History of Internet in Pakistan

The Internet industry in Pakistan has come a long way over the last 8 years when the first dial up E-mail service was introduced in the country by Imran-Net. Serious support was accorded to Email services in Pakistan with the launch of a UNDP funded project called SDNPK - Sustainable Development Networking Programme in Islamabad in 1993; on the lines of such projects launched by UNDP in other countries. This self-sustainable project was meant to provide dial-up, uucp based email service to general public and support to projects related to education, sustainable development, NGO�s and other related areas. 

The size of SDNPK subscriber base expanded quickly since it served a very important and un-addressed market segment. A number of customers in cities outside of Islamabad also joined the network since the cost of communicating via email was substantially cheaper than either international fax or international dial up services. The project was sustained by UNDP funding for a number of years and the activities expanded to other cities such as Karachi, Lahore and Peshawar where nodes were set up. The project is still growing despite the fact that a number of competing, on-line ISP's are operating successfully in cities where SDNPK network operates. SDNPK is also planning to launch a full-fledged ISP operation in Pakistan in 1999.

In 1994 - 95 time frame, Digicom, an entrepreneurial Internet venture launched on-line Internet service in Karachi. This heralded the beginning of Internet industry in Pakistan. Rest is history. The market has now grown manifolds with the largest majority of subscribers in Karachi while the rest are almost evenly divided between Lahore and Islamabad. The three cities jointly provide over 90% of the customer base and expansion in activity is also likely to remain primarily confined to these cities because of the concentration of economic activity in these cities.