Saeed Khan Appointed as Federal Secretary for IT and Telecom: ProPakistani

Saeed Khan Appointed as Federal Secretary for IT and Telecom
Telenor Pakistan Posts Consistent Fourth Quarter
Groupin.PK: An Online Giant in the Making?
World Call: Unresponsive and Uncooperative Towards its Customers! [L.T.E]
Warid Team Contests For Aibak Polo Cup
Visa Holds Educational Workshop on Financial Literacy

Saeed Khan Appointed as Federal Secretary for IT and Telecom

Posted: 08 Feb 2011 02:33 AM PST

Saeed Khan Appointed as Federal Secretary for IT and Telecom is a post from: ProPakistani

Government of Pakistan has appointed Mr. Saeed Ahmed Khan as federal secretary for Ministry of Information Technology and Telecom, we have confirmed with sources close to the situation.

Mr. Saeed replaced Abdul Rauf Chaudhry, who remained interim secretary for a month or so.

Saeed Ahmed Khan is given full charge of Ministry of IT and Telecom as federal secretary, while he will remain interim secretary for Ministry of Overseas Pakistan.

Telenor Pakistan Posts Consistent Fourth Quarter

Posted: 08 Feb 2011 01:02 AM PST

Telenor Pakistan Posts Consistent Fourth Quarter is a post from: ProPakistani

Telenor today announced its fourth quarter 2010 results, showing strong momentum going in the reported period.

Telenor said that its Pakistan operations were able sustain revenues in Q4-2010 by slight margin and remained consistent when compared to previous quarter in 2010. While, revenues grew by 11 percent when compared to same quarter previous year.

Telenor Pakistan (Revenues)

Telenor said it generated total revenues of USD 204 million dollars in fourth quarter, out of which, USD 10 million dollars were contributed by non-mobile (Easypaisa) services.

The EBITDA margin decreased by 1 percentage point as a one-time adjustment of revenues and operating expenses more than offset the increased revenues. The EBITDA margin excluding these adjustments was 31%.

Company said it was able to reduce capital expenditure with continued focus on network capacity investments to align with current subscription growth and traffic volumes.

The number of subscriptions increased by 856,000 during the quarter, while the subscription market share increased by 1 percentage point to 24%, said the results.

Telenor said that out of its 24,692,000 subscribers, 24,465,000 are prepaid while remaining 227,000 are postpaid subscribers.

Telenor, in its stats revealed that ARPU for its postpaid customers remained at Rs. 773 during the fourth quarter, down from Rs.847 a quarter before. While ARPU for prepaid subscribers witnessed quarter-on-quarter consistency at Rs. 223.

At group level, Telenor Group posted fourth quarter profit of NOK 2.1 billion, lower than NOK 2.17 billion last year. Earnings per share from total operations was NOK 1.28, down from NOK 1.31 in the prior-year quarter.

Profit from continuing operations was NOK 2.21 billion, compared to NOK 2.5 billion in the same quarter last year. Earnings per share from continuing operations was NOK 1.22, lower than NOK 1.33 a year earlier.

Revenues increased to NOK 24.86 billion from NOK 22.42 billion in the prior-year quarter.

Groupin.PK: An Online Giant in the Making?

Posted: 07 Feb 2011 08:30 PM PST

Groupin.PK: An Online Giant in the Making? is a post from: ProPakistani

Groupin.PK is the latest in internet ventures by Pakistani entrepreneurs. Its method of operation and idea is similar to Groupon.com (name is slightly different), the massively popular couponing service in the United States.

The basic idea of Groupon, and by extension Groupin.pk , is that each day it offers a deal available for purchase in 24 hours. The discounts range from a minimum of 50% up to 90%. For example, a restaurant may offer a 60% discount and Groupon will publish it as their daily deal. Now to avail that deal a minimum number of people have to sign up for that deal. Lets say, 100 people. Now when a 100 people sign up for that deal, the deal is activated and Groupon sends you a coupon/voucher which you can print out and use as cash. Also, if, at the end of 24 hours (the amount of time each deal is valid for purchase), the minimum number of people is not met, you wont be charged. The theory here is the collective power of multiple buyers helps lower the cost, yet ensuring that the business does not loose too much money by offering such high discounts.

Interesting bit is that last year Google tried to buy Groupon in a deal estimated to be around 5-6 billion dollars. But they failed in their attempt and instead are launching a direct competitor, named Google Offers. Many argued that rejecting the takeover bid was a mistake but with rumors afloat of a $15 billion Groupon public offering in the horizon, seems like the critics were wrong.

Inspired by Groupons' success, SnapDeal, India's very own couponing service was started in India and it has gone from strength to strength. Launched in 2008 it now boasts over a million members. Recently they raised over 12 million dollars in investment and plan to expand to cover more cities in addition to the 50 they already cater to.

