State of Telecom Industry in Pakistan

Over the past 2 years, TelecomPk.Net has offered many reviews and commentary about PTCL. This post gives a summary of the stories written about PTCL with a time line view. A quick look shows that the telecom consumers of Pakistan have been engaged in various forms of struggle with the privatised face of PTCL. The way PTCL handled the most recent rate increase of local calls (from 0.4 Rs per minute to 1 Rs per min) is indicative of its attitude towards consumers. I wish that I could PTCL the benefit of doubt but its too late for that.

Perhaps it is time to re-write the PTCL mission statement to omit customer satisfaction.

To be the leading Information and Communication Technology Service Provider in the region by achieving customer satisfaction and maximizing shareholders’ value.

In case you missed the past stroies, here is a list of the highlights. (All PTCL posts can be found here)

2006 - Broadband Tarrifs: PTA vs PTCL in court
- Battle of Bandwidth Tarrifs
- Ptcl vs PTA

2007 - ISPs vs PTCL, Profit Falls, Service Issues, Lower DSL Rates, Pakistan Package Forced On Consumers
* Pakistan ISPs Against Ptcl
* PTCL Net down by 25%
* Performance Review
* Lower Broadband Rates from Ptcl
* Service Issues Continue
* Pakistan Package Controversy

2008 - PTA reprimands PTCL, Local call rates changed quietly, Pakistan package modified
+ PTA issues directive against PTCL after public uproar
+ Ptcl Packages rips off consumers

The tariff table below is taken from the annual telecommunications report by PTA. Well, PTCL has already made this out-of-date with their change in lcoal call duration, down from 5 minutes to 2 minutes. Any other corrections needed here?

Cross Post From Green & White. Author: Mansoor Adenwala.

PTCL recently launched three brand new packages for its consumers. But where every other telco in the country is slashing its call rates and finding other ways to make money, PTCL has actually increased its rates! While almost brilliant in their design, the new packages can and will inflate your telephone bill quite a bit so be prepared for a hefty setback at the end of this month if you use your PTCL line at all.

Here’s how.

Before, each call used to cost Rs. 2. Even now, each call costs Rs. 2. But before, one call used to be for 5 minutes, before you were charged for another call. They have conveniently taken the call duration down to 2 minutes. Meaning that call charges per minute have increased by almost 150%! from 40 paisa’s per minute to 1 rupee.
And that’s not all. Sometime ago, off peak calls were metered at 1 hour! Meaning that you could talk for an hour for just Rs. 4. This went into effect after 4 PM all the way upto 7 AM. They’ve changed that, and now off peak calls are charged Rs. 2 again… but now only for 4 minutes and only between 9 PM to 8 AM.

This means an increase of 400% in per minute call charges, up from 0.06 paisa’s per minute to 0.25 paisas.

How’s that for a punch in the face? With electricity, wheat, oil and gas prices going up so.. basic telephony now follows suit.

Read more »

Guest Post By Sohaib Athar

I, the good cop, mailed a long rant to the PTCL Broadband manager, Mr. Ali Raza Baloch, last week, after getting his email from the helpline.

He forwarded my complaint to a couple of relevant people, asking them to help me out, but that didn’t happen.

Meanwhile, a friend, the bad cop, sent a written complaint to PTA - the PTA people wrote a letter to PTCL, and PTCL called my friend, and promised they will upgrade ‘tomorrow’ - which happened to be a local holiday, so ‘tomorrow’ never came.

Today, my friend went in person to the Broadband office, spent two hours there, met Ali Raza face-to-face and explained the situation to him. Ali Raza contacted his team, found out that my friend’s upgrade was stuck in Islamabad somehow, and got the wheels in motion for him. My friend did manage to get my connection upgraded in the process though - so when I woke up today, I found my modem connected at 510kbps.

