Staff Reporter Islamabad
The Universal Service Fund (USF) awarded contract worth approximately PKR 555 million to Telenor for providing High Speed Mobile Broadband services in Nowshera, MaryAnn, Swabi and Charsadda districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Federal Minister for Information Technology (IT) and Telecommunication, Syed Amin ul Haque and Federal Minister for Defense, Pervez Khattak witnessed the contract signing ceremony held at the USF Head Office here on Thursday.
The contract was signed by Haaris Mahmood Chaudhary, CEO of USF with Irfan Wahab Khan, CEO of Telenor Pakistan.
The Federal Secretary for IT & Telecommunication and Chairman USF Board, Dr. Muhammad Sohail Rajput and Member Telecom, Muhammad Omar Malik and Senior Officials were also present at the ceremony.
Chief Guest of the ceremony, Syed Amin Ul Haque, Federal Minister for IT and Telecommunication said, “We have not made claims and promises but through practical steps have done what was never imagined before in the Ministry of IT and Telecommunication.
The proof is that in the last financial year, we have contracted 25 projects worth over PKR 31 billion for the provision of high speed broadband services and laying of optical fiber cable in unserved and underserved areas of the country.
While the number of projects has been increased to 30 in the current financial year, this process will not stop here, rather the performance of all the institutions under the Ministry of IT and Telecommunication for the fulfillment of Digital Pakistan vision is becoming an example with each passing day.”
Syed Amin Ul Haque said, “Mobile operators provide networking and broadband services in cities but in scattered or sparsely populated areas it is difficult for them to work from a business point of view.
In such cases, the Ministry of IT and Telecommunication through USF not only identifies such areas but also pays subsidy that covers 80 to 90 percent of the project costs.
