PTCL Announces 600,000 Broadband Customers in 1,000 Cities: ProPakistani

PTCL Announces 600,000 Broadband Customers in 1,000 Cities
Samsung Introduces Dharak Dharak Dual Sim Phone
7 Days 7 Offers: Mobilink Jazz
SIM Owners to be Held Responsible for any Unlawful Communication
Economic Indicators of Pakistan Telecom Industry [Dec 2010]

PTCL Announces 600,000 Broadband Customers in 1,000 Cities

Posted: 26 May 2011 05:58 AM PDT

PTCL Announces 600,000 Broadband Customers in 1,000 Cities is a post from: ProPakistani

While celebrating its 4th anniversary for broadband DSL services, Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) today announced that it has crossed 600,000 mark for broadband internet customers in over 1,000 cities.

Some 200 cities and around 200,000 customers out of above mentioned figures came through USF provided subsidy.

PTCL in its statement said that since the launch of its broadband DSL services in May 2007, company has made the broadband technology affordable by offering low-cost packages and by geographically bringing the service within the reach of a common user of Pakistan.

PTCL's SEVP Commercial Mr. Naveed Saeed says that PTCL has always been the first to introduce and provide the benefits of latest technologies to the customers. "We have many innovative products and for our valued customers which we intend to introduce periodically in the near future. It is PTCL's mandate to take Broadband Pakistan to every household of the country" he stated.

PTCL's EVP Wireline Business Mr. Aasif Inam said that PTCL being a customer centric organization has always strived to address the needs of its valued customers with the intention and aim to provide affordable high speed internet connectivity to each and every individual of the country. PTCL acknowledges and appreciates its loyal customers who have made it the number one Broadband service provider in the country.

Samsung Introduces Dharak Dharak Dual Sim Phone

Posted: 26 May 2011 05:17 AM PDT

Samsung Introduces Dharak Dharak Dual Sim Phone is a post from: ProPakistani

After Chat 322, Samsung has introduced this low-end dual SIM phone, called "Dharak Dharak Dual SIM Phone" – an interesting name I would say.

Samsung's this Dharak Dharak Dual SIM is actually Samsung E2232, that comes with dual SIM support (obviously), a VGA camera, flash light and of course the bluetooth.

Price:

Samsung says that "Dharak Dharak Dual SIM" Phone's price in Pakistan is: Rs. 4,150

Features:

Dual Sim
Bluetooth
Memory card SD
Torch
Stylish and slim
Video player
Camera

By the way, Samsung made a very dancing TVC for Dharak Dharak Phone, starring Noor, apparently to target the youth. Have a look, probably you may want to comment on TVC as well.

7 Days 7 Offers: Mobilink Jazz

Posted: 26 May 2011 04:31 AM PDT

7 Days 7 Offers: Mobilink Jazz is a post from: ProPakistani

Mobilink has come up with first of its kind bundled offer for whole week, with different kind of services and incentives for each day of the week.

Now, all Jazz customers can shake away the Monday blues with FREE Minutes and SMS on every international call. On Tuesdays an SMS can win you guaranteed surprise FREE Minutes or SMS. Also, you can kick-start your Wednesday by making just 5 calls and get a chance to become a winner of Rs. 100,000!

Get More information (about offer of the day) by sending an SMS or calling at 7733

Offer Details:

Details about the amazing offers for each day of the week are mentioned below.

