Telenor Pakistan Will See Growth In Broadband Usage In Pakistan

Telenor started its 4G services in Pakistan last year, Although the infrastructure for broadband services in Pakistan is still not up to mark as compared to other players in the market like Zong and Mobilink.

Reported by Reuters, CEO of Telenor Sigve Brekke said that Telenor has seen lifted margin in earnings due to broadband growth in the region of Asia, while giving a presentation on Thursday on Company’s first quarter performance.

He further said, the data growth is providing more margin than voice, the main reason why we are focusing on EBITDA growth.

The smartphone penetration in countries like; Bangladesh and Pakistan is low that’s why we project a continuous growth in mobile data in these markets said the CEO.

The data segment is highly driven by the availability of cheaper smartphones in these markets, which is ongoing, you can now grab a smartphones in these markets in $30,the prices of smartphones are reduced by 20% during the past couple of years.

The Asian market is emerging, and became growth star in the first quarter, we also acquired 10 million mobile data users in last year, we will continue to focus on rolling out 3G in Bangladesh, 4G in Pakistan and Myanmar.

We have also increased coverage on our network in Myanmar, it was 62% before and now we’ve moved up to 90% said the CEO.

While Telenor can grow in Asian market gradually, it will still get hard time in Pakistani 4G market due to intense competition between rivals. Telenor no doubt will continue to grow in Pakistan as far as data is concerned, but it should adopt a strategy either cost leadership or quality in order to gain edge over rivals to secure permanent growth in Pakistan.