October 2022: Number of cellular subscribers declines for third month in a row: PTA

ISLAMABAD: The number of cellular subscribers as well as teledensity declined for the third consecutive month in Pakistan during October 2022, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) data revealed.

The number of cellular subscribers in Pakistan decreased by 0.63 million to 193.51 million by end-October compared to 194.14 million by end-September 2022.

However, official sources revealed that the PTA has initiated multiple fingers biometric verification activity for stronger SIM authentication and to counter the issue of illegal SIM sales at franchise/resellers level. The exercise of biometric verification activity may result into a decline of illegal SIM issuance by operators that resulted in decline in cellular mobile subscription.

The teledensity for cellular mobile decreased from 87.98 percent by end-September to 87.62 percent by end-October 2022. The total teledensity decreased from 89.17 percent by end-September to 88.81 percent by end-October.

The number of 3G and 4G users in Pakistan increased by 0.09 million from 120.59 million by end-September to 120.68 million by end-October 2022.

The Monthly Next Generation Mobile Service (NGMS) penetration decreased from 54.65 percent by end-September to 54.6 percent by end-October.

Jazz’s total count for 3G users declined from 5.456 million by end-September to 5.225 million by end-0October registering a decrease of 0.231 million.

Jazz 4G users jumped from 40.485 million by end-September to 40.677 million by end-October.

Zong 3G subscribers decreased from 2.933 million by end-September to 2.855 million by end-October, while the number of 4G users increased from 30.571 million by end-September to 30.823 million by end-October 2022.

Telenor 3G subscribers decreased from 3.260 million by end-September to 3.158 million by end-October while the number of 4G users of Telenor also decreased from 22.534 million by end-September to 22.450 million by end-October.

Ufone 3G users stood at 3.087 million by end-October compared to 3.219 million by end-September. The number of 4G users of Ufone increased from 10.703 million by end-September to 10.973 million, registering a 0.27 million increase during the period under review.

The PTA received 13,393 complaints from telecom consumers against different telecom operators and cellular operators in October 2022, out of which, 13,081 (97 percent) were resolved.

The complaints were received against various telecom operators, including cellular mobile operators (CMOs), Pakistan Telecommunications Company Limited (PTCL), long-distance international (LDI) operators, wireless local loop (WLL) operators, and internet service providers (ISPs), during October.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022