Pakistan internet connectivity is low, but cheap
By IANSThursday, December 23, 2010
ISLAMABAD - Internet connectivity is low in Pakistan, but there are opportunities for growth as broadband costs are quite cheap, a team of Google and YouTube officials has said.
The officials, who recently visited Pakistan, wrote in googleblog that Pakistan has an estimated internet penetration rate of 10 percent but there are opportunities for growth as broadband costs are quite cheap compared with other parts of the world.
The team was in Pakistan to explore business and content opportunities.
Its hard to imagine a country more at the nexus of geo-politics today than Pakistan, and our team learned a lot about the state of the Pakistani technology, media and non-profit sectors, the Daily Times Thursday quoted the officials as saying.
Smartphone usage is also rising, and there are a number of Pakistani developers who are creating mobile applications for sale both in Pakistan and abroad.
The media report said that around 60 percent Pakistanis use mobile phone, and their average bill is around $3 per month.
Suggesting that one way of getting more Pakistanis online was to have more local Pakistani content, it cited the example of Coke Studio - a fusion music project.
