Blocking expensive calls from your PTCL line
*33*code*04#      will block calls to mobile numbers
*33*code*03#           will block calls to international numbers

Labels: idiots, PTCL

- posted @ Friday, June 06, 2008

 
PTCL Call Forwarding
PTCL has recently started giving customers voice mail. Unfortunately the customers were not told about this. Here is how to use your call forwarding

Here is the complete procedure for all kinds of Call Transfers/Forwarding.

1. Call Forwarding Unconditional/Immediate
   To activate *21*Telephone number#
   To De-Activate *21#
2. Call Forwarding on Busy
   To Activate: *09*Telephone number#
   To De-activate *09#
3. Call Forwarding on No Reply
   To Activate: *06*Telephone number#
   To Deactivate *06#
   

The number to forward to voice mail box is 1276 and to retrieve your
messages it is 1277.One thing more.You can also activate call
forwarding on your number to Mobile/Land line numbers of other cities
as well.You will have to give area code+phone number in that case.e.g
0512250000.But to do this you need to call your local exchange first
and ask the switching staff to have this facility on your number.To
get the telephone number of switch room, dial 17 and ask them about
the switch room number of your area.

[With thanks to ptcl_engr]

Labels: PTCL

- posted @ Saturday, October 27, 2007

 
PTCL set to launch ‘triple-play’ service
PTCL set to launch ‘triple-play’ service

* DSL Internet, TV channels and phone services will be provided on one line

Staff Report

LAHORE: The Pakistan Telecommunications Company Limited will soon launch a ‘triple play’ service, enabling its customers to access more than 100 TV channels, digital subscriber line (DSL) Internet connection and a regular phone service on a single phone line, Daily Times learnt on Friday.

Initially, the service will be introduced in Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore. It will be extended to other cities in the coming years.

Sources in PTCL said the service would be introduced this year, adding that it had so far cost around Rs 3.5 billion to the company. “The triple-play service will charge PTCL customers around Rs 1,500 per month,” the sources added.

Though PTCL had already been providing DSL Internet connection in a number of exchanges across the country, the system needed to be overhauled. “The company has now overhauled its system. It has replaced copper cables with optical fibre ones to provide the best possible service to its customers,” sources said.

First we had a bombshell of an advert, with PTCL announcing 1Mbps DSL connections for Rs5,000/- unlimited downloading (no volume restrictions). This will obviously have other ISPs shaking in their boots. Sources claim that the offering will be with limited volumes when offered, but the opposition is afraid. Very afraid.
Now we have the triple play announcement below. TV, POTS voice and DSL internet access. Very difficult to compete with that!
==================================================
A PTCL official requesting anonymity, said copper cables had been laid from exchanges to telephone cabinets in the past. “Providing proper TV channels and DSL Internet services to customers requires fibre optic cables,” he said.

“The company has been working on the project for two years. Optical Network Units (ONU) have been installed in several telephone exchanges,” the official said, adding that the new service would enable PTCL customers to watch 100 to 250 TV channels.

PTCL plans to expand the service in phases across the country. During the first phase, the company will provide the service in Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad. The required network will be installed across the country within a year. Two Chinese companies have installed more than 350 ONUs from exchanges to telephone cabinets by replacing old copper cables with optic fibres. One optic network unit costs Rs 10 million.

PTCL Corporate Strategies Executive Vice President Zomma Mohiuddin said the company had been working on the ‘triple-play’ project for the last two years. He said the service would be extended to around 10 more cities by June 2008.

