This has been a tough year for Pakistanis living abroad who want to stay in touch with their loved ones in Pakistan. Just when we were getting used to making calls to Pakistan at reasonable rates, PTA increased the rates which caused a huge disappointment. I have been searching for a cheap and high quality service for calls to Pakistan for a while. Last week I signed up for Localphone and I was very impressed by the convenience, quality and the cost (8.9c/minute) for calling Pakistan.
Signup was fast and easy. Localphone provides you a local number in your area which actually calls the number you want in Pakistan. Let’s say you are a Pakistani in Houston; you can get a local Houston number and that number will ring your home number in Lahore. You can specify the numbers from where you will be making calls (your home, mobile etc) and that’s it.
The Localphone.com website makes it real easy and convenient. I was up and running in a few minutes. A credit card is required to complete the registration. I have setup three local phone numbers for myself. Compared to the lengthy process of using calling cards, this is very convenient and the quality is way better than the cards offer.
I enjoy the convenience of making quick calls through a local number and the comfort of knowing that there are no hidden charges - all your call history is a click away. And you can earn credit by referrals - I have placed a link in the side bar so if you sign up through here you will be supporting the blog!
Editor’s Note: This contribution is from Saad Khan, the community editor of SocialBridges.org, where this post appeared originally. TelecomPk.net fully supports the noteworthy efforts of SocialBridges.org.
Cellular revolution has taken Pakistan by storm. As the mobile density in Pakistan is reaching 56%, it’s high time that we discuss the prospects of cell phone-based social revolution in Pakistan. Mobile phones are increasingly being used as a social tool across the globe - as a weapon for the eradication of poverty and disease and as a sustainable option.
Pakistani cellular companies are also trying to catch on with this growing ‘cellular activism’ frenzy. It’s true that cellular companies have limited scope of action as far as brining social change is concerned still almost all the mobile companies of Pakistan are doing some kind of social uplift projects. Telenor, for instance, has launched a farmers’ uplift scheme - TeleKisan - besides the apna PCO and other schemes. Similarly, other cellular companies are also conducting some activitis in the avenues of social uplift.
The responsibility, however, lies on the nonprofit sector and not just with the telcos. Non-profit organizations (NPOs) are the engines of social change in the developing countries. Mobile phones can be used as a foot soldier for social change if their use is extended beyond communications. NPOs can team up with the cellular companies to help providing technical knowledge to the farmers (National Rural Support Program is collaborating with Telenor in this case) or they can forge alliances with the medical community to provide free medical advice to those living in far off areas with limited resources. Some African nations are already making it big in what can be termed as cellular farming. The role of mobile phones in fighting against HIV/AIDS has already been discussed in one of our earlier posts.
Asia is not lagging behind as well. The success of Grameen in mobilizing people through ‘mobiles’ is known to all of us. Other networks like LIRNEasia are also doing commendable job in changing people’s lives by the use of cellular technology. International donor agencies are also eager to work with such organizations like LIRNEasia. Infact they are financing the whole project.
Microcredit organizations, as discussed above, are rapidly adopting cellular technology to enhance their footprint. Mobile phones are yet to be used for microfinancing in Pakistan though there are endless possibilities. To narrate an interesting fact, many small entrepreneurs, including women, have themselves understood the magic of cellular technology in expanding their businesses. They do face the shortage/availability of funds due to lack of financing but the cell phones are surely helping them in getting out of the tentacles of poverty.
Corporate sector too has a major role to play. Instead of simply doling out a few millions in charity, local corporate giants, along with the multinational conglomerates, should come forward with new ideas of using cellular technology for poverty alleviation. It’s ironic to note that when the whole world is eyeing profitability at the bottom of the pyramid by using cell phones, Pakistani corporate sector is still reluctant to accept the change. Cellular technology is ruling the roost so isn’t it the time to ‘cell’ the social change.
Editor’s Note: Please join me in welcoming Shariq Syed. This post was originally published at Shariq’s blog: Artistry Of Branding.
Handset market has played the most pivotal role in the overall growth of Pakistan’s telecom industry. For me the handset market has played a kind of un-sung hero role in-comparison with the local Telco’s who have taken much of the limelight in the phenomenal growth of Pakistan’s telecom industry during these 6 years.The 1st H of 2008 was a difficult period for telecom industry in general with plenty of political uncertainty, negative economic indicators, ever rising inflation & unfavorable budget policies played their role in restraining the growth pattern of previous years.
