ISLAMABAD: Persisting internet dominated the discourse at the National Broadband Network Forum 2024 on Monday, where the government presented its achievements, while industry stakeholders lamented sluggish broadband speed and other infrastructure issues.
Senate Chairman Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani and Minister of State for IT & Telecommunications Shaza Fatima Khawaja spoke at the event, which was organized by the Pakistan Telecom Authority (PTA) in partnership with Huawei.
Mr. Gillani urged the government to apply artificial intelligence (AI) solutions in all facets of life and bridge the digital divide between rural and urban areas.
According to the Senate chairman, the public should have access to high-quality internet and IT services from the government.
“The government must remove obstacles to internet efficiency in order to accomplish this, and public-private partnerships were required to advance the government’s digital agenda,” Mr. Gillani continued.
“4G for everyone is better than 5G for a select few,” he stated, adding that the future 5G auction in April 2025 shouldn’t repeat the mistakes of the last spectrum sale.
” Pakistan now has about 15 Mbps of spectrum, whereas the country’s demand was about 100 Mbps.
The IT minister, Ms. Khawaja, gave the stakeholders her word that the government will continue to help close the digital divide.
Although she acknowledged the difficulties facing the telecom and IT industries, she said that these problems were caused by cyber security and extremists’ use of technology.
She expressed confidence that satellite-based internet will boost internet penetration nationwide and stated that the government was taking action to speed up broadband.
According to Ms. Khawaja, tackling the cyber security issue is “the need of the hour,” and even wealthy nations have passed laws restricting children’s access to the internet.
The secretary of the ministry of information technology and telecommunications, Zarar Khan, stated that persistent work was being done to create a “digitally inclusive Pakistan.”
Feng Zhishan, the president of Huawei’s Optical Access, and retired Maj-Gen Hafeezur Rehman, the PTA chairman, emphasized the significance of innovation in attaining connection.
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