Labels: fibre optic, Infrastructure, PTCL

- posted @ Saturday, May 26, 2007

 
Iran & Pakistan sign fiber-optic connection MOU
Iran & Pakistan sign fiber-optic connection MOU
May 17, 2007 3:38 PM

Tehran, May 16, Taliya News – Managing Director of Telecom Infrastructure Company and Managing Director of Pakistan’s MTC Company signed a memorandum of understanding for connection of two countries’ fiber-optic networks her Monday.
According to IT Desk reporter of IRNA, the one million dollar project would be executed based on latest technological achievements.
The capacity of the project is declared to be 64 STM1 links.
Pakistan Embassy’s Economic Attaché in Iran Hessam Jedoun focusing on the matter said, “In order to connect its fiber-optic cable to Iran’s Pakistan has so far laid 900 kilometers of fiber-optic cable from Karachi to Gaudery Port, and from there to Giovanni Port, through the land routes.”
Pointing out that in order to connect the two countries fiber-optic networks to one another three routs have been chosen, he said, “Technician delegations of the two countries would in near future inspect those routs and the final decision on the matter would be adopted on one of them.”
Jedoun said that the first priority for fiber optic network connection between the two countries is the Giovanni-Chabahar route along path of the Iran-Pakistan road, adding, “There is also another proposal for laying them over the high voltage electricity cables.”
According to the Telecom Infrastructure Company, the 3rd proposed path, too, is along the former land border of the two countries.

Labels: fibre optic, Infrastructure

- posted @ Saturday, May 19, 2007

 
Qatar Telecom buys Burraq
Qatar Telecom makes first acquisition in Pakistan
Web posted at: 4/26/2007 0:24:16
Source ::: REUTERS

DUBAI • Qatar Telecommunications Co (Qtel) said yesterday it agreed to buy a telecom operator in Pakistan, its first in the country, as it seeks to expand outside its home base where it is losing its monopoly.

State-controlled Qtel and Saudi Arabia's A A Turki Corp for Trading and Contracting (Atco) agreed to buy 75 per cent of Pakistan's Burraq Telecom for $12.3m, the companies said in a statement. The deal still needs regulatory approval.

Burraq Telecom offers international calling, wireless telephone and broadband Internet services, according to its website.

"The price is very reasonable to access to the Pakistani market, which is a fast-growing market with huge potential," said Marc Hammoud, a telecom analyst at Dubai-based investment bank Shuaa Capital. "They can do a quick return on investment on this." Pakistan is Asia's fourth-most populous country.

As competition has risen at home, Gulf Arab telecom operators have been hunting for foreign assets. Asia is a top priority, Hammoud said.

Emirates Telecommunications Corp (Etisalat) bought a 26 per cent stake in Pakistan Telecommunication Co Ltd for $2.6bn in 2005, and this year started a telecom software unit in India. Qtel is expanding outside Qatar as the Gulf Arab state prepares to sell a second mobile phone licence this year, ending the last Arab monopoly. Qatar will also sell a second fixed-line licence

Labels: fibre, Infrastructure, MergersAndAcquisitions

- posted @ Thursday, April 26, 2007

 
Cell Towers Banned from Karachi
There has been a serious shortage of idiotic behaviour from official circles recently. Dr.Sagheer Ahmed bravely steps up to supply a tankful of idiocy and end this shortage.

====================================================
Companies stand defiant against Sindh govt



Cellular service providers say it is impossible to move towers outside the city; Sindh govt gives companies 30 days to comply.

By Imran Ayub

Karachi

Cellular companies have decided not to pay heed to the Sindh government’s directive to move their towers from residential areas, on the grounds that they are obligated to follow the policy designed by the telecom watchdog and are not accountable to provincial authorities.

Senior officials of all six cellular companies pleaded ignorance about the provincial government’s campaign, saying that they always move on the directives of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), which has not approached any one of them yet.

“We have 317 towers within Karachi, which are likely to increase to 400 by June,” said an official at one of the companies. “We are not going to stop as there is no such directive from the PTA and we are not responsible to act on the campaign of any other organisation or authority.”

An official of another company said the PTA was the only organisation that could issue directives to the cellular companies, and, therefore, the Sindh government should approach the regional office of the authority to make its campaign effective.

“Even if the PTA agrees with the Sindh government, the shifting of cellular base station antennas (towers) outside the city is next to impossible,” he added.

