President Dr Arif Alvi emphasized the crucial role of digitalization across all sectors in Pakistan’s progress, especially in education and healthcare. He highlighted the need for prompt decision-making to keep up with global IT advancements.
“Pakistan requires a significant shift in the IT sector to effectively handle and interpret data, and to formulate policies aligned with current requirements,” stated the president at the National Broadband Network Forum.
The forum, titled ‘Broadband for all,’ was a collaborative effort between the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and Huawei Technologies Pakistan, aiming to engage local and international stakeholders in discussions on transformative technologies and solutions.
President Alvi affirmed Pakistan’s progress towards enhancing its digital infrastructure to provide its citizens access to communication services and the ‘information highway.’
He indicated that if decisions had been made earlier to expand broadband infrastructure, Pakistan could have seen a revolution in the IT sector.
“Technology is advancing rapidly, and we must catch up by adopting a proactive and market-oriented approach,” he mentioned, citing China as a role model in technological advancements.
He also underlined that digitalizing financial and banking systems would not only enhance response times but also ensure transparency in transactions.
The president highlighted the increased importance of broadband services due to the pandemic, particularly in the realms of education and healthcare.
He acknowledged online learning as a cost-effective means of education and expressed his efforts to promote distance education alongside traditional methods to boost the number of graduates.
He expressed satisfaction in the fact that half of the country’s population now has access to cellular services.
The president commended PTA and Huawei Technologies Pakistan for their collaborative initiative, anticipating that it would stimulate productive discussions on expanding broadband coverage, fostering faster fiberization, introducing 5G services in Pakistan, and leveraging Huawei’s security technology for a safer network.
Muhammad Sohail Rajput, Secretary of the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication, underscored that an efficient broadband infrastructure is essential to materialize the vision of a digital Pakistan.
He mentioned the government’s focus on incentivizing the private sector to boost broadband capacity, contributing to GDP growth.
Hatem Bamatraf, President and Group CEO of Pakistan Telecommunication Limited (PTCL) and Ufone, emphasized the significant impact of broadband internet on the digital economy, presenting opportunities to address business challenges alongside cellular communication.
He highlighted the vast growth potential of Pakistan’s IT sector in broadband, cloud computing, and analytics management.
He stressed the importance of ‘digital deepening’ in the country driven by economic considerations.
Maj Gen (retd) Amir Azeem Bajwa, Chairman of PTA, viewed the forum as a step towards enhancing broadband infrastructure, data analytics, spectrum management, and emerging technologies.
He cited Pakistan’s international recognition in the IT sector with 107 million broadband subscriptions and 186 million cellular services subscribers.
He noted a 52% increase in broadband data usage in 2020 and highlighted the fixed broadband penetration of 1.6% in 2021, with 2.9 million fixed broadband subscribers and a Fiberization Density Index of 0.56 km/1000 inhabitants.
He commended CEO Huawei Technologies Pakistan, Mark Meng, for his support in accelerating Pakistan’s journey towards a digital economy.
Image Source: CGTN
