IT minister says Pakistan will launch 5G next year; here’s when?

Syed Amin-ul-Haq, Federal Minister for Information Technology (IT) and Telecom, has stated that PKR31 billion will be invested in Pakistan over the next three years to increase connectivity. He went on to say that 5G technology will be available by December 2022, in accordance with Prime Minister Imran Khan’s “Digital Pakistan Vision.”

Pakistan now has 180 million mobile phone users in which 85 million are 3G/4G customers. Jazz, which is funded by the Netherlands-based Veon Ltd; Telenor Pakistan, which is backed by Norway’s state-controlled Telenor; Zong, which is owned by China Mobile; and Ufone, which is controlled by the state-owned Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd, dominate the country’s telecom market.

“Some Rs 18 billion has been budgeted for connectivity-related initiatives this year alone,” he added.

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He went on to say that the government’s pro-business policies had resulted in the rise of Pakistan’s IT industry. He stated that the country exported $2.1 billion in IT services in the previous fiscal year, up from $1.4 billion the previous year. The government has set an export target of $3.5 billion for the next year.

In his presentation, the IT Minister commended P@SHA as the representative group of software and technology enterprises.

More than 180 million people in the country use mobile phones, and new mobile phones are being manufactured in Pakistan, according to the IT minister, who added, “Smartphones for everyone is our objective.”

We want everything to be digital, and Parliament was going to be digitized, he said, adding that the agenda will immediately be available on tablets.