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India lags behind Pakistan in telecom(Flare (Pakistan) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) India is ahead of Pakistan for launching an advanced cellular phone services, that is, 3G with nearly one million of customers in nine cities having high per capita income. On the other hand, Pakistan has yet to be introduced this technology in the country Telecom creates the ability to communicate, to connect and to go beyond boundaries. But unfortunately, the benefits are not for all. The harsh reality is that there are numerous areas in both Pakistan and India, where the population is deprived of even the basic facility of distance communication. A new era has been dawn. An era where communication is not just transmitting and receiving voices but videos and texts. Better communication provides better access to social benefits such as education, healthcare, public safety and above all economic opportunities. So far, India has crowned the status in the region with its faster growth in number of telephony services subscriptions but also in technology and investment inflow. While, Pakistan couldn’t make it to maintain its status of a country with highest teledensity among South Asian nations as India has superseded a top position in the region with overwhelming adoption of technology and telephony services by it masses. Though the country has been witnessing constant growth in number of subscribers particularly in cellular sector, it could not retain its top position in South Asia as a country with the highest tele-density. There are few features of the two countries and telecom sectors remain similar. The tele-density remained high in the heavily populated 20 cities of both countries mainly with high economic activities and income power. The rest of the cities have been witnessed slow penetration despite number of telecommunication operators are more than of country’s demand, analysts said. The actual figures of phone users are not accurate and less than reported by the authorities because millions connections are inactive in many parts of the country. Pakistan total tele-density has been reached 67.8 percent with overall 116.5 million users including mobile phone, landline, and wireless whereas Indian tele-density reached 68.4 percent with number total users stood at 826.25 million. Pakistan cellular phone subscription witnessed constant growth in the country amid stiff price war and services by operators, crossing 108 million mark with the tele-density reached 64.8 percent. Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) latest update statistics showed the subscription of mobile operators in the current fiscal year registered tremendous growth on the networks of different operators. The total number of cellular phone SIMs has increased to 107.886 million on the networks of five operators. Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) announced that it has crossed 600,000 mark for broadband internet customers in over 1,000 cities. Some 200 cities and around 200,000 customers additional customers came through USF provided subsidy. PTCL in its statement said that since the launch of its broadband DSL services in May 2007, company has made the broadband technology affordable by offering low-cost packages and by geographically bringing the service within the reach of a common user of Pakistan. In terms of population and number of users Pakistan has been retained the highest of country in the highest teledensity till 2011. The tele-density is calculated as number of telephone connections per 100 people. The tele-density of Pakistan is evaluated with 160 million mark whereas India is with 1.25 billion. Now, the number of telephone subscribers in India increased to 846.32 million at the end of March 2011 as compared with 826.25 million, thereby registering a growth rate of 2.43 percent. The overall tele-density in India reached 70.89 by March. Wireless subscriber base increased from 791.38 million to 811.59 million registering a growth of 2.55 percent. Wireless tele-density stands at 67.98. India is ahead of Pakistan for launching an advanced cellular phone services, that is, 3G with nearly one million of customers in nine cities having high per capita income. On the other hand, Pakistan has yet to be introduced this technology in the country because of telecom operators unwillingness and reluctance on the grounds of low purchasing power of users and lack of earning opportunities against heavy in-vestment. Pakista is leading in the cellular users who migrated through a service called Mobile Number Portability (MNP) launched in 2004. India introduced MNP services in January 2011 with 6.4 million network migrated users so far. Despite all these, the number of subscription in different telecom services are forecast to be increasing with emerging technology and growth in rural areas of both countries with huge land and populated areas. In Pakistan, analysts said, the users subscribers base is likely to contract significantly after unverified and unregistered SIMs are blocked in millions. The campaign of PTA initiated on the direction of interior ministry will cut the huge subscription and overall tele-density in the country. The cellular users will be held responsible under law if the SIM under his or her name is used in punishable offence therefore users are liable to block the SIM within 24 hours to the concerned operators if it is loss or theft. PTA stated this in its recently issued “Subscribers Antecedents Verification Regulations” for cellular subscribers and operators that explained the registration and maintenance of accurate data of their users through proper documentation and complete verification by National Database Registration Authority (NADRA). |