ISLAMABAD: All thanks to millions of 3G and 4G users, the year 2015 has witnessed 12 per cent growth in broadband penetration from mere 2.07 per cent in 2014.
At the end of November 2015, total number of broadband subscribers reached 24.78 million, out of which 21.68 million broadband users were on 3G/4G technology while remaining 1.5 million broadband users were on DSL and another 1.3 million on EvDO.
Clearly this huge uptake in broadband is result of 3G/4G services and interestingly less than 20 per cent mobile phone users out of total 124 million subscribers have shifted to 3G/4G networks, indicating that there is huge potential available in market and this growing number of broadband users in Pakistan will grow further for several years to come.
Experts on Monday recalled the dial-up era of 1990s, when basic email and internet services were introduced in Pakistan but it was only 2001 when broadband services (DSL) in Pakistan were introduced for first time.
It was Micronet again in 2006 to introduce FTTH services in the country for the first time while Wateen initiated its WiMAX network in 2007 to start offering wireless broadband services in Pakistan. With variety of broadband technologies available in Pakistan, it was only year 2014-15 that saw real growth in broadband sector after auction of 3G/4G licenses.
The experts said it is interesting to note that WiMAX operators lost over half a million subscribers - highest since WiMAX started in 2007 - during 2014-15, showing that consumers have started trusting 3G/4G networks for their primary internet needs.
As mentioned above, broadband market in Pakistan has undergone some drastic changes since introduction of mobile broadband (3G/4G), that has actually changed the dynamics and market rating of operators.
Currently Mobilink, with its 6.8 million 3G users tops the market while PTCL - that had more than 80 per cent shared till 2013-14 - had 2.6 million broadband users or around 10 % market share of total broadband market.
As with other trends, the data usage also picked up real quick after the emergence of 3G/4G technologies and data usage in the country increased manifolds during 2015.
For example data consumed over mobile broadband networks in June 2015 (9,860 TBs) is six times more than the data usage in June 2014.
The trend of mobile broadband clearly shows data usage is rising substantially with every passing month and this hints that potential of mobile broadband is humongous for new avenues of data-centric growth and economic activity.
With expanding 3G/4G coverage, the number of subscribers will also grow, leading to more data usage in the future.
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