State of Telecom Industry in Pakistan

I have been waiting for this moment for long. Google maps mobile have finally added detailed maps for Pakistan. Now i can search for a nihari shop or a flower shop or any other business and Google maps will show me the marker. The navigation part is still missing. Google is still not offering turn by turn directions nor it gives the details like traffic, street view or driving distances, but it is a big welcome change. Moreover, I still can’t see the detailed maps on PC version. I’m sure PC maps are following its mobile counterpart but there is an obvious reason why mobile maps have come first.

Pakistan is a big market for mobile Google maps. Pakistan has more than 90 million mobile users, vast data network over GSM/GPRS/EDGE and absolutely no other street navigation system at all. Does it get any better than that?

Actually it is a community effort using Google map maker on PC. Map maker allows users to add roads, streets, businesses, crossings and everything else for areas for which there are no maps defined yet. Then other users approve or disapprove there additions and changes. Eventually a map comes into being that is eventually supposed to be posted to Google maps and Google maps mobile. So the Google maps mobile we see today for Pakistan, has all the maps that were made on map maker and have been moved to main Google maps for mobile and I’m sure Google maps for web will be updated soon.

This move by Google will not only increase the usage of their product in Pakistan but a big number of software and hardware solutions will now spring up for the local market soon. A lot of people already using GPS enabled phone will put their GPS to use now with this free service. I think it will boost the sales of GPS enabled handsets as well.

Do try it out at http://maps.google.com from your mobile.

Cross Post From Basit Ali’s Blog.

E-Learning Series: By Phil Cruver, President of KZO Education

Learning 1.0 was about the delivery and management of online courses usually consisting of downloading text-based materials and perhaps the streaming of lengthy videotaped lectures for anytime and anyplace viewing. Learning 2.0 leveraged the vast array of interactive and collaborative Web 2.0 technologies and concepts such as social networks, wikis, podcasts, and blogs with user-generated content as the cornerstone. Learning 3.0 is now appearing on the evolutionary path, which when coupled with emerging digital distribution networks and mobile computing technologies, has the potential to revolutionize education.

In a recent meeting with senior strategists at Intel Corporation, they made it clear that “global extreme learning” and the challenges of its “massive scaling” have been on their radar for years. These articulate and seasoned technology strategists confessed that that they are struggling with defining the composition of extreme learning tools and the supportive ecosystem that must be developed for scaling global education. They also indicated that Learning 3.0 could be the missing link between two of Intel’s major initiatives: WiMAX for wireless broadband access and Atom microprocessors for next generation computing devices.

So what is Learning 3.0 and what technologies will shape its emergence and evolution? Consider: There are 455 WiMAX deployments underway in 135 countries covering over 430 million people and despite the slowing global economy, at least 100 more operators will deploy additional wireless networks this year. Atom chips are fueling the exploding market for low-cost, low-powered Netbooks, which will grow 66% this year to more than 27 million units and is expected to continue at breakneck rates.

Intel has committed $100 million annually for global education and has a huge footprint in Pakistan claiming to have trained 175,000 teachers in this nation with illiteracy exceeding half its population of 175 million – the 6th most populated country on the planet. Coincidentally, Pakistan possesses the first nationwide WiMAX network covering over 22 cities, making it ideal for showcasing how emerging market countries can leapfrog directly into next generation learning technologies.

Could extreme learning with new computing tools and digital distribution technologies assist and advance education in Pakistan? The recent announcement that a national curriculum will be approved in six months for introduction to the classrooms in 2010 may require a back-up strategy. Political risks and bureaucratic delays are inevitable and the costs and logistics for printing and distributing millions of traditional textbooks, vulnerable to obsolescence, are staggering.

According to USAID: “In Pakistan, the cost of teacher professional development is 25.5 times the cost of training a secondary school student. Producing low-grade teachers at such a high cost is a matter of concern”. It is estimated that there are about 1.4 million teachers in Pakistan, which must be doubled if universal education is to be achieved. Therefore, rather than continuing to incur “High Per Capita Cost for Low Grade Teachers”, with advanced and affordable streaming video technologies, lectures from top Pakistani teachers could be recorded for distribution over the Internet resulting in a quality education for millions of students.

WiMAX broadband connectivity to the Internet, coupled with Netbooks, would provide the infrastructure for producing and archiving quality video lectures for teacher professional development. This could serve as a scalable solution for augmenting education in Pakistan with access to the latest and best classroom practices and also provide a parallel back-up strategy.

Netbooks promise to debut this summer at $99 and at $10/school/month, all 25,000 public secondary schools in Pakistan could have access into a “Window on the World” with WiMAX/EDGE. At $3 million a year on a capital investment of about the same amount, this would be a pittance to pay for access to a global world of knowledge where traditional textbooks cannot compete. Furthermore, Learning 3.0 may provide the only opportunity to rapidly scale quality education for millions of Pakistanis wishing to compete in the 21st century global economy.

About the Author: Phil Cruver is President of KZO Education, a provider of comprehensive digital communications and training solutions for government and commercial clients. He is a serial entrepreneur, founder of three start-up companies, and has served as CEO of two public companies. Phil recently visited Pakistan and welcomes those who are interested in assisting education in Pakistan to join this Social Network.