ISLAMABAD: Teledensity in Pakistan had reached 17.84 percent by the end of 2005, with at least 27 million telephone connections in the country.

Teledensity is the ratio of telephone connections to the population. According to teledensity estimates by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), there was an increase of over 200 percent from December 2004 in the number of mobile and landline telephone connections.

PTA analysts believe that teledensity might cross 30 percent by 2008. Such a rapid increase in Pakistan will continue for the next five years, they said. They said that the number of mobile phone users is exceptionally high because of their easy availability and economical cost.

The PTA said that by December 31, 2005, six cellular phone operators had some 21.63 million connections. The number of landline connections was 5.3 million, of which 5.2 million subscribed to Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL).