Pakistan’s Central Development Working Party has approved a plan to deploy a sovereign, secure mobile network for government officials that operates below the public internet layer, alongside clearing the PakSat-2 communication satellite project and several artificial intelligence infrastructure initiatives, as part of a sweeping package of 24 development projects worth Rs465.76 billion cleared at a meeting chaired by Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal in Islamabad.
The proposed secure government network is designed to address gaps identified after the recent conflict with India and draws on lessons observed across Middle Eastern conflict zones, where the vulnerability of government communications operating over commercial internet infrastructure became apparent. The network centres on a private 4G LTE core that is physically or logically air-gapped from the public internet, targeting at least 10,000 government officials and designed to ensure confidentiality, integrity, availability, and national data sovereignty for sensitive government communications. The National Telecommunication Company, which proposed the project, has been directed to finalise a maximum-integrity security architecture and consult all relevant stakeholders before the project advances to the next approval stage. While CDWP backed the concept, it did not grant immediate final clearance, indicating that further technical and security consultation is required before full commitment.
The PakSat-2 satellite project, carrying an estimated cost of Rs37.19 billion, received backing to replace PakSat-IR, which completes its 15-year operational lifespan later this year. Beyond replacing the outgoing satellite’s communications capacity, PakSat-2 will also upgrade ground control centres in Lahore and Karachi, with SUPARCO’s existing technical expertise and infrastructure forming the implementation backbone. The project carries strategic urgency: Pakistan’s orbital slot, secured under international telecommunications regulations, risks permanent forfeiture if left vacant for three years following PakSat-IR’s retirement. Losing the slot would require Pakistan to renegotiate access to orbital positions in future, a process that is both lengthy and competitively contested given the growing global demand for satellite orbital positions.
Among the other technology-focused projects advanced at the meeting, a Rs7.93 billion Emerging Technologies Data Centre for sovereign artificial intelligence received approval, providing the physical infrastructure for on-shore government and national AI workloads that the government has been promising to build as part of its broader Digital Nation Pakistan agenda. A Rs13 billion National AI Ecosystem Development Programme also won backing, representing one of the largest single government commitments to artificial intelligence capacity building that Pakistan has formalised to date. Together, the secure government network, PakSat-2, the AI data centre, and the National AI Ecosystem programme form a coherent cluster of digital sovereignty investments that signal the government’s intent to build the technical infrastructure for independent, secure national digital capabilities rather than remaining dependent on commercial services and foreign satellites for critical government communications and computing needs.
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