Telecom Industry paid Rs. 179 billion in Taxes during FY 2020-21

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) noted numerous additional milestones in its annual report 2021, the industry paid Rs179 billion in general sales tax, withholding tax, customs duty, and other taxes in fiscal year 2020-21, up from Rs148.9 billion the previous year.

Broadband customers passing the 100 million mark during the year, The number of smartphone users in the country has overtaken those using old-school 2G devices for the first time, which played a vital role in increasing telecom industry income according to the telecom regulator’s latest annual report.

According to the PTA study, the country’s achievements in combating the Covid-19 outbreak, as well as strategic moves toward industry facilitation and consumer safety, opened the path for all-inclusive connectivity and overall sector growth.

According to the PTA annual report, broadband customers have surpassed the 100 million mark. According to the survey, smartphones exceeded feature phones 2G for the first time, taking 52% of the market share compared to 48% for 2G sets, reversing the market pattern seen in 2019-20. In the fiscal year 2017-18, 2G sets had a nearly 60 percent market share in the country.

Syed Aminul Haque, Minister of Information and Telecommunications, expressed confidence in the success of the government’s Digital Pakistan project, saying measures implemented in 2020 had begun to yield benefits. “Certain legislative relaxations and the effort to start manufacturing mobile phones in the nation have resulted in a significant change in the entire telecom picture,” he added.

Imports of mobile phones fell from 24.51 million in 2020 to 10 million in 2021, while the number of locally made phones reached 24.65 million. However, the majority of domestically made phones were 2G handsets, with a total of roughly 14.6 million compared to 10 million smartphones.

According to the article, 30 businesses, including the world’s largest smartphone manufacturer Samsung, have secured licences for mobile set production. It also states that the number of broadband customers would reach 102.7 million by 2021.

Furthermore, telecom and ICT services are available to 89 percent of the population nationally, with up to 49 percent of Pakistanis having mobile broadband connections. Broadband data use climbed 52 percent to 6,855 petabytes during 2020-21 as 3G and 4G services expanded (one petabyte equals 1,000 terabytes).

As a consequence of increased internet usage, the telecom sector’s income reached a record high of Rs644 billion during the fiscal year.

Digital financial inclusion has also increased dramatically, with active mobile wallet accounts increasing 72 percent to over 46 million from 26.7 million a year earlier. As a consequence, the number of active mobile wallet agents classified as “branchless banking” has increased by 35% in the last year to 246,280.

Jazz continues to be the market leader, with 69.79 million mobile users and 38.45 million mobile broadband subscribers. Telenor has 49.27 million users, followed by Zong (40.49 million) and Ufone (23.11m).

The PTA has said that the current year — 2021-22 — would be focused on monitoring service quality and coverage, introducing new spectrum, commencing 5G deployment, and expanding network area of fibre optics across the country.