Govt committed to connecting less developed areas with modern ICT services: minister

PESHAWAR: Federal Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunications Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui on Thursday said the government was committed to connecting all un-served and less developed areas including erstwhile Fata through modern Information Communication Technology (ICT).

He said it was aimed at providing speedy and reliable information to people besides broadening their knowledge on national and international issues.

The minister expressed these views while addressing at Universal Service Fund (USF)-Jazz contract signing ceremony of the project ‘’Broadband coverage for South Waziristan’’ as chief guest.

Adviser to the Chief Minister on Merged Areas, Ajmal Wazir, Special Assistant to the Chief Minister on IT, Kamran Bangash, Chief Executive Officer USF Haris Mahmood Chaudhry, Jazz Chief Corporate and Enterprise Officer Syed Ali Naseer and elected MPAs of South Waziristan besides tribal elders and maliks attended in large number.

The USF has awarded the new contract worth Rs90 million to Jazz under its broadband for a sustainable development project in South Waziristan.

The contract signing ceremony took place between USF CEO Haris Mahmood Chaudhry and Jaaz Chief Corporate Officer Syed Ali Naseer in presence of the Federal Minister for IT and Telecommunication.

As per the agreement, Jazz will work towards the provision of inexpensive and reliable cellular access to people of South Waziristan.

Under this project, cellular services would be provided to more than 0.64 million people in 411 un-served villages in South Waziristan.

Speaking on the occasion, the federal minister said it was an era of information technology and the government was striving to connect all un-served areas including merged tribal districts with state-of- the art ICT services as per the vision of Prime Minister for Digital Pakistan.