3G coverage in Pakistan is expected to reach 90 percent of population by 2020, and mobile broadband is expected to reach 40 percent, said GSMA.
According to Pakistan Telecom Authority (PTA), the 3G and 4G subscriber base in Pakistan reached 18,040,854 in September 2015 from 15,765,680 in August 2015.
CMPak has 3,769,542 3G subscribers and 201,564 4G subscribers. Mobillink has a 3G subscriber base of 4,909,203. Telenor has 5,485,083 3G subscribers. Ufone has a 3G user-base of 3,518,635. Warid Telecom has 156,827 4G subscribers till September 2015, according to PTA.
Total number of cellular subscribers in Pakisan is 120,940,513. The number of cellular subscribers at Mobilink was 35,156,550, Ufone 18,750,250, CMPak 23,518,919, Telenor 33,191,103 and Warid 10,323,691.
“Mobile operators have been investing heavily to ensure access to the internet in Pakistan. With connectivity becoming less of an issue, the challenge now lies in increasing the number of digital commerce accounts and promoting digital payments,” said Alasdair Grant, head of Asia at GSMA.
Approximately 60 million people in Pakistan have access to a mobile phone. But they do not have a bank account, mobile money or branchless banking. Mobile operators have already started to invest to increase branchless banking account adoption and usage.
GSMA said technology-based solution providers in the financial and payment industries should partner with branchless banking operators to create payment products for different market segments.
Challenges in digital Pakistan include socio-political barriers such as weak legal and regulatory frameworks, digital illiteracy, and a lack of awareness about digital commerce.
Baburajan K
editor@telecomlead.com