The 5G launch in Pakistan keeps on getting delayed. At first, it was expected to be deployed around December this year but was soon delayed to early 2023. After March 2023, it was delayed to June, but now we should expect it in July 2023, says IT and Telecommunications Minister Syed Amin ul Haq.
While announcing the new date, the IT Minister vowed that the initiative would help boost the IT industry as well as exports at an impressive rate. He made the announcement during a ceremony at the UBIT Career Fest 2022, organized by the Department of Computer Science of the University of Karachi. He added that he is confident the new deadline would be met without any further delay.
The minister remarked that exports from the IT sector increased significantly compared to exports from other sectors.
Our IT industry has already witnessed robust growth. As compared to the other 43 ministries of Pakistan, the highest increase in exports has been registered by the IT and telecommunication sector. The exports of other ministries increased by 2 to 3% only over the last couple of years while the exports of IT and telecom jumped by 47.44% during the same period. It reflects the potential which we need to capitalise on.
He also said that the industry and universities can help meet the needs of future jobs and help IT graduates grab growing opportunities offered by IT companies. The government is also facilitating IT startups with huge funding rounds of around $373 million.
Countries around the world are still struggling to get stable and reliable 5G. Regions including the UK still get poor 5G connections in a lot of cities and it remains to be seen how the next generation of mobile networks performs in Pakistan. We also recommend taking the July launch date with a grain of salt.
