Pakistani youth still prefer SMS, voice calls over messaging apps: survey

Use of mobile communication trails behind peers in Asia and European nations; WhatsApp most popular messaging app

The telecommunication industry in Pakistan has witnessed unprecedented growth in last two years, particularly after the roll out of 3G and 4G services in July 2014 which triggered a spike in the number of broadband mobile internet users.

The survey was conducted by drawing a sample of 5600 people between the age of 16-35, a demographic Telenor identified as ‘Digital Frontrunners’ , in seven countries including Pakistan, Malaysia, Thailand, Serbia, Hungary, Sweden and Norway, in the fourth-quarter of 2015.



Despite rapid growth in the number of apps on smartphones, 74% of Pakistan’s digital frontrunners answered that they use their phones to make a traditional phone call several times per day, underscoring the importance of traditional mobile voice calls to mobile phone users. The figure is only second to Siberia among countries surveyed.

In terms of video call usage, Pakistan is ahead of all European markets surveyed and second only to Thailand. 30% of Pakistani respondents claim to use the feature daily to several times a day.

More than half of the respondents in all surveyed countries, except Pakistan, use messaging apps daily to several times a day. In Pakistan, the figure is 49%. Majority of Pakistanis prefer traditional SMS as 66% of frontrunners in the country say they use SMS several times per day.



WhatsApp is most popular among the youth, who use Internet messaging apps in Pakistan. 54 percent of Pakistani respondents say they use WhatsApp at least once a day, just ahead of Facebook Messenger at 51 percent

An Internet Market in the Making

While Asia leads the way for adoption of new uses of mobile internet, lower use of internet-based mobile technologies indicates that Pakistan lags behind other countries surveyed.



Although Pakistanis do not lag behind in terms of online activities such as picture and video sharing, listening to music or streaming video clips, the country ranks lowly in the use of map services, sharing locations, online shopping, playing games and overall internet browsing.

However, Telenor believes that there is a great opportunity for further growth of the market in the country.

“It is crucial to have surveys like this one looking at ‘Digital Frontrunners’ who can help forecast future industry trends,” said BjørnTaale, Head of Telenor Research. “Not only is this information beneficial in planning our digital services, it is also interesting to see the resemblance between nations as diverse as Thailand, Hungary, Pakistan or Norway. Just when we think that two nations may be following the same evolution, local nuances show that we are as unique as we are similar.”

“Given our presence across diverse regions in Asia and Europe, we need to listen to our customers and evolve alongside them. If we find that online shopping is a passion for young Thais or that millennial Malaysian’s cherish their messaging applications, then it’s our job as the leading regional digital service provider to track that and meet their needs,” Taale added.