STAFF REPORT IBD: Pakistan has witnessed a decline in its internet penetration as it lost its position of 54 to 61 as compared to 2011 and 2012.
The Financial Development Report 2012 released by World Economic Forum reveals that the internet users in Pakistan have increased to more than 25 million due to its online accessibility through mobile phone services on affordable tariffs.
According to Internet Service Providers Friendship of Pakistan (ISPAK), the estimated Internet users are on the rise with its increasing trend of utility via mobile phones reaching the map of up to 15 million.
The mobile phone subscribers go online through uncommon Internet services including, EDGE, GPRS and Blackberry Internet Services (BIS). It is because of the fact that the cellular phone companies have been working aggressively on the promotion of Internet services for last two years mainly for earning extra revenues besides voice calls and text messages.
These companies introduced uncommon bundle packages of Internet services in their youth brands to promote Internet services as an essential for young customers for education and entertainment purposes.
But despite all these, the penetration as against population growth is not impressive as reported by WEF.
The high-speed broadband internet users have been estimated to stand between 6 million to 7 million but connection provided by various services providers are standing at 2 million as per PTA report.