When Musharraf took over it was just a few tens of thousands who had cell phones.
There has been tremendous growth under the Musharraf govt. :k:
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Re: Pakistan cell phone subscribers tops 70 million
people tend to forget that terrorism under benazir bhutto got so bad that govt had to shut down mobile network in karachi so that terrorist could not communicate. govt action seriously damaged prospect of foreign investment in pak.
another interesting thing about bb and mobile business was that bb/zardari gave a mobile license to one of their cronies, the saifullah family, for phutee kauree. the license was used to found mobilink. later the family, taking advantage of economic growth under musharraf, sold their 20% stake in mobilink for around $280mm. given the sort of money being made in pak these days, bb supporters are waiting for happy days to return again. the country really deserves to be screwed by bb/zaradri if we allow them back to power.
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Re: Pakistan cell phone subscribers tops 70 million
Nigeria to Become Largest Mobile Phone Market in Africa
Nigeria is supposed surpass South Africa in terms of number of mobile phones after just one year. People’s Daily Online reported:
“According to the information released by INforma Telecom & Media’s World Cellular Information Service, mobile subscriptions in Nigeria will exceed 30 million by the end of 2006.
It forecasted that there will be 44 million users in Nigeria and 40 million in South Africa at the end of 2007.
Nigeria is expected to be added 13 million subscriptions over the year of 2006, an increase of 44 percent compared to the net additions recorded over 2005.”
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So I guess instead of being a global technological revolution sweeping across continents, this progress of Cell phone technology in Nigeria must also be a miracle of Musharraf.
Re: Pakistan cell phone subscribers tops 70 million
*people tend to forget that terrorism under benazir bhutto got so bad that govt had to shut down mobile network in karachi so that terrorist could not communicate. govt action seriously damaged prospect of foreign investment in pak. *
Yep, I remember that well.
Now almost half of Pakistan people have mobiles phones, so she would never be able to ban them again.
Re: Pakistan cell phone subscribers tops 70 million
^^^ actually nigeria is benefitting from oil boom which is driving rapid economic growth in oil rich countries. pak otoh is growing at a rapid rate despite dealing with the shock of high oil prices. pak govt therefore unlike nigerian govt can justifiably claim credit for economic growth which is a major reason behind the rapid rise of telecom sector. if the economy was not growing, people would not have been able to buy phones. also yearly import bill for mobile phones is greater than the foreign reserves at the time of musharraf's takeover.
Re: Pakistan cell phone subscribers tops 70 million
who told you that? Sheikh Rasheed? 
Re: Pakistan cell phone subscribers tops 70 million
Very true.
As this link from Jan 2005 states there were only 0.2 million mobile phone subscribers in Pakistan 1999 when Musharraf took over.
http://pakistantimes.net/2005/01/05/top10.htm.
Today there are 70 million - that’s a 34,900% rise in 8 years. That’s more than just impressive by any measure. :k:
Re: Pakistan cell phone subscribers tops 70 million
^ chalo .... from few ten thousands to 0.2 million ki jump, not bad.
Re: Pakistan cell phone subscribers tops 70 million
what Musharraf did that is what he suppose to do (as he is the ruler, though upon force)
and others who didnt do, their situation is also visible to us.
i dont know what is up with these threads talkin about Musharraf did this Musharraf did that...bla bla
HE IS THE RULER, and HE IS OBLIGED TO PROVIDE EVERY FACILITY AND PEACE (which he failed to set) T*O THE PEOPLE OF PAKISTAN! and it **not* like he is VOLUTEERING, he is FULLY ENJOYING EVERY PRIVILEGE.
G.Musharraf nay koe aisan nahi kia!
Re: Pakistan cell phone subscribers tops 70 million
^^^ actually nigeria is benefitting from oil boom which is driving rapid economic growth in oil rich countries. pak otoh is growing at a rapid rate despite dealing with the shock of high oil prices. pak govt therefore unlike nigerian govt can justifiably claim credit for economic growth which is a major reason behind the rapid rise of telecom sector. if the economy was not growing, people would not have been able to buy phones. also yearly import bill for mobile phones is greater than the foreign reserves at the time of musharraf's takeover.
If you really think that Nigeria is benefiting from so called oil boom then you probably also believe that Elvis is still alive. Sure Musharraf has done some good work for the country and you’ve every right to support Musharraf & his mamoo but lets try to be a bit more rationale and don't blow it out of proportions. Nigeria’s oil wealth benefits hardly 1 percent of the total population – the country stands 147 among the most corrupt countries in the world. Most segments of its economy including agriculture & manufacturing have been in downward flight since decades. I don’t want to derail this thread but please try to corroborate your claims before posting something here.
And the point you obviously missed here is that the rapid growth of mobile phone market in Pakistan is not very much dependent on any of current government’s initiatives. It’s a global phenomenon driven by the dynamics of a new global economy and its purely a consumer driven market. What was the alternate - lockdown the country and remain in stone age? Almost every country has wittingly or unwittingly embraced the cellular technology. Judging by your post, if having millions of cell phones is sign of booming economy then remember there was a time in early 90s when there were dish antennas popping up on almost every rooftop in Pakistan. It was a technological innovation of the era that swept across the nation. But going by your argument, economy must have been flourishing at that time and NS should be given credit for a strong economy and for bringing in new technology at that time. Do you agree ?
