Zong today announced that its 4,600 cell sites out of total 8,650 towers across Pakistan are now on 3G network, while another 2,059 cell sites are on 4G network, that is with-in first 18 months of the 3G/4G spectrum auction.
These figures were revealed by Mr. Niaz A Malik, Deputy CEO of Zong, at the opening of Zong’s multi-brand experience center in Islamabad.
Mr. Malik said that his company is aiming to convert more than 5,000 towers to 3G network before the end of current year, while the count for 4G enabled cell sites will cross 2,700 mark by the December 2015.
“With such figures, we are clearly the fastest expanding 3G and 4G network of the Pakistan”, said Mr. Niaz Malik.
Mr. Malik said that Zong has plans to invest USD 400 million on network expansion. He said that this amount is in addition to USD 516 million that the company invested for 3G and 4G spectrum last year.
When asked about market demand and ROI of telecom investments in cut-throat markets like Pakistan, he said that technology companies invest for long-term ROIs. He said that considering the early impressions of Pakistan’s data needs, his company is confident about the ROIs and in fact it has plans to inject more investment in Pakistani market during years to come.
“Zong believes in future of Pakistan, the people and masses of Pakistan and in fact we are all set to play a pivotal role during and post Pakistan-China Economic Corridor era”, expressed Mr. Niaz A Malik.
Zong said that recently announced QoS Survey results and Ookla’s net index is a proof that Zong is offering premium quality of high-speed internet across the country. “We are going to only up the bar during days to come”, said the deputy CEO.
“We have succeeded in maintaining the number one slot with 3,094,683 3G and 132,502 4G/LTE users by the end of July 2015. By increasing our investments we are quite hopeful that our quality of services will further be enhanced to provide best telecom services to our valuable customers”, Mr. Malik concluded.