The environment and alternative energy ministry of Sindh earlier this month asked the cellular companies to shift their base station antennas or mobile phone towers outside the residential areas. This call was made showing concern over radiation-related hazards associated with the cellular infrastructure, which are harmful for human life and health.

However, after more than a week has transpired since the call, there had been no such move from a single cellular company, which, it seems, is not taking the Sindh government’s concern seriously. On the other hand, the telecom watchdog is also not aware of the provincial orders.

“Normally, we are approached on any complaint against any telecom company,” said spokesman for the PTA when contacted in Islamabad. “But the Sindh government has not yet lodged a complaint or sought any cooperation from us.”

He said the PTA had received policy guidelines to check mobile tower hazards in the urban residential areas, which were being studied thoroughly before proper implementation.

“The PTA only implements the policy ñ its design and framing is done by the federal ministry,” he added. “We are bound to follow the policy guidelines issued by the federal ministry of IT and telecom, but are not aware of any role of the Sindh government on the subject.”

The city houses more than more than 1,700 cellular base station antennas mainly in the residential areas installed by all six cellular companies, which the Sindh government believes poses a serious threat to public health.

The number of mobile phone users crossed the 50 million mark in February 2007, with Karachi accounting for more than 50 per cent of the total cellular subscriber base across the country.

Four out of six cellular companies ñ Mobilink, Ufone, Al Warid and Telenor (listed in descending order of user base size) ñ operate a majority of their cellular base station antennas in Karachi, which is where a majority of their customers are.

However, all six companies seem to be standing in defiance of the provincial government, which usually waits for a month before taking any action.

“We have decided to wait for the next 30 days,” said Dr Sagheer Ahmed, Sindh Environment and Alternative Energy Minister. “We have approached the cellular companies directly to fix the issue but if they fail to do so, we would definitely take legal action.”

“It is mandatory to shift these towers, which are harmful for human life and health, from thickly populated areas.”

He said the government was more concerned about public health and safety but, at the same time, it offered all due support to business organisations. The cellular companies, the minister said, should realise the intention and spirit of the government as the radiation from cellular base station antennas was hazardous for human health.

“We only want protection measures from the cellular companies while installing such stations,” said Dr Ahmed. “Recognised research institutes, world wide, have established that the presence of such stations in residential areas is harmful for human health and no one can deny such fact.”

Labels: gorement, GSM, idiots, Wireless

- posted @ Saturday, April 14, 2007

 
OLPC comes up with stable Linux build
The One Laptop Per Child program reported today that after 303 builds, it finally has a satisfactory version of its Red Hat Linux-based Sugar operating system that is considered stable, according to OLPC president for software and content Walter Bender.

"After a final few bugs that had hidden in corners were driven into the light, we issued Stable Build 303 along with Q2B76 firmware this week," Bender said in his weekly email report.

Highlights of this stable build, according to Bender, include:
A working mesh network
An updated Web browser that scales on the high-resolution screen, making for an improved web experience
Gnash, the FOSS Flash player (still somewhat unstable), is pre-installed; Adobe's Flash 9 is also known to work but is not packaged or installed as part of the build
A touch-pad driver fix for jumping cursor: The touch pad should be more usable, and the tablet is enabled on B2 systems
Boot time has improved due to a scheduler fix
The Cambridge, Mass.-based project says it shipped about 2,500 test laptops to eight nations last month. Earlier this month, OLPC shipped 100 machines to children in a Nigerian test school, Bender said.

The experiment was a prelude to mass production of the kid-friendly, lime-green and white laptops scheduled to begin in July, when 5 million are scheduled to be built, according to Taiwanese laptop maker Quanta.

State educators in Brazil, Uruguay, Libya, Rwanda, Pakistan, Thailand, and possibly Ethiopia and the West Bank received the first of the machines in February's pilot prior to a wider rollout to Indonesia and a handful of other countries, according to the project.

