Monthly data of PTA”: Number of cellular subscribers, broadband penetration declines

ISLAMABAD: The number of cellular subscribers, broadband penetration, mobile teledensity as well as total teledensity continue to decline on month-on-month basis, ie, during December 2022 compared to November for the third consecutive month, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority’s data revealed.

The number of cellular subscribers in Pakistan decreased by 0.77 million to 192.78 million by end December compared to 193.55 million by end November. The broadband penetration also declined from 56 percent in November 2022 to 55.81 per cent in December 2022.

The monthly data of the PTA shows that teledensity for cellular mobile decreased from 86.7 per cent by end November to 86.34 per cent by end December. The total teledensity decreased from 87.9 per cent by end November to 87.51 per cent by end December.

The Monthly Next Generation Mobile Service (NGMS) penetration increased from 54.15 per cent by end November to 54.43 per cent by end December.

Senior officials at the PTA told Business Recorder that the decline was possibly due to the implementation of 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 in a decline of illegal SIM issuance by operators that resulted in decline in cellular mobile subscription. The trend/situation will be clear in the next couple of months, they added.

The number of 3G and 4G users in Pakistan increased by 0.65 million from 120.89 million by end November 2022 to 121.54 million by end December.

Jazz’s total count for 3G users declined from 5.054 million by end November to 4.919 million by end December registering a decrease of 0.135 million.

Jazz 4G users jumped from 40.858 million by end November to 41.149 million by end December.

Zong 3G subscribers decreased from 2.781 million by end November to 2.720 million by end December, while the number of 4G users increased from 31.032 million by end November to 31.353 million by end December.

Telenor 3G subscribers decreased from 3.102 million by end November to 3.045 million while the number of 4G users of Telenor increased from 22.484 million by end November to 22.560 million by end December.

Ufone 3G users stood at 2.917 million by end December compared to 2.977 million by end November. The number of 4G users of Ufone increased from 11.165 million by end November to 11.432 million by end December, registering a 0.267 million increase during the period under review.

The PTA received 15,568 complaints from telecom consumers against different telecom operators and cellular operators in December 2022, out of which 15240 (97per cent) 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 December.

Cellular mobile subscribers constitute a major part of the overall telecom subscriber base. Therefore, the maximum number of complaints belongs to this segment. The total number of complaints against CMOs by December stood at 14988, out of which 14,827 (98per cent) were addressed.

According to the PTA data, 6,162 complaints were received against Jazz, out of which 6,118 (99 per cent) were resolved. Further, 2,960 complaints against Telenor were received, out of which 2,933 (99 per cent) were resolved. Likewise, 4,416 complaints were received against Zong, out of which 4,403 (99 per cent) were addressed. A total of 1,438 complaints were received against Ufone, out of which 1,362 (94per cent) were resolved.

PTA also received 175 complaints against basic telephony, out of which 119 were addressed during December, for a resolution rate of 68per cent. Furthermore, 401 complaints were received against ISPs, of which 291 (72per cent) were addressed.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023