Report: 70 Percent of Pakistanis Don't Know What the Internet Is

According to a report from Sri Lanka-based think tank LinreAsia, approximately 70 percent of Pakistani people do not know what the Internet is.

A recent report from LinreAsia, a Sri Lanka-based thinktank states that 70 percent of Pakistani internet users do not know what the Internet is. The report surveyed 2,000 Pakistani households with a sampling methodology that was designed to ensure a representation of 98 percent target population aged 15 to 65, GadgetsNow reports.

“The 152 million active cellular subscribers mentioned on Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) website, despite a good SIM registration system, tell nothing about the subscribers — whether they are men and women, rich or poor and does not really help understand access and usage gaps,” LinreAsia CEO Helani Galpaya said in the report.

The report states that the lack of knowledge relating to the Internet is an issue across Asia, approximately 30 percent of the population aged between 15 and 65 is aware of the internet after being asked if they “use the internet” without an explanation of what the Internet is. According to the report, Pakistani women were 43 percent less likely to use the Internet than men, however, in India women were 57 less likely to use the internet while in Bangladesh that figure reached 62 percent.

According to the report, only 22 percent of users access the Internet via smart mobile phones while only 25 percent own phones which have internet capability. “The rest of the 53% have no internet capability on their phones. It is time to get smart phones into the hands of the people and basic phones out,” Galpaya added.

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has yet to react to the report which contradicts their claims of maximum tele-density in Pakistan.