State Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunications Ali Asjad Malhi has said that government has formulated a strategy for providing telecommunication facilities to the people in rural and urban parts of the country.
Under the programme, special attention had been focused on providing telecommunication facility to remote areas in the country, he said. Talking to reporters here last evening, the minister revealed that Wireless Local Loop (WLL) system had been introduced in Daska tehsil while necessary arrangements were being given final touch for introducing WLL system in Sialkot and other parts of the district.
Due to the effective government policies the telecommunication sector had become largest sector in the country, which had not only provided the telecommunication facility to common man but also generated the wide employment opportunities for the educated and skilled persons, he said.
The State Minister said that Telecom sector was fast growing sector of national economy and Pakistan now has become the second fastest growing market in Asia after China. The teledensity in the past two years has more than doubled from 4.5 percent to over 11 percent of population and mobile sector has marked growth of over 100 percent during the same period.
The total subscribers of fixed and mobile had been increased to 19 million from 8 million during the past two years, he said.
Ali Asjad Malhi disclosed that more than two billion dollars had been invested in telecommunication sector in Pakistan, adding that government's initiatives had received international recognition and has generated tremendous interest both amongst foreign and local investors.