China Mobile to expand Karakoram Highway Project

Karachi: China Mobile Communications Corporation, the world's largest mobile phone network, has welcomed the expansion and widening project of Karakoram Highway (KKH) and announced that its service will soon be available all along the highway.

A statement here on Wednesday said that President Pervez Musharraf has recently launched the expansion and widening project of the 335-kilometer road from Raikot to Khunjerab. It pointed out on this occasion that the President had said that several Chinese companies have been investing in Pakistan and pointed out that China Mobile has already invested $500 million in the country and have plans to invest more.

The statement further said that China Mobile has made the largest investment among all the Chinese investment in Pakistan. Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) has recently awarded the license for providing cellular service in Azad Jammu Kasmir (AJK) and Northern Areas (NA) to China Mobile.

This region is adjacent to the Pak-China border and as the main traffic stream, KKH carries great amount of freight transportation to and from China. China Mobile will put highway's telecom coverage as the most important task, promoting economic and commercial business between Pakistan and China.

China Mobile ranks as the number-one cellular company in the world in terms of network scale and customer base. The company plans to increase coverage area by several thousands miles, reaching every corner of Pakistan including highways with the capacity of 20 million subscribers, initially, which will be enhanced with the passage of time.