Key Takeaways
- Pakistan needs affordable smartphones and accessible financing to bridge digital divide.
- Rapid AI adoption could create new inequalities, particularly for women and underserved communities.
- Universal Service Fund should focus on digital skills and meaningful internet adoption.
During the Asia Pacific Telecommunity (APT) Symposium on Digital Transformation and the Universal Service Fund, experts highlighted the need for comprehensive measures to address Pakistan’s digital divide, emphasizing the risks of rapid artificial intelligence (AI) adoption.
Mudassir Hussain, Head of Public Policy & Regulatory Affairs at JazzWorld, stressed that while expanding mobile network coverage is crucial, it is insufficient without affordable smartphones, accessible financing, and practical digital services.
Hussain called for enabling regulatory frameworks for instalment-based device financing, supported by risk-sharing arrangements, insurance mechanisms, and targeted subsidies to make smartphones more accessible to the underserved communities.
He also emphasized the need to expand the role of the Universal Service Fund (USF) beyond infrastructure deployment to support affordable connectivity, digital skills, and meaningful internet adoption, particularly in commercially underserved areas.
Fatima Akhtar, Vice President Communications & ESG at JazzWorld, warned that the rapid adoption of AI could create new inequalities, particularly for women and marginalized communities.
Akhtar advocated for the development of accessible, application-level AI solutions that address everyday needs and overcome literacy and digital skills barriers, citing voice-enabled AI applications as an example.
She highlighted the progress in narrowing the mobile internet usage gap from 25 percent to 8 percent, attributing the improvement to coordinated efforts by telecom operators, the Ministry of IT and Telecommunication, PTA, and USF.
However, she stressed that expanding connectivity alone would not be sufficient to ensure meaningful participation in an increasingly AI-driven economy.
The panel discussions also covered public-private partnerships, development financing, regulatory reforms, and the evolving role of universal service mechanisms in improving digital affordability.
Participants discussed barriers to women’s digital participation, including smartphone ownership, digital literacy, online safety, and access to economic opportunities.
Pakistan needs to move beyond measuring digital inclusion primarily through network coverage and focus on whether people can afford smartphones, access mobile broadband regularly and derive practical benefits from digital services.
Mudassir Hussain, Head of Public Policy & Regulatory Affairs at JazzWorld
The emergence of AI could create a new digital divide if women and marginalised communities are unable to access or benefit from the technology.
Fatima Akhtar, Vice President Communications & ESG at JazzWorld
