Telenor Pakistan has become the country’s first mobile operator to complete the largest solar-powered telecommunication network to be established in Universal Service Fund-assisted areas.

Of the 50 solar-powered cell sites established, 47 are in the USF-assisted areas of Mirpur Khas and Bahawalpur. The sites are providing telecommunication services to nearly 1.63 million people who previously lacked any such access. The other three sites are in Islamabad and Khyber-Pukhtoonkhwa.

The solar-powered cell sites are an outcome of Telenor Pakistan’s Green Energy Project that aims to provide environment-friendly telecommunications solutions.

Khalid Shehzad, Chief Technology Officer, Telenor Pakistan commenting on the achievement said: “We are delighted to have created the largest solar-powered cell network in the USF-assisted areas of Mirpur Khas and Bahawalpur. With the deployment of solar-powered cell sites our aim is to provide environment-friendly telecommunication services even in the remotest areas of Pakistan. By doing so we are reducing power demands on the national grid and also helping to reduce carbon emissions. Alternative energy solutions are the way forward and we will continue to explore greener, more environment friendly solutions for our business.”

USF is a government fund set up with the aim to provide basic data and telephony services to the unserved and underserved areas of the country.

Solar energy is one of the salient features of Telenor Pakistan’s Green Energy Project that will help in preventing emission on average of 2.5 tons of carbon dioxide per site per year.