Mian Zahid urges govt to complete satellite-internet regulations

KARACHI: Mian Zahid Hussain, President Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum and All Karachi Industrial Alliance, Chairman National Business Group Pakistan and Chairman Policy Advisory Board FPCCI, has urged the government to complete satellite-internet regulations and establish a transparent licensing process with clear timelines. He said high-speed and reliable internet had become a fundamental requirement for exports, investment, education and healthcare diagnosis. Pakistan is emerging as an important information-technology export hub, with exports of telecommunications, computer and information services reaching $4. 6 billion in FY2025–26, approximately 21 percent higher than $3. 8 billion a year earlier. July 2026 receipts increased by around 18 percent to $417 million, compared with $354 million in July 2025, he said. These achievements demonstrate the room for Pakistani IT companies, freelancers and educated youth to earn foreign exchange and generate employment. Hussain said reliable, high-speed internet was indispensable for sustaining this progress and taking the sector to the next level. Electricity load-shedding, slow internet and connectivity disruptions affect online meetings with international clients, software delivery, e-commerce, cloud services and digital transactions. He said that internet usage among individuals aged ten and above stood at 57 percent nationally, compared with 69 percent in urban areas and 49 percent in rural areas—a gap of 20 percentage points. He said satellite internet should be developed as an additional source of connectivity alongside submarine cables, terrestrial networks and fibre-optic expansion. He said artificial intelligence has further increased the importance of digital access. AI has made valuable contributions to early disease detection, clinical care and medical research. Internationally, connected healthcare facilities are enabling doctors to share scans and medical images with specialists, obtain expert opinions and use clinically validated technologies to assist accurate diagnosis, including cancer detection at its initial stage. He noted that NHS England reported the use of teledermatology—remote assessment through medical images—in 41 percent of skin-cancer referrals during the final quarter of FY2024–25. Pakistan could similarly connect healthcare centres with advanced international hospitals under specialist supervision to expand access to quality medical services. Online consultations with medical experts abroad, treatment planning and remote follow-up could reduce patients’ travel costs and difficulties, while preserving clinical oversight, patient privacy and access to necessary physical care. He urged the government to introduce pilot projects in less-developed districts, industrial centres and urban and rural healthcare facilities. Pakistan, he concluded, must develop and use its digital infrastructure to provide dependable connectivity, strengthen productive activity, create employment and deliver better public services. Copyright Business Recorder, 2026

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