Pakistan’s 3G, 4G user base rises to 32 million

Over 2.2 million new users added by telcos in July 2016

In Pakistan, the number of users on mobile-phone internet networks – 3G/4G – has increased to almost 32 million.

According to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), in July, over 2.2 million new 3G/4G users were added by the telcos, taking the total number users in the country from 29,530,254 (2.9m) to 31,779,549 (almost 3.2m).



The userbase increased by over seven per cent.

Leading the pack was Mobilink, which added over 1.2 million new 3G users to its network, whereas Zong attracted half a million new 3G users in addition to 109,000 4G users.

Mobilink is also leading in terms of total number of 3G/4G users with over 10.2 million 3G users - almost one-third of the total 3G/4G users in the country. It was followed by Ufone with around 8.6 million 3G users.



According to the PTA, the total number of broadband subscribers have increased from over 32 million at the end of fiscal year 2016 to 34.5 million by the end of July.

Commenting on the growth of 3G/4G services in the country, Parvez Iftikhar, an expert on information and communication technology, said “The availability of low-cost smartphones and aggressive roll-out of apps has made this possible.”

The availability of social networking apps such as Whatsapp and Facebook, has played a significant role in attracting huge traffic on mobile internet, he added.