Background on the project

OLPC aims to distribute -- free of charge -- millions of low-cost, self-powered, low-cost Linux laptops to needy children around the world, with governments making the purchases. The original cost target for the OLPC laptops was $100, but that number has drifted upward slightly, over the past year or so, to about $150.

The idea behind the OLPC laptop is to provide children with the opportunity to learn about learning itself -- to explore, experiment and express themselves, an OLPC spokesperson said. The laptops will be distributed in schools.

Key features of the OLPC laptop include a 7.5-inch 1200 x%

Labels: OPLC, Pakistan, Wireless

- posted @ Thursday, March 22, 2007

 
Internet censorship
DAWN speaks out against Internet Censorship. It helps that they are currently receiving minimal amounts of Government advertising money. Usually DAWN is docile and compliant with ruling party wishes.

==============================================================================================
Internet censorship
WHILE the global uproar over the government’s recent attempts at gagging the mainstream media in Pakistan may lead it to a hands-off-the-media policy for now, it brings little relief to those nationalist media organs and groups whose websites continue to be blocked. Dozens of internet blogs and sites run by Baloch, Sindhi and even smaller ethnic groups continue to face the ban, with internet service providers forced by the government to apply filters to block their viewing in the country. While the initiated internet users know how to circumvent the ban via a third domain, it is the blocking of direct access to a particular blog or a socio-economic and political forum which presents the government and the country in equally bad light as do attempts to gag the popular media. The internet is a common cyberspace shared by users globally; there are innumerable sites run by rights activists which provide lists of the websites banned by a given government. Gen Musharraf’s has the dubious distinction of being listed among the world’s most xenophobic regimes censured for curtailing people’s access to information.

That this has been happening for months with media organs representing Pakistan’s smaller ethnic communities which do not find a voice in the mainstream media is all the more reprehensible. It is good that now when the national media and civil society are rallying behind the cause of the freedom of the press, the Pakistan Oppressed Nations Movement has also decided to take part in the multi-party conference called by the PML-N in London later this week. This will provide the nationalist leaders a wider platform from which to voice their grievances and become part of the mainstream opposition to press the government for greater civil liberties and for enforcing the rule of law.

Labels: censorship, gorement

- posted @ Monday, March 19, 2007

 
Worldcall bidding for Saudi Licence
Worldcall has serious problems running ISPs and Voice over cable in Karachi, is it really going to be able to run a Telco in Saudi Arabia?

======================================================

10 consortia in race for Saudi landline licence
(PTI)

12 March 2007



DUBAI — Ten consortia led by international firms, including India's MTNL, are competing for Saudi Arabia's second landline phone licence, which




will break the monopoly of Saudi Telecom Company in the middle east's largest telecom market.

"The Communication and Information Technology Commission (CITC) has received applications from 10 consortia in response to the request forms issued on October 24, 2006," a CITC statement said.

Saudi Telecom has about four million fixed line customers in the country with a population of nearly 27 million.

"During the coming weeks, STC will study and evaluate the applications, based on the criteria specified in the request for applications (RFA)," Sultan Al Malik, a spokesman of the commission, told Arab News.

The 10 consortia include Al Shola (MTNL India), Khaled Ahmed Al Juffali Co (WorldCall Telecom of Pakistan), Makkah Telecom (China Telecom), and Bayanat (Korea Telecom).
Others in the fray are Optical Communications Company (Verizon), Saudi Telecom Holding (Qtel-Atco), Al Mutakamilah (Hong Kong's PCCW), Electronet (Autelia of Italy), Etihad Etisalat (Mobily) and Atheeb Telecom (Batelco of Bahrain). Indian companies are also vying for Saudi Arabia's third mobile license, which is expected to generate SR20 billion for the Kingdom.

Labels: Infrastructure

- posted @ Tuesday, March 13, 2007

 
Censor off?
The PTA seems to have un-censored this site at this moment in time. Is this related to the illegal house arrest of the Chief Justice of Pakistan?

Labels: censorship, gorement, Pakistan

- posted @ Tuesday, March 13, 2007