Facts:
- Mobile market is penetrated to 58%
- Subscribers have reached 97 million figures, expected to be 100 Million soon.
- ARPU’s are low because of excessive usage of Voice services
- Local content for using mobile broadband like 3G is not as such available.
- 3G will require huge imports for equipments infrastructure and can result in devalue of a Rupee.
- New generation mobile phones like Apple IPHONE, Google Android, Windows mobile etc, are available in Pakistan.
- Usage of new generation phones in masses.
- DSL broadband has market share of 64% out of total broadband – Out of 413,809 total subscribers DSL has 262,661 subscribers.
- There are only 2 Mobile TV’s available i.e. Telenor & Mobilink
- Prospects: How Useful 3G Services could be?
- Advertisement pushing services on mobile in form of MMS or video clips.
- Mobile TV
- Mobile broadband
- Revenue opportunity for Mobile handset market whole-sellers, retailers.
- High mobility for professionals, dependent on the 3G network coverage and deployment.
- Local content development opportunities.
- High stream Video telephony
- More competitive rates to subscribers
Will 3G deployment create opportunities?
- More Jobs, but mobile operators will prefer to hire internal resources on the same projects, because this is just an upgrade to technology and will not require much resource.
- Opportunities for Telecom and IT vendors.
- Customer service Outsourcing could also be in consideration of mobile operators, so it will outsourcing industry.
- Mobile handsets selling & buying opportunities
- High ARPU’s
- More mobile subscribers
What could be in Danger?
- Demand shift: Some mobile handsets may get obsolete and this could be also possible some old handsets with 3G feature may become expensive.
- After a while of 3G services launched, DSL Broadband service providers could be in danger because of mobile broadband. But let’s see what time has to say about it.
| Technology | 3G | 4G |
| Frequency band | 1.8 – 2.5GHz | 2 – 8GHz |
| Bandwidth | 5-20MHz | 5-20MHz |
| Data rate | Up to 2Mbps | 100Mbps moving – 1Gbps stationary |
| Access | W-CDMA | VSF-OFCDM and VSF-CDMA |
| FEC | Turbo-codes | Concatenated codes |
| Switching | Circuit/Packet | Packet |
- Conclusion:
- 3G services will definitely add value to mobile user experience. But with that PTA has to make sure that 3G services’ availability and accessibility must be deployed at masses and must ensure some best key performance indicators for the evaluation of 3G speed variability.
- With that local content developers have great opportunity to earn much revenue from. Even though we have not seen much local WAP portals or mobile sites that could offer local content even on 2.5G mobile networks.
