FTTH In Pakistan
FTTH (Fiber To The Home/Premise/Business) is the new emerging technology for voice, data and media to which home users or commercial institutions in Pakistan can now look forward to. The idea is to replace the existing copper media in order to remove maximum dependency from PTCL network in general and to meet the demand for higher bandwidth with minimal disconnections, latency and security issues in specific. A related benefit is providing “one window solution” for data, voice, media & entertainment at affordable prices.
Some players have taken initiatives in this regard. Key players who have started or laid Optical Fiber Cable (OFC)Â are Multinet, Wateen Telecom, Mobilink, TWA, Nayatel and Brain Tel. TWA is focused on international connectivity through IPLC (International Private Leased Circuit) over SMW-3 & SMW-4, however they have also laid backbone fiber for Mobilink for domestic connectivity. As a result consumers are and will be enjoying advantages of low LDI tariffs. Nayatel is also offering data, voice and media services over FTTH but they are geographically focused in Islamabad market till yet. Multinet is one major infrastructure player laying 4500Kms Optical Fiber Backbone across Pakistan and also enjoys international connectivity with massive 40% share in SMW-4 through its investment arm Telecom Malaysia. Besides this Multinet has also laid fiber optic redundant rings in Karachi and Lahore. These OFC rings are also called Metronet. Multinet is serving corporate segment on Metronet since last two years.
Besides this Multinet has also enetered into a US$ 40million capacity contract with Telenor for 20 years. Wateen is another major infrastructure player laying 5500Kms of Optical Fiber Backbone and Metro Rings. Clearly the key advantage of backbone will be to serve Warid Telecom, However, currently Wateen is focusing heavily upon consumer segment with its Triple Play (Data, Voice, Video) services. Wateen is currently offering these services in DHA, Lahore on trial basis, for which they laid massive infrastructure. Brain Tel is household name in data services, however, an interesting fact which many of us might have ignored is Quadplay services by BrainTel currently being offered in Lahore. The main reason of this fact being ignored is massive marketing communication by Wateen specifically in Lahore. Wateen has also set up WiMAX kiosks at Airport Terminals.
Triple play refers to Data, Voice & Video available to the end user with FTTH as last mile solution. Quadplay on the other hand refers to the Data, Voice, Video & Surveillance available to the end user with FTTH as last mile solution. But it is important to note that once reliable media with bulk bandwidth and support is available, these players can offer variety of services like IP PABX, IP VPN, Mobile integrated VOIP, Mobile surveillance etc. Therefore, key difference in this case is that Brain Tel is offering these services and can gain first mover advantage in this regard, so Wateen and others must hurry up. But real competitive advantage in long run will still remain with players like Wateen and Multinet with their own fiber optic backbones and who eventually will be selling bulk bandwidth to Brain Tel and others. Another fact that differentiates Wateen’s Triple Play from Brain’s Quadplay or NayaTel’s services is that these service providers are only offering fiber optic patches at different locations which are connected to the PTCL OFC backbone for bandwidth; however, Wateen is offering services on its own OFC network eliminating caps on bandwidth, variety of services and at various price structures.
Related Blog Posts:
-Â Past posts at TelecomPk about Fiber & Triple Play
-Â Wateen’s Triple Play post at Green & WhiteÂ
Created by Babar Bhatti, TelecomPk.Net is a leading source of information and analysis about Pakistan Telecom industry. 
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I guess the author of the post is mixing up a number of facts. A simple layout of optical fiber happenings in Pakistan is something like:
International Connectivity: Via Submarine Cables.
There are four cable systems entities coming via three physical submarine paths to Karachi: SMW3, SMW4, TW1 and FLAG. FLAG is virtual PoP’ed on one of the SMW links (I am not sure which one). Transworld has its own cable system (TW1) that connects its Pakistan network to the outside world.
Metro Connectivity: Worldcall is the most extensively laid out network both in Karachi and Lahore where they are into two major businesses - selling cable services over the HFC network they’ve put up and selling dark core fiber (at cheap rates for converter-based connectivities without probably making any real good money) to enterprise customers. They could do so because they have a large number of cores in the fiber they laid out. Second notable player is PTCL who have placed over 200 optical network units in Karachi (alone) that are connected over mulitple rings. This OFAN can/will allow them to offer services off the network to their customers. An IPTV service will follow the recently launched Broadband Pakistan DSL services that has disrupted the nascent wired broadband market in Pakistan. Other players like Multinet in Karachi and Lahore , Niyatel in Islamabad and Brainet in central Punjab are laying their own fiber. With the excellent business model that Niyatel has been able to demonstrate, most of the players are correctly focusing on selling services off their optical fiber network instead of selling optical fiber as was initially the mad craze going on in the market.
