Chairperson CPEC Lt Gen (retd) Asim Saleem Bajwa has revealed in a tweet that 820 Km long fiber optic cable from Khunjrab to Islamabad has been made operational. This will help in the provision of high speed internet services in Gilgit Baltistan and northern areas.
In the next phase 9600 km cable will be laid from Islamabad to Gwadar and Karachi along CPEC routes. (Khunjrab-Gawadar-Karachi)
This project is part of Cross Border Optical Fiber Cable Project which was late included under CPEC. The total investment of this project is US$37 Million financed by Exim Bank of China at a concessionary interest rate of 2%. The groundbreaking of this project was performed on 13th July 2018 by Prime Minister Imran Khan.
The alignment of the optical fiber cable project is Rawalpindi, Mansehra, Naran, Babusar top, Chillas, Gilgit, Karimabad, and Khunjerab. This project is owned by Special Communication Organization (SCO) and Huawei is the contractor for the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) of this project.
