Pakistan’s telecoms sector accrued revenues of 552 billion rupees ($3.34 billion) last year, according to new figures released by the country’s regulatory body.
The Pakistan Telecommunications Authority released its annual report this week, showing that the telecoms sector contributed around 96 billion rupees ($581 million) to the economy in taxation revenues.
With around 163 million mobile subscribers, Pakistan now has a mobile penetration rate of 76.4 per cent.
The country is served by four large mobile network operators, namely Jazz, Telenor Pakistan, UFone and Zong. Of these four, Jazz is the largest, with 59 million subscribers, followed by Telenor Pakistan with 46 million, Ufone with 23.1 million and Zong 15.6 million. The country is also served by a number of mobile virtual network operators.
All four major mobile network operators have now undertaken 5G trials, with a commercial launch expected by mid 2021.
Recently, Telenor Pakistan’s CEO, Ifran Wahab Khan, said that operators in the country must look to collaborate on 5G, sharing the financial burden through a series of network sharing agreements.
“The world is moving ahead and the telecoms companies were sharing far more things but in Pakistan we are all still investing in basic structures, like towers,” he said.