TELECOM TIMELINE

2002
State-owned monopoly PTCL has earned over USD 1 billion revenue in FY2001-02.
Internet bandwidth availability increased to 400 MB/s and 250 cities connected through fiber optics.
Under an Ordinance, the division was upgraded into Ministry of Information Technology & Telecommunications (MoITT) in order to govern the IT and Telecom sector.
Inter operator SMS implemented.
46 licenses issued for Radio Based Services.
76 No Objection Certificate (NOCs) were issued for telecom equipment.


First DSL service launched by MicroNet in Islamabad and Rawalpindi.
Total 80 licenses issued for Value Added Services.

2003

Two new Cellular Mobile Licenses awarded to Telenor and Warid telecom against an amount of US$ 291 million each through open auction.
12 LDI (Long Distance and International) and 77 LL licenses issued to 33 local and international companies
141 licenses issued for value added services and 84 licenses issued for radio based services
Video Conferencing allowed through hiring leased lines from PTCL
Telecommunications Sector declared an Industry
Total card pay phones in Pakistan reached 184,669.
12 long Distance and International (LDI), 76-Fixed Local Loop (FLL) and 92 Wireless Local Loop (WLL) licenses.
Mobile sector exhibits growth of 108%.

2004

Fixed line working connections reached up to 4.5% in July 2004.
Cellular penetration crossed the fixed line penetration in July 2004
Total number of mobile subscribers in Pakistan reached 12.5 million by end of June 2005 bringing mobile density to 8.3% crossing fixed line teledensity, which is 3.43%.
During 2004-05, telecom contributed Rs. 67.1 billion in the national exchequer in terms of taxes and fee. FDI in telecom sector amounted to US$ 494 million making it one-third of the total FDI in the country.
Over 2.1 million internet subscribers existing in Pakistan.

2005

Total telecom revenue standing at Rs 192.6 billion.
Telecom sector contributed Rs. 77.1 billion in the national exchequer in terms of taxes and regulatory fee.
183,063 additional direct & indirect jobs created in the telecom sector.

2006

Total Teledensity of Pakistan reached 26.19% in June 2006.
Etisalat takes over PTCL’s management.
Total teledensity of Pakistan reached 26.19% in June 2006.
Total telecom revenue was Rs 236 billion.
China Mobile investment is US$ 704 million for expansion of CMPak networks.
2.3 million Mobile subscribers added every month.
The telecom sector received above US$ 1.8 billion FDI, 35% of the total FDI.
Over one million jobs created since the deregulation of the telecom sector.

2007

Pakistan had almost 128 ISPs concentration across Lahore, Islamabad, and Karachi.
Cellular subscribers in Pakistan reached 76.6 million.
6,000 cities/towns/villages have mobile saturation.
Total investment in the LDI sector grew up to US$ 603 million.
Total LDI outgoing minutes from Pakistan grew to 1.3 billion minutes.
Total fixed line connections stood at 4.8 million where as the teledensity is 3.04%.
387,490 PCOs including WLL based PCOs working across Pakistan
Broadband subscribers reached 71,000 and 65% of Pakistani broadband users enjoy DSL broadband technology.
Total number of Internet subscribers crossed 3.5 million and total number of users crossed 17 million.
The total teledensity of AJK & NAs was 20.1 in 2006-07 as compared to 3.6 in 2005-06.
Overall growth in teledensity in the region due to deregulation is 450%.
Mobilink continues to lead the market with the greatest share of consumers and corporates.

2008

Mobile subscribers were 89.9 million.
According to the PTA, Mobilink continues to lead the market with 28.47 million subscribers, followed by Telenor (19.38 million), Ufone (19.30 million), Warid Telecom (16.65 million), Zong (5.5million) and Instaphone (0.32).
WiMAX Wireless Devices Connections are available from 256Kbit to 1Mbit.
Mobilink launches WiMAX service,Infinity.
Pakistan Telecommunication Authority reported over 22 million internet users.

2009

Broadband subscribers increased to 600,000 subscribers in the country.
Fixed teledensity is 3.3, which was just 2.32 in year 2000.
Mobile saturation currently is 10 million people in the country.

Source: CIO Pakistan, May 6th 2009
http://ciopakistan.com/2009/05/here%E2%80%99s-a-look-at-the-progress-the-telecom-industry-has-made-between-2002-to-2008/