Over 4000 Km optical fibre cables to be laid down across Pakistan for fastest internet connectivity

The Universal Service Fund (USF) will lay around 4000 km long optical fibercables by end of the current fiscal year to connect the unserved andunderserved areas in the country and will bring the total connected areasto 12000 km.

This was stated by Chief Executive Officer (CEO) USF, Haaris MahmoodChaudhry, after a meeting about proceeding with the utilization of theexisting optical fiber cable laid in the country.——————————

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The meeting was chaired by the Federal Secretary Ministry of InformationTechnology and Telecommunication, Shoaib Ahmad Siddiqui.

Chaudhry said that around 8000 km long optical fiber cable had been laid toconnect the underserved and unserved areas of Pakistan over the last 10years. He added that a target of 4000 km optical fiber cables has been setfor the current fiscal year, of which 2400 km has been completed at a costof Rs. 6 billion, and that the remaining target of 1600 km would beachieved by the end of June.

He also clarified that there is no security issue regarding the laying ofcables in the former FATA, and that projects are being initiated inMohmand, Khyber, and Aurakzai.

The CEO USF declared that a target of 6000 km would be set for the nextfinancial year. He asked if around 8000 km of optical fiber cable had beenlaid during the last 11 years, how the same could be achieved in aroundthree years.

Chaudhry also stated that six projects had been carried out during 2018,and 2019 and 12 between 2019 and 2020, while 20 projects are to becompleted between 2020 and 2021.——————————

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The USF aims to promote the development of telecommunication services inthe unserved and underserved rural areas to make voice telephony and basicdata services available and affordable all over Pakistan. This alsorequires the establishment of a stable and reliable optic fiber network inall corners of the country.

This project aims to extend optic fiber connectivity to the unserved tehsilheadquarters to fulfill the growing requirements for voice, data, andvideos in these areas. Providing fiber cables to the tehsils will aid thetelecommunication service providers in extending all kinds of services tosuch areas, and can be likened to ‘building information motor-ways to allthe tehsils’ according to the USF website.