Communications in Pakistan

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1 Mobile Telecommunications
2 Telephone system
3 Internet
4 See also

[edit] Mobile Telecommunications

Telecom sector is seeing exhorbitant growth in Pakistan. The sector is said to be growing at a pace of 170 per cent yearly. Mobile subscribers crossed 48.5 million at the end of December 2006, according to Pakistan Telecommunications Authority(PTA), and 2.7 million subscribers are added monthly. According to the PTA, Mobilink continues to lead the market with 22.7 million subscribers, followed by Ufone (10.1 million), Warid Telecom (7.6 million), Telenor (6.6 million), Paktel (1.5 million) and Pakcom (285,000). All Telecom companies are now working to broaden their network in AJK and Northern Areas, which were normally ignored till now.

Main listing: List of mobile phone companies in Pakistan

[edit] Telephone system

Main listing: List of Telephone Companies in Pakistan

The domestic system is mediocre, but improving; service is adequate for government and business use, in part because major businesses have established their own private systems; since 1988, the government has promoted investment in the national telecommunications system on a priority basis, significantly increasing network capacity; despite major improvements in trunk and urban systems, telecommunication services are still not readily available to the majority of the rural population. There are currently 6 million landline subscribers in the country.

domestic: microwave radio relay, coaxial cable, fiber-optic cable, cellular, and satellite

Landlines: For local calls the code used is STD. For calls to other cities (e.g. Karachi to Lahore) the code is called Non-STD. International calls are referred to the same.

Dialling System: When dialling on landlines, calls made within cities are considered local calls. Calls to other cities (e.g Karachi to Lahore) are considered long distance calls and are metered according to distance. (e.g. When dialling to Lahore from Karachi you have to dial the code for Lahore then follwoed by the number of the destination, therefore you dial 042-XXX-XXXX ). For local calls, you just dial the local number. For international calls, you dial "00" followed by the country code. (e.g. For calls to the UK from Pakistan you dial 00 - 44 - XXXXXX ).

International: satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (1 Atlantic Ocean and 2 Indian Ocean); 3 operational international gateway exchanges (1 at Karachi and 2 at Islamabad); microwave radio relay to neighboring countries.

[edit] Internet

Internet access has been available in Pakistan since the mid-1990s. PCTL started offering access via the nationwide local call network in 1995. By early 2006 Internet penetration remained low. But the numbers are growing. There were signs that this was changing, however. The country has been pursuing an aggressive IT policy, aimed at boosting Pakistan’s drive for economic modernization and creating an exportable software industry. Broadband access is now available in the major cities. Also wireless broadband internet has been introduced by the WLL(Wireless Local Loop) Networks in many major cities. There is no doubt that has been helping increase the popularity of the Internet. The market certainly has huge potential. In January 2007, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority reported over 12 million internet users, however the low bandwidth is a concern for most. Most Pakistani companies, and government departments maintain web sites which has further increased the demand for internet.