Pakistan’s Digital Subsidies Cross $1 Billion as USF Lays 17,000km of Fibre, Tower Fibreisation Target Set at 60 Percent for 5G
ISLAMABAD: The long push to connect Pakistan’s remote districts has passed a round number worth noting. Federal IT and Telecommunication Minister Shaza Fatima Khawaja told delegates on Tuesday that digital subsidies deployed through the Universal Service Fund have crossed $1.054 billion. She was speaking at the opening of the Asia-Pacific Telecommunity symposium in the capital, a three-day gathering that runs until October 15.
17,000 kilometres of fibre, and 38 million people reached
By the minister’s account, the USF has laid more than 17,000 kilometres of optical fibre. Homes passed by fibre broadband have risen from under three million in 2024 to more than five million, while fibreisation of mobile towers has climbed from 15 percent to over 19 percent — still well short of the 60 percent target the government has set for proper 5G delivery. USF chief executive Mudassar Naveed added the delivery figures: 158 of the fund’s 185 projects are complete, at a subsidy cost of over Rs169 billion, directly benefiting more than 38.4 million people, most of them in places commercial operators had little reason to reach.
The argument has moved beyond coverage
The symposium is co-hosted by the IT ministry, USF Pakistan and the APT Secretariat, and brings together ministers, regulators and industry executives from across the region. Khawaja pointed out that roughly 2.2 billion people worldwide — and nearly 48 percent of the Asia-Pacific population — still have no internet access, framing connectivity as a necessity for education, healthcare and economic life rather than a privilege. The agenda reflects that shift: gigabit fibre, satellite networks, smartphone financing and rural AI infrastructure all feature. APT Secretary General Dr Masanori Kondo urged member states to make universal service frameworks more flexible and results-driven, warning that rigid, voice-era models will widen the digital divide instead of closing it.
