In last few years people have seen many e-services startups in Pakistan which gradually changing the lifestyle of the masses. Few years back when internet got hype in Pakistan people were not aware as much because the lack of education and the information about the technicalities of the devices was a big challenge.
In 2000, when the mobile telecommunication took place in Pakistan everything was changed rapidly. In start Paktel, Mobilink and Ufone started their service in Pakistan and in the beginning call rates very high and the service was not good. I remember that 1 minute call rate from Pakistan to USA was $5 on landline.
Few years later some other companies like Telenor and Warid also entered in the race of telecommunication. Zong was also an addition and it started its operations after acquiring the Paktel. Initially PTCL and other cable network operators were providing internet, and later telecom companies also started their mobile internet services in Pakistan in 2001. But the users were just 1.3 million in starting years and the growth rate was very slow because GPS supported mobiles were much expensive and by the end of 2006 the growth rate of internet users was 6.5% and till 2012 it was 10.0%. While, in October 2018 the growth rate increased up to 29.92%.
There were various reasons behind exceptional growth of internet users like diminution in the rates of internet, availability of internet supported mobile phones on cheap rates, availability of high speed internet and rapid increase in the reach of internet.
In 2018, Pakistan had 44.6 million internet users and 35 million social media users. It was a tremendous growth in just few years. Internet made everything easy for the users and opened the gates towards information and new technologies. Many organizations including public sector upgraded their system on internet and made everything digitally available. I saw that how things shifted from manual system to internet and then upgraded everything rapidly.
International companies started their services in Pakistan and educated the users about the operation procedure. People have seen the entry of online shopping in Pakistan and new startup like Daraz.pk and Yayvo.com. People have seen the online taxi and bike services like Uber, Careem, and BYKEA. People have seen the online food services and Food panda. Other online services like Zameen.com and OLX.com also made everything very easy for the users.
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Things are not going to stop yet many international brands are also coming in Pakistan, some have started their operation and some will start in the next few months. China also knows the huge potential of e-services in Pakistan. Government and several private organizations have signed MoUs with different Chinese companies for e-services in Pakistan.
A new company “Timesaco Delivery” is also going to launch its services in Pakistan. It will be a merger of all available e-services of Pakistan, the company will provide instant delivery system like TCS and others but Timesaco’s delivery will be instant with an average of 5 km in 30 minutes, the same company will introduce taxi service like Uber and Careem and will launch first ever online cargo system in Pakistan.
The Timesaco will provide food delivery system like Food Panda and people would be able to purchase anything online from their own selected stores and shopping malls and Timesaco will deliver at their door step. Timesaco delivery will be a big addition in e-services in Pakistan. On the other hand, Alibaba the world biggest online shopping brand has also announced to start its operations in Pakistan.
Many companies are providing their services in health sector and facilitating the patients at very far areas. Technology through internet makes everything possible for the human being and replacing the old things into very advance and globally accessible forms.
Rapid growth of internet and unexceptional increase in social media users also help people for awareness, like people have strong interest in political system, they are using internet for money transfer, earning online, they are using internet in health, education and banking sector and I hope next few years will be the game changer for Pakistan and will provide the gateway for new opportunities and will create huge jobs in Pakistan.
[box type=”note” align=”” class=”” width=””]The author is a Manager in Timesaco[/box]