Wateen, Multinet, PTCL and Mobilink (besides NTC and may be some Military networks) are the four commercial long haul networks that are either ready or in their mature states of completion. Major customers that these four players are eyeing include cellular providers and metro-players. Worldcall, for example, is expected to buy long haul dark fiber from either Mobilink or Multinet while Orascom’s holdings in TW’s stakes will make TW a customer of Mobilink when they would want to reach their customers beyond Karachi (expected by end of this year). Certain contracts are said to have been executed such as Telenor/Multinet, Mobilink/TW but given the higher stakes, new contracts are possible. A lot will also depend on how well new demands for domestic connectivity is created which will provide these four networks with a bigger customer base beyond the 6 cellular operators and the few bulk Internet companies that might want to take big capacites from Karachi to upcountry.
It sure is a complex situation but let us keep on depicting it clearly!
TM, thanks for for providing clarity and the detailed explanation.
Regarding Nayatel, a while ago when I checked their site, their services were way too expensive. Hopefully with all the other developments the prices are coming down.
I dont think TM’s investment in SMW-4 is that much. They hold 6 % as everyone else in the consortium
@momo: As I said, the article unfortunately is short/incorrect on a number of fronts. I would bet on the SMW-4 point of yours.
I want add something here as well about the trend of market. Onething which is unable to understand is why Companies (who have nationwide fiber optics) selling dark fiber and signing IRUs. I think they want to show thier own management that they are intellegent and recovered almost their initial investment by selling dark fibers. I think all these companies should focus on managed services instead of focusing on short term revenue incentives.
thanks for the details and clarification on various facts. following are some additions:
International Connectivity:
The four sources identified are accurate, however as far as total international bandwidth capacity to Pakistan is concerned, PTCL and TM shares appx 50% each. Total international bandwidth currently available to Pakistan is appx 2.6Gbps or 2600Mbps, out of this 2% appx is with TWA, 4% is with PTCL over SMW-3 and both PTCL and TM owns appx 50% each over SMW-4.
Metro Connectivity:
World call has laid fiber in LHR and KHI but they are using it to provide cable services for data and media to consumers or to support their own enterprise initiatives. As far as corporates are concerned Banks, FIs, Media Houses, FMCG, Manufacturing, Govt Institutions do not prefer cable services at all. The services currently used or tested by the corporate sector in Pakistan are DSL, DXX, WBN, VSAT, WiMax, Laung Haul Fiber. Yes, Worldcall do provide services to SMEs who might prefer low priced, low quality services. Brain and NayaTEL currently do not own Core Infrastructure Laying license. They donot have model to replicate PTCL’s network which means having Long Haul Optical Fiber Backbone connecting from KHI to PSH and then also providing OFC connectivity within cities in the shape of Metronet, completely bypassing PTCL.
I guess TW1 has no share in SE ME WE 4 Cable.
Thank you everyone for the information and explanation on various particulars. Following are some additions from my side concerning Multinet:
First of all let me clear one thing that TW1 is a private undersea cable project owned by Transworld associates (subsidiary of Orascom Telecom) and Transworld has no share in SEA-ME-WE-3 or SEA-ME-WE-4 Cable system.
About Multinet, a subsidiary of Telekom Malaysia promotes communications solutions to carriers & enterprises in Pakistan by leveraging Telekom Malaysia’s extensive network capabilities around the globe and has entered the consumer market.
By virtue of TM’s partnership in the 20,000 km undersea cable – Sea-Me-We-4, Multinet is providing International bandwidth on TM’s behalf from past 6 months to their corporate customers in Pakistan, making Multinet the first private company in Pakistan to offer the greatest diversity for international connectivity services to Pakistan via Sea-Me-We - 4. SMW-4’s multi-gigabit system allows Multinet to offer carriers and enterprises connectivity from speeds of 64K and above. Further to Multinet ability to provide international connectivity, Multinet is currently establishing its nationwide long haul optical fiber transmission network (Project Ittehad) in Pakistan, spanning a length of over 4,100 km connecting 107 cities to overcome bandwidth limitations of the domestic market. The infrastructure is built around the latest technology including full redundancy and self healing rings. They are also investing in deploying Metro Optical Fiber Rings in major metros - Lahore, Islamabad, & Karachi in Phase I. Phase II shall comprise of 10 more cities. This shall enable them to connect homes & offices directly to the world, ensuring no third party reliance and empowers them to provide great quality of service at the customer’s premises.
I feel that they are on the right direction but they need to move fast on their long haul optical fiber project because Mobilink already started their long haul fiber and grabbing the market very easily.
