ISLAMABAD: Shaza Fatima, the Minister for IT and Telecom, revealed in a written response to the Senate of Pakistan that the Universal Service Fund (USF) has disbursed a total of Rs 9.5 billion over the last 3.5 fiscal years (2021-2025) for various telecommunication projects across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).
The allocated funds have been used to enhance 2G, 3G, and 4G services in over 1,600 mauzas and along 37.43 kilometers of road segments, as well as to deploy 1,159 kilometers of optic fiber cable (OFC) connecting 67 tehsil headquarters, union councils, and towns.
The Minister provided details of the 18 projects undertaken in KP, which include both 2G/3G and 4G network expansions. Notable projects include the 2G and 3G network expansions in Chitral Lot (Rs. 16.48 million), Kohistan Lot (Rs. 16.12 million), Khyber Lot (Rs. 60.73 million), Mohmand Lot (Rs. 22.65 million), D.I. Khan Lot (Rs. 62.27 million), and Waziristan Lot (Rs. 83.87 million). The 4G network projects received significant funding, including Chitral Lot (Rs. 1.09 billion), Swabi Lot (Rs. 555 million), Swat Lot (Rs. 250.23 million), Bannu Lot (Rs. 251.03 million), and Buner Lot (Rs. 1.99 billion).
In addition, Rs 196.87 million was allocated for the Tourist Destination-K1 project and Rs 170.22 million for Tourist Destination-K2. Furthermore, Rs 491.60 million was allocated for the National Highways & Motorways (NH&MW) Lot-9 (N-35), which covers 37.43 km of road infrastructure.
The fiber optic projects include FATA Package-1 (Rs 84.49 million) for deploying 132.99 km of OFC and connecting three tehsil headquarters, and KPK (FATA) Package-2 (Rs 1.5 billion) for 742.54 km of OFC deployment connecting 37 towns.
Additional funding was allocated to projects like UC-KP-LOT-17 (Rs 313.11 million) and UC-KP-LOT-18 (Rs 913.40 million) for deploying 283.11 km of optic fiber, connecting 27 union councils.
These projects were awarded through a competitive bidding process to licensed telecom operators, including Jazz, Ufone, Telenor, Zong, PTCL, Dancom, Nayatel, and other ISPs.
The minister emphasized that USF projects follow a turnkey service model, where telecom operators handle the design, procurement, site acquisition, installation, and commissioning of networks. USF oversees the projects without direct involvement in execution, but ensures that operators deliver services as agreed. Once completed, the network is made available to the public, with operators adhering to Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) rules to ensure transparency. Third-party audits and network verifications are conducted before payments are made to ensure compliance with project standards.
