Govt initiates Rs759 million cellular coverage project

ISLAMABAD: The government on Tuesday launched Rs759 million cellular coverage project along the 700 kilometre long coastal highway from Hub to Jiwani to ensure connectivity.

Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) Chairman Muhammad Naveed inaugurated the project “Seamless broadband coverage from Hub to Jiwani: Makran Coastal Highway” that is worth Rs759 million at a ceremony.

After installation of towers, other cellular companies would be offered services through roaming. Under this project, seamless voice and broadband services would be provided to the coastal highway of 694kms. For the first time in Pakistan, national roaming was also being made available, an official announcement said.

Contract of the project was signed by USF with Ufone. Universal Service Fund Chief Executive Officer Rizwan Mustafa Mir signed the contract with Ufone CEO Rashid Khan.

To execute this project, 58 BTS towers would be installed in a contracted timeframe of 18 months. To take this further, all major motorways and highways would be facilitated through seamless connectivity in future.

Chief Guest of the ceremony, Muhammad Naveed, chairman, PTA, said that with constant dedication and devotion, we have achieved yet another milestone.

He further said the event marked one of the greatest landmarks achieved in the field of telecom in Pakistan, and would go a long way in taking the developmental work being done by the ministry to a greater level.

He also added that with such projects, Ministry for IT through USF would continue to work towards achieving the mission of broadband penetration across the country to facilitate the masses in rural areas. He said in addition to broadband infrastructure, he expected USF to launch new e-services and m-services to facilitate digital lifestyle adoption for the people of Pakistan.

USF CEO Rizwan Mustafa Mir also gave an introduction of the project and informed the audience that this was the first project under the Next Generation-Broadband for Sustainable Development programme with focus on broadband coverage to allow for seamless operation of modern apps. Ufone President and CEO Rashid Khan said, “Universal Service Fund (USF) was established to promote the development of telecommunication services in un-served and under-served areas throughout the length and breadth of the country. At Ufone, we resonate the same goal of providing telecommunication services to every Pakistani.”