Pakistan’s push to build a high-speed digital economy and expand 5G services could run into an infrastructure bottleneck as the government withdraws legislation aimed at rationalising Right of Way (RoW) charges and prepares to introduce a fresh bill, potentially prolonging one of the key hurdles to nationwide fibreisation.
The issue goes beyond telecom operators’ cost of laying fibre. Without rapid expansion of Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) networks, the government’s ambitious plans for 5G, affordable broadband, digital financial services, e-commerce, cloud computing and artificial intelligence could face a major infrastructure constraint.
The government had sought to address this problem through the Pakistan Telecommunication (Re-organization) (Amendment) Bill, 2026, which was designed to provide the legal basis for rationalised RoW charges and remove financial and administrative barriers to fibre deployment.
The withdrawal of the bill means that the proposed reforms will now have to be incorporated into new legislation, raising the prospect of further delays at a time when Pakistan is seeking to rapidly expand its digital infrastructure.
Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication Shaza Fatima Khawaja had argued that rationalising RoW charges would reduce both the cost and time involved in laying fibre, allowing operators to expand coverage and provide faster and more affordable internet services.
The timing is particularly important because Pakistan has already significantly increased the spectrum available for mobile broadband. The Ministry of IT and Telecom auctioned an additional 480 MHz of spectrum in March 2026, taking total available spectrum to 754 MHz.
However, spectrum alone cannot deliver the full benefits of next-generation connectivity. A substantial increase in fibre backhaul and access infrastructure is required to carry the growing volume of data generated by 5G networks.
The government itself had acknowledged this link, stating that the proposed RoW reforms would facilitate timely fibreisation of telecom networks and effective utilisation of the newly acquired spectrum, including 5G deployment and improved Quality of Service (QoS).
The stakes are also economic.
Citing World Bank estimates, the minister said every 10 percent increase in broadband penetration had the potential to generate 0.9-2 percent GDP growth and add nearly $30 billion to Pakistan’s GDP over five years.
She also cited research by Hjort and Poulsen (2019), according to which a 10 percent increase in broadband access could raise employment by 3.1-13.2 percent, potentially creating more than two million jobs in Pakistan.
This makes RoW reform more than a regulatory issue for the telecom sector. It has implications for the government’s wider economic and digital transformation agenda.
The government wants stronger digital infrastructure to support e-governance, digital payments, online commerce, remote education, healthcare, cloud services and emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence.
It is also seeking to expand IT and IT-enabled Services (ITeS) exports through greater international market access, industry facilitation, digital infrastructure and development of an export-oriented workforce.
Yet these ambitions ultimately depend on reliable and affordable connectivity.
High RoW charges, lengthy approval procedures and varying requirements across jurisdictions can increase the cost of fibre deployment and discourage investment, particularly in less commercially attractive and remote areas.
The government’s decision to withdraw the earlier bill could provide an opportunity to bring forward legislation that addresses these concerns more comprehensively. But any prolonged gap before enactment of the replacement law could leave operators facing the same infrastructure constraints.
The success of the new legislation will therefore be judged not only by whether it rationalises RoW charges, but also by whether it translates into faster fibre deployment, greater network investment and the infrastructure capacity needed to make Pakistan’s 5G and broader digital-economy ambitions commercially and socially meaningful.
