Blog: Pakistan Tele Density Market Grew by 2.2 Percent

In the outgoing fiscal year 2009-10, the cellular operators enjoyed significant increase of 4.84 million subscribers on their networks.The competition, to attract new customers and to retain the existing customers, intensified between the cellular operators as they offered free minutes, SMS, balance and different prize money schemes.

Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) stated that the cellular phone sector’s tele-density grew by 2.2 percent to 60.4 percent by the end of 2009-10. The total number of cellular subscribers increased to 99.18 million in FY 2009-10.

Mobilink topped the charts by getting the most customers subscribed to its network, by adding 3.065 million customers to widen its base to 32.2 million 2009-10. Telenor being the runner up in the fiscal year of 2009-10 increased its user base to 23.7 million with increase of 2.9 million customers. Zong, with a surge of 31,700 customers in the fiscal year 2009-10 grew its subscriber base to 6.7 million. In comparison, Ufone and Warid’s subscribers’ base tapered to 19.5 million and 16.9 million, as their number of users cried off by 45,500 and 95,500 customers, respectively.

In the previous fiscal year, the telecom authority rectified the data of millions of customers affiliated with different networks due to unregistered SIMs with Computerized National Identity Cards. The network operators seemed reluctant from subtraction in their subscriber base due to unregistered SIMs but employed different tactics to slowly remove the unregistered SIMs from their network.

With lowest rates hourly packages, free minutes and falling calls rates, the majority network operators became successful in widening their users’ base. In 2008-09, the total number of subscribers increased to 6.32 million with the tele-density jumping to 58.20 percent, up 3.6 percent from its proceeding previous year.