Aitizaz Hassan

The telecom sector of Pakistan generated the highest revenue of Rs694 billion in the previous fiscal as compared to Rs651 billion in the preceding financial year, WealthPK reports. According to the annual report released by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), the sector attracted an investment of $2,073 million in the previous year, showing an increase of 55.1% as compared to $1,336 million in the year 2020-21.

The report says that the telecom sector contributed Rs325.2 billion to the national exchequer as compared to Rs226 billion in the preceding year, registering a 43.8 % growth. Of the 325.2 billion, Rs222.7 billion was deposited with the Authority in the form of taxes while the remaining Rs102.5 billion was collected through the auction of Next Generation Mobile Services (NGMS) and renewal of licences. The report shows encouraging statistics and expansion of telecom services across the country due to a progressive and enabling regulatory environment despite a challenging year owing to rising inflationary pressures and profitability concerns.

Pakistan has more than 197 million telecom subscribers with ‘teledensity’ reaching 90%. The number of biometrically verified subscribers has increased to 194 million whereas broadband subscription has grown to 124 million with 56% penetration and the annual mobile data usage reaching 8,970 petabytes in the country, showing an annual growth of 31%.

Pakistan has leaped to an ‘advanced’ level of 5th generation (5G) regulator in the International Telecommunication Union’s 2022 regulators’ ranking. The Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA) has rated Pakistan as an ‘emerging’ telecom market, a recognition that owes itself to multiple interventions.

PTA also introduced short-range devices (SRDs) and the internet of things (IoT) framework under which licences for the provision of IoT services to low power wide area network (LPWAN) have been awarded. A massive spectrum rationalisation exercise was carried out during the previous year that led to improved spectrum efficiency to facilitate consumers.

For the first time in the country’s history, the import volume of mobile handsets registered a decline as most of the local demand was met through indigenously manufactured products, reflecting a huge shift in consumer behaviour. Pakistan manufactured a whopping 41.35 million mobile handsets from January 2021 to September 2022, resulting in the creation of thousands of jobs for skilled workers and local manufacturing of international brands such as Samsung, Nokia, Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo, Techno and Infinix.

The report says that international social media platforms such as Bigo, Snack Video and Mico were registered by PTA under the prevailing legal framework. PTA also launched the country’s largest ‘digital gender inclusion initiative’ to devise the first ‘gender mainstreaming in ICTs’ strategy. These measures are in addition to efforts aimed at increasing telecom accessibility, availability and affordability through operators.

PTA is focusing on national telecom equipment standards, outside plant code, in-building cabling standard and use of the utility infrastructure to save costs. The regulator also believes that active infrastructure and spectrum sharing needs to be implemented to pave way for introduction of new technologies and facilitate 5G launch. PTA will continue to provide an enabling environment for the availability of high-quality telecom services and infrastructure across the country to bridge the digital divide, says the report, available with WealthPK.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk