Telenor Offers 3G Stick Service in 45 Cities of Pakistan

Telenor Pakistan today announced that it will be expanding its 3G footprint to 45 cities by end of October 2014 while it has 1.3 Million 3G users on its network already.

Telenor Announces 3G Footprint in 45 Cities with 1.3 Million 3G Customers:

A statment issued by the company said that during the fifth phase of commercial roll out, Telenor’s 3G services are launched in following cities:

• Lodhran,
• Khanewal,
• Malakand,
• Rahim Yar Khan,
• Murree and Nathia Gali

Company said that Lower Dir, Mansehra, Sukkur, Larkana, Ghotki and Bhakkar will be equipped with 3G service by the end of this month.

Telenor’s 3G Coverage Map:

Telenor has said that free trial of 3G services will be offered to Telenor Pakistan’s customers in these areas for two weeks. The subscribers will be notified about the end of free 3G trial service via SMS and Telenor Pakistan’s official website.

Under the free 3G trial offer, customers can enjoy 50 MBs of free data every day. Data services on 2G will be charged as usual.

Irfan Wahab Khan, Chief Marketing Officer, Telenor Pakistan on the occasion said that Telenor Pakistan is the largest and fastest growing 3G network in Pakistan with 1.3 million customers actively using 3G services in urban, semi urban and rural areas across the country.

While explaining company’s roll-out strategy, Mr. Wahab said that Telenor has a twofold strategy to aggressively roll out 3G sites in the country: one is to increase the number of 3G sites within a city thus expanding the in-city coverage and other is to increase the number of 3G cities across the country.

Telenor, Telenor 3G, Telenor 3G Map, Telenor 3G stick, 3G Usb by Telenor.

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For 3rd Time Pakistan Elected to the ITU Council

Pakistan has won a seat on the ITU Council in elections held in Bushan, South Korea earlier today. The country had lost its place in elections held in 2010 but managed to get back its seat in this year’s elections by one vote.

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Huawei Honor 4 Play, Price & Specs

Huawei introduces Honor 4 Play, An Ultra Affordable 4G Phone:

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Samsung Galaxy Note 4 at Rs. 85,000 in Pakistan

Samsung to Launch Galaxy Note 4 at Rs. 85,000:

Samsung is all set to make its latest flagship, Galaxy Note 4 available in Pakistan starting this weekend.

Sources close to company confirmed that this gem will cost customers a whooping Rs. 85,000 per unit and devices will come with Telenor’s free 3G internet for six months. While we we aren’t sure about the monthly cap that will come with the offer, but we are certain that unlimited usage of WhatsApp, Twitter and Line will be offered along with all purchases of Galaxy Note 4.

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Mobilink has Delayed 3G Launch

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Warid Signs Ericsson for 4G LTE Deployment

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TourPlanner.pk: Online Vacation Planner in Pakistan

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Huawei announces Ascend Y330 Dual-SIM smartphone in Pakistan

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Huawei introduce Internship Program for Fresh Grads

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PTCL and Dailymotion Join Hands

 PTCL and Dailymotion Join Hands

Pakistan Telecommunications Company Limited (PTCL) has joined hands with DailyMotion to offer improved user experience to PTCL customers in Pakistan.

The joint venture will allow wide-range of entertainment content from Dailymotion and multi-screen viewing options for PTCL customers.

Dailymotion – one of the largest video and user generated content platform – consumes a significant portion of the broadband traffic in Pakistan and with this partnership PTCL has paved the way for the legitimacy of Pakistani content on Dailymotion portal.

Walid Irshaid, President and CEO PTCL said at the occasion, “PTCL is spearheading the spread of digital services culture in Pakistan and this move will augment the growth of local content industry and talent as well as open-up new opportunities and  better monetization for Pakistan’s content industry”.

“This partnership will also add a new dimension to our digital services platforms and will enable PTCL to offer wide range of entertainment products to our customers and reach audiences from diverse demographics”, added WalidIrshaid.

Head of Economic Affairs of French Embassy in Islamabad, Eric Noitakis, characterized the accord as an opportunity to further strengthen the friendly ties with the people of Pakistan. “Pakistani culture is very vibrant and this joint venture of PTCL with French online streaming giant Dailymotion is another step forward in introducing the Pakistani culture to the world.

This would also serve the Pakistani communities living abroad by connecting them to the content from their motherland”, he added.

Vincent Martin, VP Distribution & Business Development, Dailymotion said at the occasion, “We see Pakistan as a country with huge potential and this joint venture will result in an increase in the online video viewing on Dailymotion and hence advertisement. Our endeavor is to adhere to the eastern norms and culture of Pakistan by providing a family friendly portal. Moving forward, Dailymotion would also make the objectionable content blocked for Pakistan”.

PTCL also hosted meetings of Dailymotion with Pakistani TV channels to create awareness about this development. PTCL management, Head of Economic Affairs of French Embassy in Pakistan and Pakistan’s content industry leaders participated in the meetings. PTCL & Dailymotion also plan to launch a video contest in Pakistan to promote youth centric creative activities in future.

[images via Propakistani]

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Jang Group Still Can’t Differentiate Between 3G and G3 [Cartoon]

We thought it were politicians only saying things such as “G3”, “taknalogy Lasansss” and “Daalar”, but apparently our mighty Jang Group is not behind in the race.

Before we go into further discussion, have a look at following cartoon published in Daily Jang Today:

Cartoon depicts 3G and 4G technologies as newly born babies, just getting out of a birth centre in Pakistan.

However, the problem is that instead of terming them 3G and 4G, Daily Jang cartoonist conveniently mentioned them as “G3” and “G4”. Editor didn’t object to the masterpiece and let it go as it is appearing above. This cartoon is published in all cities of Daily Jang in Pakistan.

Just if you can’t recall, Mr. Parvez Rashid, Information Minister of Pakistan, had first tabled the term called “G3” as a technology for mobile phone networks in a TV program called “Capital Talk”. Mr. Hamid Mir, the host of the show, instead of correcting Mr. Parvez, started using the same term, i.e. G3, and continued using it till the end of the show.

I am just wondering if our main stream media is any good at topics other than politics? And if not, its a pity that we have to rely on it for our informational needs.

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When to Expect 3G Services in Your City?

When to Expect 3G Services in Your City?

While we know that telcos are all set to commercially launch 3G services with-in two weeks from now, mobile phone users across country are super anxious to know the expected arrival date of 3G and 4G services in their respective areas.

Exactly like how it had happened with 2G services, the commercial launch of 3G services won’t go beyond few major cities of Pakistan.

For now, let’s just absorb the fact that rollout of 3G services across the length of the country will be little sluggish, however, demand of 3G services and associated ARPUs are going to remain major factor in increasing operators’ quest to reach out in more areas of Pakistan.

Initially major parts of Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad / Rawalpindi are going to experience 3G services at the launch.

During first phase, according to 3G IM, Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad, Quetta and Peshawar must get 3G services before January 2015.

Minimum possible coverage in another 10 cities (minimum two in each province) should be added till October 2015.

According to rollout obligations attached with 3G license, at least 160 cities or 75 percent of all district headquarters are supposed to have 3G services by 2018.

Just to add, above mentioned rollout plan is based on minimum possible requirements included in the license terms. Actual rollout plans will be must faster than the ones mentioned here.

Initially, even the covered cities might face unparalleled coverage. Moreover, some areas of the country might have better performing 3G coverage than the others. But all this will get better with time.

Since the whole play is about converting 2G cell sites into 3G, it will depend how better the transition would be in coming days.

Idea is to wait for some weeks (if you are in major city) or months (if you are in tier two city) to let the 3G service hit your smartphone.

[images via Propakistani]

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CEOs of Mobile Phone Companies Call on Finance Minister

CEOs of Mobile Phone Companies Call on Finance Minister

Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of the Telecommunication Companies namely Mobilink, Zong, Telenor and Ufone called on the Finance Minister, Senator Ishaq Dar to express their thanks on the conclusion of transparent Auction of 3G/4G Spectrum at the Finance Ministry Friday.

The Finance Minister congratulated the winners of the Spectrum Auction and said that the government will provide all necessary guidance and assistance to reap the benefits of this new technology just introduced in the country.

Dar said that we are happy that the Auction process was completed in the transparent manner and hoped that the development of the necessary infrastructure will create a lot of employment opportunities in the country. The decision to participate in the Auction, will also provides an excellent business opportunity for all the companies, added the Minister.

