3G adoption rate may get multiplied

The early impression of telecom market relating to 3G services and subscribers opinion ascertain that around 9 to 11 per cent of mobile phone users in the country would enjoy 3G during first two years.

Basically the 3G services are being launched from some major cities and its coverage would be expanded to other areas with the passage of time which would help increase adoption rate and figure may get multiplied and net addition in number of 3G subscribers may go higher than the current rate, revealed a survey conducted by a web-based telecom news portal with focus on market analysis, feedback from telecom companies and from mobile phone users.

Now Ufone has already launched 3G services in selected cities while other operators – Mobilink, Telenor Pakistan and China Mobile (Zong) are all prepared to initiate 3G services on commercial basis very soon.

During the survey, the calculation for estimating number of 3G users within first two years also considered number of smartphones in the country, their relative prices and adoption rate of technology in the country.

The poll also revealed that 17 per cent of individuals can afford 3G services even when data prices are more than Rs. 1,200 per month. A total of 7,128 respondents participated in the poll while 17 per cent of them said that they are willing to pay Rs 1,200 per month or more for 3G services.

Currently, announced 3G plans confirmed that pricing of 3G services would fall within affordability limits of these 17 per cent mobile phone users.  In fact there would be some data plans (with monthly charge of Rs. 1,000 or lesser) that may lure larger number of mobile phone users to shift to 3G services.

Another considerable fact is that majority of mobile phone users would use 3G for browsing, skyping, chatting and for usual internet needs on the go.

Not to forget, Pakistan is a very competitive market where operators even cross their bread limits to attract the customers and the operators would continue to experiment with various pricing patterns during first 6-8 months.

It was assumed that affordability would not be an issue for Pakistani 3G user in the long run.

With regard to quality of service and coverage of 3G, one has to agree that Quality of Service of cellular networks is in line with global standards. In fact it would not be wrong to say that Pakistani networks offer better quality of service than a lot of regional or even global operators. So, the room for betterment would always be there.

Operators take years to build network and if one keeps the track record of Pakistani operators in mind then it can be safely said that they are going to deploy 3G network way faster than the roll-out obligations set by Pakistan Telecommunication Authority as in one month – since the auction of 3G spectrum – at least nine cities have already received 3G services or 20 per cent of population has been given 3G service already.  This proposition is going to get only better and richer with time.

The adoption rate would grow further in coming years when 3G coverage would hit rural areas of the country.

Moreover, the influx of 3G enabled Chinese smartphones in country’s market has also gathered a lot of attention because of their affordable prices. This would also another source to help increase number of 3G users in days to come.

Though quality of these sets remained an issue but in Pakistani market where majority of users cannot afford expensive handsets, the Chinese smartphones sets would meet users needs.