South Asia Investor Review

Pakistan's digital gig economy growth is the fastest in Asia and fourth fastest in the world, according to digital payments platform  Payoneer . Gig Economy Growth in Q2/2019. Source: Payoneer United States led gig economy growth of 78% followed by the United Kingdom 59%, Brazil 48%, Pakistan 47% and Ukraine 36%. Asia growth was led by Pakistan followed by Philippines (35%) , India  (29%) and Bangladesh (27%). The rapid gig economy expansion of 47% in Pakistan  was fueled by several factors including the country's very  young population  70% of which is under 30 years of age coupled with improvements in  science and technical education  and expansion of  high-speed broadband  access.  Pakistani freelancers under the age of 35 generated 77% of the revenue in second quarter of 2019. Growth in Freelance Work. Source: Payoneer Mohsin Muzaffar, head of business development at Payoneer in Pakistan, has said as follows: "Governme...

Pakistan's mobile broadband operators are offering download speeds of 11.7 Mbps, more than twice faster than neighboring India's 5.14 Mbps as measured. 3G/4G/LTE Subscriptions are rising rapidly at a rate of about a million a month since the initial rollout in late 2014 brining the total number of subscribers to 41.72 million as of May, 2017.  Growing availability and rising speeds are enabling many new Internet applications that are increasing access to education/training, financial services and commerce while reducing the  digital divide  between the rich and the poor. 4G/LTE Speeds Source: Open Signal 4G/LTE Speeds:  Pakistan wireless carriers offer average 4G speed of 11.7 Mbps, more than twice faster than Indian operators' 5.14 Mbps, according to a report by New York based Open Signal's " The State of LTE " report released in June, 2017. Singapore tops the list with 45.6 Mbps 4G download speed. Worldwide average for LTE is 16.2 Mbps. Here's...

Soaring broadband subscriptions in Pakistan have helped drive a whopping 35X increase in Internet data usage since January 2014. Rapid Rise in Broadband Subscription in Pakistan As the number of broadband subscriptions in Pakistan crossed 38 million in October 2016,  the internet data usage jumped from 1,243 terabytes in January 2014 to 45,672 terabytes in September, 2016, according to  Pakistan Telecommunication Authority . A lot of new data traffic is being driven by 3G/4G equipped smartphones running a variety of applications ranging from social media to consumer and business apps. Mobile Broadband: Mobile broadband (3G/4G) subscriptions have jumped from almost zero in 2014 to 34 million as of September, 2016.  It has been accompanied by corresponding increase in the number of  smartphones  which is expected to cross 40 million mark this year. Applications: Growth of 3G/4G networks and smartphones has spawned a variety of applications from...

Monthly new subscriptions of 3G and 4G in Pakistan doubled to 2.22 million in September 2015, up from 1.1 million new subscribers in August 2015.  This brings the total number of mobile broadband subscribers to 18.04 million and total of all broadband subscriptions to 21.2 million since 3G-4G launch in May 2014, according to the latest data released by  Pakistan Telecommunications Authority . Mobile Broadband Subscriptions in Pakistan Source: PTA Increasing use of the Internet is now being put to good use to deal with the tragic aftermath of the the earthquake in Pakistan.  Facebook and  Google  have set up special pages to help people find each other. Demand for  smartphones  is also accelerating in Pakistan along with the rise in mobile broadband subscriptions. Forecasters estimate the number of  smartphone sales to increase to 40 million  by next year. Overall, 3G and 4G subscriptions in Pakistan jumped 14.43 % during September ...

Mobile service operators enjoyed 24% jump in data revenue in fiscal year 2013-14 ended in June. Meanwhile, Pakistanis signed up for 3G and 4G mobile broadband services at a rate of one million per month over the last five months. The data revenues of mobile phone service operators reached Rs. 47 billion during the year under review, 47.4% year-over-year growth. “This is a healthy sign in the wake of 3G and 4G services in the country and shows that the use of internet and data services on the cellular mobile has been increasing,” according to a recent Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) report. As of June 30, 2014 data revenues account for 19.3% of the telecom sector’s overall revenue, up from 16.4% at the end of FY13 – the number for cellular segment, too, increased from 7.3% to 10.1%. The increased use of social media messaging apps negatively impacted text messaging growth as the SMS volume declined to 301.7 billion during FY2014, down 4% compared to 315.7 billion i...