The Ministry of Information Technology & Telecom (MoITT) on Friday announced that the Special communication organization (SCO), which runs in the Azad Jammu & Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan region, has attained revenue of Rs. 5 billion for the period of 2019-20, which shows an increase of 60% over the previous fiscal year.
SCO is a public division system operating under the Ministry of IT, founded in 1976 to develop, manage and sustain telecom services in Azad Jammu & Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan. The Ministry further shared information concerning the projects inaugurated by the SCO and added that the phase 1 commercialization of the project has directed to the revenue of $1.17 million against a cost of USD 4 Million, which is further suspected to increase by end of the year.
Furthermore, some of the additional SCO projects that have contributed to the revenues constitute the Khanjarab to Rawalpindi optical fiber project and the expansion of the GSM network in Gilgit Baltistan, for which 350 mobile towers have been established.
Previously, the IT ministry had declared Rs.1580 million for a major networking project in Gilgit, which will facilitate a population of about 300,000 people, including the Diamer-Bhasha dam site workers and the residents living nearby. In addition to the government has also allotted considerable funds for advancement work in the province in the past, including Rs. 486 million for 3G/4G services,
Over the period, SCO has produced extensive IT & Telecom infrastructure, including a 2500-kilometer Optical Fiber Cable network across the undivided length and breadth of the area’s presents telecom services to both the public and private divisions in Azad Jammu & Kashmir and the Gilgit Baltistan territory.
Some of the main SCO services include landline telephony (PSTN), wireless local loop (WLL), cellular mobile (GSM) broadband internet (DSL), digital cross-connect (DXX), long-distance international (LDI), domestic private leased circuits (DPLC) and co-location facilities to telecom industry members working in Azad Jammu &Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan.
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