The Internet in Pakistan has been available since the early 1990s. According to the International Telecommunications Union there were 133,900 Internet users in 2000 or just 0.1% of the 164 million people in Pakistan. By 2006 use had grown to 12 million users or 7.2% of the population. Telecommunications being one of the fastest growing industries in the country, by 2011 the usage has grown up to 31 million users or 17.6% of the total population
History
The state-owned Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd (PTCL) started offering access via the nationwide local call network in 1995. The country has been pursuing an aggressive IT policy, aimed at boosting Pakistan’s drive for economic modernization and creating an exportable software industry. Pakistan had almost 128 ISPs in 2007, with customers concentrated in the areas of Islamabad, Karachi, and Lahore. Recently, PTCL has started offering free dial-up Internet service to all its landline subscribers. Broadband access is now available in the major cities, wireless broadband Internet has been introduced by the Wireless local loop (WLL) networks in many major cities, and Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) networks are being deployed. Fiber to the User (FTTU) triple-services are being offered by NayaTel in the capital city of Islamabad. In 2008, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) reported over 22 million Internet users. Most Pakistani companies, educational institutes, and government departments maintain web sites, which has further increased the demand for Internet access.
An increasing number of Pakistani users are adopting internet social networking. According to a report in 2012, there were over 6 million Pakistanis using Facebook, listing the country as having the 26th largest Facebook population.[3]
Language
Most Internet usage in Pakistan is still in English, however there seems to be a shift towards the Urdu language. Many Urdu based newspapers maintain an Urdu presence on web, however common usage is often done in romanized Urdu.[4]
Many of the ecommerce sites such as Daraz.pk, Shophive, and Homeshopping.pk present themselves in English. The same can be said for many online classifieds sites such as Pakwheels,Bolee,Olx and Hafeezcentre. However as mentioned there are an influx of players targeting the growing Urdu speaking Internet population by providing services in Urdu. The biggest switch can be seen in the fact that Google is now operating in Urdu but Facebook is yet to make Urdu an option. Other sites such as classifieds site Dekho.com.pk [5] and Klondajak and community based site Hamariweb are providing their services in Urdu.
Broadband
There were 1.3 million broadband subscribers in March 2011.[6] Broadband is offered at speeds that range from 1 Mbit/s to 50 Mbit/s in all major cities. The largest broadband providers are PTCL and Wateen. Smaller DSL providers are Micro Net, NayaTel, Maxcom, Multi Net, World Call, Cyber Net,Speed.Net, Gerry's Net, fiber2home, Witribe, Brain Net, SkyNet and Comsats.
In August 2007+, PTCL launched its Smart TV service, an IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) service. IPTV along with high-speed broadband internet and voice telephony is available on the subscribers existing telephone lines at the same time on one bill.[7] This and similar offerings continue to blur the boundaries between telephones, the Internet, and traditional television and radio broadcasting.
PTCL and World Call provide wireless broadband using the Evolution-Data Optimized (EV-DO) Rev. A standard, with speeds of up to 3.1 Mbit/s. PTCL provides its service under the brand name EVO which is available in more than 100 cities.[8] In August 2010 PTCL upgraded to EV-DO Rev. B (Phase 1). This new service, called EVO Nitro, offers speeds of up to 9.3 Mbit/s. PTCL broadband is truly leading the broadband revolution in the country and is changing the way people communicate and share information. In a short span of only 5 years PTCL DSL broadband service has expanded from 3 cities to over 1100 cities. This massive growth has been due to unmatchable speeds unlimited downloads and unbeatable options that PTCL Broadband provides. With basic speeds ranging from 256 kbit/s, 1 Mbit/s, 2Mbit/s, 4 Mbit/s & 8 Mbit/s to VDSL ultra high speeds of 10 Mbit/s, 20 Mbit/s and 50 Mbit/s Broadband offers speeds further up to 100 Mbit/s on Fibre to the home broadband service. PTCL broadband therefore ensures provision of Broadband to every household and business of Pakistan.
The wireless broadband network has transformed the concept of broadband usage- offering freedom of mobility. From a dongle offering speeds up to 3.1 Mbit/s to blazing speeds of 9.3 Mbit/s on 3G EVO nitro; to EVO cloud a personal mobile hotspot connecting 5 devices at a time, to Pakistan’s first 3G enabled Tablet EVO TAB; to EVODROID a 3G enabled Smartphone; the wireless network just like its predecessor has many feathers to its cap Within a span of few years the wireless network expanded to more than 200 cities, the largest in the country.
Wateen Telecom launched its WiMAX services in Pakistan in 2007. Connections are available at speeds from 256 kbit/s to 9.8 Mbit/s. Wi-Tribe and Mobilink are also offering WiMAX, as is Augere under the brand name Qubee.[9]
Social Media
Facebook is currently the largest social network in Pakistan with an estimated 8 million users [10]
Ecommerce
Pakistan's first ecommerce company was started in 2001 with the establishment of Beliscity.pk by Abid Beli, since then the market has grown steady until 2012 which was an inflexion point in the industry.[10]
Pakistan’s greatest internet success story, Rozee.pk. Founded in 2007 by Monis Rahman as an add-on to his main business, Rozee has grown to become Pakistan’s premier portal for jobs.[11]
List of Internet service providers
This is a list of the licensed Internet service providers in Pakistan.[14]
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