I think there is hardly any other gadget in Pakistan as ubiquitous as mobile phones. How many of you remember the days when you had to go to a PCO to make calls when you were out because there were no mobile phones around? I bet, not many. First, mobile phones and then smartphones have entirely changed the way we interact with each other.
According to the latest Telecom Indicators Report by the Pakistan telecommunication Authority (PTA), there are currently 125,899,638 mobile subscribers in Pakistan, which means that about 65% of the population owns a mobile phone. Pakistan ranks 8th in the world for number of connections per 100 citizens.
Ranking of Mobile Service Providers
Let’s see how the top mobile service providers stack up:
- Mobilink leads the pack with 36,211,426 subscribers.
- Telenor is in second place with 34,928,330 subscribers.
- Zong clinches the third spot with 24,133,283 subscribers.
- Ufone occupies the fourth spot with 19,931,821 subscribers.
- Warid holds the fifth place with 10,694,778 subscribers.
Mobile Teledensity
Teledensity is a measure of telephone penetration across a geographical area and it is measured by the number of telephone connections for every hundred individuals living within an area.
During the last 13 years, mobile teledensity peaked in 2013-2014 at 76.46. Since then it has decreased and currently stands at 65.3.
3G/4G Subscription
3G/4G refers to the third and fourth generation of mobile broadband technology. 3G connections offer peak data transfer rates of at least 200 kbps. Whereas, 4G connections offer peak data rates of at least 100 Mbps for high mobility communication and at least 1 Gbps for low mobility communication.
The current standing of mobile service providers is as follows:
- Zong 3G – 4,752,974 | 4G LTE – 282,701
- Mobilink 3G – 7,248,761
- Telenor 3G – 6,373,498
- Ufone 3G – 4,293,739
- Warid 4G LTE – 214,046
Some Interesting Findings
There are some interesting findings in the Telecom Indicators Report.
Telecom Industry Contribution to the Treasury:
During the past 13 years, the highest contribution in 2013-2014 at PKR 243.3 billion. However, the estimated figure for 2014-2015 shows a steep drop with PKR 126.3 billion. This decrease is a bit surprising amidst an increasing user base and rising telecom charges.
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the Telecom Sector:
When we look at how much was brought in by foreign investors, FDI peaked in 2005-2006 at $ 1,905.10 million. Since then, it has been continuously decreasing, actually becoming negative in 2011-2012 and 2012-2013. Afterward, it became positive 2013-2014 at $ 429.9 million but dipped again in 2014-2015 with only $ 121 million.
Telecom Investment:
Despite continuously increasing mobile industry revenues, the telecom industry investment doesn’t correspond with it. Telecom investment peaked in 2006-2007 at $ 2,584.50 million but since then it has been decreasing. Does it mean that the mobile service providers are not reinvesting enough despite constantly increasing revenues? May be a telecom industry expert among the readers can shed some light on it.
