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.

Mobilink Infinity has announced that they will no longer offer 256Kbps package. It means that you have to use the upgraded package and pay more. It is great for those who were looking to upgrade but not good for those who are not interested in paying more. The official announcement is below. Somehow the message is not very clear and some people may be surprised to see the extra charge after a couple of months. This is related to our rants about clear messages and billing issues.

We are excited to inform that your 256Kbps Mobilink Infinity Wi MAX account has been upgraded to 512Kbps under a special promotion!!

The Data allowance will be the same as of your 256Kbps package, but with double the speed and performance. You can experience blazing fast browsing, downloads and streaming with this upgrade and enjoy it at *Absolutely No Additional Cost for the Next Two Months*.

This promotion will give you a free speed upgrade for initial two months however, you will have to pay the 512Kbps package monthly charges according to the tariff from the third month onwards.

Here are the tariff details.

Mobilink’s prepaid brand Jazz has come up with a new tag line. Earlier which was ‘No Samjhta‘ now is  ‘Apna Hai‘. The picture below taken from their website shows this.

So far it is just the change in the tag line, lets wait and see if Jazz comes up with more new things.

Telenor Pakistan has launched the ‘Karo Mumkin’ campaign with the aim to position itself as a leader in innovation, and provide the people of Pakistan with a platform for inspiration and realization of possibilities. The campaign is designed to showcase the vision of Telenor Pakistan which seeks to explore new business opportunities in telecommunications, financial services and media. The occasion also marks Telenor Pakistan’s 5th anniversary.

Everyone has an idea or a dream that they wish to transform into reality. With its products and services, Telenor Pakistan hopes to inspire hope and self-belief in the people of Pakistan. Just recently, Telenor Pakistan transformed an opportunity into an achievement by launching the country’s first real mobile banking service, easypaisa. In the same tradition, we aspire to extend this faith to everyone that any possibility can be realized if pursued with commitment, confidence and belief.

Usman Javaid,

Director Marketing Telenor Pakistan

The ‘Karo Mumkin’ campaign invites people to realize possibilities by coming forward and sharing ideas. Its latest TVC is worth watching. A well executed concept with a positive message backed by Mr. Zia Mohiuddin’s voice.

Participants can register on the ‘Karo Mumkin’ web portal and respond to the question “Where do you see Pakistan in the future?” An idea that best describes the future Pakistan will be selected by a national jury of specialists as well as public voting and aired on the “Karo Mumkin” TV show.

To participate entrants need to visit the webportal www.telenor.com.pk/karomumkin or send an SMS to 576 or call 0345-555 5540. Entries must be sent in before 31^st March 2010.

Charges for sending an SMS are Re1 plus tax per min for IVR and 50 paisa plus tax per SMS. For calls, standard charges apply as per package plans.

[via PR]

Here are the results from our most recent poll on billing errors. This matches the results from PTA survey and shows that billing errors are common and a source of problem for consumers. After service quality issues, this is probably the worst that a consumer faces.

This is definitely an area where telecom companies can strive to make a difference. Our advice is to keep the packages simple and not make it too hard for customers and also for your own billing systems.

Poll results are based on a sample size of ~150 votes.

Mobilink Jazz has come up with another limited time reactivation offer. This time for those who have not used your Jazz connection since the 10th of February 2010.

In this offer after putting the Jazz SIM back and sending an SMS to 550, customer gets 50 free minutes. Everyone who has received the 50 free minutes can also get 300 more free minutes by recharging in each of the next three months.

Customers who have lost their SIMs can get new SIMs free of cost from their nearest Mobilink franchise or CC centers. Other service mechanics of the offer can be found here.

Mobile devices are increasingly subject to many of the threats that plague personal computers. Now a leading security researcher has presented a new way to detect malware on mobile devices. According to this article, the new approach  can catch even unknown threats and can protect a device without draining its battery or taking up too much processing power.

Researchers have begun to identify ways to protect devices from malicious software. But traditional ways of protecting desktops against threats don’t translate well to smart phones, says Markus Jakobsson, a principal scientist at Xerox PARC and the person behind the new malware detection technology.

