Government wants rural areas to reap benefits of technology

The Government of Pakistan is increasing its telecom penetration significantly in the rural areas of Pakistan. With market liberalization and growth in the Telecom sector, there are certain geographic areas, such as the Sindh province, which remains underserved based on commercial considerations. Since the development in the telecom sector has focused on the urban cities and large towns, there are large areas with zero teledensity and no hope of any privately-owned telecom operator investment in the foreseeable future. In such a scenario, the initiative of Universal Service Fund (USF) will help to spread the benefit of the telecom revolution to all corners of Pakistan.

The Universal Service Fund project will provide Optic Fiber connectivity, through Wateen, to all those Tehsils in Sindh where it was previously not possible. The Ministry of IT, through the USF, has been running rural telecom projects in various parts of the country, including Sindh, in places such as the under-served areas of Sukkur and Dadu divisions. The project fiber optic connectivity project will benefit a previously under-served population of about 3.5 million people.

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The Government of Pakistan is increasing its telecom penetration significantly in the rural areas of Pakistan. With market liberalization and growth in the Telecom sector, there are certain geographic areas, such as the Sindh province, which remains underserved based on commercial considerations. Since the development in the telecom sector has focused on the urban cities and large towns, there are large areas with zero teledensity and no hope of any privately-owned telecom operator investment in the foreseeable future. In such a scenario, the initiative of Universal Service Fund (USF) will help to spread the benefit of the telecom revolution to all corners of Pakistan.

The Universal Service Fund project will provide Optic Fiber connectivity, through Wateen, to all those Tehsils in Sindh where it was previously not possible. The Ministry of IT, through the USF, has been running rural telecom projects in various parts of the country, including Sindh, in places such as the under-served areas of Sukkur and Dadu divisions. The project fiber optic connectivity project will benefit a previously under-served population of about 3.5 million people.