ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Information Technologies and Telecommunications has developed a “National Broadband Policy-2021” targeting the contribution of digital / broadband development to the economy to the tune of $ 5 billion in investments and $ 20 billion in revenue by 2025.
The draft policy also envisions up to an eight percent contribution to the gross domestic product (GDP) of digital / broadband development over the next four years.
One of the goals of the draft policy is to ensure that 100% of the population living in level 2/3 cities have access to high-speed internet, an average internet speed per user of 50 Mbps in large cities. cities and facilitates 75% of the Internet. users with digital bank accounts by 2025.
The draft policy aims to address some of the specific challenges; (i) the need for affordable broadband access for all; (ii) address the challenges of the digital divide, particularly in unserved and underserved areas nationally; (iii) overcome the challenges of deploying the required digital infrastructure and associated funding models, including large-scale fiberization and efficient spectrum management; (iv) harmonization of the existing tax regime on telecommunications services; (v) stimulate the development of local and relevant content and services; (vi) the need for an improved and consistent quality of broadband service; (vii) stress the importance of digital trust in telecommunications networks to promote wider use of digital technologies in all spheres of life; (viii) understand the impact of the Internet in terms of socio-cultural developments, economic growth and environmental sustainability; (x) lower investment barriers applied to existing licensees and new investors in the telecommunications sector and promote public-private partnerships; and (xi) the challenges vis-à-vis the accelerated evolution towards the adoption of Xth generation technologies and fibration, necessary to improve the state of broadband infrastructures.
The policy envisaged to advance the “digital Pakistan” initiative; It is essential to develop a user-centric, market-oriented, easy-to-govern and holistic political vision, laying a solid foundation for quickly addressing outstanding issues and exploring new opportunities in the most agile way .
The National Broadband Policy-2021 aims to “revitalize the state of telecommunications by accelerating the digital inclusion efforts of every citizen in any corner of the country to achieve universal access to affordable broadband internet, improve use of the digital space by providing equal opportunities for socio-economic well-being in a safe, responsible and healthy environment through the evolution of policy and regulatory measures required for the rapid and sustainable adoption of advanced technologies and digital infrastructure ”.
The policy objectives include (i) addressing the challenges of Internet access by accelerating the penetration of digital access, optimizing the use of existing infrastructure and equitably distributing digital dividends through needs-based policy interventions ; (ii) for the early inclusion of digitally divided people, promote open and service-based competition, rationalize taxes and provide essential incentives to reduce the cost of inclusiveness; (iii) for socio-economic well-being, increase awareness of using internet / digital services to learn and earn money; (iv) preparation and activation of Internet service and Xth generation technology; (v) improve the availability of the Internet by localizing content and inducing a culture of indigenous research and innovation at the base to meet societal challenges and explore opportunities through effective and efficient use of digital space /Internet ; (vi) plan and optimize available infrastructure / resources with national and provincial state governments / organizations to improve internet / digital service delivery through synergies and partnerships and for deliberate adoption and humanization of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), develop a roadmap to harness the evolving communication technologies and to create an enabling environment through the necessary facilitation and appropriate regulation.
The user-centered policy drivers on which the National Broadband Policy-2021 is based consist of the following four main pillars.
The first pillar will focus on the digitally divided people who have not yet been digitally included and will provide guidance on the use of existing fiber resources, facilitating infrastructure sharing, introducing national broadband networks and its role in the development of sustainable broadband infrastructure in the public-private sectors. partnerships, examining the role of USF for the sustainable penetration of broadband services in unserved and underserved areas of the country, further strengthening the capacity to use the infrastructure already in place, further evaluating the strategy spectrum and proposing interventions for value for money as well as a roadmap for the inclusion of new mobile frequency bands, facilitating the provision of rights of way, plan for the commercial use of the data satellite and proposal for the adoption of smartphones and increased local manufacturing of Internet devices / terminals in Pakistan.
The second pillar will help organize issues related to improving internet usage and market activation, such as; roadmap for service-based competition, revised licensing framework, outlining the future evolution of OTT platforms and content management, expanding Ignite’s role as a catalyst for research and innovation , facilitation of cloud infrastructure and Internet exchange points, revision of quality of service rules to improve the user experience, develop and implement new services and technologies within the framework of public-private partnerships, support infrastructure and services needed to enable social services in the digital space.
The third pillar will focus on the privacy and protection of Internet users and help raise awareness and provide a framework for securing identity and data online, ease of access to report criminal activity online, guidelines for the constitution of CERTs, standardization and implementation of user privacy. , propose an operating environment and common standards for Internet security, support for environmental protection, a framework for the standardization of new technologies and new services.
The 4th and final pillar of the policy would assist the user by providing a transformational roadmap for existing services and technologies, examine the role of different public sector organizations responsible for facilitating different telecommunication services, plan for the adoption of technologies and open source platforms, would broadly identify future technologies and arrange for rapid adoption, propose a comprehensive strategy for the adoption of the Internet of Everything, and last but not least provide guidelines for international cooperation in ICT.
To improve the ability to implement broadband plans and strategies through special financing instruments to help economic structure on the basis of in-depth market analysis and benchmarking, the Broadband Commission of ITU advocates aligning national broadband goals with the international plan of action until 2025.
With a focus on the early digital financial inclusion of the Millennial population, Pakistan is expected to achieve the below goals well ahead of its time due to the promotion of digital literacy in the country.
These goals are to ensure that 100 percent of the population living in Tier 2/3 cities should have access to high-speed internet by 2025, more than 75 percent of the metropolis, district, city, town, tehsil and the union council should be connected with a fiber optic cable. – a fixed / wireless access network with an average internet speed per user of 50 Mbps in major cities of Pakistan by 2025, each social and welfare service establishment such as; schools, hospitals, courts, police / fire stations, district council / union offices are expected to have access to high-speed internet services with connectivity of at least 50 Mbps by 2025, more than 75 percent of businesses and commercial facilities are expected to have access to fixed and mobile broadband broadband internet services by 2025, every internet user should have at least one or more recent smartphones and / or devices.
Introduce the next wave of fixed and mobile services and ensure coverage in 25% of cities in Pakistan by 2025 and in 75% of other cities / towns by 2030, while adapting to technological developments and optimization of resources on the move, to facilitate 75% of Internet users with digital bank accounts by 2025, develop and operationalize at least five Internet exchange points neutral vis-à-vis operators and centers of cloud data in public-private partnerships by 2030.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
Comments are closed.