A meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Less Developed Areas was held under the chairmanship of Senator Niaz Ahmed, where officials briefed members on telecom and connectivity issues, particularly in Chitral.
Chairman of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, Major General Hafeez ur Rehman (Retd), informed the committee that additional network towers have recently been installed in Chitral, bringing the total number of towers to 142. He said the region has been facing network congestion due to load shedding and limited infrastructure.
He added that only a single optical fiber line currently serves Chitral, which creates vulnerabilities. If the cable is cut, often during work by the National Highway Authority of Pakistan, it leads to major service disruptions. He noted that coordination has been requested so that PTA is informed before such projects begin.
The PTA chairman said spectrum availability had been a major issue in the past. However, the authority has recently conducted a spectrum auction, offering 480 MHz, which is expected to resolve network congestion problems. He also highlighted that some areas rely on fiber connectivity while others depend on microwave links, adding that 5G services will require fiber infrastructure and cannot operate on microwave systems.
Discussing power-related challenges, he said load shedding affects network performance, as backup batteries can only operate for a few hours. While generators can be used, they require significant diesel consumption, which is not feasible due to the ongoing energy crisis.
Committee members stressed that telecom companies generate substantial revenue and should ensure better service delivery. The PTA chairman also noted that the government has directed the allocation of a special budget for less developed areas.
The chairman of the committee remarked that development projects typically begin with the National Highway Authority, followed by other institutions, which can create coordination issues.
Separately, the CEO of the Universal Service Fund Pakistan, Mudassar Chaudhry, briefed the committee on the fund’s performance. He said the Universal Service Fund was established in 2006 and has completed 165 projects so far, providing subsidies worth Rs. 140 billion. He added that 45 percent of this subsidy has been utilized in Balochistan.
He further informed that USF has installed 71 4G sites in Chitral, accounting for 50 percent of the total sites in the area. He also noted that the fund had faced issues in the past, which were resolved by the current IT minister.
According to officials, Rs57.2 billion had accumulated in the fund by 2013, but the Finance Division took over the funds in 2014. The government began returning these funds in 2025. As a result, USF projects were halted for about two and a half years.
Officials from the Ministry of IT told the committee that Rs17 billion has been returned to the ministry, while Rs40 billion is still held by the Finance Division.
The standing committee has sought a detailed briefing on the USF fund in its next meeting.