Minister: No forced land acquisition in telecom bill

Federal Minister for Information Technology, Shaza Fatima, underlined that the proposed Telecom Bill will not allow forceful occupancy of private land or property of any person and said that appropriate categories for private properties will be defined.

Shaza Fatima, along with Federal Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, rejected the allegations of financial irregularities and other allegations in respect of Telecom Bill as unfounded in a news conference here. She said the prime minister has been asked to direct an investigation into the allegations leveled against the legislation.

The IT minister said that the main aim of the new Telecom Bill is to provide high-speed internet across the country and the legislation is being built through consensus.

On the occasion Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar indicated that consent of the property owner will be mandatory before building fiber-optic infrastructure on private land. He said the Telecommunications Act Bill had been passed with six revisions.

Tarar also stated the parliamentary committee did not find any indication that the law was designed to favor any particular firm and had directed all faults in the draft legislation to be remedied.