KARACHI: Gwadar city, historically an old fishing village and poised to become one of the world's thriving seaports, has been provided with best-in-class 4G services.
Bilal Kazmi, a senior official of Telenor - Pakistan, in a statement Wednesday, said the initiative would also benefit series of schemes initiated under the CPEC project.
It was mentioned that the company had already upgraded all Gwadar sites to 3G as well so that more people could access high speed Internet even with their existing smartphones.
Owing to its important strategic location and ongoing CPEC related developments with immense economic and geo-political potential, Gwadar is all set to emerge as a regional and global maritime hub.
"Upgrading Gwadar city from 2G directly to 3G/4G was an interesting challenge," he said mentioning that previously there was no fiber optic infrastructure available in the city.
"However, Telenor - Pakistan's eagerness to bring mobile broadband to the residents of Gwadar propelled the company to make alternative solutions available," said Kazmi.
Due to the unavailability of long-haul fiber optic to carry traffic in the region, Telenor Pakistan has used state-of-the-art satellite solution to deliver 4G services to Gwadar.
The official emphasized that the satellite solution presented a potential option and that the company had already used the model in 2015 to test 3G services in Gilgit Baltistan with promising results.
"We are pleased and excited to play an active role in the socio-economic progress of Gwadar city and hope that our services will strengthen professional as well as personal communications for all involved in the city's development," Kazmi said.
Ever since it started operations in Pakistan, Telenor has explored innovative ways to bring communications and digital services to the remote, unserved, and underserved areas and communities of Pakistan with an aim of bringing them into the folds of digital and financial inclusion, he said.
Bilal Kazmi reiterated that with thousands of Pakistanis and foreign professionals working day and night on diversified development projects, Telenor Pakistan's 4G services will not only help in their professional communications, but will also keep them connected with their loved ones back home.
APP