Despite the government’s recent announcement — which shows that it considers mobile phones as luxury items — it is Information Communication Technology (ICT) that has the potential to take Pakistan out of its economic woes.
Already, IT exports have shown sustained growth, with an increase of 29% month-on-month and 24% year-on-year, as per the State Bank of Pakistan’s third quarterly report.
Tens of thousands get jobs in app-based businesses like Careem, Uber, Foodpanda, Bykea, Airlift, etc., while tens of thousands of Pakistanis get employed through apps like Rozee.pk. A million Pakistanis, according to Payoneer, earn livelihoods by online freelancing. Millions enter the banking systems through branchless banking via mobile phones. Scores of tech start-ups get launched, while countless businesses improve their overall productivity and efficiency by the use of IT tools and applications available in the cloud.
This became possible because of the data (internet) connectivity provided by the telecom network. However, we are still far from the type of connectivity that is needed.
According to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, there are 113 million 3G/4G SIMs in service, in a population of 220 million, but that does not mean that 51% of people are online, simply because most people have multiple SIMs.
Lowering duties/taxes in upcoming budget could stimulate investments.
Besides getting more people online, the quality and speed of the internet also need vast improvements,...
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