Wateen’s Strategic Mistake in Product Launch
In this post we take a look at the role of advertising in building brand equity, using the case of Wateen’s recent product launch. Advertising is paid form of marketing promotion in which the sponsor is advertised and the message is controlled. Brand Equity refers to the value built-up in a brand. It is measured on a scale determining the extent of customer awareness. Besides awareness, brand equity is also directly related to the consumer’s experience with the brand itself. This experience finally decides the fate of product in terms of success and brand loyalty or failure within the potential target audience.
Within Marketing Mix i.e. Target market and 4P’s (Product, Price, Placement, Promotion), Product refers to the promise made to the customer or solution provided to the customer. Value is the perceived difference between the costs spent by the customer against achieved benefits. The lower the cost in relation to the benefits the lower is the value.
Hence, marketing communication or advertising during the product launch is a strategic decision and must be handled with care. Launching the product or service aggressively without practically placing it or making it available might bring critically negative impact on brand reputation. Such campaign destroys instead of building a brand. It is just like a promise made to the customer and then not being fulfilled. Such mistake at launch stage, specifically in case of a product like WiMax which still have to struggle a lot in getting mass awareness and with delivery issues, can severely disrupt the company’s and brand’s image within early adaptors of the product.
Wateen placed two ads in print media. One, related to product launch aggressively offered all the products in line with core focus on triple play. Wateen’s new website is also much better than the previous one and offers product & marketing information in detail. However on practically calling the Toll Free number on next day of advertisement, one finds a telemarketer with inadequate information on all the products and delivery time of 2 months. Prospects are being asked to register online and are being told that sales team will contact them in 6 to 8 weeks. However there is definitely some good news for DHA residents where finally some services are available. However, residents maintained that it is the Triple Play currently being offered and not the WiMax. Even in case of Triple Play services, Wateen is not actually offering FTTH, instead Co-axial cables are being routed from the OFC distribution boxes.
While doing advertisement during product launch, companies must behave strategically realistic when the market is competitive and buyers have become knowledgeable. Wateen does have some exciting projects and plans ahead and they are acting quite aggressively but enterprises like Wateen Telecom, must advertise product/service offering only when the product is ready to deliver instead of advertising plans on paper.
The second Ad from the campaign was a good advertising strategy. It was much focused on company’s corporate image leaving a feeling that there is a new entrant who will be offering state of the art value services in Telecom Sector. The services which are new for the customers in Pakistan. The Ad was not offering anything in particular and hence is the right Pre-Launch Ad before products are practically ready for delivery. Wateen also has successfully managed to bring certain corporate giants on board including Telenor, Bank of Punjab, Warid, Callmate etc and these names were illustrated on the advertisement, thus strengthening the company’s image as promising and trustworthy player.
Nice roundup. However, I have noticed that they also lack in communication like everybody else. I tried to get some info from their stall at ITCN but most of the reps there were like ‘give us your contact and we come back to you’. If people have to drop their contact info then what’s the use of all those reps grazing around?
“Even in case of Triple Play services, Wateen is not actually offering FTTH, instead Co-axial cables are being routed from the OFC distribution boxes.”
Why should Wateen create a in house competeitor to Wimax should it use FTTH for triple play??
Besides its not worth the tremendous cost it carries not only to Wateen but to prospective in the form of CPE.
the real FTTH case is Nayatel Islamabad. Wateen is just a media hoax and they can only upload pictures of their CEO/CTO celibrating birthdays & their 1 year in company :)
a month or two back when i was in PK, i got a call from a friend in Wateen and his manager (development dept. or something) wanted to speak with me regarding HP-UX & Linux installation on it - i was amazed to see the low level of technical skills and poor hiring in their core depts.
You can only pray for Wateen :)
CEO is actully making money from vendors, contractors and contracts
It is said that this ‘half baked’ stuff was sent out by Wateen as they had been given the impression that Mobilink is starting a huge campaign on August the 14th, (2007) and in the quest of ‘being the first’ Wateen fell in the booby trap and spent millions on stuff that is yet to see the light of the day.
Mobilink have a strong history of tactical marketing prowess. Back in 1998, when Instaphone was the giant cell company and Mobilink was just starting off, I remember, Instaphone started a stealth marketing campaign named ‘Insta Xcite’ with a capital X on the banners everywhere in the city. While Instaphone was still in the first few phases of the Xcite campaign, Mobilink hijacked the campaign and came up with something similar all to the awe of the Instaphone marketeers!
In my view, their entire advertising campaign has been a disaster.
I really don’t see how they could have done things worse.
If you look over at any internet forum in Pakistan, the “brand equity” of Wateen has been steadily dropping over the past year.
I have to agree with Tee Emm on this, Wateen sure wasted their energies on wrong front. Wateen launch is just like indian dramas, it just goes on and on …. Although Pakistani people like those dramas but i am sure they are loosing interest in wateen. I for one dont have any confidence on them now, they talk too much but dont deliver. Pakistani customers are not that stupid as companies think they are :-)
I agree with KO that Wateen let their brand slide. I was hoping that
theirWarid’s partnership with Singtel will help, but perahps its too early. As TM said, competing with Mobilink is not so easy, especially when a company lacks strong leadership and a competent workforce.Pakistani customers are not that stupid as companies think they are :-)
Well said Naveed!
Nice roundup!
I called Wateen office to get information regarding the WiMax but the representative told me the information will be submitted when the product launched! Amazing …… they are still not prepared to launch this product which is being advertized!
[…] This post is based on the original post by Atif Tahir at Telecom Pakistan Blog. […]
Babar, Actually the strategic partnership of singtel is with Warid and not Wateen.
KG - thats correct, the strategic partnership of singtel is with Warid .. correction made.
As salamualaikum
Can anyone confirm on the news about Mobilink acquiring DVCOM WiMax license? PTA has yet to approve this acquisition
Dear All,
Hello and Ramazan Mubarak,
There is a nice discussion and comments currently being carried out regarding WATEEN and its WIMAX Project.
The services included in name WIMAX/Mobile WIMAX are not clear at all and these services will vary from customer to customer. It depends on what a particular customer demands. It will surely be different for a home user, small and large corporate sector, academic/financial/banking sector with off course mix of different packages.
Regarding the technical aspect, as most of you know that WATEEN’s vendor is Motorola. Motorola is also the vendor of WIMAX project of Mobilink Pakistan. I think that the technology is not completely mature these days and the vendors are currently going through their research, development, getting help from other companies, other’s WIMAX solution. Also, in the WIMAX World Chicago US just a week back, Motorola has shown a demonstration of their Mobile WIMAX System at the river side. The vendors need to bring the CPE which can be used in order to access the WIMAX services.
It seems that WATEEN just want to bring their product in the market early in order to capture a large market share initially.
Thanks.
Regards,
Syed Meiraj Hasan
Islamabad
Pakistan
just here to tell every one wateen have very poor services simply fail services
Am 100% agree with Guru’s comments because I personally used Wateen WiMax really amassed that how that much big company can deceive their users I never got proper bandwidth never can voice chat I understand this is new technology but why Wateen getting experienced from Pakistani market, personally at this stage I can say that no chance for Wateen in Pakistani market because every one understand that once any company fail to deliver services in Pakistani market they never can grow up again, I have one suggestion for Wateen’s top management (if there is any) Please re-launch the company with new name and tray, you may recover your wasted investment.
I think WATEEN take some time for Stable Services and after stable Services the Generate great revenue from WiMAX project
Yes Wateen CEO and his Team Generate Great Revenue Not Wateen itself
Let me clear things here Wateen have Great WiMax Project but Unfortunately our CEO Make money form our Vendors and purchased for Substandard Hardware (Not IEEE Standards Hardware) this is the only reason of our frailer
Further more Wateen HR Makes Lot of Mistakes they Build up the Team of References not a single capable Employee
Faisal Zaheer
Wateen Telecom Lahore
0321-9479839
Before we make any sweeping statements please note that Wateen will launch its services officialy by end of this month or begining of the next. Also register the fact that it took considerable amount of time for a technology like GSM to settle down in this market. In the same spirit of things it will take time to get WiMAX on the road. The problem faced by Wateen is not individual to them only. Also another thing, WiMAX is used best when it gets treated as an “Inherent” technology. Every technology creates its own way for the consumer, until you don’t adopt to the fashion, it will remain useless for you. If you look at it from the “WiMAX Hype” perspective, Wateen has taken its share, now no matter Mobilink comes up with its solution into the market if not sooner then later, Wateen has left its trademark over WiMAX technology. Let’s wait till the end of this month to see how the formal launch makes a tee-off.
Thanks,
Bilal Mughal
I happened to visit local branch of Bank Alfalah regarding a credit card problem.The lady that attended (or rather complicated) that problem was hired for Wateen. Its a normal practice in Alafalah group, that same person sells credit cards, does daily bank chores, sells warid sims and is involved in wimax too.
Poor wateen and his poor services…………………..
anyone have any idea when wateen is going to launch.?
