Mr Nong Rong in meeting with Chairman PTA Major General (Retd) Amir Azeem Bajwa. [Photo/PTA]

ISLAMABAD, Nov 11 (Gwadar Pro) - The Pakistani Telecommunications Authority (PTA) and the Chinese government have agreed to further expand mutual collaboration for the “mutual benefit of both countries”.

During a meeting at PTA headquarters Islamabad on Monday, Chinese Ambassador China Mr Nong Rong and Chairman PTA Major General (Retd) Amir Azeem Bajwa discussed matters of mutual interests, investment opportunities including enhanced cooperation in the field of information and communication technologies (ICTs) and discussed opportunities in Pakistan’s fast-growing telecom sector for the foreign investors.

Pakistan has realised that its progress is linked with the digitalisation of all of its sectors; it will have to match the global advancements in information technology (IT). China is already in collaboration with PTA and Pakistan can benefit from Chinese experience in the field of IT to match the global advancement in IT.

PTA and Huawei Technologies Pakistan on Wednesday jointly organised a National Broadband Network Forum entitled “Broadband for all”, bringing together local and foreign stakeholders for an insight into transformative technologies and viable solutions to challenges.

“The technology is running ahead of us and we need to take hold of it by adopting a proactive and marketable approach,” said President of Pakistan Dr Arif Alvi while addressing the forum and he added, “China is an inspiring model in making strides in the technology sector”.

He said that the digitalisation of financial and banking systems would not only improve the response time but also ensure transparency in transactions.

PTA and Huawei Technologies Pakistan organized “Broadband for all” in Islamabad. [Photo/PTA]

President Arif Alvi appreciated the contribution of PTA and Huawei Technologies Pakistan to organising the initiative and he hoped that it would help promote constructive dialogue on increasing broadband proliferation, leading to accelerated fiberisation and launch of 5G services in Pakistan.

Mark Meng, CEO Huawei Technologies Pakistan, assured about his company’s assistance in accelerating Pakistan’s journey towards a digital economy.

Pakistan has 107 million broadband subscriptions and 186 million cellular services subscribers. “In 2020, 52 per cent increase in broadband data usage was recorded in Pakistan while in 2021, the country’s fixed broadband penetration was recorded at 1.6 per cent, with 2.9 million fixed broadband subscribers and Fiberization Density Index at 0.56 km/1000 inhabitants,” according to Chairman PTA.

China Mobile-owned CMPak, which operates under Zong 4G in Pakistan, is the fastest-growing cellular mobile operator in Pakistan. According to PTA’s official website, Zong enjoys a 22.6% cellular market share in Pakistan.

This article originally appeared on Gwadar Pro.