Aitizaz Hassan

The number of internet users in Pakistan showed an increase of 10.50% in the calendar year 2022, WealthPK reports. The number of internet users in the country increased by 11.27 million and reached from 112.68 million to 124.52 million in the previous year. The number of mobile phone users also reached 194 million in 2022 as compared to 180 million in 2021, showing a growth of 7.7%. The number of 3G and 4G users reached 121 million from over 100 million.

The report shows that the number of internet users in the year 2022 increased by 11.27 million, from 112.68 million to 124.52 million in the country. The number of mobile phone SIMs in use reached 194 million in 2022 as compared to 180 million. Investment in the telecom sector was recorded at Rs694 billion, registering an increase of 6.6%. The manufacturing industry locally assembled 19.7 million mobile phones and smart devices in the previous year. The import of commercial phones decreased from 10.26 million to a record level of 1.37 million owing to a growth in the local manufacturing industry, according to the report.

The report says that 25 new broadband and optical fibre cable projects were launched in the year 2022 at a total cost of Rs35 billion while 21 projects worth Rs10 billion were completed. The projects provided broadband services to 4.468174 million people in the country. It says that 483 new mobile towers were installed for 2,967 villages and 332 union councils while 3,000-kilometre of optical fibre cable (OFC) was laid. An uninterrupted networking provision was ensured on more than 155-kilometre highway. Virtual University joined hand with the Ministry of IT and imparted online training to 0.7 million people through the Digi Skills Programme of the ministry. Under the same programme, 7,500 people from Khuzdar, Turbat and Gwadar areas of Balochistan province received training.

Three campuses of the Virtual University were established in Loralai, Mastung and Zhob regions of Balochistan with the support of the Education Foundation to provide higher education to local women, according to the report. It says that National Information Technology Board (NITB) set up 31 web portals, dashboards and applications for various institutions, departments and ministries.

The provincial cabinet of Sindh was also shifted to e-tablet on the pattern of the Federal Cabinet. During the recent worst floods, portals were created for National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and all provincial disaster management authorities. The ministry also set up the Prime Minister Relief Fund Development of Payment Gateway. Pakistan’s First Cloud Policy was also approved by the Federal Cabinet in February 2022, which is now in the process of implementation.

In 2022, Personal Data Protection Bill and Digital Pakistan Policy 2023 were also sent to Federal Cabinet for approval. “Similarly, the Artificial Intelligence Policy and Freelancers Policy have been also forwarded to relevant institutions and stakeholders for revision and review,” says the report.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk