(April 30, 2018)
President Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum (PBIF), President AKIA, Senior Vice Chairman of the Businessmen Panel of FPCCI and former provincial minister Mian Zahid Hussain on Monday said Pakistan’s telecom sector is playing vital role in economic development of the Country. According to Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) the revenue of telecom sector for FY 2017 was estimated to be Rs. 170 billion.
FBR sources disclosed that telecom sector alone has paid more than Rs. 4.5 billion on account of different taxes to Government. Around 150 million people are using mobile phones however Pakistan’s own mobile Company (Ufone) holds the lowest market share as per PTA.
The veteran business leader while talking to the business community said that around 156 million people use mobile phones while more than 55 million people use broadband. The mobile service providers need to improve their services and promote education and introduces affordable packages for students. This will not only boost revenues of this highly profitable sector but will also support the growing economy of the Country.
The former minister said that five companies had submitted application for setting up assembly line of mobile sets manufacturing, which is need of the time considering high mobile phone consumption in the Country, this will also attract foreign direct investment in this profitable and growing sector. 77 percent of the smart phone users belong to 21 to 30 years of age and 60 percent of the mobile phone users keep more than one mobile device at a time.
Mian Zahid Hussain said mobile phones and internet services including 3G and 4G have positively impacted lives of people across the Country and connected the distant people to the rest of the globe through internet. Broadband users have significantly increased during the recent days along with vital increase in basic telephony services. According to a research 16 percent of smart phone users use paid application in Pakistan while 84 percent use free mobile apps.