The Finance Minister observed that the process will contribute technological resources to Pakistan’s socio-economic sectors. He said that Spectrum Auction will further add to the renewed confidence of the international investors in Pakistan’s economic policies. He expressed the hope that maximum service benefits will reach to the consumers as a result of Spectrum Auction.

Ms. Anusha Rehman Khan, Minister of State for IT, said we also want to work in collaboration with the mobile companies for the telecommunication development of the country. She emphasized on developing areas like E-health, telecenters and E-education and many more other fields.

The CEOs observed that there will be more appetite for Spectrum in the coming months and if offered the response will be positive. The CEO of Mobilink Mr. Rashid Khan said that the government has proved that the process was transparent, fair and level playing field was provided to all the competitors.

Telecom companies recorded their concerns regarding high taxes on telecom sector and urged if government could take steps in the coming budget to rationalize taxes on telecom sector.

[images via Propakistani]

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All Four Operators Bag 3G Spectrum, While Only Zong Took Home 4G license

All Four Operators Bag 3G Spectrum, While Only Zong Took Home 4G license - Pakistan

After waiting for years, and a fairly long auction day, Pakistan is all set to roll-out the 3G service after the successful auction of the 3G and 4G spectrum.

All four operators participating in the auction, namely Mobilink, Telenor, Ufone, and Zong, bagged the 3G spectrum; while only Zong went on to bid and acquire the 4G spectrum.

After eight rounds of bidding, Zong and Mobilink won 10Mhz block for 3G spectrum, while Telenor and Ufone won 5Mhz blocks for 3G spectrum.

According to information revealed by PTA — during the sealed-bid phase — Ufone had submitted a bid for 15Mhz, while Telenor, Zong and Mobilink had submitted a bid for 10Mhz from 2100Mhz spectrum for 3G services.

Only Zong managed to secure 10Mhz of 4G spectrum from the 1800Mhz Band.

Even though both Ufone and Zong had shown interest in 4G spectrum; but since Ufone failed to grab the 10Mhz lot of 3G spectrum from 2100Mhz band, a mandatory requirement for acquiring 4G spectrum, Ufone was consequently held not eligible to win the 4G spectrum.

This meant that one 10Mhz of 4G spectrum went unsold. However, Chairman PTA Dr Ismail Shah was optimistic that this unsold spectrum will also be sold in the coming few months. On the other hand, Finance Minister Mr. Ishaq Dar claimed that this unsold 4G spectrum will be sold within a month.

Mr. Dar made these comments during his speech after the conclusion of the auction.

Through this successful auction of the 3G and 4G spectrum the Government of Pakistan managed to generate a total of US$ 1.182 billion. Out of which US$ 902.82 million came from 3G and US$ 210 million came from 4G spectrum.

While the 4G spectrum was sold to Zong at the base price of US$ 210 million, the collective price of the 3G spectrum was US$ 17.82 million higher than the base price of US$ 885 million.

The two 5Mhz of 3G spectrum were sold at the set base price of US$ 147.5 million. Out of the two 10Mhz blocks of 3G spectrum, the base price of which was set at US$ 295 million, one was sold for US$ 306.93 million and the other for US$ 300.9 million.

With the conclusion of the auction, now the telecom operators will compete with each other to be the first one to commercially launch 3G service in Pakistan.

Operators have been testing 3G services from sometime now and a lot of high profile parts of Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad, and Peshawar were experiences 3G service throughout the auction day; hence, it should not be long before we get to know the various packages each company will be offering.

We predict that 3G service will be rolled out within two weeks time.

We would like to congratulate the PTA, MoIT, telecom operators, and all other entities involved in this process for a successful auction of the 3G and 4G spectrum.

[images via Propakistani]

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Telcos to Commercially Launch 3G Services With-in Two Weeks

Telcos to Commercially Launch 3G Services With-in Two Weeks - Pakistan

After successful auction of 3G and 4G spectrum yesterday, each and every mobile phone user is now waiting for the commercial launch of 3G services in the country.

The information ProPakistani received yesterday revealed that despite winning the spectrum, the commercial commencement of 3G service may take a week or two at most.

Pakistan Telecommunication Authority said that it will hold License Award ceremony after operators will pay their remaining license fee.

“15% of earnest money is already with the PTA, while remaining license fee will be settled with-in a week or so”, said Dr. Ismail Shah, Chairman PTA, in an interview.

