Zong taking lead in subscriber growth: PTA report

ISLAMABAD, Jan. 11 (Gwadar Pro) - Zong Mobile Network, Pakistan's second-largest GSM mobile service provider and third largest mobile service in terms of subscriber base of 44 million,  has further placed its productive share in Pakistan’s telecom revenue growth during Y2021-22.

As per Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) Annual Report 2022, in the domain of subscriber growth, Zong has taken the lead with 9% growth, followed by Jazz 8%, Telenor 1.4%, and Ufone 0.7%.

During the year under review, mobile subscriptions in Pakistan registered a healthy annual growth of 6%. In terms of mobile broadband subscriptions Zong secures the second spot with a share of 27.8%, while Jazz is leading with a share of 38%, and Telenor 21.4%, Ufone 11.6% and SCO 1.2%.

The report added that Zong 4G users have increased significantly in number. Zong 3G subscribers decreased from 2.855 million by the end of October to 2.781 million by the end of November, while the number of 4G users increased from 30.823 million by the end October 2022 to 31.032 million by the end of November.

As per the report, the telecom sector’s outstanding progress has resulted in a record-high revenue of Rs694 billion, which is up by 6 percent generated in FY 2021-2022 compared to Rs651 billion, during the same period of 2020-21.  However, economic slow-down and increased operational costs resulted in rather sluggish growth in the last quarter.

The sector attracted an investment of $ 2,073 million and contributed Rs325.2 billion to the national exchequer of which Rs222.7 billion were in the form of taxes and the remaining Rs102.5 billion were proceeds from Next Generation Mobile Services (NGMS) auction and license renewals.

Previously, Pakistan leaped to an ‘advanced’ level of 5th Generation (G5) regulator in the International Telecommunication Union’s 2022 regulators’ ranking. The Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA) rated Pakistan as an ‘emerging’ telecom market - a recognition that owes itself to multiple interventions.

Moreover, Pakistan manufactured a whopping 41.35 million mobile handsets (including 17.3 million smartphones) from January 2021 to September 2022, resulting in the creation of thousands of skilled jobs and local manufacturing of international brands such as Samsung, Nokia, Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo, Techno and Infinix.

It is pertinent to mention that for the first time in the country’s history, the import volume of mobile handsets registered a decline as most of the local demand was met through indigenously manufactured products, reflecting a huge shift in consumer behavior.