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ISLAMABAD: A Senate subcommittee on Monday voiced alarm over widespread internet degradation and fuel theft from telecom sites, after being told that more than 9,200 incidents of theft and vandalism had hit about 16 per cent of the country’s cellular infrastructure in 11 months.
The subcommittee of the Senate Standing Committee on Information Technology, chaired by Senator Sadia Abbasi, reviewed challenges posed to nationwide telecom service continuity.
The committee was informed that Sindh recorded the highest number of 3,938 fuel theft cases across 31 districts, followed by Punjab with 2,827 incidents in 38 districts. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa reported 1,668 incidents across 25 districts, while Balochistan reported 716 incidents in 26 districts.
During the briefing, officials of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) said that persistent loadshedding had severely deteriorated service continuity by rapidly depleting backup batteries and exhausting local generators.