Re: Pakistan cell phone subscribers tops 70 million
**
So I guess instead of being a global technological revolution sweeping across continents, this progress of Cell phone technology in Nigeria must also be a miracle of Musharraf.
Of course Mushrrafs miracles work across the continents. :D
Re: Pakistan cell phone subscribers tops 70 million
whats funny is how these people bash all developments.
they are no less then choudary iftikar and are acting like enemys of pakistan now,.
Re: Pakistan cell phone subscribers tops 70 million
what Musharraf did that is what he suppose to do (as he is the ruler, though upon force) and others who didnt do, their situation is also visible to us.
i dont know what is up with these threads talkin about Musharraf did this Musharraf did that...bla bla
HE IS THE RULER, and HE IS OBLIGED TO PROVIDE EVERY FACILITY AND PEACE (which he failed to set) T*O THE PEOPLE OF PAKISTAN! and it **not* like he is VOLUTEERING, he is FULLY ENJOYING EVERY PRIVILEGE.
G.Musharraf nay koe aisan nahi kia!
Makes me laugh everytime a person tries to get Props for something he is supposed to do
Re: Pakistan cell phone subscribers tops 70 million
what Musharraf did that is what he suppose to do (as he is the ruler, though upon force) and others who didnt do, their situation is also visible to us.
i dont know what is up with these threads talkin about Musharraf did this Musharraf did that...bla bla
HE IS THE RULER, and HE IS OBLIGED TO PROVIDE EVERY FACILITY AND PEACE (which he failed to set) T*O THE PEOPLE OF PAKISTAN! and it **not* like he is VOLUTEERING, he is FULLY ENJOYING EVERY PRIVILEGE.
G.Musharraf nay koe aisan nahi kia!
You Go gurl!!....welll-said and with passion.
Re: Pakistan cell phone subscribers tops 70 million
and you must be pakistani journalist because of your ability to pull facts out of thin air and make claims that have no basis in reality.
if technology cost rather than purchasing power and industry policy were the main factor in spreading mobile phones, then penetration rate would be the same in all south asian countries given that no country in the region has any mobile production facility. and yet mobile penetration rate in pak is much higher than india and bangladesh. reason why pak is in the lead should obvious to most people exception being people who offer sighting of satellite dishes in the 90’s as evidence of economic boom.
Grameenphone leads in the Bangladeshi market where a total of six operators compete for the 32 million current mobile users. Grameenphone has almost 16 million customers and with the mobile penetration rate in Bangladesh being below 25 percent, is looking at strong growth.
Re: Pakistan cell phone subscribers tops 70 million
God Bless Pakistan and improvements Pakistan has made under the great leadership of President Musharaf. :k:
God Bless Nigeria, and all the African nation. May god grant them even more success than they are having now.
Re: Pakistan cell phone subscribers tops 70 million
Indeed. God bless Pakistan. 
God bless Nigeria, as well :).
Re: Pakistan cell phone subscribers tops 70 million
people tend to forget that terrorism under benazir bhutto got so bad that govt had to shut down mobile network in karachi so that terrorist could not communicate. govt action seriously damaged prospect of foreign investment in pak.
another interesting thing about bb and mobile business was that bb/zardari gave a mobile license to one of their cronies, the saifullah family, for phutee kauree. the license was used to found mobilink. later the family, taking advantage of economic growth under musharraf, sold their 20% stake in mobilink for around $280mm. given the sort of money being made in pak these days, bb supporters are waiting for happy days to return again. the country really deserves to be screwed by bb/zaradri if we allow them back to power.
Why go that far I am sure you will remember that a few days ago when our dictator declared emergency to save his kursi the conditions got so bad that the mobile phones were switched off in the entire country. Wonder why you didn't remember that.
Re: Pakistan cell phone subscribers tops 70 million
dude u r jumping from one leg to another. What happened to Nigeria’s oil economic boom … already went bust??
According to you, spread of cell phone usage is a sign of economic boom but wide use of sat. dishes in early 90s wasn’t ??? dish antennas used to cost pretty much same as today’s cell phones. Were they dropping down free of cost from heavens? you guys are just so blind in your love of the dictator that one day you might as well be calling the creation of earth moon & stars as miracles of Musharraf. Like I said earlier he sure has done some good things for the country which should be acknowledged & appreciated fairly but lets not blow it out of proportions. If a ragtag country like Nigeria with economy in total shambles can have 44 million cell phone subscribers, whats the big deal if Pakistan has 70 million users today and how can it be regarded as a sign of the so called economic boom under Musharraf’s watch?
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Re: Pakistan cell phone subscribers tops 70 million
HE IS THE RULER, and HE IS OBLIGED TO PROVIDE EVERY FACILITY AND PEACE (which he failed to set) T*O THE PEOPLE OF PAKISTAN! and it **not* like he is VOLUTEERING, he is FULLY ENJOYING EVERY PRIVILEGE.
G.Musharraf nay koe aisan nahi kia!
Though he is "ruler" of the country and he may be "obliged" as well but that doesn't mean we shouldn't give credit where due (giving due credit is also an obligation :p). His rule is illegal, he is corrupt, he is playing games with us but he has done good for the economy (by using good economists in his govt).