Pakistan has witnessed an off-the-charts growth in its broadband subscribers in the last five years, according to the State Bank of Pakistan's (SBP) recent Special Section on 'Covid-19 and the Need to Boost Digital Connectivity in Pakistan'.

Broadband penetration in the economy more than quadrupled in the last five years from only 8.9 percent in June 2015 to 39.1 percent by March 2020.

As COVID cases rise in the country, businesses in various sectors, schools and even the government had to move online to curb the spread of this virus. Hence, making it necessary to invest and innovate in improving broadband penetration in the country.

Pakistan's significant progress in increasing digital penetration in the economy, especially through investments in telecom and internet services, has also facilitated growth in its digital economy.

According to the State Bank of Pakistan, this growth in broadband subscribers was primarily led by a surge in Next Generation Mobile Services (NGMS) subscribers after the auctions of 3Gand 4G spectrum licenses in 2014.

Keeping in view the need for digital services and the surge in mobile data traffic, the PakistanTelecommunications Authority (PTA) has also granted permission to two additional cellular mobile operators in the country to conduct noncommercial trials of 5G in January 2020.