellers from the said countries will have to spend 14 days in quarantine upon arrival, Roque said. Philippines set to lift Covid travel ban on Pakistan, 9 others The Philippines had, in the second week of August, announced an extension in the ban on travellers from Pakistan, India and eight other countries from Aug 16 to Aug 30 because of concerns posed by the highly contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus. As cases surged, more hospitals in the capital region had reported intensive care units, isolation beds and wards were nearing full capacity, and some had to refuse new patients because of a lack of beds and ventilators. The Philippines, which has among the worst coronavirus outbreaks in Asia, is battling a renewed surge in Covid-19 cases driven by community transmission of the more infectious Delta variant. The government is pinning its hopes for economic recovery on its inoculation programme, which started in March. Up until August 29, the Philippines had secured a total of 194.89 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines, enough to inoculate about 100.5m Filipinos or more than 100 per cent of the country's adult population, the finance ministry had said in a statement.

Philippines set to lift Covid travel ban on Pakistan, 9 others

Philippines set to lift Covid travel ban on Pakistan, 9 others
Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan shifted to hospital after health deteriorates

Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan shifted to hospital after health deteriorates

Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan shifted to hospital after health deteriorates
Pakistan's coronavirus positivity rate drops below 4% for first time in almost four months

Pakistan vaccinates 1.4 million people in a single day, says NCOC

The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) has said that Pakistan vaccinated over 1.4 million of people across the country on August 30, saying...
Pakistan pushing world to give Taliban a chance

Pakistan pushing world to give Taliban a chance

Pakistan pushing world to give Taliban a chance
At least 14 killed in Karachi factory fire

At least 14 killed in Karachi factory fire

At least 14 killed in Karachi factory fire
Import of sugar, wheat approved by ECC

Import of sugar, wheat approved by ECC

Import of sugar, wheat approved by ECC
Madrassa principal arrested for ‘sexually assaulting’ minor girl in Rawalpindi

Madrassa principal arrested for ‘sexually assaulting’ minor girl in Rawalpindi

Madrassa principal arrested for ‘sexually assaulting’ minor girl in Rawalpindi
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