In order to get rid of the heavy subsidy for the Punjab WiFi project, the Government of Punjab has announced it is closing down the project across the province, including the provincial capital Lahore, reported 24NewsHD TV channel on Saturday. 

Quoting sources, the channel reported that with the project coming to an end, thousands of students, research scholars and journalists had been deprived of free internet service.

The project had been initiated by the former provincial government of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) under which the facility of free internet had been provided to people at 200 different places across Punjab. 

Sources divulge that following the closure of the project, the province’s Information Technology Department has started negotiations with the PTCL for the provision of free internet service.

Service launched in 2017
The previous Punjab government had launched the free Internet service, Wi-Fi Hotspot, at over 200 places of five cities; Lahore, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Multan and Bahawalpur in April 2017. The service was also available at 16 places in Murree.

Then chief minister Shehbaz Sharif inaugurated the free Internet service at a ceremony held at Arfa Kareen Software Technology Park in Lahore by pressing a button. He had said the launch of the free Internet service in five big cities was a huge step towards converting the province to the digital system. He said the Punjab government had taken revolutionary measures for the promotion of the IT and the performance many of several government departments had been enhance by utilising IT.

Shehbaz Sharif had said the future of Pakistan was linked to IT.