It is difficult to imagine that not so long ago in Pakistan, it used to cost a fortune to make an international call — that had to be pre-booked via the operator and would otherwise cost a lot more. And that even the elite had to think long and hard before purchasing and using a mobile phone. The ‘internet’ seed had not been planted yet publicly. But the fortunate ones accustomed to the term had to do with a gloomy and unattractive text-only version. The pager was the in-thing as a majority of household witnessed the green analogue dialing phones courtesy of our beloved telecom authority.However, the introduction of global system for mobile communication (GSM) technology in Pakistan by Mobilink paved way for greater inroads. Although Instaphone and Paktel had offered the advanced mobile phone system (AMPS) in 1991, its usage was merely restricted to business executives and government professionals. Mobilink, due to the intense popularity of GSM services across and outside of Pakistan, remained the sole service provider for the next seven years and saw its customer base expand from thousands to millions by the year 2000.
The introduction in the market of government-backed Ufone in 2001, Paktel launching their GSM services in 2004, and the launch of Telenor and Warid the following year effectively shaped Pakistan’s booming mobile phone industry. Up until the latter part of 1999 when a customer was charged for incoming calls to now, when calling the US costs as low as two rupees a minute, people from all walks of life have taken a preference to mobile phones instead of the ever-tenuous landline structure and failing reliability.
Even with failing reliability and ungratified customer-base, there have been monumental improvements — in call rates as well as facilities offered — in what a Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) customer has experienced ever since its formation in 1996. International call rates as high as sixty rupees per minute and the phone lines that could not handle data signals have transformed into the cheapest-ever call rates, value-added services like call-waiting, conference-calling, caller line-id as well as broadband services on the very phone lines. Add wireless phones from various companies and the telecom industry produces a scenario impossible to have been envisaged a decade ago.
As far as the internet accessibility is concerned, Pakistan has witnessed a storm of a growth in the last fifteen years. From a handful of Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in the mid-90s — namely Compunet, Paknet and Cybernet among the more popular ones — and high access rates, the country not only saw an uncontrollable, and freak emergence of ISPs, but also a sharp rise in the number of cyber cafes witnessed in many cities.
As computers became a household commodity with the fall in prices, residential connections for these ISPs increased considerably, especially less costly dial-up connections. From connections as slow — or fast, depending on the era one is in — 9.6 kbps gradually leading up to 33.6kbps and finally 54kbps, home users were finally introduced to the wonder that was the internet. With technological advancement, and the reduction in bandwidth charges by Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), there came the cable (shared networks) and finally, DSL.
“Pakistan is going through an interesting phase and the two licenses auctioned couple of years ago have revolutionised our entire industry,” says Mohsin Jafri, founder and CEO of Zumbeel. “The global telecom players are in the middle of a fierce fight for subscribers and even though price war is at peak, unless each network provider creates its own unique selling point, there will not be any emotional attachment to their customers,” he adds.
Although Pakistan lags behind the rest of the world when it comes to the advent, and public use of technology, the acclivity of not only the advancement, but also the implementation and adaptation of telecom-related technology has been steep. Pakistan came out top in the list of countries with the highest mobile phone growth rate last year and judging by the fervour associated with the device even at present, the craze that has become a necessity is certain to stay. With residential broadband speed as fast as 2mbps (fast by this country’s standards) being currently offered, coupled with Wi-Fi and EDGE usage on one’s hand-held, there is pure optimism, among great expectations, as one ponders on the future of telecom in Pakistan.
© Faras Ghani 2008
Published in SciTech World (Dawn newspaper) May 17, 2008
