Comment by Riaz Haq on October 27, 2015 at 1:26pm

Pakistan’s top four operators added 4.5 million 3G and 4G subscribers in Q3, a 33 per cent increase from the previous quarter.

The country now has 18 million 3G and 4G users after adding 2.24 million in September – its fastest growth in six months, according to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA).

The growth comes despite the government doubling the sales tax on various categories of imported mobile handsets in June to PKR300-1,000 ($3-$10) from PKR150-500 ($1.50-$5.00). It also introduced a 19.5 per cent sales tax on internet usage earlier in the year.

Market leader Mobilink added 1.25 million 3G users in Q3, while number 2 Telenor picked up 1.32 million. Zong, owned by China Mobile, saw its 3G and 4G connections expand by 968,000, and Ufone (run by state-owned PTCL) added 948,000 3G users, PTA reported.

Competition has intensified in the 3G market over the past year, with Telenor taking a 31 per cent share in Q3, followed by Mobilink with a 28 per cent share, Zong (19 per cent) and Ufone (18 per cent), ProPakistani said. A year ago Telenor had just a 13.5 per cent share of the 3G market.

The four operators had a 90 per cent market share at the end of September, according to GSMA Intelligence. 3G and 4G connections represent 13 per cent of the country’s 138 million mobile connections

Zong launched 4G service less than a year ago and had 194,000 connections in Q3, while Warid Telecom, with an 8.5 per cent market share, had 160,000 4G users.

http://www.mobileworldlive.com/asia/asia-news/pakistans-3g4g-users-...

Comment by Riaz Haq on October 27, 2015 at 4:34pm

#Uber planning #Pakistan launch. Placing ads for gen manager, ops manager, employees in #Lahore https://www.techinasia.com/breaking-uber-gearing-launch-operations-... …

Today, Uber’s career page points to a few interesting vacancies, which would suggest they’re set to enter Pakistan. The online taxi behemoth is looking for a “general manager”, “operations and logistics manager”, and a “marketing manager,” for Lahore, the country’s second-largest city. When, or if, it will arrive is still not 100 percent clear, but this is a promising sign.

I’ve argued before about how Pakistan’s growth trajectory seems to suggest it’s a market ripe for disruption in the online taxi hailing space. Macroeconomic conditions aren’t very different to those of India, where Uber recently announced plans to invest US$1 billion in an effort to wrest control. And this is a market generally exploding all over Asia, with three unicorns in China alone.

Pakistan, with an estimated population of 200 million, is a market largely untapped when it comes to taxi apps. There have been efforts in the past, with Rocket Internet-backed EasyTaxi as well as homegrown startups such as Savaaree, but they’ve largely failed to make enough of a dent. However, with explosive growth of high-speed internet and Uber’s demonstrated willingness to tweak its model for accepting cash payments, there seems to be no reason why a concerted effort won’t work in Pakistan.

Comment by Riaz Haq on November 12, 2015 at 12:31pm

#Internet Society Partners with #Pakistan Telecommunications Authority to Advance #digital Economy | #INETISB http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20151110006721/en/Internet-So... … …

The Internet Society, in partnership with the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority, will host INET Islamabad, 16-18 November 2015. Bringing together more than 250 participants representing government, Internet service providers, mobile operators, academia, financial institutions, ICT entrepreneurs and the general public, the forum will lay out Pakistan’s Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) agenda as a way of accelerating the development of the country’s digital economy and advancing sustainable development.

INET Islamabad reinforces Pakistan’s Vision 2025—a set of policy reforms which has recognized the role of ICTs in modernizing the public sector, and in expanding and expediting the delivery of public services to its citizens. “Pakistan has recently shown tremendous growth potential in broadband services, and the economy is starting to see the benefits of this growth. This interactive forum will acquaint the local community with Internet challenges and how to engage in addressing these concerns,” said Dr. Syed Ismail Shah, Chairman of the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority.

Pakistan has been making headway particularly in financial inclusion through digital means, launching its first dedicated strategy in May following the success of mobile banking programs like EasyPaisa. It also recently joined the United Nations-based Better Than Cash Alliance.

