GSMA Report Highlights Mobile Broadband Networks Cover 80 Percent Of Pakistan

The GSMA report on "The power of mobile to accelerate digital transformation in Pakistan" Thursday highlighted that mobile broadband networks cover 80 percent of the population and 97 percent of internet connections are mobile

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 17th Oct, 2019 ) :The GSMA report on "The power of mobile to accelerate digital transformation in Pakistan" Thursday highlighted that mobile broadband networks cover 80 percent of the population and 97 percent of internet connections are mobile.

At a high-level roundtable meeting between the Government of Pakistan and mobile industry leaders, the GSMA launched its report, examining the transformative opportunities presented by mobile-enabled digital services in Pakistan, a press release said.

The report findings revealed that Pakistan has nearly 700,000 cellular IoT connections across the areas including agriculture, clean energy and safe water solutions. Mobile technology is the Primary channel for digital financial services, digital birth registration initiatives, digital health solutions and digital learning, it added.

"The mobile ecosystem in Pakistan plays an increasingly important role in economic growth, contributing around $16.7 billion, equivalent to 5.4 percent of GDP and use mobile platforms for national development plans: Pakistan's 12th Five-Year Development Plan runs from 2019 to 2024. There is a significant opportunity to incorporate mobile, particularly on efforts to improve areas such as gender equality, health, education and poverty reduction," the report said.

The meeting which held in partnership with the GSMA and Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication, with support from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), UK Department for International Development (DFID) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), discussed how Pakistan could advance digital and economic inclusion through mobile.

"Mobile offers the most extensive and inclusive platform to access the internet and digital technologies, which are vital to the Pakistan economy and its growth in an increasingly connected world," said Julian Gorman, Head of Asia Pacific, GSMA. "I am very excited about future potential and to see our member operators building on the good work already started through the Pakistan National Dialogue." Launching the report during the event, Minister of Information Technology and Telecommunication Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui said, the government, the private sector and the wider ecosystem, must work together collaboratively to deliver the promise of a digital Pakistan. He said the mobile industry is an important partner to deliver transformational change in the digital era and ensure that we bridge the digital divide.

The roundtable participants agreed that mobile technology presents a significant opportunity to achieve Pakistan's national development plans. Discussion at the roundtable affirmed the need for the public and private sectors to work hand in hand, as well as across many different government agencies that may not typically consider mobile a tool they can use to achieve their development targets.

The mobile technology is at the heart of digital transformation in Pakistan driving social development and economic growth. Digital transformation is underway in the country, with government and public institutions as well as private and development organizations using digital platforms to increase engagement and improve service delivery to its citizens.