He said that after all the payments are settled, through consensus, PTA will set a date for the license award ceremony.

“After getting the license and NOC from PTA, mobile phone companies can start 3G services very same day”, confirmed us Chairman PTA.

As explained, this date for license award ceremony isn’t finalized yet as operators will have to clear their dues ahead of this ceremony. Just to add, mobile phone companies had maximum of 30 days to pay remaining license fee.

We will let our readers know the date once we have any word on this.

On a related note, mobile phone users won’t have to get new SIMs for availing 3G services. All current mobile phone users with their currently working SIMs will be able to use 3G services. Yes, a compatible handset is a must.

Meanwhile, mobile phone companies will continue to offer 3G services on trial bases to hard test their network and capacities.

[images via Propakistani]

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3G / 4G Auction to Begin Today at 10:30 AM

3G / 4G Auction to Begin Today at 10:30 AM

The final round of spectrum auction for 3G and 4G technologies is all set to commence today, April 23rd, 2014 at 10:30 AM, that’s just hours away from now.

Pakistan Telecommunication Authority is all prepared to conduct the auction after it exercised full-fledge mock auction yesterday. PTA officials told ProPakistani that all qualified cellular operators participated in the mock auction to understand the procedures and rules associated with the auction process.

Authority said that with mock-auction completed, all operators will now enter into the final round of auction where they will bid for their desired spectrum.

PTA hasn’t revealed any information regarding the type (3G or 4G) and amount of spectrum that operators will bid for. However, we know that a total of 30Mhz in 2100Mhz band while 20Mhz in 1800Mhz band will be auctioned in lots.

While all participating operators, namely Mobilink, Ufone, Telenor and Zong, will take part in bid from their head-offices through internet, an auction hall is being setup in Islamabad where PTA officials, members of auction committee and media will be present to witness the auction.

Bids are likely to start with the base price. Each bid will be expire after 45 minutes before which operators will be allowed to bid higher to become standard highest bidder.

At the end of auction, the standard higher bidder will be granted the spectrum and a license to offer next-generation licenses.

Auction may continue for several hours – if not days – till we get the final winners.

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3G / 4G Spectrum Auction in Pakistan is Already Successful: Ricardo

3G / 4G Spectrum Auction in Pakistan is Already Successful: Ricardo

By Ricardo Tavares – International telecom policy consultant, CEO of TechPolis

The spectrum auction for provision of mobile broadband services that takes place on April 23rd in Pakistan is already successful.

It has attracted four bidders that are among the top mobile operators in the world. Any government who would have China Mobile (the single largest mobile operator in the world with close to 800 million subscribers) plus Etisalat, Telenor and Vimpelcom (all three among the top 10 mobile operators in the world) should be proud of it.

We must give credit to who deserves it. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has made information and communications technologies (ICT) one of his priorities. Not only has the Prime Minister talked the talk, but he has also walked the talk by making sure the right decision makers are in place to supervise and implement ICT policies. In addition, he opened his own doors to senior executives of telecom companies willing to bid for mobile broadband spectrum and acted swiftly when potential controversial issues threatened to derail the process.

He also made Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, one of his key advisors, head of the spectrum auction committee. He appointed a lawyer with specialist knowledge of the telecoms industry, Anusha Rehman, as Telecommunications Minister. Minister Rehman made Akhlaq Tarar, a career bureaucrat with an excellent reputation, secretary of IT.

Then, Dr. Ismail Shah, an internationally acclaimed technologist, was chosen as head of telecoms regulator PTA. The creation of this powerful team showed from the outset just how serious the government was. More recently,Mudassar Hussain, an experience telecom expert, became Member Telecom at the Ministry of IT.

The creation of this powerful team showed from the outset just how serious the government was.

Minister Rehman, PTA Chairman Dr. Shah, and their respective teams spent many hours meeting stakeholders and working hard to make sure that the auction rules and the spectrum licence resulting from it are consistent with telecom policy and reflect best international practices. The merit for the engagement of four strong bidders in the auction goes to them as well.

We must also recognize the role that the Supreme Court (SC) of Pakistan has played in summoning government officials to explain why 3G has taken so long to happen and providing strong legal backing against attempts to block or delay this important progress for the country.

