Dual SIMs: Nokia X1-01 and Nokia C2-00 Launched: ProPakistani

Dual SIMs: Nokia X1-01 and Nokia C2-00 Launched
Chinese Handsets, Not Easy to Beat [Picture]
Price War Strategy Sans Innovation for Cellcos
Handset Makers All Set To Compete Chinese Gadgets With Dual SIM Phones
Mobile Banking Can Help Create Jobs, Raise GDP
Ufone Lady’s Package ‘Member Banao Offer’

Dual SIMs: Nokia X1-01 and Nokia C2-00 Launched

Posted: 31 May 2011 08:09 AM PDT

Dual SIMs: Nokia X1-01 and Nokia C2-00 Launched is a post from: ProPakistani

Nokia today announced that the Dual SIM Nokia X1-01 and Nokia C2-00 would soon both be on sale in Pakistan. These low-end, feature rich devices are aimed for masses that will help Nokia to snatch back its market share from Chinese-handsets.

Both models offer the most convenient and intuitive experience available for switching between SIM cards– without compromising on features and fun.

"The Nokia X1-01 and Nokia C2-00 pack more memory, better battery life and far richer SIM change and entertainment features than other Dual SIM products currently in the market," said Imran Khalid Mehmood, Country General Manager, Nokia Pakistan & Afghanistan.

"In addition to their various unique features, both of these phones remember the settings for up to five separate SIM cards, each of which can be personalized with a dedicated name as well as preferred SIM settings. ONLY Nokia can offer this level of convenience in Dual SIM phones!"

Nokia X1-01

With the Nokia X1-01 you can give each SIM card its own logo, music signature or ringtone – personalization features that you can only get from Nokia! The phone also offers what is simply the best Dual SIM music experience on the market.

You can store and shuffle THOUSANDS of songs with up to 16 GB of memory support, create your own favorite playlists, and play your music back over a loudspeaker that is the loudest and clearest ever produced by Nokia. The phone also features dedicated music side keys and a battery the will last for up to 36 hours of continued music playback!

Price: Nokia X1-01 is likely to be priced around PKR 3100 – PKR 3400.

Nokia C2-00

The Nokia C2-00 is the first to Dual SIM phone to have Easy Swap, which offers you the convenience of changing SIM cards without the need to turn off the phone or remove the battery.

Just open the SIM door at the side of the phone and swap your SIMs. It's as easy as that! No more waiting for the phone to reboot. With the Nokia C2-00 you can also browse the internet, read emails and enjoy instant messaging with either SIM card.

Not only is the internet browsing experience far superior than that available on competing Dual SIM products, but so too is the memory support. At a whopping 32 GB, the Nokia C2-00 lets you keep thousands of photos, videos and music files with you all the time.

The Nokia X1-01& C2-00 will go on sale from the second week of June, 2011 in Pakistan.

Price: Nokia C2-00, when launched, will be priced around PKR5200 – PKR5500

Chinese Handsets, Not Easy to Beat [Picture]

Posted: 30 May 2011 10:38 PM PDT

Chinese Handsets, Not Easy to Beat [Picture] is a post from: ProPakistani

Yasir did a story today, just an hour ago in fact, on how branded mobile phone manufacturers are planning to beat Chinese made handset with low cost Dual-SIM phones, but it seems that European brands are up against very tough competition.

I mean look at following, 4 SIMs into one phone – and that too for just Rs. 2,500 or 28 dollars – that's unbeatable.

Okay you can argue on quality and so many other things, but assembling a phone that can run 4 SIMs in just 28 dollars will surely require an effort to beat.

Have a look:

Price War Strategy Sans Innovation for Cellcos

Posted: 30 May 2011 10:18 PM PDT

Price War Strategy Sans Innovation for Cellcos is a post from: ProPakistani

price war Price War Strategy Sans Innovation for Cellcos The local cellular industry seems filled with 'Oohs' and 'Aaahs', thanks to beautifully crafted advertisements. Each week the consumer finds a new jingle, with value of usage costs as cheap as candy, or at least how cheap candy used to be back in the day.

In fact, the words 'unlimited' and 'free' have become the common catchphrase for each cellco to push its old product in new packaging, with the asterisk always there to point out the tiny words of terms and conditions for fair usage.

What has been lacking for a few years now is 'Oomph'. The lack of innovation and strategizing has placed the local cellular industry in a similar phase of slumber like the governmental bodies that we so adore with profanity.

For a private organization in an ever-changing industry, it is hard to fathom the reluctance to introduce new technologies and services that should usually diversify revenue streams. Instead, it seems that all players are happy milking as much as possible with what they have, in knowledge that the consumer has limited choice for worldwide parity.