Rajnesh Singh, Regional Bureau Director for Asia-Pacific at the Internet Society, explained: “Pakistan now stands at the cusp of breaking into a digital economy and needs to make informed choices in fostering an environment that can use the Internet and Internet-based technologies to help drive economic and social development. We hope that forums such as INET Islamabad will contribute to this progress.”

The two-day conference will feature both international and national subject matter experts with broad experience, globally and nationally, in ICT policymaking and development. Some of the key topics that will be discussed are: infrastructure and connectivity for sustainable development; e-Gov architecture, standards, interoperability and implementation; building trust in cyberspace; growth of the ICT industry; and digital financial inclusion.

To view the complete list of sessions, speakers and panelists, please follow this link. You may also view the live webcast and follow INET Islamabad on social media using the Twitter hashtag #INETISB.

Comment by Riaz Haq on November 29, 2015 at 8:11pm

#Smartphone penetration in #Pakistan to jump from 31% now to 55% in 2018. #3G #4G http://tribune.com.pk/story/996032/new-best-friend-smartphones-read... … 

According to a recent forecast by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), which attributed its projection to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Report of 2015, import of smartphones has shown exceptional growth already. The IDC is a global market intelligence firm for Information and Communications Technology markets.

There was a 123% increase in smartphone shipments to Pakistan between January, 2014 and January, 2015, the PTA says, making this one of the fastest growth rates for smartphone imports in Asia, and Africa region, according to the IDC Report, 2015.

Smartphone shipments to Pakistan currently account for 31% of the total cellular mobile handsets imported by the country, the PTA says. The number has increased dramatically from FY12 when it amounted to just 7%.

The PTA’s forecast follows a September 2015 revelation to this newspaper by a major ecommerce player, which had then estimated the country would have 40 million smartphones by December, 2016 if the ecommerce (market) trends continued unabated.

Waves of change

Online retailers have been witnessing massive traffic on their websites since (July, 2014) the launch of third-generation (3G) and 4G services in the country.

With more than 1 million new users jumping on the bandwagon every month, the number of Pakistan’s broadband users skyrocketed to 21 million (of which 85% are 3G and 4G users) at the end of September, 2015. The number was less than 4 million before the arrival of 3G services.


High-speed mobile Internet market (read 3G) continues to grow, creating a huge demand for smartphones, the top selling category across all major ecommerce platforms. In September, more than 2 million users a month were looking to buy a phone online, according to Daraz.pk, an online marketplace.

Boost in demand

The smartphone market had been growing for the past few years because of Wifi Internet services, industry experts say, but the rollout of 3G and 4G services gave it a major boost, resulting in a sharp increase in the demand for devices, which are compatible with these technologies.

Customers demanding LTE handsets was the latest trend in the market soon after the launch of 4G service, according Arsalan Siddiqui of Jibran Electronics, a mobile phone retailer at Feroz Electronic Market.

Retailers at Karachi’s electronics market say the demand for high-end mobile phones surged following the launch of 4G but these handsets are mostly sold to corporate clients. Bulk of their sales still come from low-end devices with prices ranging from Rs10,000 to Rs20,000.

Low-end Chinese mobile phones and local brands such as Qmobile, Huawei, Voice and G5, sell like a hot cake, they say.

In contrast, online retailers say their smartphone sales have gone up mainly in branded category – high-end mobile phones.

According to PTA, 21% browsing of ecommerce websites is done through smartphones or tablets mostly by younger population – those aged between 18 and 34 years of age – taking the online retail through a boom.

Comment by Riaz Haq on December 13, 2015 at 10:20am

#Pakistan adds another 2 million #3G subscribers to over 20 million last month, according to PTA. http://www.pta.gov.pk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&am... …

The total broadband subscribers including for 3G and 4G services have crossed around the 23.6 million mark in the country, registering a reasonable growth rate with each passing month.

As per latest market figures, the 3G and 4G subscribers also reached 20.6 million by November this year.

In September this year, highest growth rate of 14.43% was by cellular companies, which have added 2.35 million 3G/4G subscribers.

A senior PTA official on Friday revealed the number of broadband subscribers in other technologies are DSL 1,563,321 users, HFC 43,929 users, Wimax 245,284 users, FTTH 20,549 users, EvDo 1,273,184 users and others 6,160 users.