For latest on Wateen see this discussion:
http://tinyurl.com/2tmbpx
AOA everyone
Dear Babar i like the way you cover State of Telecom in Pakistan. I read many of your writeups from time to time. Iam involved in setting up street level micro BTS sites for Mobilink in Karachi. With only 2 years in site acquisition business as a service organization we are trying our best to be recognized as a solution oriented organization.
Iam unaware about WiFi & WiMax technologies but can anyone provide me knowledge if WiFi & WiMax technolgy also requires Micro base stations or street level antenna network based on LOS for a city like Karachi.
Best Regards to all
I am a corporate sector employee and as such has tried twice to contact the toll free number for information but in vein. We have a huge project in hand therefore want to get services related to telepnone,TV,Internet,data etc on a larger scale. The responce is poor. Should I contact again or???
Dear Masood, I am a Wateen’s employee. Please tell me that, what is your organization’s name and where do you need the services i.e city? I will arrange someone concerned to contact you guys.
Assalamoalaikum everyone. First of all I want to say thanx to Mr. Babar for providing such solid n latest informations…I m a student of MBA, n I want some info about Mobilink and its different strategies to attract users adopted time to time. i’ll b grateful if anyone here could tell me in detail… thanx
I proud that such a big project is launched by Wateen Telecom in Pakistan. one of the world’s big wimax projects. But the way it is deploying it in the market is very poor. Is it a way to give too much costly equipment free of cost inspit of considering the consumption of the same.
One thing more i want to ask from the frined here in touch that in how much cities Wateen has launched its wimax.
Naveed Zahid (03004364147)
naveed@inbox.com
Passed 3 year diploma of associate engineer in telecommunication technology after SSC.I have ability to do modifications, corrective and preventive maintenance of telecommunication equipments
Seeking assignements in Operations & Maintenance (telecommunication) with a growth oriented organisation.
03338403542
Assalam-o-Alaikum
I, as being an employee to Wateen Telecom i’m also a part of it. i personally know certain of the WiMAX users after the soft lounch of WiMAX by Wateen Telecom in major cities of Pakistan. Yes I agree that their were alot of doubts for WiMAX technology to be successfull in Pakistan but after then ending of its test period and official lounch it has been proved that it has been successfull depolyment of Wateen in Apkistan and in very near future it seems to overcome so many of the technical problems of telecomunication world.
Best Regards
Shagufta Zareen
Well,you are forgetting one thing.Wateen is company with very good cash reserves.They are probably building up the base untill they can actully at a place where they can be where warid stands today.
The classic way to enter a competetive market with big names taking the bulk of market they are adopting.They can sustain for some time now.With good finances and a long term vision they can succeed.
They are offering 512K in 22 cities,they ultimate vision is probably cover whats on their list eventually.
In a nutshell,they can do without the bing bang style launching.
I thing and i now about outdoor advertising business. It give very bad effect on the campign for wateen because it launchs the service at the time of all. Although all the sign boards covered in the election campign and the selection of the place for the sign board not meet the target market. I thing they should discontinue the campign and should relaunch the product again after the condition of city and after the election.
Dear Friends>>!!!
It’s my humble request to every one of us that don’t be so pesimistic rather be optimistic that atleast a brand like ‘ Wateen Telecom’ has taken such a bold step in revolutionising a Telecom sector with more advanced based technology like ‘Wimax’ etc in our country. Dont’ forget that our country is still ahead of many developing countries (Even ahead of India) in telecom sector in terms of its technology advancement with maximum ‘Value Added Services’ being offered to its customers at such economical nominal tariff rates.
My friends no doubts there must be some discrepancies & congruity you might have observed but besides all your apprehensions ……. I would suggest you if possible please give them some space rather be more criticized…….as they are at there initial stages………………so one must hope for better in their future endeavors to come……….!!!!!!!!!……..Thnx
Well yes Marketing Guru and practical experinces says that when the product is not available or service is not ready to be deiliverd a Promise should not be made. But WIMAX is a pure service with some physical escape of comany . Service is an experince which is judges-Measured-Guaged after use or trial so Waten’s Advertising consultant might have used as Information availability and in future startegically planned to take advantage of FIRST MOVER ADVANTAGE if any competitor comes in market.
Marketing is ruled by ideas and above all results shows the experince worth or not. Like When Mobi link was MAY BE LINK even then Mobilink had Higher growth rate then others . Is it not a mystry for Books gurus?
Pakistan lacks in the skilled workers in Services sector due to numerous reasins like Language, low literacy, Low wages, Man dominated society, cultural barriers etc therefore companies do face Technaical and qualifies staff particulary in SERVICES. The high TURN OVER is also a big issue.
This low turn rate is beacuse Companies do not invets in the traning and development of the Staff/Employee and they always hunting staff who are trained by some other comany therfore one day a person is in IT other day he is in Potatoes-snacks company.
I agree with Shugfta Zareen that the product is in introduction stage and witll take little time and they have the feed back about the product/service.
And last but not the least WATEEN entered in the ring , opened the door of new technology and provided the opprtunity to experince this to their valued customers. In todays world of rapid chaning companies have to take steps like this for remaining to be the Market leader.
It is also to be considered Higher the Risk Higher the gain and more than 90% new launched products fails initially.
Todays most reliable brands like PEPSI, COCO COLA, MICROSOFT, INTEL etc had also faced these challanges.
Beauty of thing lie in attempting so WARID has attempted well.
Any company who is afraid of the loss of their investment will never delight the customer.
Ages ago we heared SATISFY the customer them came the slogan DELIGHT the customer but Today it is SURPRISE The customer thrigh their services, New products.
Valuable comments are invited
Regards
VASWANI NAVAL
MBA, BE, MS
0092 3002237927
Salam,
The real story.
I just came from Germany to pay a visit to my Parents living in Gujranwala. There I am use to ~16mb/Sec download stream and ~1mb/sec upload stream. Here I was looking for a dsl or so called broadband internet solution. My first choice would be PTCL Flat Rate.. but due to continuous distortions in phone line even after many repairs ptcl line is still same. So I thought of Wateen. Its been my 2nd day on Wateen. Its just the third class low level and all those silly word I can use. let me start from the beginning.
I went to their Franchise in Gujranwala. I had some regular FAQs in mind… even for that they were not knowing any thing. Then I said ok I will be back after I will rethink on it. Next day I found other people dealing the customers I asked where are the one I met yesterday. I got a reply, they all went to Lahore for training classes. At the same time I got the thought HIT n TRIAL = Wateen. Though I have had to get a connection. SO I asked them to come to my location and do an availability test and with that I asked for the initial price to start the contract along with their Special offer price 512 kb/s so on for 1350 PKRS. They said 5850 PKRS ( 2999 PKRS for Upfront [WiMax Device] Charges 500 Security 1350 first month payment AND 1000 installation charges ) I asked then what sort o installation do they do. They just said.. yah the installation like generating user name preparing the stuff and so on. Today I just saw their FAQ and its clearly written:
Are there any installation charges for setting up this service?
No, there are no installation charges for setting up this service and there is no line rental. You are simply billed for the calls you make through Wateen Access on a monthly basis.
“Telephony” http://wateen.com/SupportAdvice.aspx
Now I dont know what they are charging 1000 PKRS for?!
ok next thing. He promised that test team will come the same day or next for the line test.
The day passed and the next too nobody came nor a single call back for any further information. I went to them to ask whats now?! They said that the test team will be there in 30 min… and I think in Pakistan 30 min means 3 hours. Though he came to test it… He tested it and the signals were good. he tested one two other things as were told in their training classes and offered me to test the net. I just checked ipconfig it was not showing WAN ip so I simply used any ip check website to check my WAN ip.. he said how u did that. I was like LOL then after that to check the Modem working he wanted to enter into Modem Interface. He even was typing in absolutly wrong IP and it was like
190.1.15.2
where as it was/is 192.168.15.1
After that he forget the firmware logins.. I was just ROFLOLLLLLL. if this is test team then what would be the others.
ok thats gone. I said its ok and it was ok. He asked me to pick the number. All Golden Numbers were either gone or were reserved against a Bribery for 3000 PKRS. Now here I feel like true Pakistan. Wateen is just to start and people with greedy faces are in… Dont know what will be its future.
I some how selected not golden but a nice number. ok now he said it will be activated in 24 hours. The Day gone and next too. I again called them whats now. they made lame excuse and said that our fiber optics to our main server got broken. I was like :O is it a good invested company or a toy shop? he said it will be activated till next day. next day I got the Authorization details for internet access but my phone was still dead. after few hours I got called Sir the number you applied for is already taken in our system please select another number. I was just think is it newly and heavily invested company with pros or just TEST TEST TEST = RUN. I gave her another choice to register for me. till next day nothing got activated. I was just fed up from this WATEEN. I went to their Franchise and spoke to them harsh. They even gave me my previously applied number along with they activated it in 30 min.
Ok so it was the activation of the Package.
Now I was browsing it for last 2 hours and its been auto Disconnected for about more than 15 times. MAAAAAN whats this now. Some how I browsed google for wateen and I got to this place. While browsing even it was just not getting byte on its regular time and many time it even got timeout.
Summary: Get a bamboo stick and live in a small village is better than to dream for a service that runs worst than what we can think of.