The debate of 3G in Pakistan has become as redundant as the talk of mergers and consolidation. Many analysts have concluded that the local market has reached its saturation point, with further growth at exponential levels quite unlikely.

At the same time, the estimated cost of a 3G license and resultant investment in infrastructure is unlikely to be feasible seeing the current economic climate of the country.

The demand for faster data services and video calling is there in short pangs, but it is downed by the demand for better quality of the already provided services. After all, one would rather have the comfort of having a call connected with the right person in the first go, or having an SMS delivered promptly to the recipient once only.

Add to the above the low number of consumers utilizing the power of mobile data -the recent ramp-up of smartphone devices to push this feature is likely to have a positive incremental effect on the numbers, but they still fall far short of providing any viable return on the large-scale investment of 3G.

Comparisons with our neighbor across the border seem unbalanced; India has 15 cellular service operators for the 1.3 billion plus populace, while we have 5 for our 180 million. Taking into context the GDP and literacy rates, it is harder to justify any sound reasoning for introducing something as expensive as 3G.

After a couple of years of talks of possible local mergers or acquisitions, it seems all has returned to the old norm. Warid, the speculated exit party from Pakistan, has committed to resume its independent run by knocking back possible interest from the two larger counterparts. Whether this means that the company will now wake up to a more active role in the market or simply continue of contended slumber of keeping the network running, is to be seen.

However, industry experts retain the view of some form of consolidation being a key factor to keeping the cellular industry from coming to a standstill, in terms of development and improvement.

For the meantime, enjoy the shouts of day-long free calls and rates that resemble the old-days of cheap gol gappas. Feel pity for those new-age devices, utilizing their technology to give you a worthwhile experience on an under-powered GPRS/EDGE network. While cellcos may be helping your pocket, or at least giving the illusion that they are, the technology gap continues to widen and may become excruciating to overcome in the coming years.

Handset Makers All Set To Compete Chinese Gadgets With Dual SIM Phones

Posted: 30 May 2011 09:58 PM PDT

Handset Makers All Set To Compete Chinese Gadgets With Dual SIM Phones is a post from: ProPakistani

dual sim Handset Makers All Set To Compete Chinese Gadgets With Dual SIM Phones The branded handset manufacturers with their exclusive brands have planned to penetrate local retail markets through low-cost handsets with Dual SIMs features, showing aggressive marketing and sales campaigns against Chinese-made handsets.

These companies (mainly The Nokia, Samsung and LG) have geared up their brands in the local market – just after few weeks of the government's announcement of banning imports of all handsets particularly Chinese-made handsets without IMEI numbers.

The phone makers are taking this as an opportunity to revive their share in the local market, which used to be prominent some five years back in Pakistan, and increase their sales of low-cost and dual SIM handsets.

Nokia Pakistan has plans to officially reveal its branded dual SIMs handsets – Nokia X1-01 and Nokia C2-00 – in the Pakistan's retail markets from the second week of June, 2011.

On other hands, Samsung Pakistan has already introduced an exclusive Dual SIM mobile phone, Samsung Dharak Dharak, (Samsung E2232) in the local markets with its aggressive advertisement and marketing campaigns.

These dual-sim branded handsets were kind of available in limited markets via grey channels but official launches in Pakistan will boost the sale as handsets in bulk quantity will be imported for local shops.

The branded handsets makers now with their massive adverts campaign will cash in on the cautious attitude of buyers and traders avoiding Chinese sets without IMEI numbers sets following the strict statement issued by Interior Minister Rahman Malik.

The branded handsets makers' advertisement and marketing drive is likely to provide them edge over the current situation.

Competition on Price

The market dealers said that 80 percent of the Pakistan market comprises on handsets with cost lower than US $ 100 or Rs 8,500. Therefore the Chinese-made handset have taken over the lion share of the market with their low-cost and facilitative features as against branded sets, which stick to offer different features at comparatively high prices.

However, to tackle this, branded markers are coming up with low-cost handsets having multiple SIM features. The price ranges from Rs. 2,700 to Rs. 5,000 per unit.

Nokia Dual-SIM handsets series prices ranged from Rs 3,100 to Rs 5,500 respectively. On the other hand, Samsung handsets prices start from Rs 2,700 per unit. The prices of the handsets are also likely to see a drop in prices after stiff competition among rival handsets makers.

Competition on Handset Features

Dealers from the local market said that Chinese-made sets have captured more than 70 percent of the local market's share because of its low-cost, dual SIM mode and different entertaining features.

On the other hand, issues with their battery timing and life is not guaranteed as compared to Nokia, Samsung, Sony Ericson, Motorola and LG handsets.

The new handsets range are likely to get attention of the people as the makers offer low-cost sets with multiple entertaining and facilitative features amid long-live guarantee.