The hardest hit area in this declining growth pattern has been the handset market of Pakistan. Till Dec, 2007, the growth of handset market was excellent with around 1 Million handsets were being sold on monthly basis. However in July, 2008 the figures came down to 600 K units per month (depicting 40% decline in volume during 6 months). While the picture looks grim, i am pretty sure that volume will start to pick once the clouds of uncertainty settles (positive indicators including decline in inflation & Pak rupee getting strong against $).
Handset Market - Current Scenario
Pakistan’s handset market is primarily a low-end market with majority of volume comes from low-end mobile phones. Another important aspect is that our handset market is extremely price sensitive just like any other handset market of a developing country.
To comprehend the local market dynamics, below is the price segmentation analysis along with the market share each price segment comprised upon.
I am pleased to share a report on Telecom Opportunities in Pakistan. It was prepared by Salman Ansari in Aug 2007 for Pakistan Telecom Authority (PTA). I am thankful to Ansari Sahib for sharing this useful report with all of us. I believe that reports like this which present the facts and highlight the progress made in the telecom sector of Pakistan are extremely valuable - especially for those who are from outside Pakistan and are looking for a compact summary of Pakistan telecom sector.
The report provides a concise and fact-based overview of the economy, telecom road map, regulatory environment, telecom infrastructure (broadband, international connectivity), licence and spectrum situation, investment landscape, mergers and acquisitions and of course - the opportunities, as the excerpt below shows:
All this signals opportunities in the Traditional and Value Added sectors for not only creating new businesses by riding on these systems but also to be a part of new licenses which are being reviewed. These include MVNO, Regional Hosting, Call Centers, Telecenters, Video Conferencing, Content aggregation, Converged networks, etc. On another plane, the Regulatory environment permits spectrum trading, Mergers and Acquisitions as well as entry via Private equity arrangements. The market opening has nearly doubled the sector revenues and this trend is expected to grow.
The annex has a list of licensed operators as well. Obviously this an evergreen document and one should keep in mind that the numbers represent Aug 2007 and have changed during the last 12 months.
The mobile application market got a boost from Android Market announcement today. Apple has already created a great marketplace with its iPhone App Store and Google wants to catch up. I like what I read:
Developers will be able to make their content available on an open service hosted by Google that features a feedback and rating system similar to YouTube. We chose the term “market” rather than “store” because we feel that developers should have an open and unobstructed environment to make their content available. Similar to YouTube, content can debut in the marketplace after only three simple steps: register as a merchant, upload and describe your content and publish it. We also intend to provide developers with a useful dashboard and analytics to help drive their business and ultimately improve their offerings.
I love this apple vs microsoft vs google race because it will be great for consumers and developers. Finally the phone companies get what they deserve.
If you are an android developer and want to discuss some of your app ideas, feel free to reach out to me.
This is a follow-up to my popular post on free SMS from web to mobile phones in Pakistan. Well, after all this progress in telecom, we still have this unsolved problem of sending SMS from web to mobile phones in Pakistan. For the large number of Pakistanis who are abroad and want to reach their family and friends in Pakistan, web-based SMS is a much needed and very useful service.
Of course, as is the case with online tools, people are looking for free (could be subsidized by advertisements) or very economical solutions (such as n messages for 1$). I am sure many expat Pakistanis will not mind paying a little bit for this convenience. Obviously, someone has to bear the cost of the development and infrastructure (user facing web application, connecting with the sms gateway and managing the delivery of the messages etc). So do not expect a completely free service or be prepared for ads.
I have written about the existing solutions before. These are Java applet based chat solutions offered by the network operator sites (telenor, ufone etc) and from many other sites. No signup is required. Sadly, there are too many issues and limitations with these and I do not consider them an adequate solution. Some of the problems include: poor user interface, not all phones support this kind of chat, This may not work with all handsets and this service can be blocked by the mobile users. mobile phone recipient has to type YES to start the chat and even after all the effort, the reliability of the system is low.
