Uzair bin Farid

Usage of broadband data registered a substantial increase of 31% in 2021-22 over the previous year. According to the Economic Survey of Pakistan, the total consumption of broadband data reached 8,970 petabytes during 2021-22 compared to 6,855 petabytes during the previous year. The total number of ‘biometrically verified cellular connections’ in Pakistan has already exceeded 197 million, which shows the high penetration level of modern gadgets that remain connected to the world wide web.

The coverage by the cellular connections is more than 83.2% of the population and the coverage by broadband subscribers has already increased to 56% of the population, which amounts to more than 127 million people. In the same vein, the coverage of 3G and 4G technologies has also reached almost 80% of the population over the past few years. The usage of cellular mobile data was projected to increase beyond 10,633 petabytes at the end of the fiscal year 2022-23. The past trend of the same shows that it will continue to increase in the future until it reaches the point of saturation where it will eventually stabilise.

Cellular mobile data usage (PB)

Source: Pakistan Economic Survey

The penetration of internet services in far-off regions of the country is a reason that the IT industry of the country has been growing at an accelerating pace for the past decade or more. IT exports associated with the use of internet services, mobile data, and broadband services have reached almost $2 billion annually, according to the Pakistan Economic Survey 2022-23. Although a slight decrease has been observed in them compared to the previous fiscal year, the drop is temporary and they will continually move upwards.

Pakistan has more than 19,000 IT and ITeS companies registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP). These companies have a varied profile of serving both the domestic customers and international clients. Similarly, the total number of companies registered with the Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) as of March 2023, was 5,109.

Broadband subscribers & penetration

Source: Pakistan Economic Survey

Telecom sector of the country has also remained a significant contributor to the national exchequer over 2020-21. In the July-December period of FY23, the telecom sector had contributed Rs139 billion to the national treasury. However, this figure is provisional and is expected to double in the final data that will arrive for FY23.

Telecom Contribution (Rs billion)

Source: Pakistan Economic Survey

A slowdown was observed in the revenue of the telecom sector due to economic downturn and increased operational costs. For the first two quarters of FY23, the revenue of the telecom sector stood at Rs378 billion. This is again a provisional number and is expected to change in the final data for the whole year.

Telecom revenue

Credit: INP-WealthPk