How Many Broadband Users Are There In Pakistan?

PTA is trying to figure out the number of broadband users - not connections - in Pakistan. According to PTA published numbers at the end of 2008 there were 267,180 broadband subscribers (see chart at the end) in Pakistan. So there’s a new study which has been commissioned by PTA which aims to find out the number of users who benefit from one connection. After a few months we expect to get the answer to the all important question: how many broadband users are there in Pakistan? My guess is that the multiplier is between 5-10 on average (higher for workplace and lower for households and youth) so as an estimate could be over 2 million broadband users in Pakistan.

You can see the details of the RFP issued by PTA in this pdf document. Excerpt below.

Generally a broadband connection is often used by up to 20 users per connection; therefore, these broadband connection figures have only limited relevance. PTA has decided to carry out a specific survey to estimate exact figures of broadband end-users in Pakistan.

The aim of engaging the services of a consultancy firm is to come up with a current multiplier factor that can be used and applied to the number of connections in Pakistan to derive an exact number of people who have access to broadband internet and are regular users of this service.

The required “multiplying-factors” would be desirable for:

1. Fixed-line broadband services such as ADSL, HFC (Cable-Net), FTTx etc
2. Wireless broadband service-users such as WiMAX, EVDO, Satellite etc.

Primary source of collecting information would be via detail survey forms, these forms could be distributed and filled-in by the consultant by means of Internet, telephone or face-to-face interaction with survey respondent.

The document goes on to explain the survey content and the requirements for data sampling. PTA is interested in finding out about the type of connection, network info and the timing and duration of usage. Of course the first thing needed there is a clear definition of what is broadband (256Kbps is considered broadband - source).

The charts below are taken from the PTA report for end of 2008. The numbers for EVDO are based on March 2009 data.