We have taken a look at the permissible branchless banking models in our earlier post and have seen them all to bank led. At the third international mobile commerce conference recently held State Banks’s Deputy Governor, Yaseen Anwar, has indicated of a Teleco led model of branchless banking is being considered. The staff report from Dawn News gives the details.
PTA has proposed changes to Consumer Protection Regulations2009 to include service withdrawal. See the announcement and draft document on PTA website. This is exactly what we have written about before. Kudos to PTA for taking this step.
About two weeks ago we asked our readers about their opinion on the “limited time offers” by telecom companies. You can view that post here. An overwhelming majority of 92% responded with dissatisfaction over how companies handle these offers. I think this presents a good opportunity for these companies to improve how these offers are marketed and communicated.
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”.
Telecard has been in licensing disputes earlier and is now again as PTA suspends the WiMax commencement certificate of Telecard Limited. This takes Qubee’s future at stake as Qubee (brand name of Augere) for operating WiMax services uses Telecard’s spectrum and licenses. Daily times reports the details.
The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) on Monday suspended the commencement certificate of Telecard Limited.
The PTA took interim action in respect of their WLL licences, which were being used in conjunction with the 3.5GHz wireless spectrum by Augere Pakistan for supporting their new wireless broadband service launched in Karachi by the name of Qubee.
The 668 Sim Information campaign is playing a vital role in withdrawal of unauthorized registered SIMs. PTA have taken it a step forward, now it is also available on mobile via SMS. Users who wish to check on the SIMs registered against their CNIC can now send their CNIC number (without dash/space) t0 668 and get a prompt reply with details of name of service provider and number of SIMs.
The latest PR affirms State Bank of Pakistan and PTA are closely working on a unified policy for mobile banking that will connect all banks of the country with cellular mobile operators for mobile transactions. No mentions about where the existing mobile banking framework will stand with it.
Earlier I mentioned about the Warid overseas SIM information correction help, a similar service is being provided by all other cellular operators. The process is more or less the same for all.
For Telenor check the details here, for Ufone follow this link, Zong customers can get the details from here and Mobilink the details can be found at this link.
Overseas customers must make use of this service and get all their information corrected at the earliest.
Pakistan Telecommunication Authority is doing great in its 668 Campaign to wipe-off illegal SIMs, but what about the illegal mobile handsets? When I say illegal cell phones, it means cell phones without a valid IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity usually China made.
If you are residing abroad and have your SIMs issued against your National Identity Card for Overseas Pakistanis (NICOP), you can like NIC holders follow the link www.pta.gov.pk/668 in order to confirm the number of SIMs in your name.
In case the count of Warid numbers exceeds the actual Warid numbers currently in your usage, WaridTel helps you correct you SIM information.
A guest post by Ammar Faheem earlier on how the telecom companies pose a challenge to the traditional banking industry in the mobile domain. It discussed how a Telecom-led model can be a threat to Bank-Led model. The news of ‘Third Party Mobile Banking Regulations’ is welcoming as it offers an intermediary model for opting the mobile banking services taking in account the concerns and responsibilities of both the financial institues and telecos. This will be a win-win situation for both. A recent example of this comes from Telenor and Tameer Microfinance Bank with ‘easypaisa‘.
Cellular companies along with Fixed Line companies will now onwards contribute 0.5% of their gross revenues to R&D fund. As reported by Business Recorder an uniform rate of R&D contribution is being approved for all fixed line and cellular operators as this will maintain the spirit of fixed line policy 2003 which states that none of the licensees be at any position of disadvantage.
Posting tweet...
TelecomPk.Net is a leading source of information and analysis about Pakistan Telecom industry. More here.
Jobs by Zumbeel Pk Telecom News