ISLAMABAD: The government told the National Assembly on Friday that a nationwide rollout of 5G services would take another two years, as lawmakers raised concerns over sluggish internet speeds, patchy coverage and the readiness of existing networks to support the new technology.
During Question Hour, the proceedings took an awkward turn when Parliamentary Secretary for Information Technology Sabeen Ghouri struggled to explain what 5G stood for, highlighting a disconnect between the government’s push for next-generation connectivity and its understanding of the technology.
Responding to questions by Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) MNA Aseefa Bhutto-Zardari and other lawmakers about poor mobile internet services, Ghouri said 5G was available at 24 cities and work was under way to improve services before expanding coverage to more cities.
Aseefa flagged complaints about sluggish 4G and 5G services in Nawabshah and other parts of the country, calling for a coordinated plan to improve internet speeds and address consumers’ difficulties.
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The exchange took an awkward turn when Abdul Qadir Patel of the PPP, who was presiding over the session, asked Ghouri what 5G stood for. She appeared taken aback, saying the meaning was not coming to mind at the time.
Aseefa responded with a pointed jibe, suggesting that if the parliamentary secretary did not know what 5G meant, she should join her colleagues so they could explain it to her.
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) MNA Noor Alam questioned the state of the rollout, arguing that consumers were being charged for 5G despite the service not being available in practice.
PPP MNA Nabeel Gabol also expressed frustration over the gap between the promise of 5G and the experience of mobile phone users.
“We were happy that 5G had arrived in Pakistan, but then we found out that our mobile phones had switched to 2G instead of 5G,” he lamented.
Patel questioned the rationale for introducing the new technology while existing services remained unreliable, asking whether 4G had “died” to warrant the arrival of its successor.
Meanwhile, in a written reply to lawmakers, Minister for Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Imran Ahmad Shah informed the House that the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) had recovered Rs712.40 million in cases involving government employees and their spouses who had received assistance, while 229,157 cases remained blocked.
He said Rs545.784 million had been recovered through the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), Rs21.550 million from BISP employees and Rs145.066 million from other government departments.
More than 800,000 beneficiaries were blocked following a 2019 Federal Cabinet decision to disqualify government employees and their spouses from receiving assistance.
According to the minister, updated data had been obtained from government departments, autonomous bodies and state-owned enterprises for profiling, with more than six million records forwarded for scrutiny.
Of the 229,157 cases still blocked, 32,971 involving monthly pensions of Rs29,000 or less had been exempted from recovery under a BISP Board decision. The minister said profiling, blocking and recovery proceedings were continuing.
The minister also said 2.26 million beneficiaries exited BISP between July 2025 and June 2026 for exceeding the poverty score threshold or failing to complete mandatory surveys and recertification.
He said households with a Proxy Means Test score of up to 32, or 37 for those with at least one person with a disability, qualify for assistance and must undergo recertification every three years.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026