Most antivirus software works behind the scenes, comparing new files to an enormous library of virus signatures. Mobile devices lack the processing power to scan for large numbers of signatures, Jakobsson says. Continual scanning also drains batteries. His approach relies on having a central server monitor a device’s memory for signs that it’s been infected, rather than looking for specific software.

Devices have two types of memory–random-access memory (RAM), used by active programs, and secondary storage, which takes longer to access and generally holds data not currently in use. Jakobsson’s system would check a device by first shutting off nonvital applications, such as an e-mail app or a browser. At that point, nothing should be running except the detection software and the operating system itself. He demonstrated the software using a device running the Android mobile operating system at the RSA conference.

If malware is present and active, it will need to use some RAM to execute instructions on the device. So the central server contacts the detection software to check to see if malware is using RAM by measuring how much memory is available. It does this by completely filling the remaining memory space with random data and checking the amount of data needed against a fingerprint of the memory that was created when the device was known to be malware-free.

At this point, any malware running in the open would be revealed. The malware could try to hide its presence by allowing the random data to overwrite it in RAM, Jakobsson says, but this would prevent it from taking any further action. And if it tries to hide by accessing data in the device’s secondary storage, this would slow the device’s response to the central server, revealing the presence of malware.

• How much is your average expense on mobile phone? http://bit.ly/dwSG0U #
• http://telecompk.net/2010/03/12/2010-begins-with-subscriber-drops-95-4-million/ http://bit.ly/aX2jjz #
• 2010 Begins With Subscriber Drops – 95.4 Million: PTA yesterday released the subscriber… http://goo.gl/fb/JlOg #
• Warid subscriber base goes down by 14% in January, 2010. #Pakistan #
• How long have you been on a same mobile connection? http://bit.ly/btuQP9 #
• Have you experienced billing errors from telecom service provider? Poll will be closing soon, if you haven’t got a… http://bit.ly/90mgWs #

• Change in Warid’s Leadership: Muneer Farooqui appointed CEO: The Board of Directors of Warid… http://goo.gl/fb/6TzH #
• China Mobile Makes Strategic Move For M-Commerce Services: It looks like e-wallets and mobile… http://goo.gl/fb/I0rg #
• http://bit.ly/b8gXZ5 #
• UExaminer: UExaminer is a unique and first of its kind VAS from Ufone. This focuses on use of… http://goo.gl/fb/L0JY #
• Telenor ‘Karu Mumkin’: For a nation, there is no power as constructive as its people’s ideas… http://goo.gl/fb/xW81 #
• http://twitpic.com/17nxb9 – Bilal Munir Sheikh, Vice President Marketing, Mobilink receives Marketing Excellence Award from Saifuddin Zoomka #
• Trust And Safety – As Director of Twitter’s Trust and Safety team … (Del Harvey/Twitter Blog) http://techme.me/=H15 (via @Techmeme) #
• TV Apps Copy iPhone Features: The success of iPhone has not only changed the way phone… http://goo.gl/fb/plH2 #
• Telenor Pakistan is doing a great job with creating value for the customers on thier fanpage. Tweeting regularly,… http://bit.ly/cAL8jP #
• Have you experienced billing errors from telecom service provider? Reply on poll at http://www.telecompk.net http://bit.ly/d4p5vU #
• Easypaisa Mobile Accounts Details: At the time of launch of easypaisa, many people wanted a… http://goo.gl/fb/b3CZ #
• How to Handle SMS Spam – A Review of Policies: Dealing with spam, unwanted calls and stalkers… http://goo.gl/fb/RshO #
• Do you remember which cellular operator introduced MMS for the first time in Pakistan? http://bit.ly/c5H7Zw #
• Last chance to vote on telecom billing issues poll on http://telecompk.net #
• Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-03-06: – Mobilink’s video which is a tribute to employees… http://goo.gl/fb/5uVn #

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.

“I am truly delighted to have the opportunity to contribute towards Warid Pakistan’s progress. In less than 5 years, Warid family has grown over 18 million customers with a substantial market share of almost 20%. Certainly it is tremendous progress and I seriously think that Pakistan’s cellular market has a lot of potential. I believe quality of service and customer care are the two important areas where we can get competitive edge. I am confident and determined that Warid Pakistan is fully positioned to set excellence benchmarks for the market.” said Mr. Muneer Farooqui, CEO Warid Pakistan.