State of Telecom Industry in Pakistan

I thought the term ‘Sim Jagao’ was an interesting marketing phrase to ask people to start using Warid’s prepaid SIM again. I have noticed a number of such offers from all the mobile operators. Mobile number portability is one of the reason. Today it is easy for a customer to switch service. This ‘churn’ is an issue for the companies. My advice: pay attention to customer service and customers are more likely to stay with you.

This offer is for Warid prepaid customers who have not used their SIMS Since January 01, 2010. All such customers upon reactivating their SIMS will immediately get Rs.30 in their accounts as free activation balance. And not only this, they can also get free balance equal to 50% of their first recharge for three months. Another exciting feature is that the customer can enjoy facility of two numbers in their F&F list, one of Warid and one of any other network with the charges as low as Rs. 1 + Tax/min. This offer is valid till 15th June 2010.

PTA yesterday released the subscriber numbers for January 2010. The year begins with a drop in overall subscriber base to 95.4 Million as compared to 97.6 Million at December end dropping the mobile density to 58.20%.

The operator suffering the most loss was Warid, losings 2.6 Million subscriber and making its market share 16.97% which was 19.4% in December 2009. Tough time for the new CEO.

All other operators showed some growth with Mobilink still leading the market and Telenor following it. As a result of drops in Warid, Ufone now ranks at third position.

With Telenor bringing innovations to the mobile banking and Mobilink also planning to penetrate with the same soon, the competition will definitely elevate as the year unfolds.

The Board of Directors of Warid Telecom have appointed Mr. Muneer Farooqui as company’s new Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Mr. Farooqui is a 20 year veteran of telecom industry, who started his professional journey in the telecommunication arena in 1993. In May 2004 at the time of inception of the company, Mr. Farooqui joined Warid Telecom as part of the core team in the capacity of GM Customer Service. In January 2006, Mr. Farooqui was given a challenging task of leading and creating the team and operations for Warid Bangladesh.

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Research and Market, the world’s largest market research resource have recently published forecast reports of next five years for mobile operators of Pakistan and other countries. The key points of the report as mentioned in its summary give a very interesting picture of the state of telecom industry in Pakistan.

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Telecom companies in Pakistan are seen working towards the social improvements in the society under their CSR activities.

The popular ones from last year include:

• Telenor Khuddar Pakistan initiative for the persons with disabilities.
• Ufone Child Healthcare Initiative which will revamp Children Ward and Children OPD in major hospitals nationwide with the goal of making it more hygienic and comfortable. Ufone has started with a revamp of Children Ward/OPD at the Federal Government Services Hospital, Islamabad commonly known as Polyclinic.
• Warid’s GIVE and National Polio Immunization Drive with Rotary Club.

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Many people think that mobile number portability process is hard and cumbersome. Not any more. To persuade subscribers to switch over, Warid has launched a special 24×7 helpline 321-321-321-1. Other network users can dial this number and they will be provided thorough personalized consultancy and support regarding the process of porting-in, its prerequisites and details of packages and tariffs, along with special MNP offerings. Upon successful verifications the customer will be contacted by Warid representative for documentation processing and a new SIM for just Rs. 50 having balance of Rs. 65 will be provided to the customer in 4 days.

We have been hearing about Warid’s merger/stake sold-out recently. But with every such news, no matter if its been quoted by local and international newspapers, Warid has officially denied it. On the other hand I have observed not significant but a little less boost in its marketing practice.

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Have you noticed the common elements between the telecom industry of Pakistan and Bangladesh? Three of the top 4 telecom companies in Bangladesh are also doing business in Pakistan. Telenor is present in all of sub-continent. Regulatory authorities in Bangladesh (BRTC) and Pakistan (PTA) have also worked together and shared best practices. Here’s a short review of the mobile telecom companies in Bangladesh.

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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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Ezetop, an international group focused on international and online mobile phone top-up today. It provides services of top-up to any  phone back home for many countries, including Pakistan.

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