Huawei opens an Islamabad centre to repair telecom gear that once went abroad
The facility, inaugurated by the IT minister, can handle more than 10,000 modules a year that operators would otherwise ship overseas. Huawei and the minister call it the first national level repair centre of its kind in Pakistan.
Huawei has opened a telecom equipment repair centre in Islamabad, aimed at cutting the cost and delay of sending network hardware overseas for repair. The company says it is the first national level facility of its kind in Pakistan.
Federal IT and Telecommunication Minister Shaza Fatima Khawaja inaugurated the centre on Thursday, 24 September. Ethan Sun, chief executive of Huawei Pakistan, attended.
What the centre repairs
The centre covers about 250 square metres and has 16 repair desks. It can repair and test more than 180 equipment item codes, with capacity for over 10,000 modules a year. Huawei expects more than 6,000 repaired components to go back into service each year, and the Associated Press of Pakistan put the average repair success rate at about 60 percent.
The work covers base band units, radio units and radio frequency units used in mobile networks, along with microwave outdoor unit modules, digital power systems and access network boards.
The facility holds ISO 9001:2015 certification and uses Huawei diagnostic equipment, including HERT base band unit testing equipment, a microwave fault detector, a dummy load tester and DC distribution units. Staff are local hardware specialists who trained at Huawei's headquarters in China.
From consuming to building
“This Repair Facility is a milestone in our journey toward a stronger Digital Pakistan”
Khawaja said the facility would generate skilled jobs, reduce foreign exchange outflows and help Pakistan move from consuming technology to building it. She noted that Huawei has worked in Pakistan since 1998, including on the Karakoram Digital Highway.
“Huawei is proud to partner with Pakistan in building sustainable technical expertise.”
Khawaja also spoke about Huawei's training work, saying the company's academies operate at around 230 universities. She called Huawei "not just a technology partner" but a contributor to human resources, and said the centre could eventually serve the wider region.
