Can 3G and 4G do wonders with Data in Pakistan?

Pakistan’s telecom industry can easily be regarded as one of the most competitive market in the region, where world’s top telecom operators with ultra deep pockets contend to get their share by leaving no stone unturned. Backgrounder Data has never been marketed and sold like data. It has always been a race to attract more customers. Unfortunately monopoly behavior PTCL has always pushed other operators to indulge into this number game and in doing so they could never actually promote the data and make it a part of our daily lives. That game is still on and it is still the number of customers that matter. What this data is being used for is not the concern of data sellers. 2 MBs are being converted into 4MBs and so on. Once again PTCL is in competition with 3G operators and resultantly we are seeing similar ads from 3G operators in which they are using “unlimited” and “MBs” terms. Betting on 3G Considering that Pakistan had only some 3 million broadband subscriptions before the auction of 3G and 4G licenses, and if we look at 3G uptake during first six month of service — i.e. more than four million 3G users which is 2.9% of 138m users in this short span of time but the reality is that 4 million claim includes those customers who got connected with the network even once in last 90 days meaning if we look at the last two weeks customers on the 3G networks it will be around 1.5m. Moreover the 2.9% share is not justified if we calculate it with total base since 3G services are not all over Pakistan– one can easily judge the tune of the market but its still too early to predict. If we look at the track record of this nation, then Pakistanis are usually very hungry for new technologies and their adoption rate is decidedly high for new tech or for anything that’s better than what they were using earlier. This has happened before (during 2G era), and from its looks one can be certain that total subscription count for 3G users can cross 20 million in first 30 months Lets talk about the neighboring countries, India, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. 3G and 4G was launched in India in 2008 and 2012 while the total 3G customers are approx. 107m which is 12 percent of the total 884m users while only 225k are 4G users which is not a very healthy number. Smart phone penetration in India is around 10 percent and youtube is not banned there. The operators are not using conventional techniques by just promoting MB,s and speed while very creatively communicating the utility of data to there consumers and how it syncs with there lifestyle. To generate revenues they are selling USB Dongles, Developed Apps such as One Touch Internet by Airtel, music services and TV services have also been developed to increase Data consumption. On the other hand Afghanistan has 700k 3G subscribers which is 3.2% (in 30 months) of the total 21.5m users with smart phone penetration of approx. 8%. And Bangladesh is 4.8m in two years, which is 4% of the total 118m users. Both are promoting Mi-Fi routers to generate revenues as an ad-on. Ingredients for Boosting 3G However there’s a catch: 3G adoptions is dependent on variety of things, including Consumer awareness Devices, Ecosystem And of course the network coverage. If we assume that coverage can be taken care of by telcos, the other two essential elements lie in the hands of handset industry (for devices) and the government and private sector (for building of the ecosystem). On top of this, user awareness is another essential part where consumers are rightly educated about the benefits of next-gen technologies. Telco,s started there awareness campaigns by promoting speed and MB,s which was a norm in broadband industry as well where no one could explain how data is useful in our daily life other then Facebook and twitter while youtube is still on a hold. What about the applications that can be useful for the consumer in daily routine to increase data usage? Either they follow Steve Jobs strategy by giving consumer what he/she should need or learn from the consumer there insight and create what they want but nothing done so far except trying to add the numbers instead of focusing on revenue generating ideas/customers. Its time to Gamify and engage the customer by giving them product experience. Its time to create a world class customer education communiqué which is not just models dancing on the TV screen with cell phones in there hand talking re-activation, speed and MB,s but informative tactical telling them how it (data) syncs in ones lifestyle. An ongoing campaign that is not just on conventional mediums but bridging the On-ground connect by reaching to customers where they are, be it Malls, Hotspots, Institutes or offices, engage them with product trial creatively and its benefits, make viral videos for new media and what not once the consumer understands its usage other then facebook etc the results will speak itself, while currently everyone is swimming in red ocean, nothing eccentric or clutter breaking. Creating blue ocean and over ruling the competition takes guts and a thorough research while results are over whelming. Now if we just have a look at current market scenario, low-end 3G devices are readily available in the market. There are in fact half a dozen 3G smartphones that cost less than USD 100. This segment is only going to get rich with time, as more and more vendors are making their way to Pakistani market (reference: OPPO, Lenovo, Haier that entered Pakistani market in last six months). Increase in smartphone penetration and operators bundling with smartphones can be a positive sign for 3G growth. Similarly, the digital ecosystem has picked up the pace. Number of startups surfacing every other day and the magnitude of FDI we are getting for digital companies is a clear hint of the uptake in the digital assets of the country. Sohaib Sheikh Sohaib Sheikh Lack of Government Support Unfortunately, Government, other than engulfing millions of dollars (in license fee), has done nothing so far. They are in fact negatively impacting the sector that brings them the top dollar to run the national economy. Taxes, tightening regulations, absence of cyber law, expired policies, right of ways for infrastructure rollout, and what not. The time has come for the authorities concerned to get serious with the work they are doing. Conclusion If done rightly, next-gen technologies can turn out to be a life-savor for telecom operators. But for that, government will also have to play its role to provide a level-playing field to cellular operators to ensure that industry is on flourishing path in the long run. The author is a telecom specialist with expertise in Marketing and Corporate Communications. He can be reached at;