Bribery, low service, unskilled staff, unsecure and unstable infrastructure. What worst you need. “Wateen (We Never Connect)”.
PS: its not pre made story rather It happened to me.
Very useful story aaho. Thanks for describing the reality on ground.
Thanks. But I am not only pessimist. I do have ignored many of their stuff.. But now its just stucking in my throat.
The problem now they are facing is Telephony. If I call to my phone through other phone and I also have tested it through many different mobile networks. The message comes. We can not connect u and please try again later(in urdu). and for dialing. If I pick the phone to dial. my net get hangs and the modem lose it telephony and a bit later it even lose WiMax active signal and get dead. I plug the electricity out and replug it. Then both comes back and internet work fine up till I try to ring someone from wateen telephone service. Yaar are the serious in their business?
They are publishing that they got more than 10,000 customers but they are not saying it that they even got more than 5000 complains during these days till today.
I am in Lahore, and I have similar kind of experience like you aaho. You atleast got it working at last (though it was useless) but I was never able to run it for 3 weeks before I returned it :)
read the full story
http://www.dotriz.com/2007/12/wateen-wimax-unforgettable-experience.html
Capital investment to buy the wateen product is much more high. they’ve never considered the middle class people.. On its counterpart the local companies are providing WiMax services on very low rates of installation & modem charges. No-doubt wateen has a good start but qiute expensive.. Dear moderator, i am using a WiMax service of a local company, they’ve equipment my pc with LuCent modem, but wateen is using motorola modem which is too expensive. i wanna know, can i use wateen services with my Lucent modem???
RIZ I am still stucked. it works for those hours I comment here and later on again the same.
They gonna install Jupiter ( Signal booster Antenna) on my house roof. BUT the calling phase is still the same. Sometimes the call get connected and many times not. The final call I got from Lahore HQ was about installing the Jupiter. During the problem another survey team came to my home location. My room is on first floor and here I get 4 signal out of 5 around 68dbm that quite OK for all stuff they are offering. But they surveyed (at ground floor, as for that day I was not at home and they were unable to come in) that this location is out of their availability. They sent this survey to their HQ and now they gonna install Jupiter only for me within the same cost. Whereas that device is costing around 40K PKRS. I asked the person who told me that gonna do it, that what about telephony. HE said, its normal with other telephone companies too :D I said it isnt normal that if I call once it get connected and with in call it get disconnected, the modem restarts and then its up to your luck when u can again call the same person on the same number. lol
My story goes like this!
They installed Indoor CPE on 16th Jan.(512K Package), it worked fine for 2 days awesome download speed 60-65kb/s. They said telephony will be activated within 48hrs, but before those 48hrs were over, i restarted the CPE from its Web Interface, that was my biggest mistake being a user of Wateen. My CPE never picked up the signal again i knew this happened because of Web Interface bug in CPE.
Now the real Wateen Experience comes into scene….
I called their helpline at 5pm on 18th Jan i told them that my device has got some problem and its not picking up the signal they gave me the complain number and told me that your problem will be sorted within 24hrs. Next day at the 22nd Hour of complaint being logged Wateen’s technical guy came and said you are in out of service area for indoor device. I told him that how they hell your installation guys could not figure that out and how is that possible when i am receiving 4 signals out of 5 and internet was working perfectly, he said you are receiving signal because of Reflection and only Outdoor device can work properly here. I asked him to check the device he had in my room and he said “Your device is not faulty, you are in out of service area for indoor device” and he left saying that. I spent two days without internet, on Monday morning i went to Wateen’s Franchise near my home, and brought a guy with a another CPE. That CPE worked fine picked up signal while my CPE was still searching for signals. So to end the story Wateen has technical staff which is not technical at all. Their helpline is pathetic and you will always be given 24hrs for the any complain made.
very poor sercvices. having problems in my telephone line since 19-01-08 but no body from wateen knows what my problem is. everytime i call at helpline they say we have forwarded your complain. everytime i visit they say we do not have access at head. a customer who has spended Rs. 19500 does not look worthy to wateen. VERY VERY …………….. poor organizations.
got jupiter installed.
It was ok till they finalize its configuration. But again after Electricity shutdown and restart the phone is not working through their IAD. lets see what they do tomorrow.
Today just got it final and working. Lets see what results it shows after few days…
Salam
Another Town Another Story
December 16th 2007
The first applicant for the service in Town. Was tracking all information regarding final launch date since early september (later my registration form stated I was not even in first 50.)
December 25th 2007 6:00 pm
Paid 5498/- and signed for a 2 year unlimited, 1Mbps, CIR 999/- per month contract. Your phone will be activated in 1 Week. Awesome (it was like a dream comming true)
December 25th 2007 8:00 pm
Took an hour effort to get 1 Signal Bar. Dang ! Although internet speed was awesome. But cpe camping-decamping every 20 to 40 minutes. Grr.. what the heck. Messenger signing off, bytes send / rec problem etc… (Umm never mind it will be fixed soon)
December 26th 11:00 am
Logged complaint.
December 26th 3:00 pm
Call from Wateen Technical Support.
“Hello, is this Mr.XxXxX” (a charming voice)
-YesSssss…
“Sir, can you give me your MAC”
-YeSsSss…. ( Danger! Bells Ringing. Since you don’t have her voice signature as wateen technical staff, thus authorization failed. Access Denied. Don’t give your MAC)
But who can withstand a charming voice.
-read out loud like a parrot
“Sir, put cpe in an open area, specially on roof.”
-Hmm nice idea, (why I didn’t thought of it before.)
“Bye, have a good day” (True Genius)
Once found a good spot, I was really amazed to see that now I am getting like 3 signals. Hurraay ! (aah finally all problems solved, wateen technical support rocks, wateen rocks )
January 1st 2008 10:00 am
Wateen Rocks. Really ? Well……
Call from franchise, “Sir we are sorry to inform you that you have to visit us regarding some change in package. I am afraid our old contract is no longer valid”.
-Hmm, what now.
“Sir, you have to pay 351/- more.”
-Is that all ?
“Sir, yes sir”
-Ok sure.
“And Sir, now the package is for one year only, with a 10Gb cap, 512Kbps & 1350/ pm”
-Whattttttt ?????? No more two years contract, unlimited offer, 1Mbps & 999/- pm? (Punch in face. Clean KO)
“Sir, we are really sorry but there is nothing we can do. We humbly apologize. If not acceptable please return the equipment and we will return your money ”
-hmm. a brief pause. Ok. ( You have been fooled )
“Bye, Have a good Day” (phittay moun tayra, lagta hai wateen k CEO ko raat bivi say chappal parray hongay. Jub he tu subbah subbah new policy launch kar dee)
Later that day, I had to take this new offer. No other option existed in first place. No more matter of choice.
January 5th 2008 1:00 am
Telephone activated and password provided. (chalo kuch tu jaldi ho gya, shahid yeah de-camping wala problem bhi solve ho jaay next week may )
January 9th 2008 3:00 pm
Surprize! Telephone stopped working and password expired. No network found. Searching for signals took for ever. God Knows what happened. Logged a series of complaints, 1361, 3651, 4433, 7298 ….. forgot others.
Janaury 10th 2008 3:00 pm
Took cpe to franchise, technical staff updated frequencies. Once again the cpe was working like a charm but without Telephone or Password.
Janaury 18th 2008 2:00 am
Call from wateen field engineer.
“Sir, aapka problem may nay core say solve kar dya hai. Aapka phone activate ho chukka hai, ore password bhi kaam karayga.”
-Yar very good work. I am really thankful for your efforts & personal interest to the matter. (Indeed, he deserved a thumbs up. Job weldone) (Wateen Rocks)
January 21st 2008 2:00 pm
Prolonged signal search is back (Phittay moun, it sucks). I thought they updated frequencies. Contacted wateen franchise but they informed no such step has been taken. Hmm ok…
January 22nd 2008 8:00 pm
Logged complaint 8226
Still searching for signals. Almost begged to cpe, to camp
January 23th 2008
Signal search yet in progress…
Call from wateen.
“Sir, is your problem solved”
-No
“Sir, we appologize. Attention to the matter will be given immediately and on priority basis” (Allah Karay)
-Ok
“Bye, have a good day” (Although, I was expecting to recieve another good TOTKA)
January 24th 2008 Later that night
Signal search in progress…
Made my mind to accept the reality and let it go. Since there is nothing I can do. The nearest AP is perhaps at 4KM or so, or God Knows whus the issue.
January 25th 2008 Later in evening
Still searching for signals… ( I was dead sure by that time, that my CPE is being tagged “Yateem” of Signals)
Call from wateen.
“Sir, is your problem solved ?”
-No
“Sir, we are really sorry to inform you that, since your area is out of coverage, therefore, you have to return OUR equipment. We are informming our franchise to return your full payment. Once again we humbly appologize”
-Whattttttttttttttttttttttttt………………… ??????????????????????
-Yeah Offcourse. Why Not. (Chalo Broadband nah sahi, Iss Khuwari say tu jaan chutti)
“Bye, ” (Aaj tu have a good day kehna bhool gaay ? Yani K dua bhi sirf apnay customers k-lee-a hai. Wa Raay)
January 26th 2008 3:00 pm
Luckily fond field engineer, and he some how magically fixed my device in matter of minutes. Perhaps hard reset fixed the problem (You really rock dude).
The franchise representator was un-aware of any return policy. So he favored me to use this device till monday.
January 27th 2008 5:00 pm
Call from franchise / customer representator
“Sir I have contacted Wateen and they have three options for you”
(for once I wondered, is there any chance if I choose the right option, I will win a free CPE)
>>Option One>> Bear the problems and don’t complain, till wateen install’s its AP near your home. Or atleast in a reasonable distance. (6 months atmost)
>>Option Two>> Wait atleast 2 months, as we have forwarded such out of coverage area cases, and chances are high that such customers will be alloted Jupiter free of cost. (but not sure)
>>Option Three>> Return the equipment and take back your money in a day or two. (Offcourse.)
————————————————————————————————–
Wateen is so full of surprizes.
lol nice way waten looool rather ROFLOOOOOOOOL hahahahhha nice one Shahid :D
Salam
Another Day Another Surprize
Previously:
//
>>Option One>> Bear the problems and don’t complain, till wateen install’s its AP near your home. Or atleast in a reasonable distance. (6 months atmost)
>>Option Two>> Wait atleast 2 months, as we have forwarded such out of coverage area cases, and chances are high that such customers will be alloted Jupiter free of cost. (but not sure)
>>Option Three>> Return the equipment and take back your money in a day or two. (Offcourse.)
//
January 30th 2008 11:00 am
Visit to Wateen Franchise
–I informed the franchise representator, since first two options are ambiguous, therefore I choose third option, that is return of equipment.
“Franchise Representator, oh sure Sir, but before you proceed here is an update regarding Refund policy:
(Surprizee woh reeema ka dance tu sirf publicity k lee-a thaa)
>>Return of 11 post date checks in 10 to 20 business days.
>>Deduction of 2800/- to 3800/- from the initial payment. ( 5850/- )
>>Payment of remaining amount in 10 to 20 business days. ”
–hmm… Can you please explain why Deduction of amount ? I am sure I was informed that I will recieve full refund due to non-coverage area. Secondly, I never opted for return, instead you have presented me with most infeasible options including this return of equipment. Perhaps an explanation may avoid further confusion.
(khana khaya nahin, glass todra bill 2800/- to 3800/- )
“Well Sir, as you know -I- am not owner of wateen infact a representator. I am bound to follow what I am being told. Therefore department responsible for such actions (Refund), have provided with following, that is:
>>charge customer for first month usage.
>>charge for calls being made to non-free zone.
Anyhow I assure you I will try my best to get you full refund”
(Reema ko bhool jao, idhar tu mehdi hassan k chance bhi kum hain)
–Ok, I will update you regarding my decision in a day or two.
(Indeed advertisement the right to choose. Sub ko Mamo banao)
On my way back, I met field engineer. He offered me tea, frankly which I accepted without giving a second thought. I was sure, he is the right guy to get some information. During discussion, I inquired about my problem, to which he mentioned something useful.
>> Initial survey of the town projected that atleast FIVE APs must be installed, while upto now only 2 are functional.
>> Franchise is authorized to sell equipment if the distance between AP & CPE is 0.5 KM only.
( phir mujhay cpe sell qn kya ? MamoOoOoO banaya kya ?)
>> A team from Motorola is expected to visit town soon, since september 2007.
>> Wateen is a new setup and it will take sometime to stabilize its services. Its pretty clear that they launched prematurely.
(waisay he sub nahin cheekh rahay)
>> Finally, I have double checked on google map as well as coverage map information from wateen. Your home is atleast 3.4 KM from the nearest AP. So it’s not in coverage area. Thereby, whenever you log a complaint, it is rejected by Lahore side, being tagged out of coverage. So, I am sorry you have no option but to return.
( 1000 ruppay installation kiss khaatay may thay ? Oh may tu bhool gya. Installation tu may nay khud key thee. Phir payment may nay qn key ? MamoOo )
On my way back from wateen franchise, I was wondering, whose fault is it ?
Conclusion:
-Technology being offered by wateen is very good.
-Internet packages being offered are good. (Since they leave room for competition. Everyone will be delighted to see another competitor with new technology and attractive packages).
-Technical staff & support not upto standards. Need improvement.
-Network coverage below average. Need improvement.
-A humble request to Wateen Executives, please take prompt notice of this “Surprize Policy”.
—————————————————————————————————-
Wateen farnchise sold me this WiMax CPE and took the cheques. The signal is very weak in my area and now he is not taking it back. And when I call on Wateen help line they only issue me ticket number. Its 35 days and nothing is happening. Please tell me where can I complain? How can I get my money back from this fanchise?
Wateen New Offer
First Payment Rs. 2350/-.
11 Post Dated Cheque
1 year contract, 512kbps, 10GB cap, Free telephone till 31st March.
Motorola WiMAX CPE stop functioning unexpectedly. The device seems to be halted at boot. Took cpe to franchise where after initial examination they informed that the device is dead and they will send it back for the warrantly claim. The process will take atleast 20 to 25 business days.
Finding it an oppertunity, the customer representator presented me with a bill of Rs. 5771/- for the month of January.
I asked for details and he informed, it will reach you by postal mail.
Later he also informed that the package for which you have opted, is now being offered at an initial payment of 2350/-, and 11 post dated checque of 1350/- each.
What the heck is going on yar.
Do not worry, they also asked me to pay a bill of 7000/= when I start asking about the details they gave me the same answer. But thanks God after a struggle of 5 days now Wateen admitted there was bug in their system and my bill is finally Rs. 54/= only.
I have returned their CPE to them and now waiting for a refund……………….???
Gorsi, can you please guide me as well. I have contacted 111-365-111 for the bill details, but they said they have sent details to local franchise and you can have it from them.
I contacted local franchise as I was told to do so, and they informed they don’t have the details now, but I must pay the bill at once. Details will be available later.
Secondly, why they are offering the same package for lesser amount ?
Shahid, those were some pretty amusing comments. I was considering getting a wateen connection, but now on reading all these comments I’m not all that sure. Being a MamoOo is no fun :)
Very nice review guys!
something funny also happened to me!
I went to wateen on january and asked about their tariff.
They shown me something like this:
3000 upront
500 security
1350 first month bill
i came back and got busy in my work so couldn’t go to buy it for about 5 or 10 days max.
Later i went to them and they added 1000 more for installation. And you know what doest that installation include?
At their office desk: They put Cpe in front of me and said plug it in your pc in lan area and this installation tip costed me 1000 more!!
Now a days i’m getting surfing(browsing) problem. I have to refresh some pages 2-3 times in order to load it.
I wish wateen to improve its technology.
I got that bull shit wateen on 19 DEC 2007, and from that day I couldn’t even sleep. That is the biggest mistake of my life that I bouhgt Wateen. (The future is green, the future is wateen, kutay ka bucha hey yeh wateen).
Fragrance bhai galian to na do. Ye problem sab ko hi ho rahi hai, shayad is baat ka notice wateen le hi lay!
Reading all of the above.
I can only say this.
Wait up to next six months - maybe after this there service gets stable.
Why waste time and money?
Another Surprize
Although, username and password are being blocked since 24th January 2008 and my cpe is with Franchise (due to warrantly claim). My bill some how magically jumped from 5771/- to 7285/-. No official postal mail of usage detail has reached till date.
I am looking forward to contact my bank manager and cancel cheque atleast for the month of march. Because, there is no reason to wait further and later cry for this checque.
I am deeply disappointed by the service of Wimax. It worked migically initially but after 31st January it is like snail which dont even move like snail sometimes.
Downaloding is pathetic and wats mote bothering is that lack of knowledge and logic with the techincal staff of Wateen.
One official totally surprised me while he came to my house by his laptope coverage map that my house is out of coverage where as helpline and other staff says its not.
Why Wateen people behaving like that they are so dumb or ignorant the future of Wateen is Yateem for sure if it does not handle and adress this issue and its service which is going down day by day.
Wateen is doing fraud. They sold me teh wimax and there no coverage in my place. They wasted my one month by saying its a new company we are working we will fix it soon. our engineers will made it up and running. we will provide u external antenna. plz wait we r trying to arrange free jupiter intenna for u. et etc etc.
And now they have deducted my 7639 rupees saying we can not return first cheque and also there is phone bill for u.
Franchise in Blue Area Islamabad is really making fraud with people.
Can any body tell me, is there any law or can I go court to get my money back as they sold me the wimax and there was no coverage in my place???
Plz help!
Abdullah Malik, there is a Consumer Court in Islamabad, please register a complaint there.
Thanks, can you pls provide me the address of the Consumer Court.
Can any body provide me the contact details of Wateen’s CEO / Higher management? Where is Original Wateen’s main office?
Any phone numbers? Fax numbers?
Interesting thing, the franchise in Blue Area Islamabad do not have any phone number. They are are saying there phone is also on Wimax and they also have problems and using Jupiter antenna so their own phone is also not working all the time.
