Comments on: Interview With USF CEO Mr. Parvez Iftikhar – Part 1

By: Tajdar

Tajdar — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 06:18:21 +0000

salam,
is there any broadband connection from optical fiber.and what is the speed of this broadband.
wasalam

By: Mobile Buz! » Broadband Overview And Trends In Pakistan - 2008

Mobile Buz! » Broadband Overview And Trends In Pakistan - 2008 — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 11:15:32 +0000

[...] Universal Services Fund (USF), which subsidizes broadband in under-served areas, has been working diligently on a number of initiatives. The hope is that USF subsidy for broadband will help to close the digital divide. Read more about USF work here. [...]

By: Shahid Haq

Shahid Haq — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 04:47:56 +0000

Very satisfying to know that Pakistan is trail blazing in at least one field. However that raises the stakes for the mandatory success of the program not only in the limited aspect of how USF projects have been completed but in the final impact of the programs in the devlopment of the country.

With the USF telephony project Pakistan will be covered as much as needed. However for BB the USF project will ony help to expand the networks in some areas. Wider penetration and usage is direly needed , as other infrastructure components are weak, and BB expansion and usage can make up for some of these needed. For this USF should push for a more broad based group responsible for driving the BB initiative. Maybe separate from the Telephony project.

By: SUMAIR

SUMAIR — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 12:55:28 +0000

Hello,
I am interested in one answer that im living in london we were making calls to pakistan even in 1.5 pencen better than india.
Why this goverment brought a huge tax after that our call went very expensive even we have answers infront of indians which we usto say we are better than you in Telecom.
When can we expect cheaper high speed internet.
When can we expect Video calls abaility in PK
When can we expect Skype and cheap call services to UK mobiles.
Are we ahead of indians or not.

By: Parvez Iftikhar

Parvez Iftikhar — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 20:41:14 +0000

I am glad that someone is interested to keep an eye with an international context. I would like to request Joe Willcox to please share his observations with us.
In Pakistan, its been a year now and (as mentioned in the interview) we have signed contracts for 7 rural areas (covering more than 5,000 villages) and bids for the 8th are under evaluation. And lately we have launched Broadband and Fiber projects. Bidders’ conferences for both were held 2 weeks ago and both were well-participated. So lets see…

By: Joe Willcox

Joe Willcox — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 13:30:47 +0000

I will be interested to keep an eye on how enthusiastically Pakistan’s operators embrace the concept and implementation of the USF. The response to a USF/universal service obligation has not always been positive in some markets. I remember the CEO of one of Russia’s big three mobile operators being asked about this at a conference in Singapore in 2006. He seemed quite negative about the idea. I haven’t heard anything since to suggest this position has softened.

Joe Willcox

http://www.ComWorldSeries.com
http://www.ComWorldSeries.blogspot.com