This has been a very successful process. We have transparency in place. The reserve prices for this auction are consistent with international prices. We should see the final bids coming up above the reserve price due to competition and an auction likely to take longer than the one in 2004, which last only a few hours.

This opinion was first published in Phone World Magazine this morning.

[images via Propakistani]

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Reward Plans Announced for PTA Employees

Reward Plans Announced for PTA Employees

An authority meeting held at Pakistan Telecommunication Authority announced that PTA will soon announce reward plans for its employees based best performance, through competition.

Moreover, cash rewards would be given to the lower staff of each department as per rules, said a statement issued by the regulator.

Move is said to be aimed at improving the performance of the Staff.

This was decided during an Authority Meeting of Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) held today. Chairman PTA, Dr. Syed Ismail Shah, Member (Compliance & Enforcement) Mr.Zafarullah Khan,
Member (Finance) Mr. Tariq Sultan chaired the meeting.

In the meeting revised budget estimates of year 2013-14 and budget of year 2014-15 were reviewed. The Authority passed the budget with necessary amendments.

Not to forget, PTA employees have put all the efforts together to straighten variety of functions at authority during last few months. Smooth, transparent and undisputed auction of 3G/4G licenses is one of the major landmarks they have achieved so far during this duration.

[images via Propakistani]

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Helpless PTA and CCP: Telcos Continue to Deduct Call Setup Charges

Helpless PTA and CCP: Telcos Continue to Deduct Call Setup Charges

Despite having authoritative regulators like Pakistan Telecommunication Authority and Competition Commission of Pakistan, cellular companies continue to charge call setup charges of 10 paisas plus tax (or 12 paisas including taxes) for each and every call on every plan (base and bundled) for prepaid users.

This one of its kind charge was introduced during last week of December but Pakistan Telecommunication Authority had soon directed telecom companies to stop deducting these charges without causing any discomfort to the mobile phone subscribers.

However, cellular companies have not complied with the decision yet. Reportedly, they are not in any mood of doing so in future too.

Earlier on, we were told that cellular companies were trying to explain PTA about the increased operating expense and were somewhat justifying the call setup charges. PTA then (during January) told us that negotiations are under way and there might be some outcome – in favour of consumers — with-in weeks.

Later on, ProPakistani learned that cellular companies simply trashed the directive by saying that PTA can’t regulate prices. Though we are yet to receive any official confirmation on this stance by cellular companies, however, sources have double-confirmed us the helplessness of Pakistan Telecommunication Authority.

Competition Commission of Pakistan, a body that thrives to keep the market without any cartelization, is quieter than ever on this.

Not to forget, they (CCP) issued a show-cause notice to cellular companies on imposition of service charges after more than two years of the actual incident. Hence there is a little hope that consumers have from CCP as well.

This whole scenario leaves cellular customers on the mercy of telecom operators only. Pakistan has over 130 million cellular customers.

[images via Propakistani]

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Seventh TeleCON 2014 to be Held in May

Seventh TeleCON 2014 to be Held in May

The 7TH Pakistan Telecommunication Conference (TeleCON 2014), organized annually by SHAMROCK Conferences International, will be held on May 14, 2014 in Islamabad.

Held every year to highlight and debate on critical issues and opportunities concerning the telecommunication sector, including ICT trends and its impact on economy, the conference has gained a credible platform and attracts prolific speakers and delegates from a cross section of the industry.

TeleCON 2014, organized with the support of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), will feature dedicated sessions on:

Regulatory – Pakistan and Global Dynamics/Standards
Technology – The New Generation Mobile Services
ICT – Merger of Technology and Human Endeavor/Potential
Social Dynamics – Challenges in a Wired World.
Menin Rodrigues, Chairman, TeleCON 2014 commenting on trends and renewed dynamics of the telecom sector in Pakistan said, “The outcome of the spectrum auction of new generation mobile services will give an unprecedented fillip to the industry. With tele-density having touched 76 per cent and revenues at an all time high of Rs. 440.2 billion, and mobile penetration at 73 per cent with around 132 million subscribers; a new wave of development and progress is in the offing.”

Leading luminaries from the telecom and IT sectors, technical and social sector experts and learned academia from the engineering and electronic institutions are expected to read papers addressing the core subjects in the telecommunication and ICT sectors.

Participation details are available HERE

[images via Propakistani]

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