1. Monday IDD Offer:

For every call made to any international destination get 5 free On-net minutes and 10 SMS.
To subscribe, send an SMS to 7074.
Charges Rs. 1 +tax

2. Surprise Tuesdays:

Get a surprise every Tuesday in terms of guaranteed minutes and SMS.
Send a SMS to 7075
Charges Rs.5+tax

3. Wednesday Lakh Rupay Ka Chance:

Make 5 calls on Wednesday and enter in to a lucky draw of Rs. 100.000/- cash.
Send an SMS to 7076
Charges Rs. 1+tax

4. Thursday Gold Coin on All in One bundle:

Subscribe to All in One and get a chance to become a lucky winner of Gold coin

5. Friday Bonus on Recharge:

Recharge your account on every Friday and get 35 free min and 35 SMS on Rs. 300 and above recharge
10 free min and 10 SMS on recharge of Rs. 100 to Rs. 299
To subscribe, send SMS to 7077
Charges Rs. 1+tax

6. Saturday Bonus on Usage:

Get 3 Free minutes and 10 Free SMS on usage of Rs. 10
7 minutes/30 SMS on usage of Rs. 20
Send an SMS to 7078 on Saturday
Charges Rs. 1 +tax

7. Jazz Sunday Offer:

Get 150 On-net minutes for Rs. 20+tax

SIM Owners to be Held Responsible for any Unlawful Communication

Posted: 25 May 2011 11:47 PM PDT

SIM Owners to be Held Responsible for any Unlawful Communication is a post from: ProPakistani

The cellular users will be held responsible under law if the SIM under his or her name is used in punishable offence therefore users are liable to block the SIM within 24 hours to the concerned operators if it is loss or theft.

PTA stated this in its recently issued "Subscribers Antecedents Verification Regulations" for cellular subscribers and operators that explained the registration and maintenance of accurate data of their users through proper documentation and complete verification by National Database Registration Authority (NADRA).

All cellular subscribers are responsible for the SIMs that are registered on their name, which shall not be misused for any fraudulent, unsolicited and obnoxious communications.

According to the regulation, the cellular subscribers shall be entitled to purchase maximum up to 10 SIMs of one operator provided that the data are verified properly, otherwise unverified and unnamed SIM will be blocked. The detail of subscribers and SIMs will be submitted to PTA on monthly basis by cellular operators.

The subscription of cellular services will be activated on the verification of CNIC details through NADRA. For below 18 year-old subscribers, one of the parents CNIC along with copy of B-form shall be submitted to authorized agents or seller of the SIM.

The foreign nationals shall obtain SIM after submission of passport and visa copy to the authorized agent of cellular operators. In case of alien, a photo copy of card issued by National Alien Registration Authority (NARA) with updates of additional information to be submitted to the authority time to time, the regulations said.

Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has said that cellular operators are sole responsible to sell SIM (subscriber Identity Module) to any individual by any means with assurance of complete verification of users antecedents at the time of activation.

The regulations stated that cellular operators shall be entitled to sell SIM(s) only through their customer service centers, franchises and authorized agents and their complete details will be provided to authority from time to time.

All sale agreement with customers shall be properly stamped by the authorized agent at time of SIM sale and purchase.

In case of non-compliance of regulations, the retailers and agents contract will be terminated by operators.

The operators will ensure the cleaning of old data of their subscribers after regular interval and upgrade the maintenance of subscribers' data to submit it to the authority as current status.

The operators will ensure the confidentiality of all details disclosed by its subscribers.

PTA can inspect the record of cellular operators and their registered agents any time aimed at ensuring compliance of regulations as much as possible.

Warning for Mobile Users

The burden of un-registered SIMs is now being shifted to their so-called owners, which were unlawfully sold by cellular operators, while PTA remained quite then.

For instance find below the 668 SIM information details for Aamir Attaa:

SIM Data thumb SIM Owners to be Held Responsible for any Unlawful Communication

According to Aamir, he has 2 Ufone SIMs and 1 Telenor SIM. Other than this, he has never purchased Mobilink, Warid or Zong's SIM, ever (unlike mentioned above – along with his data for Telenor and Ufone is incorrect).

However, these companies, in case of Aamir Attaa at least, un-lawfully sold SIMs to its customers (with fake registrations obviously), which means that operators should be held responsible for these un-law full sales – instead, PTA has shifted all the responsibility onto customer's shoulders.

Now, according to up-mentioned regulation, all customers are supposed to visit service centers of all mobile companies to get their un-used (or say unlawful) SIMs blocked – this way they must clean the mess created by operators and PTA. Or in case of any terrorist activity, if their SIM is ever used, they must see the bars.

