Pakistani consumers benefit as mobile operators compete

Mobile phone consumers are reaping the benefits of the opening of the telecommunication sector as the mobile phone operators, feeling the heat of expected competition, have improved incentives and services to retain their subscriber base.

The facilities being offered by the mobile companies were not thought of in the past. Each of the existing cell operators is trying to enlarge its market share. Mobilink, with a customer base of over three million subscribers, now controls 64 per cent of the mobile phone market. State controlled Ufone is a distant second. These are the only two companies currently operating on GSM technology. However, both are taking various steps to ward off competition from three new cell companies that would be operative by the middle of next year…