5G services to be launched by July-August

ISLAMABAD: The 5G services will be launched by July-August this year in the country and 300MHz spectrum will be offered for auction.

In a series of video messages, Federal Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication (IT&T) Dr Umar Saif has claimed that the caretaker government had successfully achieved 13 goals, out of 15, set to promote the IT sector and increase its exports within a brief period of five months.

“The forum of SIFC will prove to be a great support for the upcoming elected government in building and developing the country, and the elected government will also reap the benefits of measures we have taken during the caretaker period. We worked with the SIFC and State Bank to make a significant policy intervention, allowing IT companies to keep 50 percent of their export revenue in dollars in an account in Pakistan and make their international expenses without any restrictions from this amount,” he explained.

He reminded that with this decision, allowing the retention of 50 percent in dollars, the country’s IT exports have increased by 32 percent in the last 60 days.

Dr Umar Saif said that the establishment of the telecom tribunal fulfills a longstanding demand of the telecom sector. “The specialised tribunal will now handle telecom sector disputes and cases instead of the high courts, aiming to expedite the resolution of legal issues and facilitate rapid progress in telecom sector,” he said.

“The Ministry of Law will nominate the chairperson and members of the tribunal. The chairperson must be a judge of the high court or a lawyer with 15 years of standing. Similarly, the tribunal will have two-member technocrats, whose number may be increased or decreased from time to time,” he added.

The minister said that this specialised approach will lead to faster and more efficient resolution of disputes, contributing to the overall advancement of the telecom industry. “The effective implementation of the Right of Way Policy, Special Investment Facilitation Council has removed all departmental hurdles and all decisions in the interest of the country and the nation have been approved without delay,” he said.

He said the ministry is concurrently establishing a research and development fund to support mobile phone manufacturing companies and facilitate the growth of mobile phone manufacturing sector.

Dr Saif said that the first standardised quality test for the 75,000 information technology graduates will be conducted soon. He highlighted significant decisions made to revamp IT education in collaboration with various entities, including HEC, National Computing Accreditation Council, Examination Testing Council, Pakistan Software Export Board, and Pakistan Software Houses Association.

He said the students who will successfully pass the test, will be offered job opportunities through the Industry Placement Programme, adding that the funds will be allocated to support special industry courses in universities, aiming to prepare students for current industry trends and needs.

He explained that the National Computing Accreditation Council will consider the pass rate of students to determine a university’s rating and permissible enrolment of IT students.

Emphasising the importance of aligning educational institutions with industry requirements, he stressed the need for facilitating industry-specific training to bridge the gap between academic knowledge and practical industry needs.

He said that freelancers would now receive their payments through PayPal, addressing a longstanding demand.

He said that under the nation’s first space policy approved by the federal cabinet, international companies would be allowed to provide communication services through low-orbit communication satellites. He said that communication services and internet services could be offered through low-orbit satellites, which were relatively closer, adding that there had been a lot of development in this regard in the private sector. He further said that before the launch of 5G services, the optic fiber network had to be enhanced. “Currently, only 6,000 mobile towers relate to optic fiber cables (OFC) of around 56,000 towers across the country.” The minister said that the government launched a project to establish 10,000 e-Rozgar centres across the country that would be equipped with the latest facilities for freelancers and startups. “We have also fulfilled another promise made to the people, where a significant number from the existing 1.5 million and upcoming new freelancers can work independently at very low rates,” he said.

He said the best facilities, including high-speed internet, UPS, training centres, individual cabins, meeting rooms, and separate office rooms for start-ups had been provided to freelancers. Dr Saif said that with the completion of the great project, IT exports would be increased soon by $10 billion annually, and under public-private partnership, these centres would also be able to significantly increase the capacity and income of freelancers. He said the Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) would be responsible for providing freelancers required technical support for these centres.