MOBILE PHONE

Indication of a massive growth in the country's cellular phone industry came with a 27.57 percent growth in the first eleven months between July 2006 to May 2007 in the current financial year (2006-2007). The news on AHN featured statistics of Pakistan's imports in mobile phones in July-May period in the current financial year worth $0.80 million in contrast to $0.62 million in the corresponding period last year.

Daily Times quoted Shahid Khan, National Marketing Manager at Samsung Electronics anticipating a 21 percent increase in mobile phone exports in the next fiscal year. The surge in the mobile industry was the result of fierce competition in the market even as the leading brands faced stiff competition from Chinese imitation mobile phones duplicating expensive premium mobile phone brands.

Nokia leads the market brands with a 50 percent plus market share, while Sony Ericsson has over 20 percent users ahead of Motorola, Samsung, LG and others. Imports of related telecom equipment also rose owing to expansion of telecom network and services. Among operators, Pakistan's Telecommunication Authority (PTA) put Mobilink's clients at nearly 25 million with Ufone following with 12 million, Warid with 9.7 million and Telenor with 9.6 million.

Among the country's fastest growing sectors, telecom witnessed a teledensity increase from 4.5 percent two years ago to nearly 40 percent of the population. Pakistan has been gripped by the craze for mobile phones as figures of national subscribers shot up due to affordability of connection costs, pre-paid packages and phone sets.

The escalating growth in the sector in Pakistan and its optimism is reflected in the media ads of various companies. The fight for market share has spilled over to the airwaves and newsprint. One can't help but notice the advertising campaigns of mobile phones and services in the country as they dominate the media, billboards and every other medium possible.

A research analyst at RNCOS considers Pakistan to be one of the countries having tremendous untapped potential for telecom growth and a lucrative investment environment. As subscriber base escalates each day and mobile penetration, every month, the mobile cellular sector in Pakistan is set to exceed all estimates.