News Detail

The meeting of the Senate Functional Committee on Problems of Less Developed Areas, chaired by Senator Agha Shahzaib Durrani, convened today in Islamabad to review the telecommunication services provided by the Universal Service Fund (USF) in unserved and underserved areas of Balochistan, Sindh, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The meeting was attended by Senators Jan Muhammad, Falak Naz, Danesh Kumar, Aimal Wali Khan, Hamid Khan, and Fawzia Arshad.

Before beginning the proceedings of the Committee, the Chairman Committee condemned the cowardly terrorist attack on a school bus in Baluchistan and called for a swift response from the government regarding the incident.

The Committee was briefed in detail by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Universal Service Fund (USF) about its functions, projects, funding mechanisms, and services. It was revealed that the USF operates under the jurisdiction of the Federal Government, with funds released through AGPR, and decisions made by its Board of Directors. The CEO stated that the USF is facing several challenges, including security issues, damage to site infrastructure due to terrorist activities, land disputes, NOC issues related to NHA/PHA/local administrations, ROW issues for fiber projects, and service blocks by law enforcement agencies due to ongoing military operations.

The USF primarily provides three types of services: (i) Mobile coverage and broadband connectivity, (ii) Optical fiber cable deployment, and (iii) Mobile coverage and broadband connectivity on highways/motorways and at tourist destinations. In response to a question by the Chairman about the unserved population, the Secretary of IT stated that 90% of the population has been covered, while the remaining 10% mainly in sparsely populated areas has yet to be served.

Senator Aimal Wali Khan raised concerns about poor internet service in Mohmand, Bajaur, Waziristan, Khyber, Kurram, Orakzai, and other areas of KP. It was informed that a total of 24 projects have been launched and are currently operational to improve service delivery in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The Committee directed the USF to submit detailed information on these projects and services in the aforementioned areas.

The Chairman also pointed out the intermittent internet service in various areas of Baluchistan as well as remote parts of other provinces. The Secretary, Ministry of Information Technology explained that internet services in certain regions are intermittently restricted on the directions of the Ministry of Interior due to security concerns. The Chairman directed both the Ministries of Information Technology and Interior to identify the root causes and propose alternative solutions to avoid inconvenience for the local populations.

The Committee also inquired about the mechanism of fixation of cellular call rates by the different telecom companies operating in Pakistan and requested details of the call rate determination mechanism, along with tax information of all telecom companies, in the next meeting. The Chairman further demanded the submission of the details of the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives undertaken by these companies for public welfare.

Additionally, the Chairman directed the M/o Information Technology to operationalize a 911 emergency helpline that can function without internet or cellular service, and to launch a nationwide awareness campaign for this offline emergency facility.