-I guess when we talk about submarine cable business there are few things very important one should note and among them is having your own “Landing Station” and at this time in Pakistan only two entities privilige that i.e. PTCL and Transworld. Transworld further carries an edge because TW1 cable’s GNOC (not the company operated NOC but Cable NOC) is located in Karachi whereas SMW3 and SMW4 NOC and Network Administrator, both outside Pakistan, located in Singapore and Mumbai respectively. PTCL Landing Station bascially has its own NOC and that is not SMW3 or SMW4 GNOC.
-Multinet automatically falls out of the race having none of the two i.e. Original Cable NOC and Landing Station.
-Transworld can create cross connection as well as collect performance monitoring / history alarm of other than Karachi station within no time whereas in SMW3 / SMW4, they’ve to launch formal request with NOC /Network Administrator (for service creation).
-Power is also one of the very important and crtical factors in submarine cables. In Karachi both SMW3 & SMW4 is Single End Feed station as far as their Power Feed Equipment is concerned and in case of failure, they’ll have to wait for Power Reconfiguration (normally not agreed by other parties) or Fault rectification of equipment and non-restorable customers will have to suffer a lot. Transworld has Double End Feed System, in case of failure of any of PFE, other PFE will take load within no time.
-Lower RTD from Karachi to Fujairah (12.291mSec) whereas it is 91.2 (SMW4) and 21(SMW3). Transworld also has the lower latency (130 ms) up to UK than PTCL(145-160 ms).
-The good thing about being an Orascom Telecom company provides Transworld with an edge of having the Mobilink’s long haul as it very own part. If you calculate all of the above and Transworld making active sales for last 8 months capturing Major ISPs like WorldCall (which is also TW’s last mile partner in KHI), Nayatel (TW’s last mile partner in ISB), Cybernet, Gerry’s, BrainTel (also TW’s lastmile partner in LHR) plus many more and Pakistan’s biggest IPLC accounts like of Citi Bank, AT&T, Circlenet…points automatically add up on the graph for Transworld. This is just 8 months of activity inside the market. I’m very sure that this company is going to make waves as compared to PTCL or anyother for that matter. We’re all tired of the way PTCL works and operates and corporate sector is very keen to shift its business to some private opeartor.
Regards,
Bilal Mughal
bilal_mughal@msn.com
Dear Bilal,
I do agreed that TWA’s have some edge as compare to anyother Telco in Pakistan but can you let us know what if TW1 under sea cable cuts down. What about redundancy, capacity and MTTR?
Multinet also have Pakistan’s biggest accounts like Wateen, CitiBank, Telenor etc for IPLC connectivity’s on SMW-4 and 100% auto swicthing backup & capacity on SMW-3.
Regards,
Salman Ahmed
In any system redundancy is very important because now business never sleeps.
In todays competitive world spike can Take a business to the highest elevation of success or can be a disastereous so TW1 has this weakness which is in near future not avoidable.
Secondly yes the systems has an edge but to be in Business and To remain in business are different things.
Yes TW1 is in the Business but for remaining in the business they have to work beacuse The Capital cost or fixed cost is very much of the systems like Optical Fiber Cable systems plus the operative expense.To earn profitability they have to have revenue generationg accounts in good quanitity.
To have sophisticated and Moderntechnology is certainly a Big edge and may have first mover advantage but if it would be a waste if this opportunity not exploited fully as i guess in the case of TW1. Having few accounts will not serve the purpose . This will not even cover breakeven period the technology may obslete or hange.
Also as the time passes they may have to face numerous prolems of system faults.
This is just my views and opinion
Regards
VASWANI NAVAL
iamvaswani@gmail.com
03002237927
FLAG is vPoP’d on which sea me we 3 and whts the internation al bandwidth running on it
well theres one more submarine cable to be deployed by the end of 2009, its called I-ME-WE (india, middle east n western europe), this cable design will cover 14.000 km and a capacity of 3.84 terabits/secs.
The author has praised Multinets MetroNET a lot but i think didnt experience their services. Its more worst than a CABLE NET.
Every 2nd day you are bound to face a downtime due to unknown reasons of viral/broadcast activity which they even unable to trace.
Cant write anything more. Just pathetic!
Regards
Jamil Ahmed
Just to add few things…
Multinet has already lost its credibility in the corporate/financial services due to their unmanaged MetroNET services. Its only surviving as there are not so many FTTH providers. Sooner or later it will be all over for MultiNET.
Regards
Jamil Ahmed
At this stage Mobilink, Wateen and Wateen has completed their backbone ofc project and PTCL already have with rings for protection are in operational.
I agree with VASWANI NAVAL that to be remain in business is major challege to all operators and to keep thier customers with them
As i think The quality of work done(whole ofc project) now will matter a lot as cable cuts/system configurations etc will effect the SLAs of operators with their customers.
Ahmad khan