State of Telecom Industry in Pakistan

• Warid Denies Sellout of Stakes: Earlier this week, The National, a news paper from Abu Dhabi… http://goo.gl/fb/x2pZ #
• Shopping time: Bashir Tahir, CEO of Abu Dhabi Group reportedly said that PTCL has shown keen interest in Warid Telecom #
• What is the Return on 4G Investment?: The discussions on 3G and 4G hinge on a fundamental… http://goo.gl/fb/MDVz #
• PTCL earnings go up 13% but decides to restrict student discounts – odd! http://bit.ly/aIMek7 #
• PTCL Roundup: Earnings Up 13%, Rs. 5.354 billion Net Profit. Changes to Student Package: PTCL… http://goo.gl/fb/HnTV #
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Earlier this week, The National, a news paper from Abu Dhabi published a story about Abu Dhabi Groups plans to sell controlling stakes of Warid Telecom to any potential buyer. Below are the excerpts from the news item.

“Every operator in Pakistan is looking for consolidation,” said Bashir Tahir, the chief executive of the Abu Dhabi Group. “We are talking to every operator and we know they are also talking to each other.”

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There is a lot of talk about the news that Punjab Government has unanimously passed a resolution banning late night offers/packages by mobile phone operators. Daily times reports it as follows:

Members of the Punjab Assembly (MPAs) on Tuesday unanimously passed a resolution banning late night packages offered by mobile networks at cheap rates in keeping with “moral and social values” and to “maintain the youth’s health and prevent vice”.

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PTA has just released 2009 December mobile subscriber stats. Though it would have been nice if  the industry could hit 100 million mark in calendar year 2009, we are content about the overall progress (7.6 million net additions) of the telecom segment. Mobilink had a good last quarter, ending with 30.8 million susbcribers and retained its market share of 32% from the beginning of the year. Telenor is firm at second spot. Ufone also showed good progress (18.5 M) towards the end of year but overall it fell behind Warid (18.8 M) which became the number 3 in terms of total subscribers.

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Let me confess, I never wanted to be a BlackBerry user and ever since I was forced to use my first RIM device, I have always been carrying one, it’s been a few years now. I’m not that forgetful in general but I do forget my BlackBerry at places at times, and am usually not sure where I left it. Was that in my car or at home? Did I drop it somewhere or is it safe or not? Calling a lost phone to ring it, itself is an invitation to a thief if you left it at a public place. Does this happen to you too?

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• WiFi Router: Facility or Service?: Can you spot what is not right about this advertisement… http://goo.gl/fb/fmEE #
• Young fun Djuice Pakistan (Official Community) with Red Bull wings brings you soccer street style finals in Karachi… http://bit.ly/buKF06 #
• Djuice Promotes Local Soccer Talent, Sponsors RedBull StreetStyle: Djuice is known for… http://goo.gl/fb/9GQZ #
• We are discussing the issue of “limited offers” on the blog. Make sure you post your experience here and vote! http://bit.ly/5ENzwe #
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Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd (PTCL) has re-launched voice mail service with remote login feature to keep its valued customers informed about their incoming calls. The re-launch with a new feature of remote login will enable customers to receive their messages from any landline, Vfone and all mobile services within the country or internationally, just by dialing 1277 followed by a four digit pin code of their mailbox.

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• PTCL Voice Mail Service: Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd (PTCL) has re-launched voice… http://goo.gl/fb/lrCn #
• Zong – Family Pack: Zong has recently introduced its ‘Family Pack’, by which you, your friends… http://goo.gl/fb/KSE6 #
• Ever got surprised by a “limited time offer”? Cast your vote here to let us know http://bit.ly/7ebZZW #
• Pakistani Startup Provides Customer Support for Mobile App Developers: Venturebeat – a popular… http://goo.gl/fb/s0Qj #
• Dadyal City Has the Best Speech Quality In All of Pakistan?: PTA recently published results… http://goo.gl/fb/Nz2E #
• Samsung GenoA: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. a global leader in cutting-edge technology has… http://goo.gl/fb/kPk4 #
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PTA recently published results from their Quality of Service tests. If you look at the results for speech quality of mobile service providers , it shows that Dadyal in Azad Kashmir has the best!! Congratulations to Dadyalians.

As we figure out explanations to which city has the best service (and there could be many ways this could be decided) there are other questions that one wonders about. According to these results performance of all operator is below the benchmark set by PTA. Was the bar too high or do we have really bad speech quality??

We have covered the positive role played by telecom industry to help genuine causes of the social and civil society. The land slide which occurred in a remote area of Hunza recently caused damage and the lcoation of the incident made it difficult to provide relief and rescue effort through normal land. Telenor stepped in quick and contributed Rs. 2 million in an effort to augment government’s efforts for those impacted by  land-sliding in Attabad, Hunza. Telenor Pakistan’s Chief Strategy Officer & VP Corporate Affairs, Aamir Ibrahim presented the cheque to the Federal Minister for Information & Broadcasting and Governor of Gilgit-Baltistan, Qamar Zaman Kaira.

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• How would you will if National Mobile Wallet is intoduced? http://bit.ly/7vPpyM #
• Easypaisa – CNN Review: Easypaisa’s success has not only being lauded nationally but like in… http://goo.gl/fb/PpgH #
• Universal Service Fund Asks Telecom Firms To Use Renewable Energy: The energy crisis in… http://goo.gl/fb/ftZz #
• Careful About Jazz SMS Khazana: The recent offers from Mobilink; sim lagao, IDD call charges… http://goo.gl/fb/9LWQ #
• A New Beginning: Mobile Financial Services in Pakistan: Growth of Pakistan telecom industry… http://goo.gl/fb/uygH #
• Google maps now support turn-by-turn directions in Pakistan: Google now support driving… http://goo.gl/fb/mnbi #
• Internatinal Media coverage of Pakistan Telecom: Fake Cellphone Numbers Worry Pakistanis http://bit.ly/4zFrHH #

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Easypaisa’s success has not only being lauded nationally but like in the cross-post from the mmublog.org it is also being appreciated internationally. It is now being reviewed on CCN Edition along with other mobile banking initiatives. It mentions that EasyPaisa is the first venture in Pakistan to do this; 89 percent of Pakistan population is unbanked. It also indicates about the Easy Paisa plans to launch a Mobile Account service that features savings and withdrawals in near future.

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