AIRLINK 62.48 Increased By ▲ 2.05 (3.39%)
BOP 5.36 Increased By ▲ 0.01 (0.19%)
CNERGY 4.58 Decreased By ▼ -0.02 (-0.43%)
DFML 15.50 Increased By ▲ 0.66 (4.45%)
DGKC 66.40 Increased By ▲ 1.60 (2.47%)
FCCL 17.59 Increased By ▲ 0.73 (4.33%)
FFBL 27.70 Increased By ▲ 2.95 (11.92%)
FFL 9.27 Increased By ▲ 0.21 (2.32%)
GGL 10.06 Increased By ▲ 0.10 (1%)
HBL 105.70 Increased By ▲ 1.49 (1.43%)
HUBC 122.30 Increased By ▲ 4.78 (4.07%)
HUMNL 6.60 Increased By ▲ 0.06 (0.92%)
KEL 4.50 Decreased By ▼ -0.05 (-1.1%)
KOSM 4.48 Decreased By ▼ -0.09 (-1.97%)
MLCF 36.20 Increased By ▲ 0.79 (2.23%)
OGDC 122.92 Increased By ▲ 0.53 (0.43%)
PAEL 23.00 Increased By ▲ 1.09 (4.97%)
PIAA 29.34 Increased By ▲ 2.05 (7.51%)
PIBTL 5.80 Decreased By ▼ -0.14 (-2.36%)
PPL 107.50 Increased By ▲ 0.13 (0.12%)
PRL 27.25 Increased By ▲ 0.74 (2.79%)
PTC 18.07 Increased By ▲ 1.97 (12.24%)
SEARL 53.00 Decreased By ▼ -0.63 (-1.17%)
SNGP 63.21 Increased By ▲ 2.01 (3.28%)
SSGC 10.80 Increased By ▲ 0.05 (0.47%)
TELE 9.20 Increased By ▲ 0.71 (8.36%)
TPLP 11.44 Increased By ▲ 0.86 (8.13%)
TRG 70.86 Increased By ▲ 0.95 (1.36%)
UNITY 23.62 Increased By ▲ 0.11 (0.47%)
WTL 1.28 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
BR100 6,941 Increased By 63.6 (0.92%)
BR30 22,802 Increased By 233 (1.03%)
KSE100 67,142 Increased By 594.3 (0.89%)
KSE30 22,090 Increased By 175.1 (0.8%)

ISLAMABAD: “The average cellular subscriber in Pakistan now uses 7.5 GBs of mobile data per month (as of January 2023), a significant increase from just 2 GBs in 2018. If this trend continues, the average Pakistani cellular subscriber could be using up to 12 GBs per month in the next five years.”

These insights were shared by Jazz CEO Aamir Ibrahim while talking to the Business Recorder.

He highlighted the need for enabling policies for the telecom sector to help continually meet the growing mobile data demand in Pakistan.

The growth in data demand has been supported by a $4 billion investment by cellular operators, the majority share of which has been invested by Jazz.

While stressing that increased data growth delivers enormous socioeconomic dividends, Aamir cautioned that the telecom industry’s dollarized cost structure had caused the per-user average revenues to dip to $0.75 - the lowest globally. “An ARPU below $1.5 is not sustainable for the industry to operate,” he stressed.

He also pointed out import ban restrictions on essential telecom equipment limiting telecom operators’ ability to expand connectivity and even perform routine maintenance operations impacting service reliability.

Import ban restrictions have also caused some of the newly-established smartphone manufacturing units in Pakistan to shut down. This could make even the most motivated industry players give up the dream of becoming Vietnam or India in terms of local manufacturing, and ultimately further inflate the import bill.

Aamir added that while the industry, in general, and, Jazz, in particular, were doing their best to accelerate the local digital ecosystem, the financial health of the telecom industry remained severely impacted due to an unprecedented rise in business costs.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023

Comments

Comments are closed.