Islamabad:

The National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Information Technology (IT) and Telecom was informed on Tuesday that the process of initiating Starlink Internet Services in Pakistan was almost complete and the service would be available in the country in June this year.

The committee, who met here with its chairman Aminul Haq in the chairman, expressed his dissatisfaction with the problems in the availability of internet services in parts of the country. The committee members hoped that they issued after the start of Starlink could be resolved.

The parliamentary secretary of it told the committee that the discussions with Starlink had reached the final phase and its services would be available in June this year. The secretary said the 90% process had ended. Therefore, the license for Starlink would soon be issued.

During the meeting, the committee discussed the public sector development programs (PSDP) projects for the IT Ministry for the financial year 2024-25. The ministry said RS24 billion was awarded in PSDP, adding that more than RS2 billion had so far been used in the current financial year.

The committee members raised the problems regarding the Internet accessibility in Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir. Special Communication Organization (SCO) officials said a plan was in hand to expand mobile services in the regions at a price of RS780 million.

With regard to the creation of an IT park in Karachi, the IT Ministry’s officials said RS6 billion was awarded to the project this year, but the amount could not be used because it was still in the design phase. Committee Member Mustafa Kamal called for effective planning for the project.

Another committee member, Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, pointed to the lack of Islamabad IT Park project for a long time. The ministry officials said a Korean company was working on the project. The chairman said the committee would visit the project after the next meeting.

The chairman asked the ministry to accelerate the work on the bill on the protection of personal data. The Secretary of the IT Ministry told the committee that the minister in question was on board 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 chairman of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) informed the committee on Internet speed and connection. He said PTA generated RS1,700 billion revenue in the last 6 years, which the government hadn’t even invested a single rupie in this sector for several years. He informed the committee that high -speed internet connection required fiber cables.