Mobilink continues its success in Pakistan

Mobile Internet, The, May, 2005

According to research firm Pyramid Research, Mobilink is enjoying a 63 percent share of the Pakistani mobile market today and has proven to be an instrumental player in raising the expectations of the country's mobile industry, which is expected to grow at 21 percent CAGR through 2009. Despite the arrival of two new players--Al Warid and Telenor--into an already competitive Pakistani mobile market in 2005, Mobilink continues to add subscribers at breakneck speeds and defy analyst expectations. Mobilink, owned by Egyptian giant Orascom Telecom, added over 3 million subscribers last year, or 65 percent of the country's net additions, and remains on track to record another stellar performance in 2005.

"Mobilink's success in the Pakistani market rests on two things--expanding coverage and streamlining tariffs," commented Pyramid Research Senior Analyst Taha Rangwala. With this, Mobilink possesses the country's most extensive mobile network yet, and the results are there to show--besides accounting for 65 percent of the country's 2004 net subscriber additions, their expansive growth has prompted the Pakistani regulator to raise its projection of the country's mobile penetration rate from 10 percent to 25 percent by 2010. The operator is the pioneer of streamlining tariffs for local vs. domestic long-distance calling, while drastically reducing on-network calling charges, contributing to its stellar 2004 performance and prompting competitors to follow suit.

Almost single-handedly, Mobilink has raised the expectations of the entire country, while highlighting the potential of the country's mobile industry to foreign vendors and investors alike. Recent reports suggest that the country has added over 2 million subscribers in the last 3 months and eclipsed the 10 million subscriber barrier at the end of April 2005. The Pyramid Research "Pakistani mobile forecast" predicts penetration rates in Pakistan to reach 21 percent by 2009 as operators add over 28 million subscribers through 2009.