ISLAMABAD, JULY21: Pakistan Mobile Communications Limited, or Jazz for short, has gotten the biggest syndicated credit facility of the private sector, worth Rs75 billion, from commercial banks. The money will go toward building out its 4G network, improving mobile internet access, and encouraging digital inclusion.
On Friday, the firm that provides mobile phone services and a group of banks led by The Bank of Punjab (BOP) inked a 10-year financing deal. A statement reads, “(The) finance arrangement will support Jazz’s new ServiceCo model while significantly helping its ongoing 4G network expansion and technological upgrades.” Technology analyst Noman Said noted in an interview with Media that significant investment was needed in the telecom sector to enhance Pakistan’s subpar voice and broadband capabilities.
Many mobile phone users still obtain several internet connections from different broadband providers and continually switch between them in order to efficiently complete activities, particularly in the business and industrial sectors as well as in offices. “This not only makes life miserable, but it also drives up the cost of operating digital devices dramatically.”
Furthermore, significant efforts are needed to enhance mobile phone coverage outside of big cities, including semi-urban and rural areas.The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) reports that the country has 192 million mobile subscribers, or a mobile teledensity of 79.48%. Pakistan also boasts a 55.07% mobile internet penetration rate and 133 million mobile broadband users.
PTA stated in its most recent Annual Report for 2022–2023 that access to international internet bandwidth with a total capacity of 13.3 Tbps was made possible by the connectivity of Pakistan’s telecom infrastructure, which is made up of seven undersea cables and one land-based optical fiber cable. Digital services are now more accessible and of higher quality because to this infrastructure.
According to PTA, “connection with three additional submarine cables is in the works to enhance capacity and redundancy.” In order to create the Draft Framework for Frequency Spectrum Re-farming, PTA worked with pertinent authorities. Once approved, this framework will maximize spectrum utilization, improve the quality and coverage of mobile broadband, allow multiple technologies to coexist within a frequency band, and support the financial sustainability of licensees in the telecommunications industry.
