Pakistan ranks 1st for affordable telecom services

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has been ranked number one for the provision of most affordable telecom services amongst 139 countries.

According to World Economic Forum’s Network Readiness Index Report, Pakistan is ahead of India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in the South Asian region, which are ranked at 8th, 14th and 35th respectively.

Furthermore, Competitiveness Index Report of World Economic Forum has also ranked Pakistan above India, Bangladesh and Iran in terms of availability of latest technologies and internet bandwidth, says a press release issued by Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) on Saturday.

It may be noted that World Economic Forum is regarded as one of the most reputed, credible and authentic source of information globally.

Cable.co.uk has ranked Pakistan at number 33 based on its calculation of average price of 1 GB mobile data @ USD 1.85 per month, which is not correct.

The PTA has evaluated monthly plans/ packages offered by mobile companies in Pakistan and average price of 1 GB turns out to be only USD 0.72.

Based on PTA’s analysis, Pakistan’s average price per GB is the second lowest in the Asia Pacific region ahead of Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Iran, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Malaysia, Indonesia etc.

Further, the PTA also gathered data from mobile companies, according to which, the average price of 1 GB mobile data is in the range of USD 0.29 to USD 0.59 per month.

The PTA has also contacted representatives of Cable.co.uk for clarification through email and telephone, however, no response has been received as of yet.