The World Bank (WB) has indicated its willingness to invest up-to $45 million in Ministry of Information Technology (MoIT) project on establishing technology parks in Pakistan, however Letter of Intent (LoI) is awaited. This was indicated in a one-year performance report of the MoIT, wherein the contributions made during the 2013-14 in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) field were pointed out.
The report states that the concept of ICT parks has been approved by the Planning Commission of Pakistan and the MoIT is in the process of preparation of PC-II in consultation with the World Bank Office in Pakistan.
Ministry of IT is in the process of shifting from small software technology parks (housing just software related firms) to holistic "ICT parks". The proposed ICT parks would be developed with state-of-the-art infrastructure aiming to bring together world-class technology in a multipurpose environment. The parks would promote academia/industry collaboration to mitigate gaps between academia and IT industry, boost IT exports and provision of cloud based ICT infrastructure.
According to the report, one of the ongoing challenges confronted by MoIT is grey telephony which leads to significant revenue losses to the national exchequer. Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) jointly conducted a total of 37 raids across the country since September 1, 2013, where 22 were arrested, and 170 illegal gateway equipment were confiscated.
In addition, mobile numbers involved in illegal call termination (Grey Traffic) were being identified and blocked through various means including heavy caller data, call centre reporting etc. Consequently, a total of 115,153 SIMs have been blocked since September 1, 2013. The grey traffic surge is also attributed to the controversial ICH policy made during the previous government, the report states.
The government generated $1.12 billion from 3G/4G spectrum auction, which was above the budgeted targets set in previous years. The auction has fetched three times more price for per MHz spectrum as compared to 2004 auction due to professional and thorough deliberations at the Ministry and PTA, the report claims.
Report further mentions that the long stalled matter relating to the issuance of new Long Distance International (LDI) licence to CMPAK has been resolved by the Ministry and PTA. Around $0.5 million was issued by World Bank as a grant for Institutional Development Fund that was being used to review the long-expired telecom policies of Pakistan. An international consultant has been hired for advising and assisting MoIT in finalising the integrated telecom sector policy framework and contract negotiations have been concluded. The Ministry hopes to complete the policy by the end of June, 2014.
The report further states that an expert group comprising representatives from Ministry of IT, Ministry of Law, PTA, NTISB (Cabinet Division), Internet Service Providers of Pakistan, Pakistan Software Export Board and external lawyer finalised the draft Prevention of Electronic Crime Bill.
After detailed consultations with all the stakeholders, the draft bill was finalised and had since been submitted to the Prime Minister for placement before the Cabinet for approval.
Ministry formed National Information Technology Board (NITB) by merging Pakistan Computer Bureau (PCB) and the Electronic Government Directorate (EGD) as both of these institutes had failed to deliver over 13 projects over the years. The ministry would establish 500 telecentres as a pilot project.
These telecentres (across Pakistan) will have SIM verification solutions, registration of birth, death, marriage, divorce and other relevant services, broadband internet access to general public and other services for the provision of ICT to masses.
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