I received this update through one of the technology mailing lists. A quick check on naqsha.net showed the google-powered interactive maps on naqsha website (map display did not work in firefox). There is limited capability for searching POIs (points of interest) as well. I tried KFC and Governor house in Lahore and it worked but the result display is so basic that it seems to be under construction. The quality of maps is decent and it covers a handful of major cities. Just don’t expect the overall experience to be comparable to google/yahoo but its a good start.
The Garmin navigation devices which are being sold with Pakistan maps preloaded are quite expensive, compared with their devices being sold in the US. Devices start at $400 and map only for $120. Anyway, at least its a start for GPS, maps and location based services. Please share your experience for this new service.
In-car GPS navigation is not available in Pakistan. Data Solutions (Pvt) Ltd in partnership with Tracking World (Pvt) Ltd have launched Garmin GPS units loaded with Pakistan map data. Currently only Garmin GPS units are available for purchase. The units range from in-car dash mounted devices to devices for motorbikes. There is also a unit which can be integrated with the vehicle’s DVD/entertainment unit and displays the navigational information on it. Existing Garmin users also have the option to buy the map for their specific unit. You may view the maps and GPS devices at naqsha.net.
The map has street level detail of major Pakistani cities and all major national highways. Streets are labeled and searchable for Islamabad, Lahore and some parts of Karachi. In addition there are close to 40,000 POIs such as fuel/CNG stations, banks, atms, hospitals, restaurants (categorised), hotels, shops, etc. Most POIs have address and phone number information available as well. Units equipped with FM transmitters and Bluetooth allow hands free dialing from the unit and are able to integrate with the vehicles’s audio system as well.
Despite many financial and operational challenges, China Mobile sees opportunities in Pakistan and other emerging markets. Read below for statements from China Mobile Chief Executive Wang Jianzhou from a meeting of the World Economic Forum. China Mobile is displaying a traditional Asian business trait: Patience and willingness to wait.
China Mobile bought Pakistan’s Paktel Ltd for $400 million last year and has spent an additional $1.2 billion to expand its network, but has not yet begun to see returns on that investment, Wang said.
“We have a lot of risks, we have a lot of troubles,” Wang said, referring to his company’s investment in Paktel (Zong).
Wang said daily power shortages in major cities and high taxes kept the cost structure high in Pakistan, while revenue has not yet begun to reflect the investment.
“The ARPU for us is $12/month, but in our Pakistani company it is only $3/month,” said Wang, explaining the difference in average revenue per user, a key industry benchmark.
But in spite of the hurdles of emerging markets, Wang said China Mobile was not a financial investor and did not need to see a positive return in the short term.
“We are not a financial company, we are not private equity, we are a telecom operating company,” he said.
PTCL financial results have been reported in the foreign media. PTCL has not officially announced the result yet.
Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL), has reported net losses of PKR2.8 billion (USD325.99 million) for its financial year ended June 30. Dow Jones is reporting this, citing a statement to Karachi Stock Exchange by the operator. The losses are attributed to severance payoffs and the migration of customers to wireless services. Costs of the operator’s Voluntary Separation Scheme, which saw it lay off more than 33,000 employees, were reported to be approximately PKR23.9 billion, although the effects of the cull did see expenses decline 4% in the last quarter of the financial year to PKR44.7 billion.
Check out the PTCL site for information about all Vfone packages. The site mentions that EVDO Broadband (374Kbps+) will be launched in near future. That would be a welcome improvement.
The unlimited offer requires a Line Rent of Rs. 20 / Day (Including taxes) so it is good for those who make lots of vfone-to-vfone or vfone-to-ptcl calls. As I wrote before, it would be nice if telecom companies put a simple calculator on the site so that consumers can compare different packages and decide which one works best for them.
Telenor has introduced a score of industry-first Value Added Services for its customers. Keeping in line with the innovative tradition, Telenor brings you yet another industry first service. In order to facilitate an ever growing population of facebook users, we have successfully integrated with Facebook !
Now upload pictures to your Facebook accounts directly from your mobile phones by simply sending them to mobile@facebook.com via MMS.
