Pakistans.com - Communication of Pakistan

» Telephones - main lines in use: 2.861 million (March 1999)

» Telephones - mobile cellular: 158,000 (1998)

» Telephone system: general assessment: the domestic system is mediocre, but improving; service is adequate for government and business use, in part because major businesses have established their own private systems; since 1988, the government has promoted investment in the national telecommunications system on a priority basis, significantly increasing network capacity; despite major improvements in trunk and urban systems, telecommunication services are still not readily available to the majority of the rural population

domestic: microwave radio relay, coaxial cable, fiber-optic cable, cellular, and satellite networks

international: satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (1 Atlantic Ocean and 2 Indian Ocean); 3 operational international gateway exchanges (1 at Karachi and 2 at Islamabad); microwave radio relay to neighboring countries (1999)

Telecom sector is seeing an exhorbitant growth in Pakistan. The sector is said to be growing at a pace of 170 per cent yearly. Mobile subscribers have crossed 34.5 million and according to Pakistan Telecommunicationgs Authority(PTA) 2.7 million subscribers are adding monthly. All Telecom companies are now working to broaden their network in AJK and Northern Areas, which were normally ignored till now.

» Radio broadcast stations: AM 27, FM 1, shortwave 21 (1998)

» Radios: 13.5 million (1997)

» Television broadcast stations: 22 (plus seven low-power repeaters) (1997)

» Televisions: 3.1 million (1997)

» Internet country code: .pk

» Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 30 (2000)

» Internet users: 1.2 million (2000)

Broadband Internet: Faster internet has been introduced in Karachi and Islamabad and is currently on trail basis.