Pakistan’s digital connectivity landscape faces critical challenges, with the country recording some of the lowest fixed and mobile broadband speeds in South Asia, coupled with prohibitive costs that far exceed international affordability benchmarks. According to the World Bank’s Pakistan Development Update: Reimagining a Digital Pakistan, entry-level fixed broadband packages in Pakistan consume 11.1 percent of average monthly gross national income (GNI) per capita—more than five times the 2 percent affordability threshold set by the International Telecommunication Union. Mobile broadband prices, while relatively lower at 1.8 percent of GNI per capita, remain beyond the financial reach of Pakistan’s poorest and those in rural communities. These economic and infrastructural barriers have stymied the nation’s digital ambitions, leaving it trailing regional peers in broadband deployment, speed, and coverage.
Broadband Speeds and Costs
- Fixed Broadband: Pakistan’s average fixed broadband speed is 16 Mbps, ranking it third lowest among South Asian nations. In contrast, the median district sees merely 8 Mbps, while metropolitan centers like Karachi and Islamabad enjoy speeds nearly double that average.
- Mobile Broadband: Mobile broadband speeds stand at 20 Mbps, also the third lowest in the region.
- Affordability: Fixed broadband affordability is a pressing issue: at 11.1 percent of monthly GNI per capita, it substantially outpaces the ITU’s 2 percent benchmark. Mobile packages, costing 1.8 percent, may appear within limits but exclude low-income and rural users whose incomes and service quality remain low.
Infrastructure Gaps
- 5G Coverage: Pakistan is among three South Asian countries without any commercial 5G coverage. The report attributes it to insufficient fibre-optic networks, low tower density, and limited use-case viability for operators to justify 5G investments.
- Broadband Rollout: At the current rate of fixed broadband roll‑out, it would take Pakistan approximately 30 years to achieve levels of connectivity comparable with high‑income countries.
- Investment Needs: An International Finance Corporation study finds Pakistan lags behind a peer group—Bangladesh, Egypt, India, Indonesia, and the Philippines—by around 5.1 million Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH) lines. Bridging 50 percent of this gap by 2027 would require an average annual investment of US $2.5 billion in fixed broadband infrastructure.
Coverage and Usage Gaps
- Internet Usage: Only 33 percent of Pakistan’s population reported internet usage in 2022, reflecting very low digital penetration.
- Usage Gap: Pakistan has the third-largest broadband usage gap globally: some 140 million people live within mobile broadband reach yet do not use the internet.
- Coverage Rates: Approximately 17 percent of the population remains beyond any mobile broadband coverage. Pakistan’s 3G and 4G population coverage rates—74.9 percent and 83.6 percent, respectively—trail the South Asia averages of 88.1 percent and 90.9 percent.
- Legacy Networks: Despite 4G accounting for two‑thirds of mobile connections, roughly one‑third of users remain on legacy 2G networks.
Barriers to Improvement
- Supply-Side Barriers: Slow fiber-optic deployment, limited tower infrastructure, and lack of viable business cases hamper service expansion.
- Demand-Side Barriers: Low literacy and digital skills, affordability challenges, and lack of relevant content limit internet adoption.
Addressing these challenges requires coordinated efforts from the government, private sector, and international partners to invest in infrastructure, improve affordability, and enhance digital literacy.