Karachi
Waqar Hamza
The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority’s annual report 2009-10 has disclosed that cell sites in the country have augmented by seven percent. A total of 30,126 cell sites have erected in the country, out of which Mobilink has the maximum number followed by Telenor and Ufone.
However, Ufone and Zong have added the maximum number of cell sites in FY09-10, whereas nominal numbers were added by Mobilink and Warid. Details show that Mobilink, Ufone, Zong, Telenor and Warid currently possess 7952, 5713, 5448, 6594 and 4419 cell locations respectively. Massive expansion in cell sites is evident as a meager 4,537 cell zones existed in 2004-05 and the five years have seen the figure cross 30 thousand.
Mobilink, Ufone, Zong and Instaphone had 1164, 327, 248 and 211 cell sites respectively in 2003-04. Net addition in the cell sites by Ufone was 820 in FY 2009-10, while Zong added 760 cell sites in the reported year. Telonor’s net addition stood at 471, while Mobilink and Warid added 49 and 78 cell sites respectively in the reported year. The highest rise was seen in 2007-08 when the total number was 7793. Mobilink and Ufone added the maximum number in 2007-08, as they increased cell zones by 1817 and 1827 respectively.
Zong enhanced its cell cites by 2360 in the year 2008-09.
Warid’s highest net addition to its network was seen in the year 2007-08 through a total of 1222 cell sites, while Telenor added 1762 cell sites in the year 2007-08, its highest addition.
The rise in the number of cell sites clearly shows that companies are competing to gain a bigger share, as the increasing coverage area serves as a key to incrementing the subscribers base.
