MoiTT Proposes a ‘National Disaster Telecommunications Plan’ to Cope up with Emergencies


Natural calamities can happen anywhere and anytime. According to an estimate, more than 300 disasters occur in the world every year. As Pakistan lies on a tectonic plate, so there are slightly more chances of disasters happening in the country. So in order to cope with it,  the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication (MoiTT) has proposed a National Disaster Telecommunications Plan for the provision and use of telecom services amidst and after a national disaster.

As per the proposed plan, telecom services will be offered during every phase of a calamity. It will include the services to be rendered in the disaster-hit regions and the services to be provided in other regions to closed user groups and to the general public. The services to be offered will be a subset of those typically available from a licensee.

Details regarding the proposed national disaster telecom plan

Furthermore, the proposed plan involves a catalog comprising of critical telecommunications elements to be available at the time of any emergency. In addition to that, the terminal devices connected to telecom networks will need to be traceable within a good distance of the actual location to enable the provision of emergency services amid any disaster.

Moreover, the plan entails that the telecom service providers and CMOs should keep themselves prepared all the time in case of any emergency and disaster. They would also be responsible for making additional arrangements for the restoration of basic services in minimum time. The plan further entails,

During national disasters, a process to be followed by the ministry, the PTA, and the other institutions to liaise with licensees about the reconfiguration of their networks and services to provide the specified services and for returning networks and services to their commercial state. Related internal processes are for individual licensees to develop.

Afterward, the federal government in collaboration with the PTA will evaluate the national and provincial necessities for critical telecommunications infrastructure and services.

Finally, the national regulator PTA, in concurrence with the NDMA and in consultation with the licensees, will devise the regulations for disaster management. Afterward, the licensees will follow the regulations that apply when a regional or national emergency has been declared by the federal government or a provincial government in the legally required manner to devise the national disaster telecommunication plan.

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