State of Telecom Industry in Pakistan

The success of Apple’s iPhone has spurred a series of touch-screen smart-phones from its competitors from around the world. We recently covered HTC Touch Pro HD and this HTC phone is getting great reviews from Europe and Asia. In this post I will cover two new touch smart-phones: Nokia Xpress 5800 and Blackberry Storm.

Nokia Xpress 5800, unveiled in early October, is its long-awaited touch-screen phone which heavily focuses on music services. Even though Nokia does not mention iPhone but everyone knows that it is the first handset from Nokia to challenge iPhone. Packed with cool features, it should be a big hit.

Research in Motion Ltd. is rolling out its first touch-screen phone in response to iPhone. It is named the BlackBerry Storm. Details are still coming out and it is said to work on “broadband networks on both sides of the Atlantic” and be exclusive to Verizon Wireless in the U.S. and to Vodafone Group PLC throughout Europe.

These phones just came out and I have not tested them personally. However there is plenty of media coverage and user-generated reviews and content on the web. Here’s a summary of some of the useful and relevant observations (sources at the end). Starting with Storm.

The Storm has a 3.25-inch screen — just under the iPhone’s 3.5 inches — and a durable design that makes it about 16% heavier than the iPhone. It will run on relatively quick third-generation broadband networks in the U.S. and overseas — a first for Verizon. But it doesn’t have Wi-Fi Internet access, which RIM co-CEO Mike Lazaridis said would drain battery life unnecessarily. Like the iPhone, it doesn’t have a physical keyboard, but rather touch-sensitive software that can emulate either a full PC-style keyboard or a triple-tap cellphone setup. It is expected in stores before the end of the year.

One distinguishing feature of Apple’s iPhone not possessed by the new BlackBerry or other smart phones: the ability of a user to zoom in and out by putting two fingers on the screen at the same time and spreading them or pinching them closer together. Apple has filed for a patent covering “multi-touch” technology in phones.

On Nokia’s Xpress 5800.

Finland-based Nokia has waited more than a year to respond with its answer to the iPhone, the 5800 XpressMusic smart phone. The device’s hardware and services — pitched to have mass-market appeal — include eight gigabytes of memory, a 3.2-inch screen and access to Nokia’s Ovi Internet-service portal.

The 5800 will cost around $400 when released in the fourth quarter, which includes the key holiday shopping season. This is competitive when compared with the rpice of an unlocked eight-gigabyte iPhone.

The Nokia phone’s touch screen won’t work exactly the same way as the iPhone’s, which allows users to zoom in and out using two fingers in a pinching or spreading motion. Nokia’s interface allows for only one touch point at a time.

Read reviews from other sites:
Engadget Mobile: Blackberry Storm and Nokia 5800
Mobile Crunch:  Storm,  Nokia 5800
WSJ: Here and Here

Gadget blogs and Wall Street Journal report that T-Mobile USA plans to begin selling the first smart phone powered by Google’s new mobile software late next month. This means direct competition with Apple Inc.’s iPhone and Research In Motion’s BlackBerry with a device that “blends aspects of both”. Very interesting!

The phone is made by HTC, which is also launching an array of glossy windows mobile based touch phones. Pricing is a secret but rumors abound that it will be $200 with contract and $400 otherwise. Here are a few excerpts from WSJ.

While some wireless companies working with Google’s Android mobile software have hit delays, the T-Mobile phone is coming out on schedule. Backers are optimistic Android-based handsets can take sales from rivals.

The phone’s manufacturer, HTC Corp., forecasts sales that are rosier than analysts’ estimates. HTC says it expects to ship 600,000 to 700,000 units of the smart phone, dubbed the Dream, this year, a person close to the situation said Monday. The target exceeds analysts’ estimates of 300,000 to 500,000.

Anticipation around the phone — the first based on Android — has been mounting for months, and the companies face pressure to impress. The Federal Communications Commission granted authorization for the HTC Dream, which enables T-Mobile to market it, last month.

While the phone is targeted at the same sort of technology-savvy consumers who have been buying iPhones, it has a very different look and feel. It is expected to be heavier than the iPhone, according to people familiar with it, and it is likely to have a large touch screen, a swivel-out full keyboard and a BlackBerry-style trackball to help with navigation.

