Archive for November 19th, 2008

Alcatel-Lucent In Pakistan: From Infrastrucutre To Mobile Phones

Published by Babar Bhatti on November 19, 2008 under Broadband Internet, Infrastructure, Mobile Phones, Telecommunications, Wimax

Alcatel-Lucent is one of the major infrastructure vendors in telecommunication Industry. Alcatel has supplied WiMAX related gear to Mobilink Infinity for its first commercial deployment in Karachi this October. Some of you may have heard that Alcatel-Lucent has supplied a comprehensive WiMAX Rev-e solution including both fixed and nomadic terminal devices from various CPE partners.

The Alcatel-Lucent WiMAX network leverages existing sites and equipment in Mobilink’s GSM network, helping to optimize deployment economics. In WiMAX area, Alcatel-Lucent has 34 commercial contracts and it is engaged in 70 trials going on around the world.

However, it may not be well known Alcatel handset division was sold to a Chinese company few years ago and it is not part of Alcatel-Lucent any more. Alcatel mobile phone handsets are available in Pakistan. Here is some pricing information from the official dealer in Pakistan. Products pictures and specifications are available at Alcatel Pakistan web site.

Here is the list of Alcatel Mobile Phones collection 2008 with Prices.
OT-S211  Rs.2,750
OT-S621  Rs.6,200
OT-V770  Rs.8,700

Verizon Starts Doing Business In Pakistan

Published by Babar Bhatti on November 19, 2008 under Business, Infrastructure, Networks, Pakistan, Telecommunications

According to reliable resources, Verizon has quietly started providing data services in Pakistan. Its customers include large banks. Verizon had announced the undersea cable called Trans-Pacific Express earlier and as this video shows, it has plenty of capacity to expand.

This press release mentions that Verizon (to be exact it is Verizon Business, one of the entities of US telecommunication giant, Verizon Communications) has enhanced its global Private IP footprint to support the evolving data needs of its global customer base in Asia. The press release mentions that the company continues to add a significant number of Private IP nodes in key growth territories around the world, and has also enhanced both DSL and Ethernet access capabilities. More here:

As a result, more customers than ever can now benefit from a direct and secure, high-performance link to the Verizon Business global multiprotocol-label-switching (MPLS) network, the foundation for Verizon Business’ portfolio of next-generation products and services.

In the past year, Verizon Business increased its total number of Private IP ports by more than 45 percent and its Ethernet access capabilities by more than 400 percent. New Verizon Private IP nodes have now been established in Asia-Pacific (China, Malaysia, the Philippines, South Korea); Eastern Europe (Bulgaria and Romania); and Latin America (Argentina, Brazil, Panama and Peru). Verizon Private IP is now available to customers in 121 countries and territories worldwide, with additional node deployments planned this year in Iceland, Pakistan, India and Russia.