The federal government has urged telecom operators to accelerate the rollout of 5G services in Karachi, calling for more infrastructure to match the city’s economic profile. Speaking at a meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Information Technology, Federal Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication Shaza Fatima Khawaja said telecom companies had committed to launching 5G services in five cities during the first year of deployment, and stressed that Karachi should receive greater priority given its status as the country’s largest metropolitan area.
Committee Chairman Syed Amin Ul Haque echoed the minister’s call, urging telecom operators to install more 5G tower sites across Karachi to improve next generation mobile coverage in the city. During the same meeting, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority chairman said telecom companies are not only expanding Pakistan’s domestic 5G network but are also exporting 5G equipment, alongside continued investment in local telecom infrastructure.
The push for greater attention to Karachi reflects a recurring theme in the minister’s public remarks on 5G, having previously described Karachi as carrying the weight of the country’s economic development while inaugurating the ITCN Asia expo in the city last year. She has consistently framed the metropolis as central to Pakistan’s broader digital transformation goals, even as the city has lagged behind in the pace of 5G tower deployment compared to its economic significance.
The renewed push comes against the backdrop of Pakistan’s broader 5G rollout strategy, which has relied on a major spectrum auction earlier this year that expanded the country’s total available telecom spectrum from 274 MHz to 754 MHz. The minister has separately outlined plans to raise fiberization, the connection of towers to high speed fibre optic backhaul, from around 16 percent to nearly 60 percent over the next three years, along with expanding fiberised home passes from 2 to 3 million currently to at least 10 million within two years, changes she has described as essential to delivering the full benefits of 5G once towers are deployed.
With Karachi positioned as Pakistan’s largest commercial hub and a key driver of the country’s digital economy ambitions, the minister’s remarks add pressure on telecom operators to close the gap between the city’s economic weight and its current share of 5G infrastructure, as the government continues working to expand next generation connectivity across the country’s most densely populated urban centres.
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