Zong, in partnership with ConnectHear, has launched SILA, one of the leading AI-powered sign language accessibility solutions introduced in Pakistan, now available at the company’s Customer Service Centers in Karachi, Lahore, and Islamabad. The launch took place on the International Day of Sign Languages, with Zong outlining plans to eventually extend the facility across its wider digital ecosystem in the near future, suggesting the current three city rollout is intended as an initial phase rather than the full scope of the initiative.
SILA is designed around a combination of AI driven technology and human support, facilitating real time sign language communication through artificial intelligence while keeping professionally trained human interpreters available whenever additional context, assistance, or human judgment is required. This hybrid approach allows the system to handle routine communication needs through automated sign language interpretation while ensuring more complex customer service interactions can still be escalated to a trained human interpreter when necessary, combining the accessibility and consistency of AI with the nuanced understanding a human interpreter can provide. By pairing automation with a fallback to trained human support, the design addresses a common limitation of purely AI driven accessibility tools, which can struggle with more nuanced or context dependent conversations that benefit from human judgment.
The launch event, held at Zong’s Islamabad Customer Service Center, brought together the company’s senior management alongside representatives from ConnectHear, as well as officials from the Ministry of IT and Telecommunication Pakistan, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, and GSMA. The presence of representatives from both government regulatory bodies and an international industry association at the launch reflects a shared institutional interest in advancing accessibility and inclusion within Pakistan’s digital services sector, extending beyond a single company initiative into a broader collaborative effort involving multiple stakeholders in the telecom industry. This level of institutional attendance also signals that accessibility focused technology rollouts of this kind are increasingly being viewed as relevant to national digital inclusion goals rather than purely internal corporate initiatives.
Zong framed the launch under the broader theme of building a future everyone can access, positioning SILA as part of its ongoing commitment to digital inclusion for customers with hearing impairments. The initiative adds to a growing number of accessibility focused programmes being introduced across Pakistan’s telecom sector, with Zong’s partnership with ConnectHear specifically combining AI technology with dedicated interpreter support to address a segment of the customer base that has traditionally faced communication barriers when accessing standard customer service channels.The rollout across three major cities also suggests Zong is aiming for broad initial accessibility coverage before pursuing its stated plans to expand the service further across its digital platforms. As telecom operators in Pakistan continue exploring ways to make their services more accessible to customers with disabilities, initiatives like SILA point toward a broader shift in how companies are approaching accessibility, moving from occasional awareness campaigns toward functional, technology backed solutions embedded directly into everyday customer service touchpoints.
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