The Government of Punjab has announced plans to introduce satellite internet services across the province, with Senator Anusha Rahman, Senior Adviser to Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif, making the announcement while addressing the Leadership Summit on Blockchain and Digital Assets at a private university in Lahore. Rahman said the Punjab government is focusing on high-speed internet access in underserved areas, and that satellite internet will help connect villages, schools, colleges, and hospitals across the province. She added that people already have an interest in using digital technology but many areas still lack basic connectivity, and that Punjab is launching a Connect the Unconnected mission to address this gap, with the government set to soon begin providing internet through satellite technology in the public sector. Senator Rahman confirmed that satellite internet services will be launched at the government level in the near future, with formal timelines expected to be announced soon.
Highlighting connectivity as the single biggest barrier to digital inclusion, Senator Rahman stressed that in the absence of reliable and affordable internet, discussions about frontier technology deployment remain theoretical, and that the satellite initiative would enable deployment of artificial intelligence and other technologies at scale across the province. She also stressed that blockchain would serve as a governance instrument to build trust, describing it as a decentralised, tamper-resistant system capable of transforming public service delivery and financial transparency, noting that trust and data together will change how Pakistan approaches accountability in its economic systems. The announcement is backed by institutional groundwork already underway. A high-level meeting was held at the Chief Minister’s Office under the chairmanship of Senator Anusha Rahman to review plans for providing high-speed broadband services through satellite technology, attended by Major General (Retired) Ali Farhan, Managing Director of the National Telecommunication Corporation, Muhammad Usman Sadiq, Director General Technical of SUPARCO, Secretary Information Technology Punjab, and other relevant officials. SUPARCO and the National Telecommunication Corporation presented a joint proposal under which satellite-based broadband services will be extended to remote areas of Punjab, with both organisations set to establish two demonstration stations in North and South Punjab within two weeks of the meeting.
The provincial government has also set a clear target to connect six million young people in Punjab with modern technology tools over the next four years, with the summit also including detailed discussions on blockchain technology and digital assets reflecting Punjab’s broader agenda to advance its digital economy. The IT Department is currently working on a range of modern connectivity projects to support the broader rollout of satellite and digital services across the province. Punjab further plans to establish specialised artificial intelligence and blockchain-focused incubators in Lahore, Faisalabad, and Sahiwal, positioning the satellite internet rollout as the foundational layer upon which these higher-order digital initiatives will depend.
The Punjab government’s satellite internet plans arrive as Pakistan’s broader connectivity landscape is also evolving rapidly. Amazon’s Project Kuiper has shared plans to launch satellite broadband services in the country by the end of 2026 following meetings with the Federal Minister for IT and Telecommunications, while Pakistan Telecommunication Authority continues to evaluate licensing frameworks for low earth orbit satellite service providers. For Punjab, with a population of over 128 million spread across geographically diverse terrain ranging from dense urban centres to remote agricultural districts, satellite technology represents a pragmatic solution to a connectivity challenge that traditional fibre and cellular infrastructure has consistently struggled to address at scale and within commercially viable timelines.
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