ISLAMABAD – Mobile penetration in Pakistan has continued to grow at a very rapid pace and the mobile sector has recorded total revenues of Rs 236.74 billion at the end of FY 2009-10, showing a growth of 11 percent over the previous year.
According to the Information Economy Report, published by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Pakistan is among five dynamic and developing economies in Asia in terms of increased penetration and usage of mobile phones.
While compared with the regional mobile penetration; Pakistan is far better placed than many Asian countries. According to official sources in Pakistan Telecom Authority (PTA), mobile operators have been aggressively working on boosting their networks especially to areas which have limited coverage.
They also pointed out that strife in Khyber Pakhtoonkhawa and Balochistan is hampering the spread of mobile communication in the region. Service disruptions and physical damage to mobile networks in troubled areas has deprived local communities from their communication options from local populations.
There remains huge and untapped demand for mobile services in these disconnected regions of the country and telecom companies must take up steps to come up to the expectations of their subscribers across the country, sources stressed.
Like a number of other emerging markets, Pakistan mobile sector is based mainly upon prepaid subscription. Since the economic outlook remains rather bleak due to increased inflation and the higher cost of living; individuals have apparently reduced their spending on communication.
Therefore, communication through mobile phones is heavily dependant upon easy loads and scratch cards. With over 97 percent of all mobile users utilising prepaid subscription; the post paid subscription rate in Pakistan is relatively miniscule. According to available official data, total mobile subscribers reached 100 million at the end of July in 2010.
During FY 2009-10, cellular mobile subscriptions exhibited a growth of 5.1 percent in comparison to 2009-09 when the total subscribers stood at 94.3 million and growth was over seven percent.
