Comment by Riaz Haq on August 28, 2026 at 6:12pm

USF Connects 16.2m People, Deploys 10,400km OFC in Five Years.
The projects expanded broadband access across thousands of underserved areas. Fibre deployment also connected 947 previously unserved

https://www.techjuice.pk/usf-connects-16-2m-people-deploys-10400km-...

The Universal Service Fund (USF) 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 figures were shared by Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication Shaza Fatima Khawaja. She provided the details in a written reply to the National Assembly.

During FY2022-26, USF projects delivered voice and broadband data services across more than 9,400 mauzas. The programme also helped bring broadband to areas where telecom operators lacked a strong business case.

USF also expanded coverage along more than 1,000 kilometres of unserved roads. These included sections of national highways and motorways. The projects also covered eight tourist destinations and around 50 kilometres of access routes.

The fund deployed more than 10,400 kilometres of optic fibre cable (OFC) during the same five-year period. This work connected 947 unserved tehsil headquarters, union councils and towns.

Since its launch, USF has reached more than 38.4 million people across over 22,100 mauzas. It has also covered more than 2,500 kilometres of previously unserved road segments.

The fund has connected eight tourist destinations and about 50 kilometres of access routes. Its total OFC deployment has also crossed 18,300 kilometres since inception.

USF was established under Section 33(A)(1) of the Pakistan Telecommunication (Re-organization) Act, 1996. Its main goal is to extend telecom services to rural, remote and underserved communities.

The programme initially focused on voice and basic data services through 2G networks. It later expanded to high-speed broadband through 3G and 4G networks.

The government said better connectivity is also supporting education, healthcare and emergency services. It is helping improve financial inclusion, e-governance and access to economic opportunities.

The ministry said USF remains important in areas where commercial telecom deployment is difficult. It will continue targeting unserved and underserved communities through broadband and fibre projects.

Comment by Riaz Haq 5 hours ago

Pakistan expands Thar coal mine as US-Iran war deepens energy import risks

https://www.arabnews.pk/pakistan/pakistan-expands-thar-coal-mine-as...

Phase III raises Thar Block II mine capacity by 47 percent to 11.2 million tons annually
Additional coal will supply 660 MW Lucky plant as Pakistan seeks to reduce fuel imports
KARACHI: Pakistan on Monday inaugurated a major expansion of its Thar coal mine, increasing domestic fuel supplies for power generation as the Iran war disrupts regional energy markets and sharpens the country’s exposure to costly imports.

The third phase of the Thar Block II mine in the southern Sindh province increases annual production capacity by 47 percent, from 7.6 million to 11.2 million tons, according to the provincial government. The additional 3.6 million tons will supply the 660-megawatt Lucky Electric Power Company plant near Karachi, which has historically relied largely on imported coal.

The expansion comes as Pakistan, a net energy importer with limited foreign-exchange buffers, faces higher fuel costs amid the US-Iran war and disruption to energy supplies and shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. Replacing imported coal and other fuels with domestic resources has consequently become increasingly important to Islamabad’s energy-security strategy.

Pakistan has already significantly expanded the use of coal from Thar, a desert region bordering India that contains one of the world’s largest lignite deposits. Six power projects with combined capacity of 3,960 MW used Thar coal either wholly or partly in the last fiscal year, generating 16,447 gigawatt-hours of electricity and consuming 13.8 million tons of the local fuel, according to government data published last month.

“Today, we are saving $1.6 billion of foreign reserves in Pakistan because of Thar coal,” Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party that rules Sindh and a former foreign minister, said as he inaugurated the expansion.

The Sindh government said the Phase III project, completed entirely through self-financing, was expected to save another $220 million annually in foreign exchange and Rs15 billion ($53 million) a year in power-generation costs.

The additional production will allow more Thar coal to be supplied to Lucky Electric, whose 660 MW plant at Port Qasim near Karachi has traditionally run on imported coal. During the last fiscal year, Thar coal accounted for 33 percent of the plant’s coal use, with imported fuel making up the remaining 67 percent, according to official data.

Regular supplies of Thar coal to the Lucky plant began on Sept. 1, data shows, underscoring efforts to substitute imported coal at existing power stations rather than add new generation capacity.

Three power plants with combined capacity of 1,320 MW were already supplied entirely by the Block II mine before the latest expansion. The addition of Lucky means the mine can support plants with combined capacity of 1,980 MW, according to the Sindh government.

Pakistan began commercial power generation from Thar coal in 2019 after decades of attempts to exploit the desert’s vast lignite reserves. Four plants with a combined capacity of 2,640 MW were classified by the country’s power regulator as local-coal generators in the previous fiscal year, while another 4,620 MW of installed coal-fired capacity was categorized as relying on imported coal, according to the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority.

Bhutto Zardari said officials in Islamabad had once dismissed the resource as commercially unviable and called for its use to be expanded beyond electricity generation.

Pakistan in February advanced a $1.12 billion project to convert Thar lignite into urea, part of a broader effort to reduce dependence on imported fertilizer and natural gas.

Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah said authorities were also working on converting Thar coal into gas and aimed eventually to raise Block II’s annual mining capacity to 20 million tons.

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