Universal Service Fund (USF) has approved a new project for laying of Optic Fiber Cable (OFC) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), it has been reported. The project was reviewed and approved during a board meeting held in Islamabad.
The meeting was attended by board members including Secretary IT; Mr. Rizwan Bashir Khan, Member Telecom; Mr. Mudassar Hussain, Chairman PTA; Dr. Ismail Shah, Mr. Aamir Ibrahim; CEO Jazz, President and CEO PTCL; Mr. Daniel Ritz and the senior management of USF Co were also present at the occasion.
As per the details, the new OFC KPK will stretch to a distance of 145 km connecting 29 Tehsils and 19 towns with a population of millions of people. OFC KPK Project will be completed in several phases and a total of 830 km of optic fibre will be laid throughout the province.
In addition to this, a special project – Broadband for Low-income women was also given the go ahead. Under the said project, as many as 30,000 smartphones will be distributed among women beneficiaries of BISP in eight districts of Balochistan.
The USF Board of Directors also discussed three important broadband for sustainable development projects during the meeting.
Broadband for Sustainable Development Project Kharan-Washuk Lot was awarded to Pak Telecom Mobile Limited. This Project aims to provide benefit an un-served population of about 222,000, covering 289 unserved Mauzas and an unserved area of 35,100 sq kms.
Similarly another Broadband for sustainable development project covering Dera Bugti Lot was also assigned to Pak Telecom Mobile Limited. Under the said project, an un-served population of about 333,100, covering 396 unserved Mauzas and an unserved area of 16,500 sq. kms is targetted.
The Board also conceded to setting up of computer labs and delivering skills development training in all girls’ schools of the ICT region under “ICT for Girls initiative”.
The project of Establishment of Computer Labs in Government Girls Schools in Rural Areas of Islamabad Capital Territory, targets 138 girls schools where ICT will be digitalized and as many as 110,000 girls will acquire IT skills through training programs.