Same things is with Wateen SDS department, they also do not have any phone numbers.
None of the Wateen’s technical staff visiting homes is having any official ID card or any visiting cards. So becarefull, any body can enter your home saying he is from Wateen by using a suzuki carry dabaa with a Wateen logo on it.
To me it is like the Coperative banks Scandal?? is not it.
In cooperative banks scandal they cooperative socities collected meny and closed offices and ran away.
In this case they will collect advance money for one year, millions of rupees and they are not providing the service they advertised and promised.
They are even not listing to the customer, their help line only issue use less ticket numbers and no action is taken on these.
Abdullah Malik, well it is more like a coperative banks scandal. Many including me have been robbed for ghost services. Average internet usage for January is approximate 4 Gb or so, atleast mine was ( special thanks to wapda & 40% downtime or un-availability of service ).
People who have purchased the same package in february 2008 have paid 3500/- less amount as compared to January 2008. Why ? because there was no billing system available for internet usage in January but it is now.
Secondly, I am surprised by wateen helpline’s professionalism when I tried to explain my problem,
“that my telephone bill is really un-acceptable since I have made calls to destination which your franchise representator claimed to be in free zone. I hold your franchise as authentic source for any information or claim regarding your services. Even the pamphlet provided by the time of purchase confirms my claim. But now you people have billed me for those calls.”
Secondly, if I happen to call non-free zones, why my account was not being blocked at 1050/- (limit) as it happened with other users. Does that mean even if the problem is at your end, I will be responsible for losses ????
Expect what, and the pathetic response from wateen helpline was,
“since this is franchise’s problem so you should discuss it with them, we do not offer such services, and please settle the issue. ”
Come on man, where is wateen’s professionalism. Its just like you invite someone to dinner and once done with dinner, you present your guest with the bill. What sort of professionalism is it ? You expect me to advocate Wateen to Wateen’s franchise ? You want me to tell them what is what ? Why should I bother to do that ? Its your organization’s job to deal with such issues not your customers.
So, any one who is looking forward, please make sure you hold wateen’s internal affairs certification & must have personal contacts with franchise otherwise be ready for un-expected surprises.
The “problems” of all “solutions”
are
Tariq Malik CEO
tariq.malik@wateen.com
Name : Ali Ayaz
Desig : Sales Operation Manager Karachi South
Email : ali.ayaz@wateen.com
Name : Ali Qazi
Desig : AM SOS South
Email : ali.qazi@eateen.com
Name : Azhar Hayat
Desig : ASM
Email : azhar.hayat
Name : Fahim ul Islam
Desig : ZSM
Email : fahim.islam@wateen.com
Name : Faisal Durrani
Desig : SDS
Email : faisal.durani@wateen.com
Javeria Ajaz
javeria.ajaz@wateen.com
Jawaid Miandad
jawaid.miandad@wateen.com
Regional Head
pirzadamustafa.nawaz@wateen.com
Zeeshan Younus ASM Karachi
zeeshan.younus@wateen.com
0321-2421321
fbe.central@wateen.com
fbe.south@wateen.com
Munawar.Rasheed@wateen.com
Fawwad.Farooqi@wateen.com
Adil.Hussain@wateen.com
Haseen.Ahmed@wateen.com
Syed.Alamdar@wateen.com
Ammar.Haider@wateen.com
ahmed.saeed@wateen.com
RE: Proposed Meeting in Lahore…
From: Ammar.Haider/Wateen/Lahore (Ammar.Haider@wateen.com)
Medium risk You may not know this sender. Mark as safe | Mark as unsafe
Sent:
Thursday, February 21, 2008 12:43:28 PM
To:
Shaykh Zeeshan Rauf (zeeshan.rauf@ubl.com.pk)
Cc:
kamranaftab@cyber.net.pk; badar.abbas@cyber.net.pk; khi-wt-79a@cyber.net.pk; isaudkhan@hotmail.com; Pirzada Mustafa.Nawaz/Wateen/Karachi (PirzadaMustafa.Nawaz@wateen.com); fclhr06@hotmail.com; Ali.Ayaz/Wateen/Lahore (Ali.Ayaz@wateen.com); fskhi04@gmail.com; nazartelecom.wateenpk@hotmail.com
Attachments:
Security scan upon download Trend Micro ® logo
image002.jpg (2.1 KB)
Dear Zeshan
I will be reaching Karachi on Sunday night and will be there till Thursday. My objective of coming to Karachi is to sit down with all Franchise Partners and sort out the issues. As far as Tariq is concerned he will not be in country in early next week.
Hopefull I will be able to solve all your issues and will move ahead.
Will be meeting on Monday morning.
Regards
Syed Ammar Haider
Head of Consumer Sales
ammar.haider@WATEEN.com
Cell: 92-321 4445050
IPT: 44666
From: Shaykh Zeeshan Rauf [mailto:zeeshan.rauf@ubl.com.pk]
Sent: Thursday, February 21, 2008 12:11 PM
To: Ammar.Haider/Wateen/Lahore
Cc: kamranaftab@cyber.net.pk; badar.abbas@cyber.net.pk; khi-wt-79a@cyber.net.pk; isaudkhan@hotmail.com; Pirzada Mustafa.Nawaz/Wateen/Karachi; fclhr06@hotmail.com; Ali.Ayaz/Wateen/Lahore; fskhi04@gmail.com; nazartelecom.wateenpk@hotmail.com
Subject: Proposed Meeting in Lahore…
Dear Ammar Sb,
As per our discussion with Mustafa yesterday and as agreed by all the franchisees here, we have planned to visit Lahore to hold a meeting with Mr. Tarik Malik along-with you and your team in Lahore in the presence of Mr. Parvez Shahid to discuss the issues being faced by us including the commission structure announced by the company. As per my knowledge, some franchisees from the Punjab region will also be joining us in the meeting.
Please note that the tentative date for our visit to Lahore is on Monday, February 25, 2008. Would appreciate if you could confirm at the earliest so that we may proceed with our plans.
Thanks & Regards,
Shaykh Zeeshan Rauf
Head of Corporate Banking
UBL Ameen - Islamic Banking
Work: 92-21-111-825-000, Ext. 211
Cell: 92-321-2333444
FW: Trauma Continues..!!
From: Shaykh Zeeshan Rauf (zeeshan.rauf@ubl.com.pk)
Medium risk You may not know this sender. Mark as safe | Mark as unsafe
Sent:
Wednesday, February 20, 2008 3:41:06 PM
To:
kamranaftab@cyber.net.pk; badar.abbas@cyber.net.pk; khi-wt-79a@cyber.net.pk; isaudkhan@hotmail.com
FYI. I have shut down my shutters because of the rubbish service!
Thanks & Regards,
Shaykh Zeeshan Rauf
Head of Corporate Banking
UBL Ameen - Islamic Banking
Work: 92-21-111-825-000, Ext. 211
Cell: 92-321-2333444
—–Original Message—–
From: Zeeshan Rauf [mailto:alaynacom@yahoo.com]
Sent: Wednesday, February 20, 2008 2:13 PM
To: Ali Ayaz; Ammar Haider
Cc: tariq.malik@wateen.com; Mustafa Pirzada; JAHANGIR RATHORE; Shaykh Zeeshan Rauf
Subject: Fw: Trauma Continues..!!
The issues of the below customers and plenty of others still stand unresolved, without any help or support. Two customers today became physical with my staff and threw the devices on their faces. The staff is constantly facing threats from irritated customers. Please note this is completely intolerable and therefore i am shutting the franchise till all the issues are resolved or proper security is provided to my staff.
Taking the company’s reputation and image to this level is yet another achievement…and i would like to congratulate the management for achieving this milestone!!
Regards,
Zeeshan.
—– Forwarded Message —-
From: Zeeshan Rauf
To: Ali Ayaz ; Ammar Haider
Cc: Mustafa Pirzada ; Zeeshan Younus ; tariq.malik@wateen.com; ahmed.saeed@wateen.com
Sent: Tuesday, February 19, 2008 8:42:16 PM
Subject: Trauma Continues..!!
Dear All,
As the poor franchisees run into the 63rd day of torture and trauma, thanks to the chaotic and clueless Wateen management, kindly note some serious issues which need to be looked into on an urgent basis:
Assigned User name / password not functioning - Now a DAILY FEATURE:
Mr. Muhammad Zubair,
33/II/II Between 15th & 16th street,
Main Khyban-e-Tanzeem,
Phase 5, DHA, Karachi
Telephony:021-8025341
Contact: 0300-8201522
Package: A-1
Username: I111372, Password: PWD152810223
Status: Customer is returning the sale and is not willing to negotiate or listen to any justification. Please note that we will not contact the customer again to become a reciepient to abusive language. If the company is interested in retaining the sale, it may do so from its own efforts, however, in the current scenario of sale return, we will have no choice but to return the customers money, however, please note that the franchise commission of PKR 1,800 and installation charges of PKR 1,000 will NOT be deposited in Wateen account out of the total amount due, as we are not ready to bear losses on account of the company’s poor systems and gross mismanagement.