Really? See this screen from Facebook mobile. Any user of facebook can register their mobile phone and upload media by sending email to mobile@facebook.com. That email address is not unique to Telenor. I don’t get the “integration” part. Come on Telenor, you owe us some explanation!
Dear Prepaid Customer, from now onwards 5% additional service charges (on recharge face value) will be applicable on all recharges via easyload / Jazz / UTopup or scratch card - for all prepaid customers - Telenor, Mobilink and Ufone.
This has been a rough year for Pakistan’s economy. Now the major mobile operators like Telenor, Mobilink and Ufone have increased the prepaid service cost by 5%. The recent downward trend of the economy has eventually hit the telecom industry. Industry analysts (and this blog) predicted tough situation for the telecom sector so it wasn’t a complete surprise. While the slowdown was expected, the speed at which rates are going up and service is going down is not good. On the one hand public should face the reality that telecom services are not going to be that cheap forever. More importantly, the government should keep its share of taxes within reasonable limits. Let the market figure out the prices. We have enough competition and mobile number portability. We just don’t need the burden of extra taxes.
A website tells a lot about a company’s attitude towards its customers and service. In case of PTCL it clearly shows that there is not much attention to detail when it comes to typos, grammar and clarity. Consider the following samples from this page about phone-n-netwhich, by the way, happens to be a good service if you can deal with the usual issues associated with dial-up.
Is telephone call will be charged?
Only one call will be charged as per PTCL rules for 131 number.
Is Phone ‘n’ Net service is a dialup service?
Yes, Its a dialup service.
What is the speed I will get?
The speed you will get will be 56.6kbps
My intention is not to pick on PTCL but to make a point that when a company of this scale puts something on its site, it should be carefully reviewed. But then, PTCL has never been known for caring about its customers.
While we are on this topic of content on the telecom company web sites, see this screen capture from Telenor Djuice site - see anything contradictory?
G1 was introduced officially in the US today and it made headlines everywhere. Some cool features are shown below. It will be available through T-Mobile next month. For $179 (and 2-year contract) it is a sweet deal. As I said before this year has been great for smart phone consumers with more choices than ever. Blackberry touch phone is next in line. A more hands-on review of G1 will come soon.
ZTE has been expanding its core business - wireless and networking products such as CDMA platforms and WiMax equipment - in US and Latin America. Now ZTE USA (based in telecom corridor, Dallas) has started offering smart phones in America and launched a flip phone C88, as shown here. There is a 3G phone launched in Europe as well. They are targeting the medium to low-end smart phone market, depending on the region and demand. I think its only a matter of time before they will introduce more models in many foreign markets.
According to Information Week, “the ZTE C88 isn’t a ground-breaking device, but it gives mobile users some freedom and a simpler alternative to expensive computer-like phones. The phone is sold through MetroPCS, a wireless carrier based in Dallas, which offers monthly plans as low as $30 and doesn’t require customers to sign contracts.” Cellular news notes that ZTE has used Trolltech application platform for its other linux based smart phones.
In the battle of mobile phone operating systems, Windows Mobile and Linux score another. ZTE, the sixth largest handset manufacturer in the world, is starting to inch its way up to higher-end handsets, after making a mark in lower-end operator-branded phones. And, so far, it’s anticipated that it will focus its vast resources on producing Windows Mobile and Linux phones, according to research firm Ovum (via DigiTimes).
The company is on a growth spurt, having only shipped 15 million units in 2006, jumping to 50 million units this year. However, when it comes to 3G, so far its focus outside of China has been on making USB modems for laptops, which it expects to sell more than six million by the end of the year. For future growth, it is looking at high-end 3G handsets that can be sold around the world. ZTE will begin shipping Windows-Mobile-powered devices with Vodafone next year and there are signs of other such deals, Ovum reports. ZTE also has confirmed that it will support Linux, although it’s unclear which variant. ZTE said it’s not interested in Symbian because even though it is moving towards open-source, it’s still predominantly used by Nokia.
Daily Wireless writes about the global wireless data growth trends based on a new research report. According to this new report from Senza Fili Consulting, vertical services will reach 24% of WiMAX subscriptions and 14% of LTE subscriptions by 2014, and represent a huge growth opportunity for operators facing flat ARPUs.
