Telecoms and IT in Pakistan

Blocking expensive calls from your PTCL line

2008-06-06T11:18:00.000+06:00

*33*code*04# will block calls to mobile numbers*33*code*03# will block calls to international numbers

PTCL Call Forwarding

2007-10-27T13:19:00.000+05:00

PTCL has recently started giving customers voice mail. Unfortunately the customers were not told about this. Here is how to use your call forwardingHere is the complete procedure for all kinds of Call Transfers/Forwarding. Call Forwarding Unconditional/Immediate To activate *21*Telephone number#To De-Activate *21# Call Forwarding on BusyTo Activate: *09*Telephone number#To De-activate *09#

PTCL set to launch ‘triple-play’ service

2007-05-26T18:03:00.000+05:00

PTCL set to launch ‘triple-play’ service* DSL Internet, TV channels and phone services will be provided on one lineStaff ReportLAHORE: 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

Iran & Pakistan sign fiber-optic connection MOU

2007-05-19T16:53:00.000+05:00

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

Qatar Telecom buys Burraq

2007-04-26T13:22:00.000+05:00

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

Cell Towers Banned from Karachi

2007-04-14T16:39:00.000+05:00

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

OLPC comes up with stable Linux build

2007-03-22T12:06:00.000+05:00

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,"

Internet censorship

2007-03-19T12:12:00.000+05:00

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 censorshipWHILE the global uproar over the government’s recent attempts at gagging the mainstream

Worldcall bidding for Saudi Licence

2007-03-13T22:52:00.000+05:00

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,

Censor off?

2007-03-13T22:27:00.000+05:00

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?

PAKISTAN’S FIRST WiMAX NETWORK DEPLOYED BY DANCOM

2007-02-26T18:03:00.000+05:00

Press Release:================================================Dancom would like to take this opportunity to proudly announce the first commercially available WiMAX based services in Pakistan, the WiMAX based broadband network is planned to be deployed nationwide. In our first phase we are making the product commercially available in Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Multan and Faisalabad. In phase 2

Postpaid competition

2007-02-20T14:00:00.000+05:00

Postpaid competition is hotting up. Warid claims to have the largest postpaid client base. Ufone and now Telenor have all started to push their postpaid products with heavy advertising.Now I get a call from a 0300 number asking for me by name. It was a sales guy from Mobilink offering me an Indigo (their postpaid brand) account with no security deposit or setup charges. Just wanted 3 months

Charities Banned, websites to be hacked.

2007-02-20T13:46:00.000+05:00

This is interesting/funny/idiotic. The Ministry of the Interior has banned 2 charities and apart from closing their offices and siezing their bank account (all normal stuff, I believe) "The cyber crimes wing of the FIA has been instructed to hack the websites of these trusts".:-)Can anyone imagine the FIA hacking a website? Source: http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007%5C02%5C19%

Censorship

2007-02-20T13:02:00.000+05:00

PTA has become the new censor. This blog is censored by the PTA in that it is not possible to directly view it in Pakistan as the PTA tries to block the WHOLE of the Blogger.com domain from Pakistan.This Blog may therefore move around to try to circumvent that, or it may post here.

moved to

2007-01-21T10:16:00.000+05:00

This blog has moved to http://telecompak.wordpress.com/

PTA incompetence continued: the FIR

2006-12-16T10:36:00.000+05:00

The interesting point to note is that Cogilent IP addresses are 203.99.57.232/29. The IP No. 203.99.57.224/29 mentioned in the FIR below is in use by some other customer. Hope that other customer has cleaned up their premises :-)Faisal Chohan is still in Adiala Jail, bail having been refused by the Additional District & Session Judge, Malik Abudl Qayum, while hearing the bail application of

More PTA idiot mode activity

2006-12-13T10:36:00.000+05:00

Here is a Press Release from the PTA. I will attempt to analyse it below. Read on!======================================http://www.thenews.com.pk/print1.asp?id=35307 PTA conducts raids on solid evidenceKARACHI: Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) said on Tuesday it has always encouraged both local and foreign investors to invest in the telecom related business and facilitated them in every

Raid on call centre PSEB at odds with PTA, PTCL

2006-12-13T10:18:00.000+05:00

Finally, evidence of intelligent life in Pakistan Govt.=======================================================By Imran Ayub (undated)KARACHI: Tremors were running across the telecom industry owing to a tug of war among different institutions as Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) has registered a protest with the federal IT ministry on Pakistan Telecommunication Authority’s (PTA) raid against

