Warid telecom plans $5 bn investment in Pakistan

Islamabd: Warid Telecom Pakistan plans $5 billion investment to improve its services in the country. The tele-density in Pakistan is said to be more than 50 percent but it is actually around 40 percent, Warid Telecom International Group Chief Technical Officer Marwan Zawaydeh said in an interview.

He said tele-density is calculated on the basis of sales data that can be misleading as active connections are much less than the sales' figure. He said there is room for further growth in the telecom industry and it could further contribute to the GDP of the country.

'Though Warid and Telenor entered the market almost together, it is true that our competitor has acquired more market share because Telenor captured the market in under-served rural areas whereas we focused more on urban centres. We were left behind in market share but not in quality of service.'

He said Warid has recently re-launched itself and has come up with value-added services. Its focus is on untapped areas. This month, Warid will launch Blackberry and in the near future many more services are likely to come. The company plans to invest $1 billion in the next three years.

At present, he said, the company has no plan to get listed on the Karachi Stock Exchange. The business environment in Pakistan is very good as there is a lot of room for the telecom business to grow since customers are interested in new technologies, new services, etc. The main drivers of business in Pakistan are the youth.