PNN: Minister for Information Technology Shaza Fatima has said the federal government will auction 600 megahertz of spectrum next month to ensure faster and more reliable internet services across the country.
Addressing an event in Islamabad on Monday, she said the federal cabinet had approved the spectrum auction, which she described as a key step towards improving 4G speeds and facilitating the rollout of 5G services in Pakistan.
Reaffirming the government’s focus on youth development, the minister said investment in capacity building remained a top priority. She termed young people the country’s greatest asset and noted that more than half a million youth had been trained in various sectors over the past one and a half years.
Ms Fatima said the government was actively pursuing the digital transformation of Pakistan, with efforts underway to move towards fully digitised governance. She expressed satisfaction over the performance of the IT sector, stating that IT exports had crossed $3.8 billion this year, registering average growth of around 20 per cent.
Outlining the government’s long-term digital strategy, she said that under the Connect 2030 Vision, Pakistan aims to increase average internet speeds to 100 megabits per second, expand fibre connectivity, free up 1,000MHz of spectrum and align the country’s 5G rollout with global standards. These measures, she added, were expected to generate billions of dollars in economic benefits over the next four years.
The minister also highlighted recent policy initiatives, including the Digital Nation Pakistan Act and right-of-way reforms, noting that the latter had eliminated all fees on fibre deployment nationwide to encourage rapid expansion of digital infrastructure.