The features such as Dual SIM, Bluetooth, Memory card SD, Long battery life, Torch, FM Radio, Video Player, Camera and Stylish and slim are mostly in fashion, which are also attractive for a large number of customers.

Rising Multiple Cellular Connections pushing up Handsets with Dual SIM

The Dual handsets trend is growing in Pakistan and in all over the world because of attractive call and SMS tariff offers of multiple cellular operators, said Zeeshan Quershi, Head of Sales Samsung Electronics Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The Dual handsets are likely to increase the share of branded handsets in the local market owing to their high quality and durable live as compared with Chinese-handsets, he added.

Pakistan has topped among the regional countries in 2010 with the highest number of cellular phone subscribers having more than one connection of different operators, Lirneasia study reported recently.

As per estimates, the subscribers possessing multiple SIMs are estimated to mark 23 percent share in the overall stated base of the country. The finding reflected the number of mobile phone users carrying multiple SIMs cards have been estimated to increase more than 24 million in the overall base of 105 million by Feb 2010.

Subscribers' use multiple SIMs to avail the best offers of the cellular operators in terms of services tariff, network quality and free hours on-net call packages, which is specified for limited numbers normally called as Friend and Family numbers.

Majority of the customers utilize one operator's services as their prime network whereas they own SIMs of other networks to enjoy tariff of different operators.

Mobile Banking Can Help Create Jobs, Raise GDP

Posted: 30 May 2011 09:46 PM PDT

Mobile Banking Can Help Create Jobs, Raise GDP is a post from: ProPakistani

According to a recent study conducted by Telenor Group and Boston Consulting Group, wider access to mobile financial services in Pakistan could lead to the creation of 1 million new jobs by 2020. An estimated US$ 2 billion could be added annually to government revenues, helping raise Pakistan's GDP growth by 3%.

To discuss these prospects, a seminar titled 'Shaping our financial future – Socio-Economic Impact of Mobile Financial Services' was arranged under the aegis of easypaisa.

Participants included representatives from the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, State Bank of Pakistan, Telenor Pakistan, Tameer Microfinance Bank, senior government officials, development specialists and the media.

Christian Albech, CEO, Telenor Pakistan, spoke about the benefits of mobile financial services on individuals and society in Pakistan.

"The study shows that mobile financial services can help families and businesses to respond in a better way to expense shocks, and can have positive effects on entrepreneurship.

They can help improve children’s chances of completing primary school. Women’s access to funds can be bettered, with positive effects on child education and health. Mobile financial services can prove invaluable in supporting Pakistan’s social development goals."

Nadeem Hussain, President & CEO Tameer Microfinance Bank, in his comments spoke about the positive impact of mobile financial services on the economy. He said:

"The study shows that mobile financial services can help create new jobs and boost government revenues. GDP growth can be stimulated by increased access to credit, which prompts new business creation, and by formal remittances and increased savings.

Mobile financial services can facilitate public services by providing e-government options and help reduce costs of financial transactions such as the disbursement of aid."

According to the study, given a supportive environment, the percentage of Pakistan's adult population using mobile financial services could go up from the current 2% to 35% by 2020 resulting in higher savings, creation of formal credit channels, and improved insurance usage.

Ufone Lady’s Package ‘Member Banao Offer’

Posted: 30 May 2011 09:45 PM PDT

Ufone Lady’s Package ‘Member Banao Offer’ is a post from: ProPakistani

Ufone Lady’s package is giving away free minutes and prizes on bringing your relatives and friends to Ufone Lady’s Package.

All you have to do is to invite your friends, relatives or anyone to lady’s package and get a chance to win prizes.

Prizes:

If someone successfully joins lady’s package through invitation, both persons will get 100 Free Minutes.
If both the persons use Rs. 75 balance in one week, they will stand a chance to win cash prizes and amazing gift hampers from Nishat Linen, Stylo and Haier electronics through lucky draw.

How to Invite:

To convert to lady’s package, dial *34#
After successful conversion, send the number of person, you got invited by, to 369

Terms & Conditions:

Rs. 5 plus tax will be charged on every SMS at 369
Both members must use a balance of Rs. 75 every week from saturday to friday in order to participate in the lucky draw
Daily subscription charges for lady’s package is 50 paisas plus tax
Both members need to be on lady’s package to avail free minutes and gift hampers
Free minutes will be given after two days of getting the offer
Free minutes are only applicable on ufone to ufone calls
Free minutes will be valid for three days
One member of lady’s package customer is entitled to bring in a maximum of 10 members
Package conversion request will be forwarded if any customer who is not on lady’s package and she sends an SMS to 369
Package conversion charges will be applicable
Ufone reserves the right to give away prizes to ladies only through this offer
This is a limited time offer