Enterprises who have historically shunned mobile data applications are warming up to specialized, vertical applications including mobile-to-mobile (M2M), in-vehicle telematics and mobile workforce support.
The report estimates that there will be over 154 million connections supporting vertical applications within 3G, WiMAX, and LTE networks by 2014. That’s more than US$43 billion in potential service revenues. “Vertical services can be very profitable for operators,” says Senza Fili’s Monica Paolini. “They bring in a steady revenue stream generated by a small number of contracts, each with a high number of connections.”
The most widely deployed applications are expected to be vehicle telematics and support for the mobile workforce. They require the bandwidth and wide-area coverage that 3G, WiMAX, and LTE support. Additional mobile broadband market growth will come from emerging consumer applications available in vehicles and in mobile and CE devices that extend mobile broadband beyond individuals to connect the entire environment.
Warid Telecom, has deployed a solar powered BTS site using Huawei’s Solar Powered Macro Base Station (BTS). It is claimed that this is the first solar powered BTS in Pakistan. See Huawei site for the full press release. This is a welcome step for Pakistan telecom industry. A while ago we had written about Telenor’s efforts for alternative and renewable energy options. It is good to see that other operators are investing in clean technology options. In a way, the energy crisis has forced many companies in Pakistan to do this. It also makes sense to use technology from the Chinese infrastructure giant Huawei as Chinese companies are at the forefront of solar technology development. It would be interesting to get more information about the financial details of what it takes to deploy and run the solar powered BTS and what is the payback on the investment.
Here’s more background about the Warid-Huawei solar powered BTS.
Huawei’s Solar Powered Macro BTS allows the operator to extend its network reach into remote areas of the country where there is limited access to the electricity grid.
With the continued growth of mobile phone subscribers in Pakistan, operators are expanding network coverage especially in small and medium sized cities, suburban areas, countryside, as well as in mountainous areas with poor transportation links. Many of these remote areas have limited access to the electricity grid, and operators have traditionally used Diesel Generator Solutions to power their network sites.
Warid Telecom chose to use Huawei’s Solar Powered BTS due to several factors. The non-hybrid site is 100% powered on solar energy, thereby reducing carbon dioxide emissions and noise pollution, both of which is harmful to the local environment. The solution also reduces pressure on Pakistan’s overall energy supply which further benefits the environment.
Chairman Pakistan Telecom Authority (PTA) Dr. Muhammad Yaseen talked about a number of upcoming telecom initiatives in Pakistan. The list includes 3G, MVNO, Boradband and Rural communications. I consider such announcements as public relation management. I am skeptical. In my opinion, none of these initiatives are likely to have a major positive impact on the telecom industry or consumers. The government needs to stop treating telecom industry in Pakistan as a cow they can keep milking (through insanely high taxes) forever. The need is to address the fundamental issues and problems, most of which relate to the economy and fiscal policies.
Here are my brief reactions on PTA’s announcements:
3G Launch - mobile companies are hesitant to invest.
Consumer Protection Cell - long overdue, past performance was dismal.
Mobile Virtual Network Operators - uncertain future because of the low levels of interest shown.
Strategy and Development Division - how come they did not have a strategy group before? how have they been creating policies till now? Do we need another “Think Tank” ?
This one takes the cake: PTA is launching Broadband! Actually this is true. The broadband numbers are so low that we can safely say that broadband was NEVER there and start from zero.
I received this update through one of the technology mailing lists. A quick check on naqsha.net showed the google-powered interactive maps on naqsha website (map display did not work in firefox). There is limited capability for searching POIs (points of interest) as well. I tried KFC and Governor house in Lahore and it worked but the result display is so basic that it seems to be under construction. The quality of maps is decent and it covers a handful of major cities. Just don’t expect the overall experience to be comparable to google/yahoo but its a good start.
Warid Telecom, has deployed a solar powered BTS site using Huawei’s Solar Powered Macro Base Station (BTS). It is claimed that this is the first solar powered BTS in Pakistan. See 
TelecomPk.Net is a leading source of information and analysis about Pakistan Telecom industry.
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