KARACHI: In line with its `Digital Pakistan` programme, the federal government on Thursday launched three Rs5 billion projects in Sindh to lay over 2,000-kilometre-long optic fibre cable in six major districts of the province.

The project would connect more than 200 towns and union councils (UCs)in the province with highspeed internet service that would directly benefit over four million people in one of the most crucial initiatives in recent years.

The fresh move from the federal ministry of IT and telecom came under the Universal ServicesFund (USF) contributed by all the four cellular companies in Pakistan. It aimed at connecting all individuals across the country amid growing priority of digitalisation for businesses and communities.

The project was formally launched in a ceremony at a local hotel where an agreement for the execution of the initiative was signed by USF chief executive officer Haaris Mahmood Chaudhry and president and group CEO of the Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited PTCL and Ufone Hatem Bamatraf.

The signing ceremony was also attended by IT and Telecom Minister Syed Aminul Haque and Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah.

Addressing the ceremony, the federal minister said that under its Next Generation Optic Fiber (NG-OF) Network & Services programme, the USF had contracted to lay down over 16,000km of optic fibre cable to benefit 31.5m population across the country.

`Under the same initiative, we are launchingtoday three more projects of Rs5 billion for six districts of Sindh, which will prove to be a milestone in the commitment of the ministry to connect the people of Sindh to the digital world,` he said. `The USF is awarding contracts to lay down cable in the underserved districts of Dadu, Jamshoro, Larkana, Kambar-Shahdadkot, Hyderabad and Badin.

The projects would connect a total of 207 towns and UCs through the 2,192-km of OFC, benefiting a population of 4.2m residents in these areas. This will play a huge role in the socio-economic wellbeing of the people by providing them with e-suite services in all walks of life.

He said that through providing access to information and e-suite services, such as e-healthcare, e-finance, e-agriculture and e-education, his ministry was enabling the rural and remote communities of the country to compete better and support the economic development to bring a positive impact on the national GDP of Pakistan while contributing to the United Nations (UN) SustainableDevelopment Goals (SDGs).

He also highlighted the achievements of his ministry and vowed to increase the IT export from $2.5bn to $3bn.

`A revolutionary move` In his address, the Sindh CM lauded the efforts of the Centre for bringing change on the technological front in the province and called it a `revolutionary move` that would not only enable many individual across the province, but also empower them for self-reliance.

`These projects have also been designed to connect 686 educational institutions, 212 health facilities, 276 government of fices and 1,367 telecom towers within a five-kilometre radius of the node,` he said.

He added that the project would also improve the lives of people, create job opportunities for them, empower women as well as young girls along with many other benefits.