Islamabad:
The National Committee of the Information Technology Assembly (IT) and Telecom was reported on Tuesday that the process to initiate Starlink Internet services in Pakistan was almost complete and that the service would be available in the country for June of this year.
The committee that met here with its president Aminul Haq in the president, expressed his discontent with the problems in the availability of internet services in parts of the country. The members of the committee hoped that after the start of Starlink, the issues could be resolved.
The parliamentary secretary of IT told the committee that the discussions with Starlink had reached the final stage and that their services would be available for June this year. The secretary said the 90%process had been completed. Therefore, the Starlink license will be issued soon.
During the meeting, the Committee discussed the projects of the Public Sector Development Program (PSDP) for the TI Ministry for Financial Year 2024-25. The Ministry said that RS24 billion were assigned in the PSDP, adding that more than RS2 billion had spent, so far, in the current fiscal year.
The members of the Committee raised the problems related to the availability of the Internet in Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir. Officials of the Special Communication Organization (SCO) said there was a plan to expand mobile services in the regions at a cost of RS780 million.
Regarding the establishment of a IT Park in Karachi, TI Ministry officials said they said that RS6 billion were assigned for the project this year, but the amount could not be used because it was still in the design phase. The member of the Mustafa Kamal committee urged effective planning for the project.
Another member of the committee, lawyer Gohar Ali Khan, said the breach of Islamabad It Park for a long time. Ministry officials said a Korean company was working on the project. The president said the committee would visit the project after the next meeting.
The president asked the Ministry to accelerate the work in the bill for the protection of personal data. The secretary of the TI Ministry told the committee that the minister in question was aboard the bill. The committee was informed that a draft of the artificial intelligence policy (AI) had been sent to the Cabinet for approval.
During the meeting, the president of the Telecommunications Authority of Pakistan (PTA) informed the Committee on Internet speed and connectivity. He said that the PTA generated income from RS1,700 billion in the last 6 years that the Government had not invested a single rupee in this sector in several years. He informed the committee that high -speed Internet connectivity required fiber cables.