Wrong/Excess billing - Again a DAILY FEATURE:
Ms. Nida Fatima
79/1, Khyban-e-Badr,
Phase 6, DHA, Karachi
Telephony: 021-8025055
Package: A-2
Contact: 0321-8289796
Status: The customer’s connection got disconnected a couple of days back. The customer contacted helpline (Haroon) from her no. 021-5848267 and she was told that a total bill of approx PKR 5,800 was due and had to be paid for connection restoration. Customer visited franchise for bill payment and upon our inquiry from Adil of FBE South we were told that the total bill was for PKR 7,883, which was duly paid by the customer and at the same time she requested for billing details. The billing break-up received from franchise back-end support (Shoaib Hassan) a couple of hours later showed NIL amount as due!!!…Since no wrong billing refund policy has been communicated to us, despite several requests, please note that the amount of PKR 8,000 is being returned and will again NOT be deposited in Wateen account.
Miscommunication by Helpline - Another DAILY FEATURE
Mr. Danish Nawaz
H#B545, Hazara Colony,
Kala Pul, Korangi Road,
Karachi.
Telephony: 021-8025080
Contact: 0321-8256273 / 021-5891312
Package: A-2
Status: The customer purchased a connection from our franchise on Dec 27, 2007. Between January 13-15th the customer called Wateen helpline for various issues from his PTCL no. 021-5891312. During this time he also inquired whether Ireland was in the Free calling zone, upon which he was specifically told that UK and Ireland were both in the same Zone and hence absolutely free. After a couple of days his line got disconnected and upon finding out, he was told that it was due to billing from calls made to Ireland, which did not fall in the Free calling Zone. The customer refuses to pay the bill and wants a refund on his connection. We are as helpless as always!!
Device De-camping
Tariq Ashfaq
Shop # 2, 35-C, 10th Street,
Off Khyban-e-Shamsheer
Khadda market, Karachi.
Telephony: 021-8025223
Contact: 0333-2143910
Package: A-2
Status: The customer got his connection on January 15, 2008. The customer made various complaints regarding several issues with regards to signal, telephony etc etc. Since today morning the device has been camping and de-camping and as a result the customers work has suffered a lot. He is adamant on returning the sale. would appreciate if someone can look into this issue:
I have worked in different PROFESSIONAL organizations since the past nine years and have clearly never seen such a good example of Organizational Mis-Management !!……. My staff is extremely tired of working in this environment, handling nothing but problems day and night and selling in a city with hardly any coverage!!… and hence, several of them are on the verge of resigning…..
Would appreciate if someone could look into the above issues. Would also appreciate if some effort is diverted from sales to cleaning the entire mess and taking us out of this daily torture - as we are all extremely extremely tired and exhausted now!!!
Regards,
Zeeshan
Send instant messages to your online friends http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com
Send instant messages to your online friends http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com
LoL, nice shot analyzer. Infact its a sixer yar. Thanks for all those email addresses. I will mail my case promptly and hope it doesn’t fall on deaf ears.
My wateen connection is almost equal to dial up now!!
downloading average is 22-25kbps and upload 4.65-7kbps
browsing is dead
needs 1000 tries to load page.
what the hell is wrong with wateen????
no actions???
Analyzer you rock dude. Finally, someone from wateen called and confirmed that I am being heard (email recieved) and my issue will be resolved.
Raja Aamer cann’t confirm the service status, as I don’t have cpe. But I still believe you.
Dear All:
Please also send a complaint to The Network for Consumer Protection.
The Network for Consumer Protection
Street address: 40-A Ramzan Plaza, G-9 Markaz, Islamabad
Postal address: PO Box 2563, Islamabad, Pakistan
Phone: 92 51 226 1085
Fax: 92 51 226 2495
E-mail: info@thenetwork.org.pk
http://www.thenetwork.org.pk/
If you are in Punjab area, you can launch a complaint to District Consumer Court normally a DCO of that district or a Special Judge appointed under
THE PUNJAB CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT 2005
http://www.punjablaws.gov.pk/laws/477.html
An Example:
Consumer Court helps lawyer get his money back
LAHORE: District Consumer Court judge Syed Maruf Ahmed Ali on Saturday ordered Dr Ijaz, Fazal Din Pharma Plus sales officer, to return Rs 2,500 (purchase amount) to Advocate Abdul Wahid Chaudhry.
On May 11, 2007, the lawyer had bought a blood pressure apparatus for Rs 2,500. On the same day, the lawyer had returned the apparatus, saying that it was out of order. Dr Ijaz had told the lawyers to contact after three days.
The lawyer said when the respondent had delayed the matter he sent a legal notice to Dr Ijaz. He said Dr Ijaz had then contacted the lawyer and refused to return the purchase amount, but agreed to replace the apparatus.
The lawyer refused the replacement and urged the respondent to return his money, but the respondent refused. On which he filed a petition before the court.
The respondent told the court the lawyer’s claim was time barred, as he had not filed the petition within 30 days. The court after hearing both the parties directed the respondent to return the purchase amount within 10 days. staff report
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008127story_27-1-2008_pg7_37
PTA Compaint Cell is very helpfull in getting such isses resolved. Do contact them, at present Wateen is not in their online complaint system so use email or fax to send your Wateen Love Story………………ha ha ha! So many people suffering. Yesterday, i have seen a physical fight on franchise.
really a big scandal.
http://www.pta.gov.pk/index.php?option=com_complaint&Itemid=485
Officer Incharge PTA Complaint Cell.Pakistan Telecommunication Authority,
Sector F-5/1, Islamabad.
Phone No. 92-51-9225325, 9225318
Fax No. 92-51-2878127.
E-mail. complaint@pta.gov.pk
2. Director (Enforcement), Lahore.PTA Zonal Office, 165-Abid Majid Road Adjacent Telephone Exchange, Lahore Cantt.
Tel: 92-42-6665022 Fax: 92-42-6654009
Email: ptalahore@pta.gov.pk
3. Deputy Director (Enforcement), Rawalpindi. PTA Zonal Office, 222/5, Khadim Hussain Road, Rawalpindi Cantt.
Tel: 92-51-5585380, 5121362 (Exch) Fax: 92-51-5585761
Email: rawalpindi@pta.gov.pk
4. Director (Enforcement), Quetta. PTA Zonal Office, 213-B, Jinnah Town, Quetta
Tel: 92-81-2829476 Fax: 92-81-2829477
Email: quetta@pta.gov.pk
5. Deputy Director (Enforcement), Peshawar. PTA Zonal Office, Plot No. 11, Sector A-3, Phase-V, Hayatabad, Peshawar
Tel: 92-91-9217279, 5829178 Fax: 92-91-9217254
Email: peshawar@pta.gov.pk
6. Director (Enforcement), Karachi. PTA Zonal Office, Wireless Compound, Opposite JPMC, Rafiqui Shaheed Road, Karachi. 75530
Tel: 92-21-5680101 Fax: 92-21-5680640
Email: karachi@pta.gov.pk
7. Deputy Director (Enforcement), Muzaffarabad. PTA Regional Office, D-72, Upper Chattar Housing Scheme, Muzaffarabad.
Tel: 058810-33255 Fax: 058810-33256
Email: muzaffarabad@pta.gov.pk
Hello Room,
I had a chance to read comments about Wateen in this blogs history and wanted to share few things I know for a fact. As you are all aware, Wateen has officially launched most of its products now. It is making great headways in the field of BW selling, VPNs and LDI. Expansion is currently underway to increase the network to more then a 100 cities by mid of this year. HFC is being rolled out in more and more localities in Lahore after successful launch in DHA. Wateen is also moving big time in Datacenter, Dataware hosing, Gaming, DNOP and media space. All this shows great progress in the last one year with limited resources - more so then any of the competitors in the same period. Growth has been in many different market segments and incoming business is overwhelming. All this points to a successful and stable NGN company in Pakistan.
UK
Aaaah Finally, got my cpe today and its working like a charm.
All 5 bar signals. (used to be 1 while indoor and 3 on roof)
Supperb RSSI value -43 to -46. (used to be -96 to -104)
Superb CINR value 32 to 36. (used to be 7 to 14)
Decamping issue seems to be resolved permanently.
Slight browsing, messenger sign-in problem but hopefully they will be fixed soon.
The only issues left are:
-adjustment of bill for the month of january, and
-compensation for the month of february.
I hope they will be resolved as well.
For some inexplicable reason, all non-http traffic has been shut down on Wateen. Webpages load fine unless you have to log on via https (so no hotmail, gmail, msn, aim, etc.).
Using vtunnel to get around this.
Hope this isn’t permanent.
Shahid: did the change in signal strength come solely from new CPE? i get 2-3 bars in certain spots outside my window and no bars inside. but Wateen did tell me I do live in a low-coverage area.
anyone have the Jupiter antenna? how much extra does it cost? is it worth it?
i don’t want my CPE to get damaged from sitting outside the window
Gill
-Indeed, the services goes down from time to time but mostly restores in 15 minutes. Today, I was amazed when I tried to download a file and instead of getting that particular file I was being served by wateen’s database server and provided with Lahore’s customer information. I wonder how it happened since it’s beyond my knowledge.
