IT Ministry lays blame for poor internet service on SBP 

ISLAMABAD: The country’s Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication has laid the blame for poor internet service in the country squarely at the feet of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). 

At a meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Information Technology and Telecommunication, officials of the IT Ministry claimed that the current poor quality of phone and internet services in the country is because of a ban imposed by the SBP on opening the Letters of Credit (LCs) for the import of machinery and cable.

The country has been facing a significant slowdown in terms of internet speeds and reliability over the past few months. Meanwhile, due to the country’s dwindling dollar reserves, the SBP has been desperately trying to stop the leak and has been delaying the opening of LCs for different industries. The IT Ministry has said that crucial equipment required to maintain and upgrade the country’s internet infrastructure has been unable to come into the country because the SBP has not been opening the necessary LCs. “LCs of the telecom industry are banned by State Bank of Pakistan,” said officials of MoIT&T at the meeting. “When the machinery cannot be imported, how can we get quality internet?” 

According to ministry officials, the country currently has a shortage of fibre optics. They said that there was not enough fibre available in the country to improve the quality of internet services. They said the internet service is functional only because of the microwave signals. There are neither phone signals nor internet in Karachi or Hyderabad,  said Salah Uddin,a committee member.

Another committee member Alia Kamran said that there has been much talk of launching 5G technology in the country despite the fact that 4G service is not available.

Another member of the Telecom Department of the ministry said that they were concerned about the country’s service quality and that 99 broadband licences have been released to improve internet service while Pakistan has been connected to France optic cable from Karachi. As many as 5000 sites were affected by the flood in the country, Member Telecom informed the standing committee on information technology.

There is no internet service while travelling on motorways and even Karachi, which is considered to be a business hub. Briefing the parliamentary body on IT&T, Haris Chaudhry, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Universal Service Fund (USF) said that terrorists had blown out internet services. He said that the security situation in Balochistan had also caused the shutting down of 148 mobile towers, which had affected the internet outreach to the customers. He said these towers are not being turned on for security reasons. Internet service will be improved with the improvement in security situation in Balochistan province, said Haris Chaudhry, CEO, USF.

The officials of USF informed the parliamentary body that 17 people who worked in the telecom industry were taken hostage in Balochistan last year. IT Ministry officials also informed the parliamentary body that the profitability of the telecom sector in Pakistan had dipped due to current economic challenges.

The ministry officials said that internet users increased by 60 million in four years, the additional secretary of the Ministry of IT said that from January to November last year, more than 10 million new users were added. One-and-a-half million internet users are increasing monthly, IT Ministry officials said, adding that three to four licences have been issued in a month.

Despite the bad economic conditions, new companies are coming in the telecom sector, IT Ministry officials informed the parliamentary body. They further said that three million people had been trained in the IT sector, and business training included video editing. They further said that freelancers had earned $29 million last year.