YouTube viewership in Pakistan records surge

TikTok has 100m users in Pakistan, NA panel told

ISLAMABAD:

TikTok has around 100 million users in Pakistan, while nearly 150 million videos are watched and uploaded on the platform daily from the country, the National Assembly Standing Committee on Information Technology and Telecommunications was told on Tuesday.

PTA Chairman Major General (retd) Hafeez ur Rehman shared the figures during a briefing on social media usage, highlighting the growing popularity of digital platforms in the country.

He told the committee that 96 million Pakistanis currently use YouTube and watch around 560 million videos on the platform every day, making Pakistan the world's leading country in terms of YouTube video viewership.

Pakistanis also make millions of calls and send millions of messages daily through WhatsApp, he added.

The meeting, chaired by MNA Syed Aminul Haque at Parliament House, also addressed complaints about poor telecom services, frequent internet disruptions and the slow pace of improvements in network infrastructure.

Committee members questioned why users continued to face connectivity problems despite repeated discussions over the past two and a half years.

Member Ahmad Atiq said mobile networks were barely working in his constituency and along the route to Karachi. He complained that connectivity was deteriorating after every committee meeting, adding that even WhatsApp calls were frequently disconnected in Islamabad.

"If this is the situation in Islamabad, what can one expect in rural areas, where even 3G does not work, while you are talking about 5G?" he asked. He also sought details of the fibre-optic network laid over the past two and a half years.

Another member, Asia Ishaq, said 4G services had also deteriorated since the introduction of 5G, asking whether lawmakers would have to approach the Supreme Court to get the telecom companies to improve their services.

The PTA chairman said he had visited 41 districts along with telecom operators to assess service quality and inspect mobile towers. He said the PTA had directed the operators to improve their services, adding that issuing show-cause notices was the authority's last resort because companies often obtained stay orders from courts against financial penalties.

Federal Minister for Information Technology Shaza Fatima Khawaja said data consumption had increased significantly due to the growing use of social media and artificial intelligence.

She said 18 million people were using 5G services in Pakistan and the technology was being rolled out in 24 cities. The government had taken steps to improve telecom services, she added.

Recalling the country's spectrum auctions, the minister said no such auction had been held after Nawaz Sharif left office, adding that his government had introduced 4G services while the present government had conducted the 5G spectrum auction.

Khawaja said disruptions in telecom services had several causes, including theft of infrastructure. In some areas, entire mobile towers were stolen, while diesel and generators installed to keep them operational were also taken away, she told the committee.