The Mobilink has surpassed dollars one billion mark in capital investment during ongoing 2005 financial year, emerging as the largest private sector investor in telecom industry in Pakistan. Mobilink has achieved this historic mark in a short span of 11 years since its inception in 1994. Its investment till last year was over dollars 750 million.
However, as it continued to invest in expanding its capacity and coverage across the country, driven by phenomenal growth in its subscribers' base, the company has invested an additional dollars 300 million to date and another dollars 250 million is planned for the remainder of 2005. This will take Mobilink's coverage from the current presence in 350 cities, towns and villages to over 450, including all major roads and motorways, by end of the year.
With a total investment to-date of over dollars one billion, the company continues to consolidate its position as the clear market leader in the mobile sector in Pakistan. In addition Orascom Telecom is investing heavily in establishing an optic fiber backbone, and an undersea cable project in the country. The company's subscriber base had exceeded five million at the close of the year 2004.
At the end of the first quarter 2005 the subscribers' base has surged to over six million users. "It is the confidence put in Mobilink by its family of over six million users and the stability and transparency of the present governments' policies that has led our shareholders, Orascom Telecom to continue so heavily in this sector", said Mobilink President and CEO Zouhair Khaliq while speaking to a select gathering of journalists on Tuesday morning.