October 8, 2018: The number of broadband subscribers including 3G and 4G in the country have crossed 61 million mark by end of August this year as all four operators providing mobile broadband services added more than one million subscribers in one month.
The number of mobile broadband subscribers was around 60 million till July 2018. The tele-density of mobile broadband is 29.14 per cent.
Statistics issued by Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) on Monday revealed that the number of mobile phone users, on the other hand, reached 151 million by same time period as compared to 150.24 million during June 2018. The tele-density has reached 72.97 per cent till August 2018.
The operators-wise data showed that Jazz's total count for 3G and 4G users stood at 20.1 million including 15.045 million 3G users and 5.077 million 4G subscribers by August 2018. Jazz 4G users jumped from 4.6 million from July 2018 to 5.077 million by August same year.
Zong's 3G subscribers have reached 9.034 million while the number of 4G users jumped from 7.76 from July to 8.131 by the end of August.
Telenor also saw a similar change in 3G/4G subscribers, with the number of 3G users on the network decreasing from 10.511 million by June 2018 to 10.210 million by August 2018. The number of 4G users increased from 3.315 million by end July to 3.59 million by end of August 2018.
Ufone added 0.47 million 3G users on its network as the total number reached 7.472 million by end of August2018 as compared to 7.06 million by end of July 2018.
Meanwhile, when contacted, official sources said policy directives for test and development of technologies for fifth generation (5G) wireless networks in Pakistan had been issued which would be implemented by Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA).
The next generation mobile services (3G/4G) are continuously gaining momentum in Pakistan since their launch in mid-2014 while the demand for data services is growing along with the subscriber base.
The sources said 4G network roll-outs continued across the country.
“We need to introduce more innovative services in mobile broadband arena not only to facilitate the consumers but also attract precious foreign investment and meet modern requirements, “the sources said.
As per reports, the advent of smartphone and wireless technologies in the country during last few years have led to creation of numerous innovative services and applications that are being used to ensure benefits for different kinds of users.
This is smartphone through which spreading online information to people regarding education, technologies, agriculture and other domains have become simple and fast.
The mobile broadband users growth in Pakistan is expected to touch 8 per cent mark in coming years as the country would have more than 100 million smartphones by 2020.
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