The Frontier Works Organization (FWO) headquarters is actively involved in the construction of motorways across Pakistan, including securing major contracts for the extension of the Islamabad Expressway with the help of the National Logistics Cell (NLC).
Within its command structure, the FWO oversees two companies, called SCORE, which manage the M-9 Superhighway in Islamabad and the M-1 and M-2 highways connecting Lahore to Peshawar. are responsible.
These companies have imposed heavy taxes on telecom operators for the optical fiber cable (OFC) infrastructure laid along the motorways, formerly known as GT Roads.
Additionally, the FWO works through engineering groups, such as the 494 Engineering Group in Karachi, which was involved in the construction of the M-9 highway.
Notably, there were incidents last year where the FWO cut the cables of telecom operators, which led to legal challenges to the FWO in the Sindh High Court by these companies.
GHQ, a subsidiary of the IT Directorate, formerly part of the FWO, is providing technical support to the motorway toll plaza operations.
The company has awarded a contract to Cybernet (Lakhani Group) for construction of all motorways as well as OFC infrastructure, for which an investment of Rs 15 billion is being made.
The FWO is pressuring other telecom companies to either remove their existing OFC infrastructure or lease OFC pairs from Cybernet.
The move has hit small telecom operators badly, mainly because the military is going to monopolize the internet infrastructure through this push.
The strategy, headed by Asim Munir, aims to consolidate control over the country's internet infrastructure and effectively empower the military to conduct digital business and service.
The Director General of the FWO, Major General Sami, has been using his organisation's military-intelligence-based intelligence battalion to coerce telecom operators into making right-of-way (ROW) payments.
Failure to comply may result in telecom operators being forced to remove their OFC infrastructure or switch to leased OFC pairs from Cybernet.
Brigadier Siddique, CEO of One Network Company and formerly attached to the FWO, is leading the operation.
As a result, many telecom operators are downsizing their operations in Pakistan, which is also reflected in the retreat of Telenor in the country.
Asim Munir's aim is to establish strict control over internet access within the country
.jpeg)
0 Comments