Then there are many other sites (usually related to mobile entertainment or chat etc) which embed the same Java solution on their site – but with the added annoyance of lots of ads and distractions – so the overall user experience is further degraded.
Recently there has emerged a new class of sms applications which allow you to manage your sms from the web. Signup, setup your contacts and use the web to handle your text messages. For example I have been testing the beta product iSMS.Pk for a while. One of the attractive feature of iSMS is that you can use your email account to signup – so it works well for those who are not in Pakistan. The solution allows you to build an address book and keep track of your conversations - as shown below. To control abuse, they require users to wait a few seconds before sending new messages. They recently did a redesign of their user interface and it looks very neat. They have a facebook application called SMSFriends as well. By the way this is the same team which built See-N-Report.com. This is a good start and I hope that they can add more features (notifications and reminders are in the works already) and reduce the time it takes to deliver and receive a message back. Since iSMS is in beta, let me know if you need an invite.
There are quite of a few other sms solutions out there but I did not have a good experience with them. With a busy life schedule, I want reliable and trustworthy applications. A service which allows me to send quick sms to Pk mobile is high on my list of everyday use, must-have apps. If you have a favorite sms application, do share your experience with us.
I came across this tariff sheet from PTA. Honestly it took me 30 minutes to figure it out. And I used to work for a phone company. I have written about the need for a simple rate plan before. Let me try to make a case for it again.
The bulletin is the result of hard work by some one at PTA. Good work but I do not know if such a complicated (12 rows x 24 columns) view will be really useful for the average Pakistani consumer. The footer alone - which explains all the mysterious terms such as off-net and LNO - can cause headache. Lets take a look at Zong rates - just for example. They have 4 packages with billing pulse varying from 1-second to 60-seconds. For the 8 Aanay package, the off-net rate is different for the first minute and second minute. I could go on and point a few things like this. Do we need all this complexity?
Consider a fictitious example: 1000 minutes on-net @Rs1.50/minute and 1000 off-net @Rs.2/minute and 1000 sms @Rs.0.50 per sms. Total = Rs. 40000. In other words, packages with buckets of minutes could make things simple.
For many users this much usage should be equivalent to an “unlimited” talk and text plan. In many countries calls on the same network are free in the evenings and weekends.
I must say that Warid has done a good job on this. Telenor has drifted in the opposite direction with the “widest” matrix of them all.
Tariq Mustafa has written an excellent post about how to fix the Internet Telephony In Pakistan. Tariq argues that Internet-based services should be defined as new class of services with clear rules and regulations - something which PTA has been unable (or unwilling?) to do. After Tariq wrote this piece, the Indian telecom regulator announced that VOIP will be allowed - that puts the issue in further perspective and highlights the importance of fixing this mess in Pakistan.
For those who do not know, Tariq has been involved with Internet and technology in Pakistan since early 90s. There are very few experts who can rival the combination of his knowledge of telecom industry in Pakistan and his leading role in sharing information via online communities. Tariq notes that:
The main issue here is the ability of the LL operator to replace the traditional copper for its end user or the expensive 1900 Mhz WLL frequencies for its end user with the ‘Internet cloud’. It is technically possible but the use of Internet for voice problem had its own fair share of cloudiness. At the center of this debate is the use of the word ‘long distance’ - whether it is to be taken physically or network-wise.
When last LDI/LL licenses were issued, the LL license itself was a cheap affair - though the spectrum (both for 1900 Mhz and 3.5 Ghz) was auctioned at high prices. At that time, a number of Internet savvy people - Brain included - took the LL license only banking on new VoIP technologies to come to their rescue later.
A few VoIP technology companies (a cross between operators and technology vendors if you will) had been constantly chasing the smaller LL operators (as described above) evangelizing the use of VoIP in local loop operations where the ‘affinity to local numbers’ is the actual ‘good sold’ and the profit comes in from volumes of such ‘numbers’ beings sold worldwide at fixed monthly rates (but not actually always being used).
These VoIP technology companies met some success during the past couple of years with a number of LL operators signing up them either as partners or just technology vendors. At that time, cellular industry was priming and people, operators and the regulator somehow had little time to attend to this possibly controversial issue.
Now that the market is nearing a tele-density of over 50% and market consolidation has started, these by-issues will get more attention (and probably get more debated).
