The 2nd session of the 30th meeting of the Board of Directors of Universal Service Fund (USF) was held today under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf here Thursday. The Prime Minister was apprised of the tremendous progress made by the USF during the last five and a half years by providing basic telephony and data services in more than three thousand and six hundred (3600) muzas. The Prime Minister was also informed that broadband services have been provided in two hundred and sixty (260) 2nd and 3rd tiers cities and towns and that more than 4250 km of optic fiber cable has been laid to connect unserviced tehsils and towns under the optic fiber programme. The Board approved a special project for expansion and addition of Telemedicine Network which involves providing health-care facilities in rural areas of the country by connecting them to main hospitals in cities. Health-care services related to fields of Cardiology, Dermatology, Pathology, ENT, Radiology and Gynecology are already being provided through this project, the meeting briefed the Prime Minister. Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf directed USF to extend connectivity in the remote areas of Baluchistan in order to bring them at par with other developed areas of the country. The Prime Minister emphasized on the need to use the fund efficiently for developing connectivity in rural areas and benefit of telecom sector. All the concerned high-ranking officials of IT Ministry and the telecom sector attended the meeting.
