Broadband Counter Strike By PTCL
In line with government’s plan and PTA’s Broadband policy to increase penetration of Internet in general and broadband in specific, PTCL has rolled out a new promotion “Broadband Pakistan”. PTCL has also slashed rates for Internet Service Providers (ISP’s). Besides PTCL’s much discussed brand reputation for different products, service issues, past experiences from Paknet and aggressive resistance from ISP’s in this regard, the overall launch of this new service by PTCL has been much aggressive and comprehensive.
From packages to marketing communication, PTCL has done much better this time in comparison to roll out of its previous products. Broadband packages are being offered for as low as Rs1199/month for port speed of 256kbps, especially 1Mbps @ Rs4999/month has grabbed them serious attention from potential prospects including SMEs, Call centers, Cable operators besides individual/residential users. Huge billboards displaying “Get Thrilled, Go DSL” and huge banners hanging at all PTCL exchanges have helped marketing of initial roll out.
The response from customers in this phase is mixed. Questions have been raised with respect to shared bandwidth, technical support, service quality and putting caps on port speeds, however, so far customers have good remarks to share i.e. getting over 110kbps on average at 1Mbps circuit is almost dedicated bandwidth. Furthermore, keeping in view that PTCL has just revamped and stepped into this segment, problems at initial stage are no exception. On the other hand one knows that if PTCL keeps things moving in the right direction, they have the biggest network, infrastructure, resources and financial strength to serve customers smoothly nationwide. Moreover, the scenario for service quality, bandwidth and technical support will get clearer after six months or a year when PTCL will have ample traffic to manage. Right now, for broadband segment, things are going in favor of PTCL.
The case for other Internet Service Providers (ISP’s) in competition with PTCL is also valid. ISP’s have been unable to slash down the prices to meet aggressive move by PTCL as they are purchasing bandwidth at very high price. On the other hand, all major ISP’s have been serving the market since long and definitely have developed strong subscriber base and competence on service standards.
