ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly was informed on Friday that 3G and 4G services are available to 78 percent population while efforts are underway for 5G technology launch in the country.

Responding to a question during question hour, the parliamentary secretary for cabinet, Nadeem Abbas, said that the stakeholders are being consulted for assessing the 5G technology launch in the country.

He said as per GMSA, 49 percent of the world’s total population did not have mobile internet.

Besides, 3.4 billion people were not using mobile internet, despite living in areas with mobile broadband coverage, he said, adding at present only 17 per cent population had coverage of 5G.

He said the government was now in the process of consultation for assessing the 5G technology launch in the country for which talks with concerned stakeholders are continued.

He said that the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority had renewed operation licenses in 2021-22 for Pakistan, AJK, and GB with the following obligatory measures for network expansion and quality of service improvement.

To keep AJK and GB’s telecom sector at par with recent development in Pakistan, the PTA conducted the first-ever spectrum auction in the AJK and GB in 2012, he said, adding the spectrum auction paved the way for the provision of high-speed mobile broadband and better voice services for the people of AJK and Gilgit-Baltistan.

Responding to a question during question hour, the Federal Minister for Poverty Alleviation, Shazia Marri, said that a program is being designed to capacitate the ultra-poor households in graduating out of poverty on a sustainable basis.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022