4 min read
The Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication has emerged as one of the present government’s most underperforming ministries, failing to deliver a single major milestone during its tenure despite loud promises of digital transformation, improved connectivity and support to freelancers and startups.
From the long-delayed 5G rollout to incomplete reforms, stalled projects, and failure to operationalise key initiatives, the ministry’s record stands in stark contrast to the commitments repeatedly made before parliament, the cabinet, and the public.
5G Still a Dream: Telecom Services Continue to Suffer
Despite repeated announcements, high-level committees, and public statements about “finalising the roadmap,” the ministry has failed to even initiate the 5G auction. Pakistan remains one of the few regional countries still without 5G, while telecom users continue to suffer poor service quality due to network congestion, limited spectrum, and insufficient fibre connectivity.
PayPal, Startup Fund, Telecom Tribunal, All Still on Paper
The government repeatedly claimed success in “PayPal like solutions” for freelancers. But, nothing has materialised. Freelancers continue to rely on costly and unreliable remittance channels while the IT Ministry remains unable to deliver the most sought-after financial facilitation for the sector.
Similarly, the much-publicised Pakistan Startup Fund (with Rs2 billion allocated to boost venture capital activity) remains untouched, with no progress despite the passage of over one and a half years.
The Telecom Tribunal, a longstanding demand of the sector and approved under the caretaker minister Dr Umar Saif, also remains non-functional as the current government has failed to operationalize it by appointing members or establishing the framework necessary for it to work.
Caretaker Reforms Not Continued
In a sharply worded Facebook post, former caretaker IT Minister Dr Umar Saif expressed frustration that all major reforms initiated during his brief tenure have stalled. He noted that despite being out of office for years, the public still tags him over IT sector concerns because “a lot of the work I did seems to have lost momentum.”
The 50% dollar retention facility for IT exporters, a major intervention was implemented before this government.
Projects Launched Earlier But Still Not Delivered
A long list of initiatives announced in the caretaker period but never pursued by the current ministry includes:
- Telecom Tribunal: still non-functional.
- Smartphone for All project: not launched.
- National testing system for IT graduates: not materialised.
- R&D fund for mobile phone manufacturing: no progress.
- Industry Placement Programme: still pending.
- Reforms in IT education in collaboration with HEC and industry bodies: stuck at proposal stage.
Satellite Internet, Fibreisation, and 5G All Stuck
The government also announced satellite internet authorisation, fibre expansion for tower backhaul and spectrum reforms, yet none of these have seen practical progress.
Only 6,000 of Pakistan’s 56,000 mobile towers are currently connected to fibre, a glaring indicator of why internet quality remains abysmal across most regions.
A Ministry Without Direction?
With no PayPal-like facility, no 5G auction, no functional Telecom Tribunal, no progress on the Startup Fund, no rollout of digital reforms, and no major policy breakthrough, the IT Ministry’s performance has drawn widespread criticism from industry, freelancers and exporters.
Even the modest achievements credited to Pakistan’s rising IT exports belong to previous policy interventions — not to any initiative taken by the current government.
A Sector Waiting, And a Ministry Missing in Action
Pakistan’s IT and telecom sectors, among the few areas capable of generating billions in exports and creating high-value jobs, continue to wait for reforms, policy continuity, and decisive leadership.
For now, however, the Ministry of IT and Telecom stands accused of failing to deliver on every major promise it made, leaving the country’s digital future hostage to bureaucratic inertia and policy paralysis.
