ISLAMABAD (APP) - Chairman Pakistan Telecommunication Authority Dr M Yaseen on Saturday said that data usage is increasing in Pakistan and proliferation of broadband services will help in establishing information Society. This he said in a seminar titled "The future of mobile communications in Pakistan" here. PTA chairman said that for mobile 'hone industry future direction could be value addition and innovation in services including mobile commerce, video streaming, and broadband usage was showing growth. He said that PTA had carried out surveys to ascertain socio economic impact of mobile phone which revealed that with the introduction of mobile communications productivity had increased significantly. He noted spectacular rise of telecom industry in Pakistan and especially the mobile sector had been the focus of attention. The sector has exhibited a growth rate of around 40% over the previous year. The mobile subscriber base has crossed the figure of 90 million while still around 2 million subscribers entering every month and the growth trend continues, he claimed. Today mobile coverage was available to over 90% population of the country and with the implementation of USF projects the services will be available for almost of the entire population, he said. "Now PTA focus is on the proliferation of broadband services in the country at affordable rates", he added. The Authority was well aware from the developments taking place worldwide in the 3G mobile communications (mobile broadband). China has recently launched 3G services whereas other small countries in our region like Sri Lanka and Nepal have also launched 3G spectrum, he informed. He said that availability of 3G spectrum would help the operators in increasing their capacity and revenues by deploying state of the art HSP technology, whereas the facilities of video telephone, high speed, internet, video streaming high quality mobile Tv and a number of value added services would also be made available. Dr. Yaseen Chairman PTA said that Pakistan Telecom Authority has been very sensitive towards the need of creating an enabling environment for private sector so that the industry may expand and the consumers reap the benefits of good quality of services at low tariffs. He also thanked the government and Minister for IT&T for their support to the industry.