Cell phone operators expanding 3G, 4G services with more investments

15 Sep, 2015

ISLAMABAD: The year 2014 has seen investment of US $ 1,789.7 million from Cellular Mobile Operators (CMOs) on account of acquiring and expanding their mobile broadband telecommunication networks.

The overall telecom investment during the year reached US$ 1,815 million - almost three times increase from level of US$ 600 million last year.

Almost half of telecom investment was in the form of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) i.e. telecom sector attracted over US$ 903 million of FDI in 2014, 34.2 % of the total FDI received by Pakistan in that period.

All the operators which acquired 3G and 4G licenses invested huge amount to expand their networks and ensure mobile broadband services in different parts of the country since its launch in April last year.

According to Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), spectrum auction for 3G and 4G cellular mobile services last year also contributed a lot in enhancing the FDI.

As per details, by end of 2014, US$ 965 million of auction proceeds were paid by the operators.

Meanwhile, the policies of present government were bearing fruits as a Saudi group has showed willingness to invest US $ 200 million in Pakistani software and telecom sector.

Copyright APP (Associated Press of Pakistan), 2015

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