T-Mobile USA is introducing the high-profile device as it begins to upgrade its network nationwide to support third-generation broadband services. Google hopes that hundreds of phone models will be built around Android, giving the company another way to deliver advertisements and drive revenue.

This post is second in a series about iphone and Pakistan. The 3G version of iPhone was introduced this year in July. Despite the high price and software issues, popularity of iPhone has been growing everywhere including Pakistan. To date about 75 countries have been announced for this international launch but Pakistan is still not the official list. But given the talent Pakistanis have in reverse engineering and adapting gadgets to their need, who needs an official provider?

I believe that iPhone has all that it takes to be one of the most popular phones in Pakistan: its stylish, feature-rich and a status symbol. In a short while iPhone has become the phone of choice for the tech celebrities of Pakistan. It is also quite popular with Pakistanis abroad as well. Actually iPhone is one of the most requested gift item from Pakistan!

I have been testing the 3G iPhone for a few months and I love it, despite a few issues. I couldn’t help comparing it with Blackberry pearl and other regular phones. But a simple comparison is not possible because iphone packs so much more than the so-called smart phones. Now it does not mean that it is beyond criticism - the 3G iPhone has had its share of software bugs and network issues, many of which have been fixed recently.

First and foremost - iPhone is an eye candy. Browsing the web on iPhone is a treat and has made mobile web enjoyable. The visual elements, its ability to render images and graphics is superior than any other device. I find myself browsing the web quite a lot with the iPhone. Fans of iPod will love it too as it packs the popular audio features and capabilities in one sleek gadget. If you are all about email, many consider Blackberry to be much better but the new push capabilities of iPhone are quite appealing. The touch interface is intuitive and easy. If you make quite a lot of calls then beware - the touch key pad may or may not be your thing. Personally, I prefer the physical keyboard, at least when using the phone while driving.

The GPS and google map works quite well. There are many interesting new applications available which utilize GPS, such as iPray with Qibla Finder. This brings another interesting point: the very profitable Apple Store business model, which has resulted in huge number of interesting applications (some are free) available for download. Both the developers and Apple benefit from this approach.

Here are some suggestions. In case you have the new 3G iPhone, get the latest software fixes released by Apple (2.1 was released on Sep 12) which improves battery life and call quality and fixed many bugs.

If you have the original iPhone, no worries - it is good enough for for most purposes. If you want to take the phone from US/EU to Pakistan, you are better off with the non-3G edition as 3G is non-existent in Pakistan. For US residents note that depending on your location, you may be on EDGE as 3G coverage is still limited and ATT network is mediocre. The email (push, support for exchange) of the new iPhone allows it to be easily adopted by professionals and companies.

Regardless of the bugs and complaints from die-hard Nokia and Blackberry fans, the iPhone is selling very well and it has some impressive and attractive features. Apple has shaken up the mobile monopolies of carriers and handset makers. It even forced Nokia to open up its platform and Google is under pressure to come up with a better product and platform. Competitors like Samsung, LG and HTC are working hard to come up with their versions of “touch” phones and this should mean more choices for consumers.

For a list of local retailers and information about iPhone, see this post from TechLahore. Images are from Apple web site.

As reported in the media, The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has said that Mobilink is involved in an unreasonably restrictive trade practice by not allowing its blackberry subscribers to other service providers. Before reading this news I did not know that there was a government department called Competition Commission of Pakistan … see their website. The issue here is that whether Mobilink can lock subscribers by providing them a subsidized Blackberry handset. It would be interesting to see Mobilink’s response and how this gets propagated to other mobile network operators such as Zong. This situation is very common in USA and it takes quite an effort to get a phone unlocked. By the way, isn’t PTA supposed to be involved in this as well?

The CCP has passed an order on the show-cause notice, issued by the MCA to Pakistan Mobile Communications Limited (Mobilink GSM) for carrying on unreasonable restrictive trade practices. The order said that currently the Mobilink GSM blackberry customer did not have any option to switch over to another service operator whether the SIM enabled or not.

