Federal Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunications (MoITT) Syed Amin-Ul-Haque on Thursday launched three more projects worth Rs5 billion for 6 districts of Sindh to connect the people of Sindh to the digital world.
The agreement in this regard was signed by Haaris Mahmood Chaudhry, Ministry of IT and President and Group CEO, PTCL and Ufone, Hatem Bamatraf.
The signing ceremony was also attended by Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah and Federal Minister for IT and Telecom Syed Amin-Ul-Haque, Chief Secretary Sindh Dr Muhammad Suhail Rajput, Secretary IT and Chairman USF Board, Mohsin Mushtaq and senior officials and diplomats, said a news release issued here.
Addressing the event, the Chief Minister of Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah said that there was a time when technological advancements and economic conditions in some parts of the country were at a very crucial stage, and they had hampered the daily lives of millions of people in the country.
He said that to overcome all these challenges and in line with the vision of Digital Pakistan, the Ministry of Information Technology (IT) and Telecommunication through Universal Service Fund (USF) was running diverse projects which were playing a huge role in the socio-economic development of the people.
In his address, Federal Minister for IT and Telecommunications Syed Amin-Ul-Haque said that USF was awarding the contracts to lay OFC in un-underserved districts of Dadu, Jamshoro, Larkana, Kambar ShahdadKot, Hyderabad and Badin in Sindh.
These projects, worth over Rs5 billion, will connect a total of 207 towns and Union Councils (UCs) through 2,192 km of OFC, benefiting a population of 4.2 million residents in these areas, he said and added, this will play a huge role in the socio-economic well-being of the people by providing them with e-suite services in all sorts of life, he added.
Syed Amin-Ul-Haque further said that the Ministry of IT and Telecommunication through USF aimed to connect all the citizens of the country as digitalization had become a priority for businesses and communities. Under its Next Generation Optic Fiber (NG-OF) Network and Services program, USF has contracted over 16,000 km of Optic Fiber Cable (OFC) to benefit 31.5 million populations across the country, he expressed.
The Minister said that by providing access to information and e-suite services, such as e-healthcare, e-finance, e-agriculture and e-education, the ministry was enabling the rural and remote communities of the country to compete better and support the economic development to bring a positive impact on the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country by contributing to the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
