July 12, 2007	Thursday	Jamadi-us-Sani 26, 1428

LAHORE, July 11: Despite huge investment in telecom sector, about 30 per cent of the population in the country is still not being provided coverage by the cellular companies, it is learnt.

According to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) which regulates the affairs of the telecom sector, the total coverage of the cellular companies is 79 per cent in Punjab, 75 per cent in Sindh, 63 per cent in the NWFP and 34 per cent in Balochistan.

Though the operators claim having extensively invested in erecting their cell sites in the country they are not sure when they will be able to cover the entire country. In 2006, the PTA said the cell phone companies covered more sites as compared to the year 2005.

Interestingly, a cellular company these days has been giving an impression through advertisements in the media that it has nation-wide coverage. It is considered a business gimmick to attract maximum subscribers and the PTA is supposed to draw a line as what should a company project through advertisements.

Usually cell phone subscribers are more concerned with the area coverage of a company.

“Though I am concerned with the quality of service my cell company is offering but area coverage matters to me more,” says a subscriber, Muhammad Yaqoob, a businessman by profession.

He says he carries different SIMs while travelling to different parts of the country as some areas are covered by one and some by others.

Another subscriber Abid Latif says he recently has switched over to another company considering that it has nation-wide coverage but to his disappointment it was not the case. He also complains that cellular phone service remains disrupted on weekends, holidays and occasions like Eid holidays and Basant.

“Both coverage and quality of service are important while purchasing a SIM,” he adds.

At present Mobilink is covering over 5,000 cities and towns with over 6,000 sites, Ufone is working in over 750 cities and towns with 1,108 sites, Telenor is operating in over 1,100 cities and towns with 2,900 sites, Warid is active in over 210 cities with 1,200 sites and Paktel in 218 cities with 893 sites.

These operators are covering more than 70 per cent population with 35 per cent geographical penetration. Pakistan’s rural population is 65 per cent and the total rural cellular penetration is about 35 per cent. A major cellular company claims that it is increasing 300 locations every month.