The 820-kilometer-long fibre optic cable project at a cost of $46 million, stretches from China’s western Xinjiang region and enters Pakistan through Khunjerab border and then travels through Gilgit Baltistan (GB) to Mansehra, KP to connect to Muzaffarabad, AJK and onwards to Islamabad and Rawalpindi, where it is connected with the existing optical connectivity network of Pakistan.
In order to optimise existing and future coordination in the supply chain within Pakistan and with the Chinese, digital connectivity would help the flow of information, financial transactions and physical goods and services. It will also promote and facilitate regional economic cooperation and will enable many ICT integration services between both countries. This connectivity spread from many soft to hard infrastructural projects such as paperless trade facilitation, e-commerce, e-government, playing a supporting role in the construction and management of industrial parks, roads, rail, aviation and ports. On the other hand, this cable connectivity will provide many opportunities to enhance people-to-people connectivity between China and Pakistan. The adaptation of China’s Digital Terrestrial Multimedia Broadcasting (DTMB) technology is an indispensable component for socio cultural collaboration. The arrival of the DTMB standard in Pakistan enables high definition (HD) broadcasting for digital television (TV) which will provide many opportunities for the Pakistani media industry for revenue generation and promote many cultural exchange programmes at a higher resolution between China and Pakistan.