-No the signal strength is of the fact that, wateen has installed its equipment on a near-by warid tower. The tower is roughly 800 meters apart or so. I was expecting some decent reduction in ping time (latency) and hop count but surprizingly they are pretty much same. The only noticeable difference is device decamping vanished permanently.
-CPE i35600 or i600 is an indoor unit, so don’t place it outside, like on roof or in open area. You will be tipped to do so by non-technical staff. But remember equipment’s operating temperature is between 5 Degree celsius to 40 Degree celsius, humidity and dust factors apart. So it’s better to keep it inside.
-Performance of Jupiter is definitely better as compared to cpe i600, and that’s the only plus point. Where as its cons are high price atleast 5 thousand difference, fixed unit like your TV Antenna, some compatibility issue with IAD as reported by some users due to frequent power failures etc.
Do not go for Jupiter. It has lot of issues. Telephony is not working on Jupiter. One big example is that Jupiter is intalled in Wateen Blue Area franchise in Islamabad and there phone is not working.
Anyone know the detail of Web Interface of Jupiter? How can i get the Information for web interface configuration ?
i think i have no choice but to go for jupiter. my cpe can’t be doing well outside, it’s in the heat and gets full of dust everyday. it can’t even keep 3 bars anymore without a cleaning, and even then only for a few hours.
it can’t pick up a signal from indoors at all.
Keeping cpei in sunlight is very non technical suggestion!!
these devices are for indoor use only!
you should ask them for jupiter!
A comparison:
If u go for Jupitor, U r to pay:
Around Rs. 7,000 more.
Monthly chrages will remain Rs. 1350 per month.
There is battery supplier.
There is no telephony.
You need Cabling both power and network calbes till the power socket and networking calbe till your PC.
So why not to go for DSL from any company in ur area, like Micronet, PTCL, linkdotnet and many more.
The DSL will work even there is no power (loadshedding is normal now), atleast you can connect your Laptop to internet if u r using DSL.
Why you pay lot of money for Jupiter when others are offering free of cost modem for DSL along with installation.
Why you will pay 1350/= with out a phone connection on Jupiter when other are enjoying both net and phone on CPE in same 1350/=, is this justified?
In DSL u can use your existing phone line and no new cabling costs.
Plz do ask Wateen people why they do not use offical sationary. Why they do not have visiting cards or ID cards when they come to visit your home.
Why they could not get batterries for CPE and Jupiter evern in 4 months?
What is wrong with there billing computers, always generating wrong bills.
Why all numbers are not allowed from Wateen phones, for example toll free numbers starting with 0800, like 0800-11825 for UBL, 0800-99999 for Standard Chartered bank, ???
So think a lot b4 going for Jupiter.
No doubt, there are lot of technical problems for Wateen customers right now. But keep in mind that WiMAX is future for telephony and Data services. Thats the reason even GSM operators are interested in it for data services.
WiMAX has much much more speed than normal DSL’s because distortion is less between base station and end user in WiMAX. You know at the end of 2008 Nokia is going to launch WiMAX enabled mobile phone also. It will help you to talk free of cost through VoIP wile roaming in WiMAX signal areas. Every new technology faces lot of challenges but don’t put your final verdict before full fledge launch of those technologies.
I’m seeing that in few years, majority of users will be shifted on WiMAX platforms for calls and data services. Because its much cheaper than GSM and DSL. secondly you will be soon able to roam while using your mobile and notebook (WiMAX enabled) from cities to cities and having excellent speed.
Right now WiFi is one option for wireless connection but thats only for small areas. So you can made calls from mobiles (WiFi enabled) through VoIP while sitting in WiFi area but WiMAX covers miles and miles with high speed so it will future for users.
We should feel proud that such high technology is available for Pakistani users. Thanks and Well done Wateen Telecom.
Mr Saleem,
If u r right, then tell me which advance country in the world is using WiMax? It is a rejected technology in advanced world. For your kind information I am working in Erricson on Sweden.
@Abdul Rehman Paracha
Apparently people working in “Erricson on Sweden” are not very well informed. :)
Please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_deployed_WiMAX_networks
You might also want to look at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wimax
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_wireless_data_standards
WIMAX (802.16e) is probably the only widely deployed wireless standard for high speed internet which has a large range. Only WiFi (particularly 802.11n) beats it in terms of speed, but WiFi tends to work at less than 50 meters.
Mr. Abdul Rehman Paracha,
Please go through below details. secondly if its rejected technolgy (before operating full fledge) then why world’s top mobile company Nokia has announced that they will bring smart WiMAX enabled phone in 2009. Why people are running after WiFi enabled phones these days. Do you think that EDGE, GPRS or CDMA etc technology is capable to provide 100 times faster speed on mobiles or wireless laptops. Answer is No. WiMAX technolgy has these strength. One more question is if its so obselete technology then why MOBILINK ( Pakistan’s largets telecom company) has announced that they will provide WiMAX services in couple of years also.
I dont want to mention where I’m working or what is my qualification. You might be talking about IEEE 802.16d but I’m talking about IEEE 802.16e standard which allows mobility.
Article:
Pakistan is one of the early adopter of WiMax technology and Wateen has made ambitious announcements for WiMax rollout in 17 cities. Wateen is using the technology to provide fixed wireless broadband data services for residential use, and through its 5,500 kilometre long haul optical fibre, metro optical fibre rings and FTTx, the company will offer total communication solutions (Triple Play) including voice services, video conferencing, broadband internet and TV viewing. Others such as Dancom and Burraq are also implementing WiMax. For an overview of Wimax in Pakistan see my previous posts, especially this. Despite all this buzz around WiMax there are still many who express doubts about it, especially when 3G is out there.
An article in THE ECONOMIST says that for the 60,000 people attending the 3GSM trade show recently in Barcelona, WiMax was everywhere … on huge banners, on the lips of executives, and on products in display cases.. everywhere, that is, except in the real world. The article says that even as mobile operators start to upgrade their networks to the latest enhanced 3G equipment, WiMax boosters say their technology is superior … and now that WiMax networks are starting to pop up around the world, the industry will soon find out if they are right. I think that startups such as Meraki which is developing low-cost wireless mesh technology and routers, can make a big difference in WiMax adoption.
As discussed at ZDNet here, the market for high-speed connectivity has split into two camps: one stands by wireless standards such as WiMax and Wi-Fi, while the other supports mobile technology 3G and HSDPA. Motorola which is one of main Wimax provider thinks that Wimax can replace wired broadband in 20 years. The GSM camp disagrees. The truth is probably somewhere in between: both mobile and wireless (wimax) technology segments are complementary and can co-exist in the market (see illustration above - source: Alcatel / Forrester). In my opinion, it is the local economics and demand which will favor one technology over the other.
As noted in ZDNet, Wi-Fi and WiMax have been largely confined to facilitating high-speed connectivity to laptops and PDAs, while 3G and HSDPA have focused on mobile phones. However, there are now suggestions that 3G can be extended to laptops, particularly as the data speeds offered by these mobile standards catch up to those provided by WiMax.
Mobilink CEO Zouhar Khaliq has been reported to state that Mobilink had trialled WiMAX in the past but said that no trials were currently underway. “Our main aim is to continue to be the dominant cellular and telecoms player in Pakistan, offering services beyond the cellular space,” Khaliq added.
“Over 80 percent of the world’s population has GSM coverage, but I don’t think that’s true for WiMax ,” a GSM Association officer said. “Why then would you want to invest some millions of dollars building up a WiMax network when you have a [GSM] network that already covers 80 percent of the world’s population?”
Mark Whitton, vice president and general manager for WiMAX at Nortel Networks, said, “To label 3G and WiMAX as purely competitive or purely complementary ignores the subtle strengths and weaknesses of the unique wireless technologies involved. 3G was designed to deliver ubiquitous voice in a mobile environment and is building upward from this strong base to also deliver higher-bandwidth services to highly portable devices. It carries with it the burden of backwards compatibility, and the complexity of implementing layers of services on top of each other,” he said, adding, “WiMAX is focused on dramatically dropping the cost per megabit for wireless broadband, while simultaneously delivering a real and significant increase in end-user bandwidth through the magic of OFDM and MIMO. These two business cases overlap at the edges and will inevitably compete with each other to some degree.”
The Yankee Group, a research firm in USA, is forecasting a total of 28 million Mobile WiMAX subscribers by 2011, according to research the agency discussed this week as part of a tele-briefing on the state of the WiMAX industry.
However, Berge Ayvazian, chief strategy officer at The Yankee Group, said various market drivers such as content application usage and the degree to which WiMAX access becomes embedded in a large volume of devices, could allow that subscriber figure to be reached as early as 2010.
“You’ve got a lot of pre-802.16e equipment out there now and for the next year, but the market is really set to grow as the standard gear goes out there into the market,” he said. His comments were part of a briefing titled “Trendsmedia Tele-Briefing: WiMAX & Wireless Broadband: State of the Industry and Market Outlook 2006 to 2011.” The briefing included research from both Yankee and Rethink Research and looked at the global market, as well as specific regional markets.
