PTA has instructed all telecom companies to report only those customers who have biometrically verified their SIMs. As a result, the user base number has dropped by more than 20 million.
The drop in numbers is a result of the biometric verification drive that was a result of the terrorist attack in Peshawar. You can check out our extensive coverage on the matter here.
The directive means that the current telecom user base has shrunk by 15% to 115.4 million as compared to 135.8 million on December 31, 2014 (before the drive for biometric verification).
In terms of statistics, right now Mobilink is leading with 33.9% of market share with Telenor close behind at 31.4%. Zong, Ufone and Warid complete the list with 22.7%, 17.6% and 9.8% of the market share.
While the telcos blocked millions of SIMs that weren’t verified on time, they still reported subscribers who were active for even one day in the last three months, even if the numbers were then blocked by the deadline. Therefore, the old figure was a misrepresentation and the new one should paint a more accurate picture of the industry.
Here is how much of the user base of the telcos was affected by the biometric verification drive:
- Mobilink lost 12% market share (4.5 million subscribers)
- Telenor lost 14% market share (5 million subscribers)
- Zong lost 14% market share (3.6 million subscribers)
- Ufone lost 20% market share
- Warid lost 21% market share
Mobilink retained lost the least market share and remained top while Ufone and Zong both saw their user base shrink by more than 20%.
via Express Tribune
So many typos, don’t you guys proofread ._.
they have blocked my sim even though i was on international roaming :(
It’s not lost market share. It’s correct market share
This was a totally wrong and unjustified initiative to begin with. The illegitimate government doesn’t have a clue how to deal with security issues and overreacts in ways that give maximum inconvenience to the public. The companies were bound to lose customers. It’s a surprise they didn’t lose more.
they didnot blocked my sim even i didnot verified them. just loaded balance in them.
please hire a proofreader to get your articles proofread before submission. The status above defy the last statement (“Mobilink retained lost the least market share and remained top while Ufone and Zong both saw their user base shrink by more than 20%.”), it’s not Ufone and Zong, it’s Ufone and Warid who lost more than 20% decrease in their userbase!