PAK BROADBAND USERS ENJOY LOWEST TARIFF IN SAARC REGION

Islamabad—Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has carried out a benchmark study on broadband tariff and concluded that these are very competitive in the country as compared to other regional states. The basic objective of the benchmark study was to assess and compare level of broadband tariffs prevailing in Pakistan against other countries and to identify the areas where further improvements can be made for the benefit of operators and users.

As per regulator’s latest annual report, the broadband tariffs of regional states such as India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Nepal and Bhutan were analyzed and reviewed. The broadband tariff in Malaysia were also analyzed and it was found that broadband tariffs were competitive here in the country.

The report said the study was based on the broadband tariffs offered by different operators in each country on unlimited or limited data basis. Each country’s broadband profile and operator-wise tariff details were analyzed and compared with same or closest package available in Pakistan. However, one area connection is that despite competitive tariffs Pakistan penetration rate is lowest among peer countries like Malaysia, India, Sri Lanka and Maldives.

It was also pertinent to highlight that Global Broadband study was carried out by University of Oxford last year which ranked Pakistan at 60th position ahead of India and Indonesia which were given 62nd and 63rd position respectively. Malaysia was ranked at 48th position out of 66 countries. Broadband quality study has defined two waves of broadband services meeting modern requirements which has download and upload speed of 3.75Mbps and 1 Mbps for the period starting from 2000 to 2009 and meeting tomorrow, requirement with download and upload speed of 11.25Mbps and 5Mbps starting from 2010 till 2015.

Pakistan which was placed in leapfrog opportunity in 2008 has now been upgraded in today’s applications threshold category whereas India was placed at leapfrog opportunity for both the years, the report concluded.—APP

Source: www.pakobserver.net

KARACHI (December 21, 2010) : Naeem Zamindar has taken charge of Wateen Telecom as its CEO as per a press statement issued by the company. Zamindar brings an outstanding track record of building successful companies, spanning 20 years across USA and Pakistan. He is a founding team member of Mobilink, and was a key member of the leadership team that grew Mobilink to become the leading telecom company of Pakistan.

As the VP of Strategy, Business Development and Programme Management Office, he led the initiative of making Mobilink an integrated telecom company by enabling the nation-wide fiber optic network and through the acquisition of four companies that now form the Broadband Business Division.

In his last assignment at Mobilink as the Head of the Broadband Business Division, he was responsible for the successful launch of Mobilink Infinity. Recently he has been running Zamindar Capital, a consulting and investment firm that specialises in leveraging technology to leapfrog social and economic development.

Zamindar's track record of scaling successful companies like Mobilink, will certainly enable him to lead Wateen to the next level of growth and opportunity. He has also been an Investment Manager at Intel Capital in the Silicon Valley where he worked on 29 venture capital investments focused on building companies in the internet/new media and wireless broadband space. He is considered to be a leading thought leader in the Wimax world, being invited as the keynote speaker at many international wireless broadband conferences. He qualified as a CPA from the State of Washington and is an MBA from INSEAD.

It was also announced in the press release that Zohair Khalique will be joining the Board of Director's of Wateen. The dynamic Khalique is the former CEO of Mobilink and is regarded as one of the most dynamic CEO's to have chaired an organisation in Pakistan. He brings with him 26 years of senior general management, strategy and Board level experience with Price Waterhouse, ICI plc, Motorola Inc and Orascom Telecom.-PR

Source:www.brecorder.com

PTCL INTERNET USERS WEARY OF POOR SERVICE

ISLAMABAD (APP) - The internet users of Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) are facing severe problems as the company has failed to provide them with better connectivity services.

Talking to APP, people said that the company claims to be the most reliable and largest converged services carrier, providing all telecommunications services from basic voice telephony to data, but the reality is different.

Whether it is at work in any city of Pakistan or at home in a small village, PTCL claims to be present in every corner of the country to serve its customers. After launching PTCL Broadband (DSL) service, the company also launched a new 3G Wireless Broadband internet service by the name of 'EVO Wireless Broadband', which is based on world’s proven CDMA 2000 technology. It claims that now people can enjoy up to 3000 kbps high speed internet at home, office or on the road. But on the contrary, service users complain that internet service provided by PTCL is very poor.

Kamran Ali, who works in a private office said, “I have a connection of 1 mbps PTCL broadband but I am facing problems. My downloading speed is only 25kb/s to 60kb/s, that is totally unbearable.” Another broadband customer said that despite its tall claims, the corporation had miserably failed to address speed and connectivity issues of internet users. “Most of the time I remain disconnected from internet service during a day,” he said.

The PTCL EVO offers this 3G Wireless broadband internet through USB and PCMCIA adapters directly to laptop and desktop computers, but unfortunately, it is not easy to use and creates many disruptions.

Though PTCL says it is providing an opportunity to the people of Pakistan to experience advanced technology and became familiar with this type of service but on the contrary people who have used these services are now switching to other networks.

Mehak, a student of M.A said, “sometimes the main internet server remains too busy that I get no response. Even I find it difficult to open my mail.” Her friend Ayesha said that she was very disappointed with PTCL Broadband DSL service and was planning to switch to other companies.

When connected the concerned PTCL officials were not willing to give any comments about the service.

Modified From: The Nation
Source: www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/Business/13-Dec-2010/PTCL-internet-users-weary-of-poor-service