Their research also suggested that the global Mobile WiMAX equipment market will be worth about $4 billion by 2011, with the North America portion of that closer to $1 billion.
However another prominent US research firm, Forrester Research, has expressed concerns about Wimax proliferation in near term. Their view: WiMAX will indeed have a big global impact on consumers, enterprises, vendors, and telecom operators by making high-speed wireless access cheap and mobile, but not until 2010 or later — because of myriad spectrum, customer premise equipment (CPE) availability, regulatory, cost, and competitive reasons. It is also important to correct the misperceptions about available speeds to end-users - the max theoretical speeds should not be touted without explanations of what users might get in reality.
An other Article. Things are not as you see.
The future of WiMAX
By Eric Sylvers
Publised in Herald Tribune.
MILAN: A battle is brewing that may well decide how Europeans connect to the Internet with mobile phones, laptops and other portable devices in the coming decade.
Mobile phone companies, chip makers and manufacturers of wireless networks are pushing their sometimes conflicting cases for how the limited amount of radio frequencies should be used to beam mobile data from the Internet to mobile devices and back the other way, a decision that is generally up to national governments.
The Intel chairman, Craig Barrett, is to meet this week with European Union officials in Brussels to call for “technology neutrality” on the issue. Intel wants the pieces of the radio spectrum to be used by the companies willing to pay the most for it, whether they are established mobile phone companies or start-ups setting up wireless networks based on new technologies like WiMAX, or worldwide interoperability for microwave access.
Intel is one of the biggest promoters of WiMAX because it is beginning to produce chips that embed the WiMAX technology. Intel says that by 2008, laptops will be WiMAX-ready in the same way that many are Wi-Fi-ready today.
Theoretically, WiMAX has a reach of about 50 kilometers, or 30 miles, and it is already available in selected areas in some countries, including the United States, Britain, Spain, France, Germany and South Korea. The appeal of WiMAX lies in the possibility to cover large areas with a wireless network that would be faster than Wi-Fi and would need far fewer antennas. The drawbacks are is that the networks are not yet built and that Wi-MAX achieves many of the same results as third-generation cellphone networks.
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most European countries, governments are designating the spectrum of 3.4 to 3.5 gigahertz for WiMAX operators. The wireless operators say that band is just barely sufficient, not enough to ensure an Internet connection does not drop when a user passes from the coverage area of one antenna to another - when on a train, for example.
To guarantee the handoff, operators say they need to be able to use the part of the radio spectrum of 2.3 to 2.5 gigahertz. The rub is that many European countries have already set this aside for mobile phone companies should they need the added spectrum to improve their 3G mobile phone networks.
“The lower frequencies that will make WiMAX mobile are the holy grail,” said Patrick Cruise O’Brien, the secretary general of the WiMAX Spectrum Owners’ Alliance, which is based in England and represents about a dozen mostly small, private owners of WiMAX spectrum.
“It would be detrimental to the future of European WiMAX if the mobile frequencies were handed over to the 3G operators,” said Cruise O’Brien. “WiMAX will only really matter in Europe if it is mobile.”
Without handoff ability, WiMAX works pretty much like Wi-Fi.
The spectrum battle is less of an issue in the United States and much of Asia and Latin America because the spectrum of 2.3 to 2.5 gigahertz has not been reserved for companies building 3G mobile phone networks there.In the United States, WiMAX got a boost two months ago when Sprint Nextel, a mobile phone carrier, said it would invest as much as $3 billion to construct a nationwide WiMAX network using the 2.5-gigahertz spectrum together with Intel, Motorola and Samsung. Sprint plans to begin trials next year and start the service extensively in 2008.
Karim Lesina, Intel’s government affairs manager in Brussels, said that without the 2.3-2.5 gigahertz spectrum, European operators “could lose the lead” they have in mobile technology.
The conflict is that WiMAX that is truly mobile threatens to make 3G mobile phone networks obsolete even before they are fully operational and after European operators have spent €100 billion leasing the spectrum and billions of euros more building the networks.
Some cellphone operators say they are interested in WiMAX, but Cruise O’Brien and other industry experts wonder whether they will push a technology that threatens to trump 3G.
“Carriers spent a lot of money on 3G and they want to reap the benefits of that investment,” said Jagdish Rebello, the California-based principal analyst of wireless communications for iSuppli, a market research firm.
“The 3G operators will do what they can to slow down the deployment of WiMAX, which I don’t see being rolled out until the beginning of 2008.”
In addition to making WiMAX mobile, the lower frequencies allow the same coverage as at the higher frequencies, but with fewer antennas, Rebello said.
Vodafone, Europe’s largest mobile phone company and the owner of 3G networks in Britain, Germany and Italy, among others, says that it also supports “technology neutrality.”
The company “thinks that a competitive auction would be the best way to allocate the available spectrum,” said Richard Feasey, director of public policy for Vodafone.
Plz do not use COPY-PASTE technology here in this forum. Try to learn and write in your own words, okay.
sub choro bomb phoro wateen to wateen 192.168.15.2:27015 add this ip in add server counter strike game option
Connect With Steam International users
Adding master server 68.142.72.250:27010
Adding master server 69.28.151.162:27010
Enjoy;
WaTeen Best
PTCL Wireless lagta bhol gaye :) PTCL lo jis ko lena hai hahha phir roo beth kar
Dear Waqas,
Its our Pakistanis attitude that when they gets unable to convince others then they starts giving references that I’m such and such and working in such and such company. I dont want to mention my qualification and experience and industry. but its fact, WiMAX is gonna big challenge for GSM and other technologies right now. Minimum charges for DSL connection of any company is Rs 1200/- per month plus Taxes (10% 15%) plus linerent of PTCL (210 taxes minimum). because if you dont have Landline then you need to fix it first by running after PTCL authorities for months and months. PTCL is reluctant to give landline now a days.
Where as Wateen is as easy to buy as a New SIM. just visit their office and get it install in couple of days maximum. There is no extra charges i.e. Line rent charges etc. Plus you can enjoy phone line with same connection. Plus hig speed Broadband. If you uses DSl just for mails and some informations then they are giving flexibilty to buy small 1 GB packge. it will not cost you more than 500Rs per month. There is no middle service involved between WiMAX DSL and end user. Its great to see WiMAX in Pakistan. Inshallah they will be specialized soon in their field. Just give them some time then you will find results. Their launch made even fixline DSLs cheap in Pakistan. otherwise in past unlimited connection was available for minimum Rs4000.
Dear Sir
We are interested in purchasing a Local Loop License for Lahore.
Kindly place your bid or contact me at my email mentioned below:
locallooppk@yahoo.com
Shazia Manzoor
HOW AMAZING WATEEN WIMAX WORKS VERY FIRST DAY? THEN AMAZINGLY IT WONT WORK AFTER YOU PAY…..
BUT…..
IT IS WORKING FINE AT MY OFFICE….I.E. NBP, HEAD OFFICE, KARACHI…
BUT, BUT WHAT CAN I DO, IT IS NOT WORKING AT MY HOME, I BOUGHT IT FOR MY HOME…… BLAGH, BLAGH, BLAGH
CAN SOMEONE HELP ME :(
I know that their Sr. Management (both Warid & Wateen) only award contracts to parties having common interests in the evening…if you know what I mean… and are mostly in a HANG-OVER Situation in the morning.
I my view they are managing worse than a stupid kid manages a Piggy Bank.
Dear Faraz, try to buy their outdoor equipment. In door equipment normally not works properly. WiMAX is not bad technology. You don’t get disappoint. just work out as I said. do consult with their team also.
Its a big farce, I got it in January 2008 and dial-up connection works much better. My repeated complaints have gone in vain and the local franchise holder (I-8 Markaz, Islamabad) is not at all interested in providing good services rather he is interested in providing no sevice at all and to talk of their Telephony…I can shout in a better voice quality from my roof top rather than using Wateen. God bless the company and its sponsors.
Mobilink is working very hard towards all the aspects of laucnhing , instaillation , services and after sales service , congrats to the author of this roundup and its a deep analaysis
***WATEEN TARIFF***
Can any body tell me actual tariff of Wateen Telecom and total cost of getting connection. And if they are offering fixed line service then how much is they are charging extra for calls and line rent. I’m unable to find exact package detail from their web site.
Thanks.
OK here it is:
3000 1350 1000 500 upront payment
then u have to write 11 cheques of 1,350rs each and give them
no, they are only offering wimax technology!
u will get following with above payment:
Speed: 512kbps
Bandwidth: 10gb per month (download upload)
CPEi: Free (Motorola)
Telephone Connection: 0rs line rent for 12months
Dear All,
here i wanted to share with you my experience as well.
Once i personally meet with Mr. Tariq Qurashi (Wateen Telecom ) on the launching ceremony back in 2007 ITCN KHI.
i asked him one question, that how can you launch Wimax service technology which is not completely mature these days even the vendors (Alkatel, Motorola) are currently going through their research & getting help from other companies as well ?
He just Replied me thanks for the question, have a nice day.
i said thanks from my side & from Mobilink to yo