The Universal Service Fund (USF) Policy Committee has approved a Rs32.90 billion budget for fiscal year 2026-27 to expand digital connectivity in unserved and underserved areas across Pakistan. The meeting, chaired by Federal Minister for IT and Telecommunication Shaza Fatima Khawaja, was briefed on the fund’s proposed projects and budget priorities for the new fiscal year, marking a significant increase from the Rs23 billion budget approved for FY2024-25 under the same committee just two years earlier. The scale of this year’s approved budget reflects the continued expansion of USF’s project pipeline as the fund works to close Pakistan’s persistent rural-urban connectivity gap.
The approved budget includes Rs24.89 billion allocated for ongoing projects and Rs6.56 billion for new initiatives, giving the committee a budget structure weighted toward completing existing commitments while still leaving meaningful room for fresh connectivity investments. Currently, 28 projects are under implementation, comprising 17 mobile broadband projects and 11 optical fiber network projects, spanning a mix of wireless and fixed-line infrastructure aimed at reaching different types of underserved communities depending on local terrain and population density. This balance between mobile and fiber projects reflects USF’s broader strategy of matching connectivity technology to the specific geographic and demographic characteristics of each targeted area, rather than applying a single infrastructure approach uniformly.
The committee has also approved 9 new mobile broadband projects and 4 new optical fiber projects, along with allocations for smaller supplementary projects, expanding the fund’s active project count considerably once these new initiatives move into implementation. In addition, the first-quarter allocation of Rs5.57 billion was approved to support immediate implementation, ensuring that ongoing and newly approved projects can begin drawing down funds without waiting for a longer administrative approval cycle. This quarterly release mechanism has become standard practice for USF budget approvals, giving the fund’s implementing partners predictable access to capital throughout the fiscal year rather than a single lump-sum disbursement.
The initiative aims to improve telecom and broadband access in remote and underserved areas and help reduce Pakistan’s digital divide, a goal that has remained central to USF’s mandate since the fund’s establishment nearly two decades ago. With mobile broadband and optical fiber projects continuing to make up the bulk of USF’s active portfolio, the practical impact of this latest budget will depend on how efficiently the newly approved 9 mobile broadband and 4 optical fiber projects move from approval into actual ground implementation, given that USF has faced scrutiny in the past over delays and unrecovered penalties tied to contractor performance on similar connectivity projects. As Pakistan continues pursuing its broader digital economy and IT export ambitions, USF’s expanding annual budget signals sustained government commitment to extending the underlying connectivity infrastructure that those broader digital ambitions ultimately depend on.
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