Day: January 24, 2022

The production of mobile handsets by local manufacturing plants during the calendar year 2021 stood at 24.66 million compared to 13.05 million in 2020, registering an increase of 88 percent.

The commercial imports of mobile handsets stood at 10.26 million in 2021 compared to 24.51 million in 2020, according to the official data of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) available with Propakistani.

The number of locally manufactured/assembled mobile handsets increased by 2.54 million in December 2021 and the total production reached 24.66 million in the calendar year.

The production of mobile phones by local manufacturing plants has more than doubled against the import of commercial mobile phones in the country during 2021.

However, despite the increase in the local production of mobile phones, Pakistan imported mobile phones worth $1.09 billion during the first half (July-December) of the fiscal year 2021 compared to $938.82 million during the same period last year, registering a growth of 16.17 percent, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) data revealed that the local manufacturing trend reflects a positive uptake on the PTA’s Mobile Device Manufacturing (MDM) Authorization regulatory regime, whereby, local manufacturing within the first year of regime introduction has resulted in the production of 24.66 million phones in a short span of one year, including 10.06 million 4G smartphones.

As per the PTA data, 52 percent of mobile devices are smartphones and 48 percent are 2G on the Pakistan network.

The successful implementation of the Device Identification Registration and Blocking System (DIRBS) along with conducive government policies including the mobile manufacturing policy has created a favorable environment for mobile handset manufacturing in Pakistan.

It has also contributed positively to the mobile ecosystem of Pakistan by eliminating the counterfeit device market by providing a level-playing field for commercial entities and has created trust among consumers due to the formulation of standardized legal channels for all sorts of device imports.

The government had introduced a mobile manufacturing policy to encourage and attract manufacturers to establish their units in Pakistan.

The PTA in light of the policy issued Mobile Device Manufacturing (MDM) Regulations on 28th January 2021. Till now, 29 companies have been issued MDM Authorization enabling them to manufacture mobile devices in Pakistan. The companies include renowned brands such as Samsung, Nokia, Oppo, TECNO, Infinix, Vgotel and Q-mobile.

The establishment of 29 manufacturing plants has brought an investment of over $126 million and created over 10,000 jobs in a short span.

Source: Pro Pakistani

Jazz on Monday officially launched Pakistan’s largest data center, the ‘Jazz Digital Park (JDP)”, in Islamabad.

Chief Executive Officer, Veon Group, Kaan Terziolu graced the inauguration ceremony as chief guest. CEO, Jazz, Aamir Ibrahim and other senior executives of the company attended the launch ceremony.

Addressing the ceremony, the Veon chief reassured his company’s commitment to fostering a vibrant digital ecosystem in Pakistan. “Jazz Digital Park will serve as a key enabler of our digital operator strategy and is in line with our mission to simplify digital infrastructure challenges for local and regional enterprises,” he underlined.

Aamir Ibrahim emphasized the importance of developing a cloud adoption strategy and being prepared for the emerging technology. “The Jazz Digital Park represents a milestone for the country’s ICT industry as it is expected to simplify the digital infrastructure challenges local businesses face. This facility is at the heart of our business strategy and validates our commitment to our customers as they continue their digital transformation journey,” he stated.

The Jazz Digital Park is aimed at helping the country achieve its digital transformation goals by dramatically enhancing the current quality of IT services supplied to various sectors in the telecom industry. Being hailed as Pakistan’s largest Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) Tier-III accredited data center in terms of white space and power capacity, Jazz will use it to provide enterprises and local entrepreneurs with safe IT infrastructure and hardware hosting.

Jazz Digital Park has one of the most extensive IT facilities, allowing organizations, including service providers, to co-locate their mission-critical IT infrastructure. These cutting-edge features meet all of a business’s operational needs, including 24/7 customer service, security, and system backups.

These state-of-the-art features fulfill all technical requirements for a business including 24/7 customer support, security, and system backups.

Source: Pro Pakistani

The Central Development Working Party (CDWP) on Monday approved three projects worth Rs. 13 billion and recommended another project worth Rs. 108.5 billion to the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) for consideration.

The CDWP meeting was presided over by Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission, Mohammad Jehanzeb Khan, while Secretary Planning, Abdul Aziz Uqaili, senior officials from Planning Commission, and federal ministries and divisions were also present. Representatives of provincial governments attended the meeting through video link.

Projects related to governance, higher education, mass media, physical planning and housing, transport, and communication sectors were presented in the meeting.

The forum approved a governance project namely, “Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Spending Effectivity for Enhanced Development (SPEED) (IDA Assisted)” worth Rs. 2,572.5 million.

It also sanctioned a project related to Higher Education Commission (HEC) called, “Upgradation of University College of Engineering & Technology Mirpur into Mirpur University of Science & Technology, Mirpur (Prime Minister of Pakistan Directive)” worth Rs. 1,890.024 million at its original approved cost. It directed the authorities concerned to complete the project by the end of the current financial year.

A project related to tourism namely, “Punjab Tourism for Economic Growth Project (PTEGP)” was presented in the meeting. The forum approved the project worth Rs. 8,525 million. The scope of the project includes connectivity roads for improving access to and within the following tourism destinations and heritage sites: Gurdwara Nankana Sahib, Gurdwara Rori Sahib, Gurdwara Sacha Sauda, Katas Raj Temples, Lahore Museum, Mankiala Stupa, Taxila Museum, Bibi Jawindi, Darbar Khawaja Ghulam Fareed, Qila Kohna Qasim Bagh, Rohtas Fort, Badshahi Mosque and Taxila Buddhist Circuit.

The project will provide support for destination planning and identification of scalable investment particularly for the private sector through Destination Investment and Management Plans (DIMP), Integrated Site Management Plans (ISMP), Museum Management Plans (MMP). Other major components of the project include promotion of tourism, increasing outreach, marketing, capacity building of relevant departments, and training of 10,000 youth in tourism-related trades. The existing legal, regulatory, and institutional frameworks will also be reviewed and updated to create enabling environment for the private sector.

CDWP recommended a project of transport and communications titled, “Kharian to Rawalpindi Motorway,” worth Rs. 108,410.269 million, to ECNEC for further approval. It directed the National Highway Authority and the Rawalpindi Development Authority to coordinate and come up with an agreed way forward for Rawalpindi Section Interchange. The location of the project is District Gujrat, Jhelum, and Rawalpindi in Punjab. This project envisages the construction of a 117.20-km four-lane access-controlled motorway from Kharian to Rawalpindi.

This new motorway facility will be an extension of the currently operational Lahore-Sialkot Motorway and under construction Sialkot-Kharian Motorway. The project initiates from the junction interchange near Kharian on Sialkot Kharian Motorway and terminates at T-Chowk near Rawalpindi/Islamabad. It traverses parallel to the N-5, passing the populous areas of Jhelum, Mangla, Dina, Sohawa, Gujar Khan, and Mandra and finally terminating near Rawat at T-Chowk (Junction of Islamabad Expressway with N-5).

Keeping in view the traffic volume, the proposed motorway project is designed as a four-lane access-controlled facility which will be expanded to six lanes as per the Level of Service (LOS) requirements. It will include an Intelligent Transport System (ITS) for safer and more efficient use of the road. The design is based on NHA specifications. The alignment/route of the Motorway facility is selected keeping in purview future connectivity to other planned facilities or expansions.

Source: Pro Pakistani