Pakistani mobile users reluctant to switch services

Majority of subscribers are happy with their current operator: survey.

KARACHI: Hadi, a mobile phone user in Karachi is happy with his cellular operator and he doesn’t want to switch. He is one of the very large number of people in the country that own mobile phones; almost two thirds according to a poll.

Until a few years ago, it was not such a common thing to have a mobile phone. But over the last decade, Pakistan has been one of the fastest growing mobile user bases in the region, and even the world. And the majority of these users are happy with the quality of cellular service according to surveys conducted by Gallup Pakistan.

The country’s cellular industry is doing quite well apparently because the survey carried out by Gallup Pakistan indicated that a majority (63%) of Pakistanis claim to have access to a mobile phone while 37% said that they did not and almost all of them or about 87 per cent are satisfied with the service they are getting. The 13% that isnt happy list mainly voice quality as an issue.

However, the polls indicate that even with users expressing dissatisfaction or only partial satisfaction with their current mobile phone operator, does not mean that they intend to switch. Just 18% said that they intended to switch.

PTA’s historical data supports the polls. And the numbers of users of all the companies has mainly remained the same. Basically the dips and rises in telecom users in the last 11 months – from July 10 to June 11 – seem to be in sync. This means that the status quo of most customers is unlikely to change any time soon according to the polls and the fact that everyone who was could buy a mobile phone already has bought one as teledensity increases have slowed down according to PTA data.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 15^th, 2011.