Most of the customers were not aware about the SIM locking restriction. Similarly, no procedure was in place whereby the customer could seek unlocking of the SIM from Mobilink GSM, if it desired for the purposes of switching over to another network/service provider, said the order.

According to the order, the tie-in arrangement of bundling the handset, Mobilink’s telephone service and the blackberry service products through SIM locking has the effect of unreasonably preventing, restraining or otherwise lessening competition. In the Commission’s considered view, locking the SIM card in the handset and preventing its replacement restricts customers from changing their service provider. With no procedures in place for unlocking, it effectively deterred the consumer choice and mobility, it said.

Google’s model is to build a killer app, then monetize it later – Andy Rubin, Director Of Android.

I would like to present two recent stories about the challenges faced by Google’s Android platform. As I wrote previously, the mobile OS platform war is one of the most important and pivotal for mobile industry and consumers. It reminds me of the browser wars of a few years ago. For Android, there are a few technical challenges but the real critical issues are related to business.

There is competition from Nokia, Apple, BlackBerry and Microsoft. The questions still remains on how applications will be distributed and how developers will earn revenue from them. Then there is the tension over who controls the phone features (Google or manufacturers like Samsung). My conclusion is that despite these initial problems, Android has all the potential to become a breakthrough success.

A few excerpts from this month’s Wired Magazine: Google’s Open Source Android OS Will Free the Wireless Web

The only firm that seemed to be successfully navigating the mobile labyrinth was Microsoft, one of Google’s biggest rivals. The Windows Mobile platform had less than 10 percent of the US smartphone market, but it was growing fast. Microsoft’s system, however, was the ugly stepsister of what Google was proposing: Redmond executives cared less about opening up the Net to mobile users than about tying the mobile operating system into its desktop dominance. A decade ago, Microsoft had underestimated the growth of the Web and then lost control of it to Google. Now it looked like it was Google’s turn to be caught flat-footed.

Windows Mobile is now installed on 140 devices, hosted by 160 carriers around the world. Key to its success was Microsoft’s ability to use its desktop domination as a battering ram.

The Android team had violated an essential tenet of the wireless industry: that users are too dumb and dangerous to be trusted with downloadable software. Engineers who write for just about any mobile operating system today have to spend time and cash obtaining security keys and code-signing certificates. Android would allow any application to be installed and run, no questions asked.

“The handset makers are on a treadmill, trying to turn out hardware every six months that’s innovative and thinner, with bigger displays and lower costs, while having to do the systems integration,” says Andy Rubin, director of mobile platforms at Google. “The net result is no innovation. They don’t have time. You know what? We make really good software. We can take on all that work.”

The second story is from Wall Street Journal (extracts below) and it describes the difficulties and the resulting delay in launch: Google’s Mobile-Handset Plans Are Slowed

Google now says that the handsets won’t arrive until the fourth quarter. And some cellular carriers and makers of programs that work with Android are struggling to meet that schedule, people familiar with the situation say.

T-Mobile USA expects to deliver an Android-powered phone in the fourth period. China Mobile, the largest wireless carrier in the world with nearly 400 million subscriber accounts, had planned to launch an Android phone in the third quarter but it has run into issues that will likely delay the launch until late this year or early 2009, a person familiar with the matter says.

Read more »

Push email is the strong selling point for BlackBerry but there are plenty of other free BlackBerry applications which are quite useful, given the unlimited data plan which comes with BlackBerry.There are three major platforms to watch out for: BlackBerry, iPhone and Android. The interesting trend is that BlackBerry is coming up with applications for iPhone and Google has some great features for BlackBerry and iPhone users.  Just this week Google announced major enhancements for search on BlackBerry.

I came across this video from CNet with the accompanying article in CIO magazine which features 6 free applications for BlackBerry: Viigo mobile RSS reader, Beyond411 local search, Travel companion WorldMate Live, Google Maps (now with voice search on Pearl), Facebook for BlackBerry and TwitterBerry. Some of these are for the US such as 411 local search. I am quite sure its only a matter of time that such hyper local services will start appearing everywhere. Of course everyone has their own favorites and I would love to hear about which apps are popular with BlackBerry users in Pakistan.