News Analysis |
4G LTE in Pakistan has been ranked 4th in the slowest internet provider services in the world with an average speed of 11 Mbps, behind only Iran, India, Costa Rica and Saudi Arabia.The average global speed for 4G is 20mbps, according to tech observers.
In terms of availability, 4G services cover 57.15% of the map, which ranks 6th in the world (in terms of least covered area). In a comparative analysis, India stands at 84% coverage. India has managed to increase its coverage by a whopping 10 percent each year and aims at 100 percent connectivity in the next three years.
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Indian telecommunication companies have been planning to offer 5G services by 2020. India’s customer clouds are dense, which is the reason behind their average available speed that stands at 6mbps.
The largest Pakistani domestic internet service provider, PTCL, has often been criticized for its flimsy internet services and zero response rate.
With coverage of 56%, Zong’s average 4G speed was recorded at 10Mbps, while Warid’s average speed for 4G was recorded at 9mbps.
South Korea topped the coverage list with 97 percent LTE coverage followed by Japan with 90 percent. No single country has yet achieved one hundred percent coverage. All 77 countries on the list blame this on the fact that they have terrains that cannot receive Edge signals, let alone 3G and 4G.
According to the data of Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), the number of 4G (Zong) users jumped from 254,122 subscribers in November 2015 to 282,701 subscribers in December 2015, while Warid has a total of 10.69 million customers.
Ufone, owned solely by Pakistan TeleCommunication Services (PTCL) was the third player to enter the market back in 2001.
As per July 2017 statistics, Jazz had 52,325,198 subscribers (doubled after the merger), Zong had 28,423,969 subscribers while Ufone had 18,361,997 subscribers.
According to PTA stats in the resolution of customer complaints, as per April-June 2017 complaints received from Telenor, Mobilink, Zong, Ufone, and Warid are 2095, 1889, 1432, 969 and 617 respectively. Resolved complaints by Telenor, Mobilink, Zong, Ufone, and Warid are 2071, 1714, 1419, 946 and 553. Zong stood at the top in respect to customer services and satisfaction. Zong is the rebranded form of China Mobile, which had acquired Paktel GSM and re-launched in 2005 as Zong. Zong is also the largest green network, with the highest number of towers powered by solar panels.
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Telenor is one of the most popular telecommunication networks in Pakistan in terms of internet services and packages. It is the oldest international telecommunication service in the world, cited to have started its operations in 1855 as a telegraph service in Norway. It was brought to Pakistan in 2005 as Telenor Pakistan by the Norwegian parent company, Telenor Group.
Ufone, owned solely by Pakistan TeleCommunication Services (PTCL) was the third player to enter the market back in 2001. Ufone is the largest network in terms of outreach but lacks in internet service far behind Telenor, Zong, and Jazz.
Zong is the rebranded form of China Mobile, which had acquired Paktel GSM and re-launched in 2005 as Zong.
The largest Pakistani domestic internet service provider, PTCL, has often been criticized for its flimsy internet services and zero response rate. Their customer services have been frequently trolled on social media and it has been cited as the worst internet provider in the world. This might have been a contributing factor to the wild-fire subscriptions to Nayatel, a Fiber To The Home service launched in Rawalpindi, Islamabad and adjoining areas in 2004, with average speeds ranging from 4mbps to 10mbps. Nayatel offers unparalleled customer service including a 24/7 helpline as well as online media content like movies and television series.
As the Pakistani market for telecommunications networks becomes increasingly competitive and the companies mentioned above keep trying to outdo one another, one can hope that this will lead to Pakistan having better 4G LTE in the near future.