Internet Penetration: ‘9.5m broadband subscribers by 2014’

ISLAMABAD: There will be 9.5 million broadband subscribers in Pakistan by 2014, a statement said on Monday. Citing official data, it predicted that within the next four years, the number of broadband subscribers would witness a growth of nearly 70-85 per cent per annum. This will be followed by a steady growth of 5-25 per cent over the next six years, taking the total number of broadband subscribers to 19.5 million by 2020, it said. It estimated that broadband penetration by 2020 would be around 10 subscribers per 100 inhabitants. It said that these figures were for broadband subscription and not broadband usage, which would surely be higher given the fact that multiple users used a single broadband connection. Going by that estimate, it said, the total number of broadband users in the country will be 78 million by 2020.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 6^th, 2011.