Pakistan’s state minister for IT says 5G launch preparations underway to boost digital economy
Pakistan’s state minister for IT says 5G launch preparations underway to boost digital economy/node/2512061/pakistan
Pakistan’s state minister for IT says 5G launch preparations underway to boost digital economy
Visitors walk past a 5G sign at the Mobile World Congress (MWC), the telecom industry's biggest annual gathering, in Barcelona on February 28, 2023. (AFP/File)
KARACHI: Pakistan State Minister for IT and Telecommunication Shaza Fatima Khawaja has announced that preparations are underway to launch 5G spectrum services to promote the digital economy in the country, state-run Radio Pakistan reported on Friday.
Last year, Pakistan’s federal cabinet greenlighted the much-anticipated auction of 5G spectrum services in the country. Pakistan last completed the auction for 3G and the more advanced 4G networks— the first of its kind in the country— in April 2014.
“The launch of 5G will facilitate the country’s youth and create enormous employment opportunities in the IT sector,” the report quoted the state minister as saying while addressing a ceremony in Islamabad in connection with the World Telecommunication and Information Society Day.
The state minister highlighted the government was liaising with optic fiber companies and working to bolster the volume of their exports, capitalizing on the country’s potential in this sector.
She said that five billion rupees had also been allocated for the skill development of youth.
Khawaja added that the incumbent coalition government was working to expand the exports of around 35 companies engaged in manufacturing mobile phones.
Death toll in Pakistan shopping plaza fire rises to 67, officials say
Rescue teams still searching for damaged Gul Plaza in Karachi where blaze erupted on Saturday, says police surgeon
Karachi has a long history of deadly fires, often linked to poor safety standards, weak regulatory enforcement
Updated 22 January 2026
AP
KARACHI: The death toll from a devastating fire at a shopping plaza in Pakistan’s southern port city of Karachi jumped to 67 on Thursday after police and a hospital official confirmed that the remains of dozens more people had been found.
Police surgeon Dr. Summaiya Syed said rescue teams were still searching the severely damaged Gul Plaza in the Karachi, where the blaze erupted on Saturday.
Most remains were discovered in fragments, making identification extremely difficult, but the deaths of 67 people have been confirmed, she said. Asad Raza, a senior police official in Karachi, also confirmed the death toll. Authorities previously had confirmed 34 deaths.
Family members of the missing have stayed near the destroyed plaza and hospital, even after providing their DNA for testing. Some have tried to enter the building forcibly, criticizing the rescue efforts as too slow.
“They are not conducting the search properly,” said Khair-un-Nisa, pointing toward the rescuers. She stood outside the building in tears, explaining that a relative who had left to go shopping has been missing since the blaze.
Another woman, Saadia Saeed, said her brother has been trapped inside the building since Saturday night, and she does not know what has happened to him.
“I am ready to go inside the plaza to look for him, but police are not allowing me,” she said.
There was no immediate comment from authorities about accusations they have been too slow.
Many relatives of the missing claim more lives could have been saved if the government had acted more swiftly. Authorities have deployed police around the plaza to prevent relatives from entering the unstable structure, while rescuers continue their careful search.
Investigators say the blaze erupted at a time when most shop owners were either closing for the day or had already left. Since then, the Sindh provincial government has said around 70 people were missing after the flames spread rapidly, fueled by goods such as cosmetics, clothing, and plastic items.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation, though police have indicated that a short circuit may have triggered the blaze.
Karachi has a long history of deadly fires, often linked to poor safety standards, weak regulatory enforcement, and illegal construction.
In November 2023, a shopping mall fire killed 10 people and injured 22. One of Pakistan’s deadliest industrial disasters occurred in 2012, when a garment factory fire killed at least 260 people.