As for Groupin.pk, it is recruiting members at the moment, trying to build a proper user base before taking sail. There's a free iPhone for referring all your friends to it for the Apple fans amongst you.

They will offer deals for restaurants, theaters, spas, boutiques and stores among other things. Groupin is also inviting businesses to get registered with them. Currently, the cities Groupin offers deals for are Islamabad, Karachi, Rawalpindi, Lahore, Peshawar and Quetta but its only logical to assume that they'll grow with time.

If they can emulate only a part of the success stories of Groupon and SnapDeal, they're going to be an immensely popular stop for the discount loving, deal craving people amongst us.

World Call: Unresponsive and Uncooperative Towards its Customers! [L.T.E]

Posted: 07 Feb 2011 08:28 PM PST

World Call: Unresponsive and Uncooperative Towards its Customers! [L.T.E] is a post from: ProPakistani

My name is Aqeel-ur-Rehman Hameed and my customer id is 141237. I am a sign language interpreter and I have to communicate with national and international deaf community.

I am a user of world call internet since August 2006. I started using Evdo 256 kbps package. At that time I was fully satisfied with its performance so I convinced some of my friends to buy that package. Everything went fine till I planned to upgrade my package to 512 kbps.

A router was given to me. I used it for one month but I was not getting the optimum speed. I visited world call office (Fayyaz center) and reported this to the customer support officer. The firmware of the router was updated by the officer and I took the device back to my home. There was no betterment in the service but I kept bearing it for some time but ultimately I had to go for temporary disconnection.

On 17th January, 2011, I visited world call office (Fayyaz center) and applied for 1 MB link as to get better speed. The package wasn’t updated until two days i.e. 19th January after my email to the concerned department. I ran speedtest several times during 17th to 31st January but the average download speed that I was getting was 27 kb whereas the upload speed was 17 kb. (Pictures of tests are saved in my computer). So I sent an email to support@worldcall.pk and mentioned the same problem in it. I havent got any proper response from the concerned.

Mr. Salman visited my home on my complaint. He himself noticed the worst condition of internet and wrote some values on the paper and forwarded my case to RF department.

Again, there was complete silence from world call. Once again I visited the gulshan office and my complaint was submitted. The very next day i.e. on 2nd February, 2010 at 12:57 pm, I got a call from RF department (Phone number : 0213-7060218). Again I repeated the story to the person that called me. He assured to contact me again but I think the time hasn’t come yet.

Finally, on 3rd February 2011, I put temporary disconnection complaint. As a result, today i.e. 4th February 2011, I received a call from World call about the inquiry that why I want my service to be disconnected. I told the whole situation again. The spokesperson on the other side asked me to give them some time for the solution of the problem but to my amusement after 19 days (from 17th January to 4th February), I was still suffering from the same problem. I am at lost that the company stature has failed to overcome this problem.

The loss and fatigue that I experienced during this time is very much disturbing. Now my point of view about the world call company has changed and I wonder why world call has not giving value to its customers any more.

I don’t know whether this mail will do anything for me or not but I am sure that the authorities and other people will know the views of a disturbed world call customer.

Aqeel-ur-Rehman Hameed

Sign Language Interpreter

Audiologist and Speech Therapist
Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, C.D.G.K

———————————————————

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Warid Team Contests For Aibak Polo Cup

Posted: 07 Feb 2011 08:27 PM PST

Warid Team Contests For Aibak Polo Cup is a post from: ProPakistani

The most glamorous, thrilling and fast-paced sport POLO has a history entwined with the city of Lahore that is famed center of arts, literature and culture.

Warid Polo Team will be competing in the Aibak Polo Cup which saddles off today on 8^th February at the Lahore Polo Club.

The participating teams are Warid Polo Team, Hataff , Ciro’s Pomodoro/Al Khan, PICIC Insurance, Guard Group/Diamond Paints, Army/Adam Jee Insurance and Master Paints.

Warid POLO team includes Mr. Ahmed Zubair Butt who is rated at 2 goals, he had the opportunity to play and learn polo in Argentina, Mr. Mannual Crespo from Argentina, rated at 7 goals winner of Camara de Diputados Cup, the most prestigious tournament of Argentina. Mr. Rabnawaz Tiwana who is rated at 1 goal, belongs to a family which is known for horse related activities in Pakistan specially Polo, he has twice represented Pakistan in Jordan and England and Mr. Haseeb Minhas rated at 3 goals, he also represent Pakistan at different arenas.

While commenting on Warid POLO team, Mr. Ahmed Zubair Butt said

"Warid endorsing a polo team in the current economic situation is a step towards encouraging the game of Kings and it is not just the matter of resources being allocated but it certainly proves that Warid is the King in its sector.

We have a very competitive and balanced team with one of the best polo ponies available in the country. Team members are much focused towards achieving their goal".

