KARACHI: A two-member bench of Sindh High Court (SHC) issued a notice to Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to reply to comments regarding the 5G technology’s potential health risks.
The bench headed by Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar issued notices to the respondents, including the PTA, on a petition.
According to the petition, the Chinese and Dutch mobile operators working in Pakistan have been permitted to conduct trials for six months. Still, the petitioner said that this 5G technology is dangerous for human lives worldwide.
During the hearing, Justice Amjad Ali Sahito, a member of the bench, questioned whether the government had issued a 5G licence to any company in Pakistan? On which the petitioner answered in the negative.
Issuing a notice to the PTA, the bench observed that the court will hear this petition after the telecommunication regulator files its response to the petition.
The petitioner said before the court that 5G technology poses health risks and affects the ecosystem. He argued 4G technology too poses health risks but is less dangerous than 5G.
Last month, Federal Minister for Information Technology Syed Aminul Haque had said that Pakistan is mulling launching 5G network services in the country by December 2022.
We have set the target of December 2022 for launching the 5G services in the country, the minister said.
A contract was signed between Universal Service Fund (USF) and Telenor for high-speed mobile broadband projects in Upper Dir, Chitral and Lower Dir districts.
The permission currently is limited to non-commercial use only and warrants no trade-off of any kind on the technology.
