NEWS

Karachi; Friday, January 07, 2022: Federal Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication (MoITT) launches 2 projects of high-speed mobile broadband services (NGBSD) for un-served and under-served areas of 4 additional districts of Sindh. The projects, to be completed in a short span of 12 months have been assigned to Jazz Network at a total cost of PKR 698 million. The signing ceremony was held at a local hotel in Karachi on Friday where Federal Minister for Planning and Development, Asad Umar and Federal Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunications, Syed Amin-Ul-Haq, graced the occasion. Consul Generals of different countries, MQM MNA Sheikh Salahuddin, Jazz Chief Commercial Officer Asif Aziz, and many businesses & social communities also attended the ceremony. Project agreements were signed by Haaris Mahmood Chaudhry, Chief Executive Officer, Universal Service Fund (USF) and Mudassar Hussain, Vice President, Jazz Network.

 

Addressing the ceremony, Federal Minister Syed Amin-Ul-Haq said that the 1^st project of PKR 246 million will provide high speed mobile broadband services to 359 un-served and under-served mauzas of Kambar Shahdadkot and Larkana, while the 2^nd project worth PKR 451 million will provide NGBSD to 438 Mauzas of Naushahro Feroze & Shaheed Benazirabad Districts. Syed Amin-Ul-Haq said that under the Ministry of IT and Telecommunication, 9 projects in Sindh at a cost of PKR 8.48 billion are already in the process of completion. Under these projects, 3,227 Mauzas from 19 districts of the province are being connected to the digital network so that the life of the common person may be improved.

 

 

In his address, Federal Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar lauded the performance of USF and the Ministry of IT and said: “Last year, the Sindh package that was announced by the PM in Sukkur included several development initiatives. Periodic review of this work has been done by us and by the PM himself. USF & the Ministry of IT have completed all the initiatives that came under their realm of responsibility with due diligence, high quality standards and within the stipulated time frame. So, well done CEO, USF.”

 

Earlier in his welcome address, Haaris Mahmood Chaudhry, Chief Executive of USF, while giving details about the performance of USF and the two new projects for Sindh, said “I feel proud in saying that USF is on an aggressive upward trajectory of 25 projects worth PKR 23 billion subsidy committed in FY2020-21. These projects will play a huge role in socio-economic well-being of the people, by ultimately providing them with e-services in the areas of health, education, agriculture and commerce.”

 

In his speech, Asif Aziz, Chief Commercial Officer, Jazz stated that the proposed move to increase WHT on telecom users along with a 17% sales tax on smartphones and laptops could further push the country behind its global peers. He said, “Providing reliable mobile broadband to all our fellow citizens remains a key priority at Jazz. Through this collaboration with USF, 719 un-served mauzas of rural Sindh will be able to access high speed mobile broadband which will unlock unlimited socio-economic opportunities for the residents.”