Pakistan Crosses 100 Million Broadband Users Milestone

Owing to supportive government policies, effective competition among telecom operators, and the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority’s (PTA) commitment to introduce and utilize innovative technologies, broadband subscriptions in Pakistan have reached a record-breaking 100 million mark.

Pakistan had less than 2 million subscriptions in 2012, but the figure jumped to 16 million in 2014 after the introduction of 3G services and a grand 100 million in 2021. Today, 87 percent of the population has access to internet/broadband services at one of the lowest rates in the region.


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Broadband is provided over 3G/4G networks with an average download speed of 17.7 Mbps and an average upload speed of 11.3 Mbps (mobile), which exceeds the speed levels in other regional countries.

The prices of mobile data declined to only 0.70 percent of the Gross National Income (GNI) per capita, which is well below the UN Broadband Commission’s recommendation of less than two percent.

All four national Cellular Mobile Operators (CMOs), SCO, and fixed-line broadband operators, including the Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd. (PTCL), collectively have broadband subscriptions of over 100 million now. This was made possible due to the growing usage of data services in every segment of the national economy, popularity among users, and the introduction of new and innovative services by operators.


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The other milestones of Pakistan’s telecom sector include reaching 100 million mobile subscriptions in 2010, the introduction of the first-ever biometrically verified SIMs across the country in 2009, and the implementation of the world’s first open-source Device Identification Registration and Blocking System (DIRBS) in 2019.

The PTA has praised the users and the service providers for helping it to achieve this landmark and announced that it will formally celebrate the occasion soon with all the stakeholders and national/international telecommunity.



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