STAFF REPORT ISB: The total broadband subscribers, including for 3G and 4G services, have crossed the 23.6 million mark in Pakistan, posting a reasonable growth rate with each passing month.
The market data reveals that the 3G and 4G subscribers also reached 20.6 million by November this year. In September last, the highest growth rate of 14.43 percent was by cellular companies, which have added 2.35 million 3G/4G subscribers.
“The number of broadband subscribers in other technologies are DSL 1,563,321 users, HFC 43,929 users, Wimax 245,284 users, FTTH 20,549 users, EvDo 1,273,184 users and others 6,160 users,” revealed a senior official of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA).
Telecom industry experts are having a viewpoint that portable mobile broadband devices like MiFi and Wingles are one of the main reasons of this growth in 3G/4G subscribers and many more will follow this trend in upcoming days.
In the context of upcoming 3G/4G auctions for Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) regions, these figures are really encouraging for the mobile phone companies which depict the increasing demand of these technologies across the country.
Official figures released by the PTA show that the countrys largest mobile phone operator, Mobilink, has overtaken its competitors to become the number-one 3G player.
The company crossed the six million 3G subscriber mark during the 4th quarter of 2015.