Cabinet approves appointment of board for Universal Service Fund Company

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Cabinet has granted its approval for the appointment of a new nine-member Board of Directors (BoD) for the Universal Service Fund (USF) Company, sources informed Profit on Monday.

The Board of Directors consists of nine members with the Secretary of Information Technology serving as its Chairman. The Board includes three directors from the public sector, while the remaining members represent fixed-line operators, cellular operators, financial experts, and telecom or information communication technology experts. Additionally, a legal expert and the CEO of the Company are appointed for a period of three years. The revised composition of the USF Company Board was approved by the federal government via SRO 225 (1) /2023 on 22-02-2023.

The process for nominations began with advertisements in newspapers and on the USF website for Mobile Cellular Licensees and Fixed Line Licensees. Independent Directors were nominated in accordance with Section 10 (93) of the State-Owned Enterprises (Governance and Operations) Act, 2023. The Board’s Nomination Committee convened a meeting on April 27, 2023. After careful evaluation of the nominees from the panel for each category, the Nomination Committee recommended the following individuals for appointment as Board Members/Directors/Independent Directors for a three-year term.

The newly appointed Board members are as follows:

1. Secretary, Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication, serving as Chairman/Ex-Officio Director
2. Chairman of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), serving as Member/Ex-Officio Director
3. Member Telecom, serving as Member/Ex-Officio Director
4. Ms. Sofia Saeed (Legal Expert), serving as Member/Independent Director
5.  Hatem Bamataraf, President/CEO of PTCL (representing fixed-line licensees), serving as Member/Director
6. Wang Hua, CEO of Zong/CMPAK, serving as Member/Director
7. Ms. Ayla Majid (Financial Expert), serving as Member/Independent Director
8. Muhammad Yousuf, Telecom or Information Communication Technology Expert, serving as Member/Independent Director
9. Chief Executive Officer of the USF Company, serving as Member/Director

The summary regarding the appointment of the new Board was approved by the Prime Minister.