THE National Assembly Standing Committee on Information Technology and Telecommunication has rightly highlighted the dismal level of Internet connectivity across the country and the onus falls on the federal government and its relevant institutions to take remedial measures on a priority basis as the issue is causing a slowdown in overall socio-economic progress of the nation. In its meeting on Tuesday, the Committee noted that the poor connectivity was affecting not only remote areas but also major cities. Its Chairman Syed Aminul Haque observed that users frequently experienced slow internet speeds and repeated call connection failures despite multiple attempts.
The Government is celebrating the achievement that Pakistan’s IT and ICT exports reached a historic record of $4.5 billion in the 2025-26 fiscal year, marking a 29% year-on-year increase. The surge was driven by a robust freelance market, expanding software-as-a-service (SaaS) operations and growing penetration into Asia-Pacific markets. However, the Government must realize that IT exports increased despite poor infrastructure and a much higher target is achievable if reasons and factors affecting IT business in the country are removed on a priority basis. The issues are clearly identified – underdeveloped digital infrastructure, heavy reliance on a limited number of international submarine cables, traffic monitoring systems and regular power fluctuations. No doubt, some issues demand long-term planning and investment but others can be addressed on a short to medium term basis if there was commitment on the part of the Government as well as the private sector, especially the cellular companies, to resolve them. It is a pity that the expectation that roll-out of the 5G will reduce traffic congestion as, according to the Chairman PTA, no new infrastructure had been deployed so far and 5G services had been enabled on existing mobile towers and network infrastructure. Internet and mobile phone services are badly affected by planned and unplanned outages of electricity as cellular companies are not utilizing standby arrangements of diesel generators due to exorbitant cost of the fuel. In a positive move, the Prime Minister has constituted a high-level Committee to devise a sustainable solution for ensuring uninterrupted power supply to telecom towers so that reliable telecommunication services could be provided to the public. Call drops have become a norm in most parts of the country and even in some pockets of major cities and this aspect should also be looked into by the relevant authorities.