So, for anyone who is desperate to get the promised upgrade, you can be proactive and follow the same route instead of waiting for something that PTCL owes you but is reluctant to provide. I’m getting about an 80% throughput - 410kbps or so, which is good enough for jerk-free Youtube, and the upload speed of 300kbps is helping me save a lot of time as well. 20$ for 512kbps is still about 6 times more expensive than the 50$ for 6mbps that my American friends enjoy, but I hope we will get there eventually. Thank god for competition.

After many months of intense complains from consumers about automatic activation of Pakistan Package by PTCL, there is some decisive action coming from PTA (Link to the offiical statement in pdf). Better late than never!

Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has directed PTCL to refrain in future from announcing any pre-activated package without customers’ consent and without prior approval of the Authority.

These directions came in the wake of PTCL announcement of “Pakistan Package” on December 1, 2007 wherein the package was activated on all PTCL numbers and they were to be charged at Rs. 199 per month.

Taking cognizance of the consumer complaints, PTA has directed PTCL not to charge Rs. 199 from those subscribers who are unable to opt out of the package and have NWD bill of less than Rs. 200 per month in the corresponding months.

It has also directed PTCL to reduce the time period of subject package to 60 days with no extension. As announced by PTCL it was a limited time offer which was extendable and now it would be available for only 2 months. This decision is taken to ensure healthy competition and to safeguard consumers’ interest.

The Authority has further said that PTCL is directed to refrain from launching/announcing any promotion or tariff package without prior approval of the Authority by submitting complete details of such package(s) to the Authority at least ten (10) days in advance and also to refrain from pre-activating such packages without customers’ prior consent.

‘For your convenience ptcl Pakistan Package has already been activated on your ptcl landline phone’. The default activation of the package by PTCL is unfair, unethical and inconvenient. First the voice mail and then this … what a brazen way to rip off customers! Just force these packages down the throat of consumers, many of whom will not realize or may not have time or knowledge to deactivate it. I have read and heard stories about how difficult it has become to call 1236 and get rid of this package.

Note that I am not criticizing the package, I am against the way it has been forced on each and every landline. If this package is so good people will make their own choice and get it. With this move PTCL has lost whatever goodwill it had. 

Is there any limit to which PTCL will not go to make quick money on the expense of consumers? How can you justify this blatant use of monopoly? Will PTA let them get away with it?

PTCL has consistently been facing market criticism with respect to its strategic management, policy, procedures, quality assurance, product flavors and orientation towards customer services. Our readers who have read the post on Balanced Score Card Technique (PTCL: Future Prospects & Challenges) on this blog can now see the practical implementation of BSC effectively being done by PTCL at present. If PTCL continues on the same path with focus on product, market & corporate leadership, they have all the means to differentiate for clear competitive advantage.

The Balanced Scorecard is a management tool that helps an enterprise to focus on holistic development across the organization rather than just focusing on a single area or on a specific objective, for instance, revenues & finance. Today, many large corporate entities across the world have adopted the BSC technique to exceed the overall growth objectives. The key areas of PTCL’s focus are:

The initiatives taken by the PTCL may not be enough for an abrupt change, however, if the strategic focus and strategy remains correct and effective as stated above, the list of initiatives will keep on increasing and shall lead PTCL towards Leadership in all the segments it serves.

Details of Voluntary Separation Scheme (VSS) at PTCL have emerged with information also provided at PTCL site which puts it like this in Urdu: Aap Ki Hidmat Ka Etraf  (We recognise your services).

Total cost is about Rs 35 billion, out of which 50 per cent amount will be paid by the good old Government of Pakistan. The intended / eligible target of VSS are PTCL employees who are not over 58 years of age – probably management does not consider them relevant to the latest technology and strategy. According to insiders, this scheme works well for those who are relatively new at PTCL. As I have written before, if PTCL management handles this well, then this could be good for both the company and its employees in the long run. Business Recorder provides more information.

The government has imposed ban on re-employment of those employees of Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) who will opt for Voluntary Separation Scheme (VSS), informed sources told Business Recorder.

“The Ministry of Information Technology will ensure that optees who are granted voluntary separation will not be re-employed by PTCL,” the sources quoted Cabinet Committee on Privatisation (CCoP) as giving directions to the Privatisation Commission.

