75% of house-holds in the country to be covered with high speed Internet by 2015: PM

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has said that we are moving forward with great speed to bridge the digital divide in the country by improving the access of information and communication technology to low-income groups and a target of 1.6 million broadband connections has been set for the next three years and infrastructure would be developed to cover 75% of house-holds in the country with high speed Internet by 2015.

“Bridging the digital divide is the need of the hour. Information and communication technology has revolutionized modern life in many ways and one of the major achievements of our government is the reform and resultant growth of information and communication technology sector. We are moving forward with great speed to bridge the digital divide in the country by improving the access of information and communication technology to low-income groups”, he expressed these views while delivering a speech on the world telecommunications and information society day being observed on Thursday.

The Prime Minister said we are all aware of the importance of information and communication technology (ICT) in the modern world. It is a major catalyst of globalization that has brought the world closer together. It is the cutting edge of global communications that has enabled people around the globe to benefit from the opportunities of increasing economic integration.

Bridging the digital divide is the need of the hour. Information and communication technology has revolutionized modern life in many ways. Yet for millions of people around the globe, mostly in poor countries, there remains a digital divide excluding them from the benefits of information and communication technology. Information and communication technology is thus far a tale of two worlds. There is, therefore, an urgent need for improving the access of developing countries and disadvantaged groups and leading the way to a truly open, inclusive and prosperous telecommunications age. Both the developed and developing countries must have a shared vision of how the world can eliminate the digital cleavage in content and physical infrastructure, he said.

The theme of this year’s World Telecommunications and Information Society Day – "Connecting the Young: the Opportunities of Information and Communication Technology" – is highly appropriate and significant, he said.

This year’s theme – "Connecting the Young" – has a special relevance to Pakistan. As you are aware, we are a country of 160 million people, of which more than 50% are below the age of nineteen. People are our biggest asset. As compared to many countries with aging populations, we have a large pool of young and enterprising people who are entering the work force. We are, therefore, well positioned to get the demographic dividend, PM said.

“The telecom sector has gone through rapid growth, showing the greatest impact of policy reforms. In a few years, this sector has reached new heights. Teledensity has increased from 3% in 2000 to 40% in 2007, which is the highest in South Asia. As a result, the total number of fixed and mobile subscribers has reached 62 million, with major contribution coming from the mobile sector. About 22 million youngsters are already connected on mobile networks. Pakistan has already crossed the Asian connectivity average, surpassing India and Sri Lanka and getting close to China.

Pakistan continues to be one of the fastest growing telecom markets in the world. Our reforms have won international recognition. GSM Association, in recognition of our successful policy and regulatory reforms, has awarded Pakistan Country Leadership Award for the year 2006”, he said.

In the liberalized and deregulated environment of Pakistan, telecom and information technology companies are expanding their networks, business and customer base. The telecom sector attracted foreign investment on license and infrastructure of over US$ 9 billion during the last five years, and another US$ 4 billion is expected on roll-out by 2010, he said.

The expansion of telecom sector has created employment opportunities in the country through linkages in the value chain such as franchise, sale, promotion, infrastructure and equipment. The benefits of reform and growth have also trickled down to the general public and consumers through substantial reduction in prices for both fixed and mobile services, he said.

A target of 1.6 million broadband connections has been set for the next three years as against the present level of less than 100,000 connections. Be it initiatives for establishing e-governance or providing e-services to citizens, availability and affordability of broadband are essential. Our vision is to develop infrastructure to cover 75% of house-holds in the country with high speed Internet by 2015. The Universal Service Fund Company (USFC) has been operationalized to provide basic telecom services to the underserved areas of the country, he said.

PM said The National Information and Communication Technology Research and Development Fund has been created to finance initiatives for capacity building of the youth. The Outreach Scholarship Programme has been instituted to support talented youth from the under-served areas.

In order to meet the shortage of skilled manpower in our rapidly growing economy, we are implementing a comprehensive programme of technical and vocational education aimed at maximum utilization of existing facilities as well as creating new ones. The National Vocational & Technical Education Commission has been set up as an apex body at the national level. At present 350,000 students per annum are being imparted various skills across the country and it is targeted to reach the level of one million students per year by 2010, the PM said.