USF Stretches Broadband to another 21 Cities in Southern Punjab

Thanks to Universal Service Fund, 21 cities in southern Punjab are now broadband equipped with 25,100 customers already on board since the roll-out started three months ago.

Contract for 11 districts (Bahawalnagar, Bahawalpur, Dera Ghazi Khan, Khanewal, Leiah, Lodhran, Multan, Muzaffargarh, Rahim Yar Khan, Rajanpur and Vehari) was awarded to PTCL and WorldCall on January 20^th, 2010.

Out of 37 planned cities, 21 cities were covered in just 3 three months.

This demonstrates the immense speed of ISPs for spreading broadband in un-served land of Pakistan. For newly added cities, not only the home users will get the advantage but high speed internet infrastructure is going to connect businesses, government and semi government entities in the region as well.

• 327 Higher Secondary Schools, Colleges and Public Libraries, to get 5 PCs with Broadband to benefit 240,000 students (40 Centers already working as of Today).
• 85 “Community Broadband Centers”

Other potential beneficiaries, who could benefit

• 267         Hospitals and clinics
• 541         Basic Health Units
• 539         Health Care Centers
• 116         Vocational Institutes
• 30           Special Education Centers
• 33           Allama Iqbal Open Univ. Distance Learning Centers
• 46           Courts and Bar Councils
• 62           Post Offices
• 67           NADRA Offices
• 128         Police Stations

Those who don’t come from these districts, and are still not served with broadband internet, don’t worry, because, USF has planned big to take broadband to your home. Check following map to get a glimpse of broadband project proceedings.

This map shows that 5 telecom regions are already in process of getting the broadband. One region is advertised and bidding will be done soon. Another three regions are in pipeline to get the broadband.

It is may be recalled that USF provides subsidy to ISPs for providing broadband internet to regions where otherwise business is not viable. This subsidy is based on per customer base, for instance, a target (for southern Punjab its 100,000 subscribers) is given to ISPs, when achieved subsidy on each customer is given. Subsidy is decided through bidding.