The country’s broadband subscriber base increased by one-tenth to reach 3.35 million at the end of January compared to 3 million as of October 2013. CREATIVE COMMONS
As Islamabad inches closer to the rollout of next-generation mobile internet services – which is likely to trigger the growth of broadband in the country – the latest telecom data is already showing signs of a rising demand for high-speed internet.
The broadband segment of the telecom industry, on an average, added more than 100,000 new users every month in the three-month period that ended on January 31, 2014, according to latest statistics released by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA).
The country’s broadband subscriber base increased by one-tenth to reach 3.35 million at the end of January compared to 3 million as of October 2013 – last time the figures were publicly released by the PTA.
Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) led the overall increase by adding 317,481 subscribers to its network during the period under review.
The broadband giant, that alone accounts for more than 60% of the broadband market, has been running an aggressive marketing campaign and offering attractive packages for its broadband service EVO – that has significantly increased its subscriber base.
In terms of broadband users by technology, the EvDO segment remained the major contributor. It added 256,543 new subscribers, which is about 80% of the total broadband subscriptions sold by the industry in the last three months.
The total number of customers on EvDO networks expanded to 1.5 million or 45% of the overall broadband market at the end of January.
Among other segments of broadband technology, DSL remained the second highest contributor and added 58,077 subscribers in the three-month period to reach 1.2 million subscriptions.
On the other hand, WiMAX operators added 1,269 new subscribers to reach 566,879 subscriptions.
Though the increase is notable, the broadband penetration in Pakistan still remains very low compared to most countries in the world.
With an average household size of seven persons per family, 3.35 million subscriptions translate into 23.5 million broadband users – about 13% of the country’s 180 million population. The number could be even lower at 12% as the population has reached 200 million, according to some estimates.
The good thing, however, is that the industry experts predict that broadband subscriptions will increase at a rate four times higher than the current one once mobile broadband is available in the country, at least in the first six months. They, however, say it will partly depend on how fast the telecom operators can roll out the 3G technology.
While the broadband segment showed impressive growth, the data for cellular segment might have disappointed the telecom operators.
In contrast to the broadband segment, the growth rate for the cellular segment remained flat as the total cellular subscriber base remained stagnant at 132 million subscriptions at the end of January 2014 – the same level it had achieved at the end of October 2013.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 8th, 2014.
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"With an average household size of seven persons per family, 3.35 million subscriptions translate into 23.5 million broadband users – about 13% of the country’s 180 million population."
OMG! Somebody failed a class in statistics! No way is a single broadband connection being shared by 7 people. Also the sort of households that can afford broadband don't have 7 people living in them.