Telecom sector making enormous progress: Prime Minister: Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani on Friday said that telecom sector in Pakistan has made enormous progress and the performance indicators are showing encouraging signs. He said tele-density which was merely 2.3 percent in 1999-2000 has now soared to 62.4 percent which is highest in the South Asian Region.
The total number of fixed and mobile subscribers has reached around 102.16 million while broadband connectivity has increased to 500,000 and is still showing a rapid increase, he added.
The Prime Minister appreciated that Huawei Telecom is contributing significantly, towards the capacity building of Engineering Universities of Pakistan. Huawei has already established an IT centre for research and development in the University of Engineering and Technology Lahore at a cost of over US $8 million.
He said that synergy with Huawei Technologies would strengthen Pakistan’s R&D capabilities and hoped that Comsats Institute of Information Technology in collaboration with other regional universities would make best use of this new facility.

Mobilink set to launch Mobile Commerce: With a view to introduce value-added services during the next financial year, Mobilink Pakistan is set to launch Mobile Commerce (M Commerce), under which it would introduce the concept of Branchless Banking. According to Mobilink spokesman, this would enable the consumers to have the experience of paying utility bills, opening and usage of bank accounts through cell phones, and national and international remittances.
The company is mulling over provision of total telecom solutions through cell phones. He said Mobilink has invested $2.5 billion for upgrading its communication infrastructure and other sectors in the country and also planning to introduce 4G (LT) Technology in near future. The company foresees huge potential in the market that was why it invested $150 million during the current year, he added.
The Mobilink has about 8000 cell sites across the country, the biggest number by any operator in the country. About the launching of 4G technology, he said talks in this regard are under progress with the government, he added.
The company is now shifting our focus on broadband services and already this service has been introduced at Karachi with brand name “Infinity.” About the company’s revenue, he said the Mobilink has bagged 40 percent of the market share, which is maximum than any other operator during the current fiscal. He said his company was rated amongst 100 leading companies of the world and this achievement reflected its performance and the confidence it enjoys by the consumers.

Wateen speeds up WiMAX services to double existing CPE: Building on its global WiMAX leadership position, Motorola Inc’s (NYSE: MOT) Home & Networks Mobility business announced on Monday that Wateen Telecom has accelerated its rollout of WiMAX services and is on its way to doubling its existing customer premises equipment (CPE) volume from 100,000 to 200,000 by year end.
Motorola remains Wateen’s exclusive WiMAX CPE and infrastructure supplier, delivering reliable, easy-to-install, high performance devices to the Pakistani operator for nation-wide distribution. This latest agreement with Wateen builds on the success of Motorola’s recent announcement of shipping its one millionth WiMAX CPE.
Tariq Malik, chief executive officer, Wateen Telecom, said, “We required leading WiMAX technology to provide first-class services and meet customer demand across an extended Pakistani network and after a competitive review selected Motorola to provide next-generation WiMAX CPE units. We are confident that the deployment of the CPE products will enhance Wateen’s position as a leading telecommunications provider.”-PR

Poor service: PTA issues notices to five mobile phone operators: On the basis of recently concluded Quality of Service (QoS) survey of mobile phone operators, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has issued show cause to five mobile phone operators of Pakistan. The results were shared with the mobile phone companies along with instructions to improve their service quality. A reasonable time was also given to them, so that they can improve their network performance.
However, it was found that all mobile operators failed to achieve the desired results. As a result, PTA issued show cause notices to all mobile companies for failing to maintain the quality as per the license conditions. The survey included quality of voice and SMS in 14 cities of Pakistan, AJ & K and Northern Areas including all major highways. The exercise was conducted by PTA enforcement teams with the latest automated QoS equipment.
PTA had been conducting this survey throughout the year and shared results of first three-quarters with the operators, with directions to improve their services. The final comprehensive survey was conducted in the fourth quarter of 2009.
While talking about the survey results, Chairman PTA said that ensuring provision of quality services to the telecom consumers has always been a priority of PTA. The objective of conducting QoS survey is to ensure that the telecom customers are being provided with top quality services. It may be noted that every year, PTA defines its targets and goals where QoS survey of all services remains one of the major activities.-PR

PTA chief seeks foreign investment in broadband sector: Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) Chairman Dr Muhammad Yaseen has said the broadband sector in Pakistan is showing a positive trend towards growth and we are looking ahead for more foreign investment in this sector.
Talking to the media at an event the other day, he said the innovative wireless system had become successful, however, the broadband service on the PTCL lines had failed, because its old copper wires did not support this new generation service. He suggested that the Internet users enjoy the Wireless Broadband Service. “Though the PTCL has introduced the line-based broadband/DSL service to almost 100 major cities nationwide, we have received a number of valid complaints against inefficiency and disconnection of the PTCL service.”
He said the PTA had always been on the forefront to facilitate the broadband sector. “Now, we have three nationwide and one Karachi-bound wireless broadband/DSL service providers.”