As Pakistan takes its first formal steps into the 5G era following the recently concluded spectrum auction, the government has outlined a broader digital agenda that extends well beyond next-generation mobile connectivity, with plans to introduce smartphone instalment schemes, lay three new submarine internet cables, and establish a National Artificial Intelligence Council to guide the country’s technology policy in the years ahead. IT Minister Shaza Fatima Khawaja, who has been the public face of Pakistan’s digital push in recent months, shared that the instalment policy is being designed specifically to address one of the most significant barriers to 5G adoption: the high cost of compatible handsets. Entry-level 5G smartphones currently retail at approximately Rs90,000 in Pakistan, placing them out of reach for a large portion of the population, and with only around two percent of mobile users presently owning a 5G-capable device, the affordability gap represents a structural challenge that no amount of spectrum deployment alone can resolve. The instalment scheme aims to bring modern smartphones within reach for citizens across different economic backgrounds by allowing purchases to be spread over manageable monthly payments, supporting wider participation in the digital economy.
Alongside device affordability, the government is directing attention toward the quality and capacity of Pakistan’s internet infrastructure. Three new submarine internet cables are in the pipeline, which will substantially increase the country’s international bandwidth and improve both the speed and reliability of internet connectivity for users across Pakistan. The existing submarine cable infrastructure has long been cited as a bottleneck limiting the full potential of Pakistan’s broadband and mobile data services, and the addition of three new cables is expected to address this constraint in a meaningful way. Separately, the government has already moved to release 480 megahertz of telecom spectrum, a release that effectively triples the available network capacity for licensed operators. This expanded spectrum allocation, which formed the basis of the recently concluded 5G auction that generated approximately $507 million in foreign exchange, lays the physical foundation for improved mobile network performance and prepares the telecommunications sector for the commercial rollout of 5G services, with pilot launches in major cities expected to begin imminently.
The government’s plans also encompass the local technology manufacturing ecosystem, with Minister Shaza Fatima noting that a growing number of smartphones are now being assembled within Pakistan. This domestic production capacity is contributing to cost reductions, creating employment, and reducing reliance on fully imported devices, with official data showing that local manufacturing and assembly plants produced over 30 million mobile handsets during calendar year 2025 alone. Increased local production is seen as a complementary lever alongside the instalment policy in making devices more accessible to Pakistani consumers. Rounding out the government’s digital agenda is the planned establishment of a National Artificial Intelligence Council, which will be tasked with guiding technology policy, fostering responsible development and deployment of artificial intelligence, attracting investment in emerging technologies, and contributing to the growth of Pakistan’s knowledge-based economy. Taken together, these initiatives reflect an effort to approach Pakistan’s digital development not as a collection of isolated projects but as an integrated set of interventions spanning connectivity, affordability, infrastructure, manufacturing, and emerging technology governance.
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