Federal Minister for IT and Telecommunication Syed Amin Ul Haque chaired Universal Service Fund (USF) and Ignite Policy Committee meeting which approved their annual budget of Rs. 21.242 billion for fiscal year 2023-24 (FY24).
The meeting was attended by Secretary IT Navid Ahmed Shaikh, Additional Secretary Cabinet Division, Additional Secretary Finance, Senior Joint Secretary, MoITT Ali Asghar and Member Telecom Muhammad Omar Malik. CEO USF Haaris Mahmood Chaudhary briefed the chair about the ongoing projects of USF.
Haque said that telecom companies are facing difficulty in importing equipment and upgrading their systems due to limited Letters of Credit (LCs), which is also causing delays in completing USF’s ongoing projects.
The meeting approved USF Company’s annual budget of Rs. 18.036 billion for fiscal year 2023-24.
Haque also presided over the Policy Committee meeting of the Research & Development Fund. CEO Ignite apprised the meeting about the different future projects. The meeting approved Ignite’s annual budget of Rs. 3.206 billion for fiscal year 2023-24.
Separately, CEO Ufone Hatem Bamatraf, CEO Jazz Aamir Ibrahim and CEO Telenor Irfan Wahab called on Federal Minister for IT & Telecom Syed Amin Ul Haque in his office today. During the meeting matters related to the telecom sector were discussed in detail.
The IT minister said that taking steps for resolving the issues of IT and telecom industry, and protection of cellular users’ rights is his mandate. The minister said that efforts are on for settling the issues of IT and telecom industry on relevant forums which will lead to positive outcome.
Source: Pro Pakistani