Important Note for Mobile Users:

Don't rely on 668 data
Visit sale and service centers of all mobile operators to get your data corrected
Please make sure that this regulation is in effect, so before any possible mishap, get your data corrected

Click on this link to download the copy of regulation (PDF File – 320 KB)

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Economic Indicators of Pakistan Telecom Industry [Dec 2010]

Posted: 25 May 2011 10:36 PM PDT

Economic Indicators of Pakistan Telecom Industry [Dec 2010] is a post from: ProPakistani

Recently we published an overview of Pakistan's Telecom Industry with various indicators including the traffic (voice + SMS) size, ARPU, subscribers and others. Today, derived from PTA's quarterly report, we are presenting Economic Indicators of Pakistan Telecom Industry.

Note: All stats mentioned below are till December 2010.

Overview:

Pakistan’s economy remained stressed in the first half of the financial year 2010-11 (July-Dec). This downtime didn't occur only because of global trends, but mainly due to unprecedented floods that damaged one-fourth of the country's agriculture land.

The catastrophe resulted into high oil pricing, damages to private and public infrastructure, energy shortage, and above all – the damage to telecom equipment in the field.

However, an unexpected good performance by the services sector provided support to GDP growth and the government somehow managed growing macroeconomic imbalances in the economy.

State Bank of Pakistan continued tight monetary policy to contain the inflationary impact and the only positive activity as a consequence to the floods was the strength of external sector, where large inflow of aid and remittances played positive role to economic recovery.

Highlights

Total telecom teledensity reached 65.2 percent
Telecom revenues reported in 1st half of the FY2011 were over Rs. 180 billion compared to Rs. 167 billion earned during the same period last year.
Cellular Mobile sector shares 67 % of the total telecom revenues, whereas fixed line services share is 26% of total revenue generation of telecom sector.
The share of mobile operators in total revenue of mobile services is according to subscriber share of each operator
In the first half of the FY2011 the total contribution to national exchequer by Telecom sector was Rs. 56.3 billion which was Rs. 49 billion during same period last year, showing growth of 15%.
FDI and investments in Telecom sector showed notable decline

Teledensity

In contrast to the Pakistan economic situation the growth of telecom sector remained positive, though the growth rate hasn't been the same that we have witnessed in recent years – in fact it has been its at its lowest pace during the reported period, but the good thing is that direction has been positive.

The total teledensity growth kept oscillating between highs and lows till the end of year.

Total teledensity (including mobile, fixed and WLL services) stood at 65.2%. The teledensity growth in the first half of the year (Jan to June 2010) was 0.9% whereas in the second half of the year (July-Dec10) the growth was 1.7%, showing more stability and resilience as compared to 1st half of the year.

Total teledensity of the country grew by more than 2.67% in the last one year.

Telecom Financials

Although the telecom sector has been experiencing decreasing ARPU’s, exorbitant advertisement budgets, power crisis, and negative net profits, aggressive competition, market saturation and decreasing exchange rates, the financial health of the sector remained stable and didn't take a down turn.

The telecom revenues reported in 1st half of the FY2011 were over Rs. 180 billion which were 167 billion in the same period of FY 2009-10. The revenue growth during the reported period kept moving between highs and lows where in July-Sep 2010 it was -3% whereas in Oct-Dec 2010 it was 4%.

Cellular Mobile sector is a driving force in terms of revenue in the telecom sector where it counts 67% of the total telecom revenue whereas fixed line services share is 26% of total revenue generation of telecom sector.

The share of mobile operators in total revenue of mobile services is according to subscriber share of each operator, where Mobilink has maximum share in total revenue followed by Telenor and Ufone.

Amid high telecom usage, the contribution of telecom sector to national exchequer through taxes, duties and regulatory charges kept growing. The sector has been contributing over Rs. 100 billion each year since last few years.

