wiredInUSA April 2018

Development loan

Well connected

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has signed a $260m loan agreement with the government of Pakistan to help improve the country’s power transmission network. includes staged physical investments in the high voltage transmission system, including the rehabilitation, augmentation and expansion of transmission lines, substations and supporting infrastructure. The funding will be used to expand the 220kV transmission network in Sindh and Balochistan provinces as well as to upgrade the supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) and revenue metering systems (RMS) in the country. Modernizing the SCADA and RMS across the national grid is expected to allow real- time monitoring and control of the grid while preventing losses, reducing power outages, and increasing grid stability and capacity. The upgrade of power transmission network is also expected to help take power from new renewable power plants to the national grid. Officials during the signing of loan deal between ADB and Pakistan government. Photograph courtesy of Asian Development Bank The investment program

The UAE has the highest fiber to the home (FTTH) penetration in the world. According to the FTTH council, the UAE has a coverage of 94.3 percent, compared to countries such as Singapore (90.3 percent), South Korea (81.6 percent), Hong Kong (75.6 percent) and Japan (69.1 percent). This is the second consecutive year that UAE has topped the global rankings.

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wiredInUSA - April 2018