PTA’s clarification on use of VoIP (available from PTA’s website and discussed on some related online forums) is of little help as it leaves room for guessing by the readers.
My personal position here is that given the non-deterministic nature of public Internet (specially when the bandwidth is not directly coming from a T1 operator) as a transport mechanism for real time traffic, such ‘Internet-glued’ LL services should be allowed - they will always be placed at number 2 in terms of voice quality and deterministic performance. Such services could be declared a new class of service with clear requirement of informing end consumers about emergency services not working on them as well as possible degraded voice performance due to third party packet networks that happen to lie between the end networks. Given a considerable population of expatriate Pakistanis around the world, these services stand a fairly good chance of catching on in popularity and can earn some part of the much needed forex for country by the local companies offering such services worldwide.
The call centers in Pakistan are under scruity by the “Vigilance Cell” of PTA. A recent directive posted on the PTA siteasks call centers to provide IP addresses and gateway information to PTA by August 27. Apparently there were suspicions that call centers are abusing their telecom/bandwidth facilities for purposes other than what they were. This initiative is in cooperation with Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) which is the government owned trade organization for promotion of software and call center industry in Pakistan.
As a regulator, PTA has a mandate to ensure that call centers are operating within the specified guidelines. For this purpose it may ask for information about its operations, technology and business. I hope that this process of compliance will not become a burden for the small number of call centers operating in Pakistan. Daily Times quoted the President of Association of Call Centre Operators (ACCO) Pakistan as saying that he lauds the PTA’s move.
All is good if it ends here. But I think that this cat and mouse game will continue to play for a while as those who are trying to trick the system will probably find ways to evade the vigilance cell.
Over the last few years the landscape for technology information has changed quite a bit. Blogs and discussion forums have become a major source of information for many, replacing traditional journalism. Despite Internet infrastructure issues and the bandwidth limitation, this trend is appparent for Pakistan as well. Bloggers have contributed in all areas as one can see at Bloggers.Pk. The rise in technical and telecommunication blogs in Pakistan is a positive trend but there are a few problems and challenges such as copied content, low quality of content and personal attacks.
Plagiarism continues to be a problem in two ways. First, when some bloggers use content from other sites without proper acknowledgement. Many of these blogs don’t add any real value - they are there just to earn advertisement money. I would urge these folks to re-think their short-term thinking. Secondly, there are print magazines like FLARE which copy content from Internet openly. FLARE has recently started stealing content from Pakistani blogs as well. For example see how the latest issue of FLARE recently copied these posts from ProPakistani blog (here, here and here). In the past FLARE did the same by taking content from my blog. Apparently the advertisers in FLARE are either unaware or insensitive to the lack of ethics. Whatever the reason my be, it is only a matter of time before such practices will be exposed.
On a positive note, this indicates that blogs have become the dominant source of original and fresh content. These blogs provide a valuable feedback loop for the companies operating in Pakistan. Bloggers should continue to think, write and analyse the technology industry despite the problems mentioned above.
As LTE emerges, other standards such as WiMAX will have to compete to survive. The observation by Mr. Turner below about the technology brand is really important. Pakistan has become one of the earliest adopters of WiMAX and what happens there in the next 12-18 months will be very important for WiMAX. It might very well be that WiMAX is a success in one region but a fringe technology in other!
A recent Infonetics press release says “WiMAX has gained such momentum across so many regions that it is no longer sensible to suggest that WiMAX growth will be flattened by the emergence of LTE in the next few years.”
Probably true, but it’s also clear WiMAX will never reach the scale of either mainstream wireless family, i.e., WiFi or GSM/3GSM. By comparison with these giants, WiMAX will be a fringe operation. The critical issue is volume, and what counts is the wireless technology brand, not the technology itself.
This has been a tough year for Pakistanis living abroad who want to stay in touch with their loved ones in Pakistan. Just when we were getting used to making calls to Pakistan at reasonable rates, PTA increased the rates which caused a huge disappointment. I have been searching for a cheap and high quality service for calls to Pakistan for a while. Last week I signed up for Localphone and I was very impressed by the convenience, quality and the cost (8.9c/minute) for calling Pakistan.
TelecomPk.Net is a leading source of information and analysis about Pakistan Telecom industry.
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