At the end of FY2010 the total contribution was over Rs. 109 billion of which almost 50% came from GST.

In the first half of the FY2011 the total contribution to national exchequer was Rs. 56.3 billion which was almost Rs. 49 billion in the first half of FY2010 showing growth of 15% since last year. It is therefore expected that by end of FY2011 the total contribution to national exchequer would be higher than the last year’s contribution.

According to an estimate, telecom sector contributes more than 90% share in total taxes by the services sector of Pakistan which is being diverted to provinces under 18 Amendment.

Similarly share of GST in total contribution from telecom sector is also very impressive
where almost 50% of total contribution comes from GST collection. Only in the 1st half of FY 2010-11, total GST collection is Rs. 23 billion which was Rs. 21 billion in the same period of FY 2010.

GST collection in telecom services mainly comes from mobile sector and its share in total GST collection is 86% followed by basic services as 11%. The Activation Tax contribution to national exchequer stands at Rs. 3 billion at the end of 1st half of FY2010-11, which was Rs. 4 billion in the same period last year.

Main reason for drop in the activation tax is due to market maturity, there is time for the Government to abolish this tax on operators to further strengthen its growth whereas in order to increase GST the government needs to reduce the existing 19.5% rate, so that usage could be enhanced, which would result in better GST collection.

Foreign Direct Investment

The overall inflow of Foreign Direct Investment in the country shows a negative trend in last few years and same is the case in Pakistan Telecom sector where FDI has reduced up to some extent in the last two years, however, no drastic reduction has been witnessed.

FDI in telecom sector of Pakistan shows about 17% decline in quarter ending December 2010 on compared to previous quarter. In case of telecom the FDI is showing some major reduction since early 2010.

At the end of FY 2010 the total FDI in telecom sector was US$ 374 million which was US$ 815 million in 2009. Similarly the FDI in telecom was US$ 112 million in the 1st half of FY 2011, where as it was 181 million in the same period of FY2010. It is predicted that the total FDI in telecom for FY2011 would be less than FY2010.

Investment in Telecom Sector

Telecom sector now moving towards maturity and saturation is experienced in metropolitan cities – hence the investment in the sector is decreasing.

Although in FY 2010 the investment situation was not alarming, However, investment figures for first two quarters of FY 2010-11 are not very encouraging. A

total of US$ 270 million have been invested during Jul-Dec 2010 in telecom sector in Pakistan which is 36% less then the investment made first six months of 2010 which stands at US$ 423 million.

While comparing figures of first quarters of FY 2011 with FY 2010 there is a drop of 65% in total investment made in telecom sector of Pakistan.

Total Telecom Imports

Total Telecom imports showed negative trend in Quarter ending December 2010 where total imports declined about 3.2% in one quarter. However, this decline was observed due to decline in cellular mobile handsets where as the other equipment imports increased in the same quarter by about 11.3% in the same period.

Last year, Government of Pakistan imposed Custom Duty and regulatory duty @ Rs. 750 per mobile handset that curtailed the import of mobile handsets, however, Government of Pakistan abolished the regulatory duty @ Rs. 250/ per handset and reduced the custom duty from Rs. 500 to Rs. 250/ per mobile handset that resulted into surge in the import of mobile handsets in Pakistan.

The imports of handset automatically increased right after the reduction in import duty and increase in total imports were witnessed in the reported period.

Total imports of US $ 388 million were recorded in the 1st half of FY 2010-11, as compared to US$ 329 million in the same period of FY 2009-10.

While looking at the quarter wise situation, it can be observed that total imports are almost the same during the first two quarters of FY 2010-11.

A closer analysis of the first two quarters of FY 2010-11 in comparison with previous two quarters reveal that the industry imported other telecom apparatus worth of US$ 300 million during Jul-Dec 10 of the FY2010-11 whereas it was US$ 259 million in the same period of FY 2009-10.

Telecom Imports 021 Economic Indicators of Pakistan Telecom Industry [Dec 2010]