PakAlumni Worldwide: The Global Social Network

The Global Social Network

Digital Pakistan: Bridging the Geographic Digital Divide in the Country

Like many other countries, Pakistan has a geographic digital divide. Residents of remote areas of the country have significantly lower access to the Internet than those in the urban centers. While the mobile internet usage in the urban areas has reached 65%, only 50% of those living in rural areas have access to it, according to a recent GSMA report titled "State of Mobile Internet Connectivity 2026".

Digital Connectivity in Rural Pakistan

To bridge this rural-urban digital divide, Pakistan government is expanding telecom and high-speed internet services in remote and rural areas through the proposed National Connectivity Plan, satellite broadband integration, and multi-billion-rupee Universal Service Fund (USF) projects. Fiber optic cables and satellites will provide backhaul high-capacity communication link to solar-powered 4G/5G cell towers in rural communities.

Solar power is being used to bridge the digital divide in the country by providing reliable off-grid electricity for remote telecom towers, internet hubs, and community learning centers. Cell tower infrastructure companies like Engro Enfrashare are using solar-powered setups for thousands of telecom towers across regions like Balochistan to maintain stable mobile and data signals.

Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) has recommended licensing multiple low-earth orbit (LEO) satellite service providers, including Starlink, OneWeb, Shanghai Spacecom Satellite Technology (SSST) and Amazon's Project Kuiper, to deliver reliable broadband to isolated rural communities and motorways where laying conventional fiber is commercially unviable.

At the same time, satellite service providers such as Kacific Broadband Satellites have partnered with local operations to bring high-speed connections—delivering up to 60 Mbps to rural schools across remote northern territories like Gilgit-Baltistan and Chitral. Leveraging 11 Ka-band spot beams on the Paksat MM1 satellite, this partnership will bridge the digital divide and support the country’s growing connectivity needs. With high-throughput capacity for over 20,000 sites, the collaboration will provide essential broadband access for communities, businesses, government agencies, ISPs, and telcos, enabling mobile backhaul and backup connectivity in remote regions.

The Universal Service Fund (USF), funded by a levy on mobile carriers, has expanded voice and broadband access to more than 16.2 million people. The projects covered over 9,400 underserved and unserved mauzas during the last five fiscal years. The Fund has recently approved major new projects worth Rs 13 billion across 11 districts across the country. These initiatives encompass three fiber-optic cable projects covering 1,428 km (Sialkot, Narowal, Ziarat, and Quetta) and six broadband projects (Umerkot, Gujranwala, Kohat, Khuzdar, Muzaffargarh, Mansehra, and Mandi Bahauddin) aiming to connect over 5.5 million people. These cables are planned to be installed along motorways and highways going through small towns and villages.

In addition to improving access in underserved areas, Pakistan government has also rolled out an ambitious National Fiberization Plan aimed at delivering high-speed broadband to 10 million households by 2029. It's also targeting 80% fiberization of mobile towers to enhance network capacity and reliability.

In FY2025-26, Pakistan's software houses, BPOs, export companies and independent freelancers together earned Pakistan US$4.6 billion in IT and IT-enabled services exports, up 20% from US$3.8 billion the year before. June, 2026 alone brought in US$416 million, nearly 23 percent higher than the same month a year earlier, according to government data. The government has set a target of $25 billion digital economy by 2030.

It's all part of Pakistan's continuing journey to build a robust digital public infrastructure (DPI). It began in March 2000 with the establishment of NADRA, the National Database and Registration Authority. The Gates Foundation defines DPI as follows: "DPI is a digital network that enables countries to safely and efficiently deliver economic opportunities and social services to all residents. DPI can be compared to roads, which form a physical network that connects people and provides access to a huge range of goods and services...... strong DPI has three foundational systems—identity, payments, and data exchange—that together can make life easier in important ways".

Growing access to smartphones and Internet connectivity is already transforming the lives of women in rural Pakistan. They are acquiring knowledge, accessing healthcare and finding economic opportunities. A 2023 UNDP report titled "DigitAll: What happens when women of Pakistan get access to digital and tech tools? A lot!" written by Javeria Masood describes the socioeconomic impact of technology in Pakistan in the following words:

"The world as we know it has been and is rapidly changing. Technology has proven to be one of the biggest enablers of change. There has been a significant emphasis on digital trainings, tech education, and freelancing in the last several years especially during the pandemic, through initiatives from the government, private and development sectors. Covid-19 acted as a big disrupter and accelerated the digital uptake many folds. In Pakistan, we saw the highest number of digital wallets, online services, internet-based services and adaptability out of need and demand".

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