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ISLAMABAD, Jan 22 (APP):The government is expanding the country’s telecom spectrum to 600 megahertz, a move expected to increase internet capacity by around 200 per cent and significantly improve speed, stability and service continuity, the National Assembly was informed on Thursday.
Parliamentary Secretary for IT and Telecom Sabin Ghori, responding to questions during Question Hour, said the rapid increase in internet usage over the past one to two years — driven by digitisation of government services, education, employment portals and businesses — had put immense pressure on the existing network, leading to slow speeds and frequent disruptions.
She told the House that the spectrum expansion would help reduce congestion, improve data flow and minimise service interruptions, adding that tangible improvement in services was expected by the end of February once the process was completed.
The parliamentary secretary said that in many areas the problem was not the absence of telecom companies but technical constraints, including limited spectrum, backhaul congestion, electricity outages and delays in regulatory clearances.
She added that the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority was continuously monitoring service quality and analysing complaints to identify technical causes.
Explaining network availability, Ghori said 2G services were being maintained in several areas to ensure voice connectivity where 3G and 4G services were unavailable, but acknowledged that internet-related problems were primarily linked to data services, which depended heavily on spectrum availability.
Addressing concerns about Balochistan and other remote regions, she said the Universal Service Fund had invested Rs52 billion in Balochistan over the past five years — the highest allocation among all provinces — for fibre optic expansion and installation of telecom towers.
However, she said progress in some areas remained slow due to security challenges, power failures and incidents of tower vandalism.
She informed the House that in certain projects, vendors did not participate in tenders because of security risks, causing delays, but said the government, in coordination with the interior ministry, was treating the issue on an emergency basis.
On connectivity along highways and motorways, Ghori said right-of-way issues had been resolved in coordination with relevant authorities, which would help improve signals on major routes.
She also suggested that online job application deadlines should be kept flexible in view of connectivity constraints in some regions. “At this stage, longer application windows should be considered, but within the next six months, we aim to reach a level where even short durations can be managed efficiently,” she said.
The parliamentary secretary added that, in addition to spectrum expansion, work was underway on low-earth orbit satellite solutions, which were expected to substantially improve internet access in remote and underserved areas, particularly in Balochistan.
She assured the House that policy reforms, spectrum enhancement and technical interventions were being pursued to ensure reliable and improved internet services across the country.