Telenor Pakistan celebrates 15 years of empowering Pakistan with successful 5G trials

Telenor Pakistan, country’s leading telecom and digital services provider, marked 15 years of its operations in Pakistan through successful trial of 5G. During a ceremony at the company’s 345 campus, Irfan Wahab Khan CEO Telenor Pakistan & Head of Telenor’s Emerging Asia Cluster along with Khurrum Ashfaque, Deputy CEO & Chief Technology Officer, briefed the media on Telenor Pakistan’s successful operations as the leader in innovation and digital transformation, shared future plans and showcased 5G use cases.

In a ground-breaking development, Telenor Pakistan executed the most comprehensive 5G trial setup in Pakistan. It involved multiple suppliers, and established the fastest cellular 5G test data connection in the country, achieving connectivity speeds greater than 1.5 Gbps. In addition to the speed demonstration, Telenor Pakistan showcased relevant 5G use-cases including a virtual reality-based classroom for remote education enablement and ultra-HD, 4K live video coverage using a drone-cam. This highlights the ability to enable potent opportunities for society, extend network capacities to support future technologies, allow substantial increase in the number of connected devices and ensure new business models.  

The latest development showcasing cutting edge technology is reminiscent of the company’s 15-year journey of innovation, empowerment, reducing inequalities, maximising the impact of connectivity, creating shared value for the society and helping shape a sustainable future for all. Telenor Pakistan has disrupted the landscape in multiple sectors of the economy by reducing inclusion gaps and providing best-in-class and award-winning products, services and solution services including Easypaisa, Khushaal Zamindar, Digital Birth Registration, content and streaming platforms, IoT, analytics, personalisation, gaming and governance solutions.

Addressing the media at the 345 campus, Irfan Wahab Khan, CEO of Telenor Pakistan & Head of Emerging Asia Cluster said, “First and foremost I want to thank millions of Pakistanis for choosing us as their preferred service provider in the last 15 years. It is a proud day for us, as we not only renew our commitment for the years to come; but have also raised the bar once again through our innovative capabilities to venture out on a journey that will benefit the people of Pakistan. The market is ripe with possibilities and we are excited to continue our journey of leveraging technology to achieve the Digital Pakistan vision. Staying true to our purpose, we will sustain and expand our efforts towards empowering societies and reducing inequalities.”

Khurrum Ashfaque, Deputy CEO & Chief Technology Officer of Telenor Pakistan said, “We started the journey towards 5G readiness last year by beginning the evolution of our network core from legacy architecture to state-of-the-art virtualised Telenor Hybrid Cloud and rapid fiberisation to the tower. Today, we have further ventured into the next era by establishing the fastest cellular 5G test data connection in Pakistan and showcasing relevant, impactful use cases in our trial. We will continue taking strides towards enhancing the ecosystem that we set out to build years ago through network transformation and expansion.”

Telenor Pakistan is proud to be truly committed to reducing inequalities in the country through connectivity and digitalisation. The company has made strides in Pakistan’s foremost sector of agriculture, through services such as Khushaal Zamindar due to which millions of farmers are resolving longstanding challenges. It has revolutionised financial services and its access through Easypaisa impacting over 30 million people; leveraged mobile connectivity to give children their right to identity through the Digital Birth Registration and has developed innovative solutions and platforms in collaboration with tech giants like Facebook, Google and Netflix to provide customers with personalisation at every touch point. 

Telenor  has been operating in Pakistan since 2005 and has made a significant impact on the socioeconomic uplift of the country. Since inception, Telenor Pakistan has made an investment of over USD 4.5 billion, making it one of the largest foreign direct investors in the country and has paid over USD 2.5 billion in direct and indirect taxes. The company has been a frontrunner in digitalisation and innovation, with a 46 million strong and growing customer base. It has created thousands of direct and indirect jobs and is one of Pakistan’s most preferred employers. 

Telenor Pakistan will  continue to serve Pakistan by supporting the Digital Pakistan Vision, being a gateway to the latest technological innovations and creating solutions to close the digital, financial and social inclusion gaps in the country.