High Goal Polo Tournament (10 – 14 Goals) will be played for four weeks that includes 14 Goal Aibak Polo Cup,14 Goal Punjab Cup, 14 Goal Quaid-e-Azam Gold Cup, National Open Polo Champion Ship. There are a total of 8 foreign players participating in this tournament.

The National Polo Championship this year has eight polo teams where the lower limit of the tournament is 10 goals and the upper limit is 14 goals. The first match will b e played between PICIC Insurance & Guard Group/Diamond Paints. This tournament will be played on American/knockout system and according to HPA rules.

Dhabi Groups, Bank Alfalah has been sponsoring the Quaid-e-Azam Gold Cup for the last 5 years and this is their 6th year of sponsorship. The Bank has also been sponsoring a polo team for the last five years. Besides, they have also sponsored the riding school for the last two years which is nursery for future polo players.

Warid POLO TEAM

Ahmed Zubair

Age : 24

Handicap : 2 goals

Ahmed is a professional POLO player who reached the handicap of 2 goals in a short span of time. He had the opportunity to play and learn polo in Argentina.

In 2006 he was selected as a reserve for the Pakistan National Team to play the world cup in New Zealand. He also played number of tournaments in USA, Jordan and Dubai.

He holds the 4th position in the national open out of 10 teams with Lidth Chocolate. He had been the runners up of the 6 goals PPA tournaments in Rawalpindi and he also won Lahore Open Polo Championship this year.

Manuel Alberto Crespo

Age: 27

Handicap: 7

Manuel is a professional POLO player who played in USA, Chili, Uruguay, Colombia, Venezuela, Germany, Belgium, Spain, England, Pakistan, Malaysia and Thailand.

He won number of tournaments like Camara de Diputados, in Argentina, Campaña Del Desierto, Presidente Metro Mediano, Metropolitano Alto, Meptropolitano Bajo, Abierto de la Canada, Charro Mejicano and many others. In Spain he won 3 times the Domeck tournament.

He also won Conde Waki in Belgium Scapa sports, diamond stick both 2 times and also won number of tournaments in Colombia.

Maj Rabnawaz Tiwana

Age: 31

Handicap: 1

Major Tiwana played numerous polo tournaments in Pakistan and abroad.

He represented Pakistan Army POLO Team Twice in United Kingdom and Jordan. In Pakistan he won Chief of The Army Staff Polo Tournament, Army Polo Championship, Trades Cup, Pearl Continental Polo cup, Murree Breuri Polo Cup, Trades Cup and President of Turkey Polo Cup.

During the current polo season at Rawalpindi he won all the scheduled tournaments.

Haseeb Minhas

Age : 36

Handicap : 3 goals

Haseeb is a professional POLO player rated at 3 goals. He represented Pakistan in Singapore, Jordan and Dubai.

He also represented Pakistan in the World Cup played in France in 2004.

Visa Holds Educational Workshop on Financial Literacy

Posted: 07 Feb 2011 08:26 PM PST

Visa Holds Educational Workshop on Financial Literacy is a post from: ProPakistani

Visa, one of the leading payment solutions providers, has rolled out its financial literacy programme for media in Pakistan by organizing the first educational workshop on financial literacy at the Karachi Press Club (KPC).

Working with members of KPC and the Karachi Union of Journalists (KUJ), the workshop is aimed at helping to create a better understanding of money management skills among the people of Pakistan.

The workshop was conducted by Visa Corporate Communications Manager in the Middle East Ms. Lama Kabbani and Country Manager for Visa Pakistan and Afghanistan Mr. Amer Pasha.

The workshop was attended by leading journalists from print and electronic media.

Commenting on Visa's financial literacy program, Ms. Lama Kabbani, said:

"Visa believes the most important financial tool is not a product — it is knowledge. That is why, for more than a decade, Visa has been developing financial literacy programs that teach individuals how to spend, save and budget responsibly.

Possessing the skills to make the right money management decisions gives people greater control over their finances, the ability to deal with unexpected costs, and the skills to budget and save responsibly."

Also, speaking on the occasion, Mr. Amer Pasha said:

"With more than five million Visa cardholders in the country, this was an ideal time to launch our financial literacy campaign in Pakistan, with the aim of raising awareness around the importance of financial management.

Visa's Financial Literacy initiative is based on the premise that we can use our expertise in global financial services to empower people and help them to understand the responsibilities that come with owning a Visa debit, credit or prepaid card."

As part of its Financial Literacy programme, Visa also has plans to launch a localized version of its dedicated financial literacy website, www.mymoneyskills.com to help people of all ages across Pakistan to strengthen their knowledge of personal finance.

Providing fundamental personal finance information in both Urdu and English on topics such as learning how to plan a budget, preparing for the future, using a credit card wisely and spending responsibly, the website will form an engaging platform for all audiences including young people, families and schools to improve their financial literacy skills.

In addition, Visa is also set to launch a university program in which a series of seminars will be organized in business schools by combining finance and fun to create further understanding of money management skills among young people in Pakistan.