Read more »

As posted by Tee Emm on TGP. For calls to certain phone numbers, which are over a threshold of monthy charges, there may be a charge when the line is busy. Callers will get a recorded voice response telling you that the number can not be reached at this time and the caller will pay for the call. Just another way PTCL helps you serve and pays its bills! According to this news clip, PTA has asked PTCL to remove this “facility” as it is unfair.

Follow the interesting discussion at Telecom Grid Pakistan.

PTCL is another step closer to its previously announced plans to let go of employees as it has permission for the Rs 17 billion transaction. These are not layoffs in the strict sense. These are voluntary separations. There is more reported in DAWN but the package details are still not known.

I have seen many such schemes during my work life and I think they are not necessarily a negative thing. For one thing this is the reality of our age - more and more companies are going this route and lifetime jobs are becoming a thing of past. For the employees it can be a handsome package that allows them to try out something new. PTCL can afford to provide a good deal in return for a smooth transition to a “new” organization. This can be a particularly good option for those PTCL employees who have marketable skills and are able to find some other job. For PTCL itself this can mean a number of things - lesser employees, lower overhead, ability to bring in younger, fresh blood and the chance to make its investors happy. However if PTCL fails to capitalize on this and its leadership cannot make a positive change these advantages will be short-lived.

Further analysis will follow when the package deal details are announced.

We have been talking about PTCL profits, layoffs and management. In this entry let’s focus on its customer service, which has never been a forte for PTCL. For instance the incomplete page for customer service centers at PTCL site does not give a good impression. I have selected two recent stories from consumer’s point of view - one from the traditional media and one from the new media (a blog) to illustrate the issues which PTCL customers are facing.

First, the report from Nation which is about disconnection of phone service due to “non-payment” of dues. There seem to be many procedural gaps and the whole process is a burden on the customers.  

The subscribers complain that temporary disconnection is inevitable even if bill has been duly paid on the last date or after the due date. In some cases even timely payment of dues does not prevent disconnection. In such situation, subscribers have to take a day off in order to visit their respective exchange or customer service centre and submit a photocopy of their paid bill for getting their connections restored.

A subscriber of North Lahore Telephone Exchange complained about the same recurring problem. He said it was highly unfair that subscribers have to wait in long queues at banks to pay their bills and after a few days once again the process is repeated at the telephone exchange in order to prove that they had duly paid their dues. He said it was not the responsibility of the subscribers to intimate the exchanges about the payment of dues and it should be an internal process of the telephone department. Another resident said that on a number of occasions, the customer service staff of Township exchange had not been present at the counters.

The second service issue was raised at the Pakistan Spectator blog. Mehar Khan talks about the substandard service provided by PTCL in Karachi.

One such example is the Khayaban-e-Tariq and surrounding area in Phases VI and VII of the DHA in Karachi. Although we were one of the first areas to have a completely new fibre optic network installed, this network has failed to operate successfully since it installation. To compound a bad situation, the telephone services have not been working at all since May.

This current fault apparently arose due to NLA workmen digging up roads to lay the basic infrastructure in the area and, as a consequence, cut through one of the cables. Despite tens of personal visits to the local PTCL, offices and numerous sit-ins, where we refused to leave their offices until we were dealt with, the fault damaged line. How long does it take for a company of such size to obtain spare parts?

Why do we continue to receive threatening demands for payment when no service has been provided for over five months now?

Could Etisalat get away with such behavior either in the UAE or any other country they operate in? The answer is a resounding “no”.

Why are they allowed to get away with it in Pakistan?

I will ask the same question - how come there is not better focus on customer service in PTCL?

Related to the previous thread about PTCL Rebranding, here’s a clip of an ad which focuses on their new identity and new logo. Nice effort but after a month or so of this “New Beginning”, more serious challenges have surfaced for PTCL than rebranding. The next year is crucial and will make or break PTCL. Lets hope for the best.