Pakistani Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has announced that mobile broadband users in Pakistan are expected to cross the mark of 47 million by 2020 and 79 million by 2025. These flabbergasting numbers show the rapid growth in the Pakistani telecom sector after the launch of 3G and 4G technologies.
PTA revealed these stats in Vision 2025 report. The current mobile broadband customers are 4 million. The estimated revenues that are expected to come out of this burgeoning mobile sector are even more staggering. According to PTA, by 2025, the revenues from the local telecom industry will brush $17 billion per year mark, which currently resides at $4 billion per year.
PTA also said that all the service providers in Pakistan will be encouraged to start making extended Over The Top (OTT) services like Skype and Viber. This would help the customers to use efficient products for corporate and general use in a collaborative environment. If telecom companies in Pakistan start making their own apps and product-centric services, this would mark the start of a new era in the Pakistani telecom scene.
Experts believe that after launch of 2100MHz and 1800MHz, spectrum harmonization in Pakistan, PTA must make full efforts and invest in R&D regarding 5th generation mobile spectrum technologies.
It is also worth mentioning that in 2013, there were 2.72 million mobile broadband subscribers in Pakistan, which surged to 3.79 million in 2014, making a 40% leap in growth. PTA currently holds 80% share in the mobile broadband subscriber market, which means that government could mine out massive revenues from the telecom sector to invest in this domain further. But chances of ignorance and mismanagement remain high.
Vision 2025 also vowed for introduction of smart cities, contactless payments, technology based energy and power sector in Pakistan.