As the economic situation has improved, a number of local and foreign investors have shown keen interest to invest in information technology and telephone sector, which would bring about good changes and ultimate beneficiaries of all this process would be the customers.
Previously, there was an impression that telecom rates in Pakistan were much higher than other South Asian countries like India and Sri Lanka but the situation has changed.
The subscriber growth is likely to receive a boost due to a further decline in tariffs as new companies are offering reduction in tariffs.
The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) last year granted 12 licenses for long distance and international call operations.
The new phenomenon of lower rates is a direct result of that decision, market analyst maintained.
Now, calling cards are offering rates as low as Rs5 for USA and UK for consumers, which is only possible in deregulated markets.
Cellular subscriber growth has surpassed the rate of expansion in fixed-line since 2001, causing cellular subscriber base to overtake the fixed-line subscriber base in 2004 with 8 million subscribers compared to 4.5 million of the latter.
This also is a direct result of lowering of service tariffs and initiation costs.
The government is taking the future of telecom seriously and as a result scores of new private entrants are gearing up to provide service and the cellular subscriptions have shot up by 56 percent.
It will make Pakistan one of the fastest growing cellular markets, they added.
Introduction of card payphones, licensing of wireless-based technologies like burglar alarm and vehicle tracking systems and auction of Long Distance International (LDI) services and Wireless Local Loop (WLL) spectrum are also helping expand the scope of telecom in Pakistan beyond basic telephony into wireless and value-added services.
The changes will also give the economy a big boost. The government estimates say that expansion in the telecom sector is likely to create 370,000 jobs as the sector's share of Gross Domestic Product rises from 1.7 percent to 3 percent by mid-2005, analyst added.