Cell phone towers: USF says it faces security issues in remote parts of Balochistan

ISLAMABAD: A parliamentary panel was informed on Tuesday that Universal Service Fund Pakistan (USF) is facing security issues while setting up towers to provide mobile service in some areas of Balochistan.

The sub-committee of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Information Technology and Telecommunication met under the chairmanship of Syed Mehmood Shah.

USF officials told the committee that they were facing security issues in the areas occupied by warlords in setting up towers to provide better mobile services. USF has been providing funds for the provision of internet and mobile services in Dera Bugti and other remote areas, and as a result, the service quality in the remote areas has been improved. The committee also talked about the Internet and mobile service issues in different parts of the country. The committee members pointed out that no mobile service was available in Chief Minister House situated in Quetta

Officials from Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), commenting on the issue, said that the authority was working on a national roaming service. They further added that the infrastructures, such as the towers, being constructed in remote areas of the country were to be shared by telecommunication companies as a part of the project.

The PTA officials also revealed that the authority had auctioned the spectrum in 2021. Officials from the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government told the committee that the province had data connectivity issues due to security threats.

The USF officials informed the committee that the fund covered 27 tourist destinations; however, work on five projects had been stalled in Swat. They further informed the committee that a 153-kilometer coverage project was to be completed in KP within a year. The USF officials suggested that there was a need for legislation regarding the service issues.

The officials of the fund revealed that operators in many areas of KP were slow to operate as they generated very low revenue. Regarding the service issues in KP, USF decided that it would nominate a focal person for the province.

The USF was also questioned by the chief secretary Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) for not investing a single rupee in the area.

He further added that the Fund had acquired Rs1 billion from the AJK government. He said that the responsibility of provision of service in the AJK was handed over to the federal government after a constitutional amendment.

The chief secretary further criticized USF, pointing out that the internet users in the region were 57 percent, whereas the rate of the mobile service was 98 percent. He demanded that if the fund was not going to invest in the region, then, it should return the money or hand it over to a third party. At the request of USF, the IT ministry revealed that the AJK region does not fall under the mandate of the fund.

Regarding the service issues in AJK, the committee decided to hold a meeting in Kashmir House during the next week.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022