Experts of telecom industry are having a viewpoint that portable mobile broadband devices like MiFi and Wingles are one of the main reasons of this growth in 3G/4G subscribers and many more will follow this trend in upcoming days.

In the context of upcoming 3G/4G auctions for Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) regions, these stats are really encouraging for the mobile phone companies that depict the increasing demand of these technologies across the country.

Meanwhile, the country’s largest mobile phone operator, Mobilink, has overtaken its competitors to become the number one 3G player after official figures were released by Pakistan Telecom Authority (PTA).

Mobilink crossed the six million 3G subscribers mark during the 4th quarter of 2015. Mobilink Marketing Vice President Asif Aziz said key to this leading position is consistent investment to further innovate on behalf of subscribers by delivering not just the best 3G and voice network, but also improvements in customer service, and product lines.

He said to support its 3G services, Mobilink has in place a robust fibre optic infrastructure that expands to over 6,000 kilometres coupled with the latest technology, state-of-the-art equipment and a
well versed team of professionals.

Its 3G network connects millions of people every day who use their smartphones for education, businesses, communication, entertainment, E-learning and most importantly enjoy ready access to internet on the go for easy access to knowledge.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/business/12-Dec-2015/broadband-subscri...

Comment by Riaz Haq on December 16, 2015 at 10:10am

#Zong, #Facebook join hands to launch free basic internet service in #Pakistan http://www.thenewstribe.com/?p=432087 via @TheNewsTribe

World famous social-networking website Facebook joins hands with telecom company Zong to launch intresting service for customer.

According to ProPakistani.com, Zong says that more people in Pakistan will have access to a range of free basic service like news, health, travel, local jobs, sports, education, services for women and entertainment via the freebasics.com website and mobile application.
Free Basics is available to more than one billion people across Asia, Africa and Latin America. Previously, Telenor was only operator in Pakistan to offer Free Basics to its customers.

Speaking on the launch, Director Marketing Zong Zhang Peng said, ” We are excited to make the Internet available to millions of people in Pakistan through the launch of Free Basics by Facebook. This initiative will promote the use of the Internet and help enrich people’s lives with new opportunities.”

Zong customers (Prepaid and Postpaid) will be able to receive free access to both Facebook and Free Basic services respectively. There is no subscription required for these services and will be available by default to all Zong subscriber.

Comment by Riaz Haq on June 17, 2016 at 8:00am

Over 1 million new subscribers sign on to 3G/4G services in Pakistan in May 2016, according to Pakistan Telecommunications Authority

3G/4G subscriptions have more than doubled in less than a year, from 14,614,411 in July 2015 to 29,748,666 in May 2016. 

http://www.pta.gov.pk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article...


The number of 3G/4G subscriptions increased from 28,676,081 at the end of April 2016 to 29,748,666 at the end of May 2016, an increase of 1,072,505 subscribers in the month of May 2016. 

PTA said 544,803 phone users switched to 3G services on the Mobilink network, 255,048 on Telenor network, 150,990 on Zone network and 47,147 mobile phone users moved to 3G services on Ufone network in May.


Zong recorded new subscription of 45,737 users on 4G network, while Warid registered new subscription of 28,860 users on LTE (4G) network in May 2016. 

http://tribune.com.pk/story/1124334/subscriptions-3g4g-users-3-74-g...

Comment by Riaz Haq on July 8, 2016 at 8:52pm

#Pakistan offers world's most affordable mobile #broadband access, even cheaper than #India and #Vietnam http://www.pcmag.me/a/2505288 via @PCMag

One of the most surprising trends was a disparity in the cost of Internet access in developing nations: Pakistan had the most affordable Internet access delivered via broadband or mobile networks, with Vietnam and India also in the top 10 most affordable. Other developing countries, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, placed near the bottom.

Overall, the report found a disparity between consumers' desire for technology and the capability of businesses and governments to provide it. "In recent years, digital innovation has been primarily driven by consumer demand," the report said. "Yet this increasing demand for digital products and services by a global consumer base is largely being met by a relatively small number of companies."

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