PTA in idiot mode, again

2006-12-13T10:13:00.000+05:00

This is an email from Atif Mumtaz.--------------------------------------------Asalam Alekum, I wanted to share a recent harrowing experience that my company is going through in Pakistan. First a bit of a background. I co-founded an internet Startup company, called Cogilent Solutions ( www.cogilent.com), in Islamabad, which runs a very successful job portal in the country called ( BrightSpyre )

Telekom Malaysia unit secures 40 mln usd deals from Telenor Pakistan

2006-12-13T10:12:00.000+05:00

12.12.06, 12:44 AM ETKUALA LUMPUR (XFN-ASIA) - Telekom Malaysia Bhd said its unit Multinet Pakistan Pte Ltd has entered into capacity supply and service contracts with Telenor Pakistan.The total value of the two contracts is estimated to be 40 mln usd, it said, adding that the contracts are for 20 years.Telekom Malaysia controls 78 pct stake in Multinet Pakistan via TM international Sdn Bhd.In a

TWA signs up Worldcall

2006-04-06T12:38:00.000+05:00

KARACHI: Transworld Associates Private Limited (TWA), Pakistan’s first private undersea fiber optic cable operator, recently signed a contract with WorldCall Broadband Limited (WBL) for lease of WorldCall’s high quality metro fiber.The contract warrants 117 kilometers of fiber cable laying and subsequent maintenance by WarldCall. The contract was signed by Tanvir Ahmed, managing director

Pakistan can be part of Trans-Asian European cable

2006-02-25T10:39:00.000+05:00

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan could be part of the existing TAE (Trans-Asian European) cable or any other consortium being planned by Azerbaijan in the telecommunication sector.Talking with Azerbaijan’s Minister of Communication and Information Technologies Ali Abasov Pakistan’s Minister for Information Technology Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari said Pakistan could be part of the existing TAE (Trans-Asian

SMW3 dead again. SMW4 to the rescue.

2006-02-24T10:02:00.000+05:00

===========Undersea fibre optic cable is damagedFrom Azfar-ul-Ashfaque23 February 2006KARACHI — Pakistan's first undersea fibre optic cable, Seamewe-3, was damaged yesterday morning causing interruption in the country's Internet and voice traffic. However, there was no breakdown in any part of the country, as the recently-commissioned submarine cable, Seamewe-4, was fully operational.“At about 8:

Diallog

2006-01-05T12:27:00.000+05:00

Diallog, a CDMA based WLL service, is here. Seems to have started in Islamabad first. It is unclear where else they have coverage or even planned coverage.The company is Great Bear International Pvt Ltd.Pricing is a very expensive Rs6 or Rs7 per MB for internet access. This is not a mobile phone, so why is the internet access so expensive?There are several packages proposed, but no pricing on the

PTCL sale , on again?

2005-12-23T10:28:00.000+05:00

Looks like the Abu Dhabi people have managed to get major concessions, but the Privatisation Commission has managed to keep the agreed price.==================================Etisalat, PTCL agree to resolve pending issuesBY HASEEB HAIDER 21 December 2005 ABU DHABI — The Government of Pakistan and Etisalat have reached an agreement on the sale of 26 per cent stake in Pakistan Telecommunication

Pakistan's National Carrier Selects iBasis as First VoIP Interconnection for International Voice Services

2005-12-20T11:40:00.000+05:00

Press Release.==============================================BURLINGTON, MA— December 19, 2005 — iBasis, Inc. (OTCBB: IBAS), a leader in international long distance, VoIP, and prepaid calling cards, today announced that Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL), the national carrier of Pakistan, has interconnected with The iBasis Network(TM) for international VoIP services. The

Mirror for Internet F-root name server deployed in Karachi

2005-12-17T11:33:00.000+05:00

Apnic has been deploying root name servers in geographically diverse locations. It looks like its now Pakistans turn. This is the first root name server deployed in Pakistan and should bring improvements in speed and reliability to internet users in Pakistan, or at least to those using Cybernet. The utility will only be spread out to everyone if there is peering between the ISPs.=================

Telecard provides VNO services to other carriers

2005-12-14T11:14:00.000+05:00

Lowering the barriers to entry...==================================KARACHI, December 13 (Online): Telecard is now providing Virtual Network Operator (VNO) services to other carriers in Pakistan. Telecard, which is fulfilling the role of the alternate telecom service provider has commenced providing VNO services to other carriers, said a release issued here on Monday. It means the other carriers

Firm violates fiber optic contract with Pakistan Railways

2005-12-14T11:05:00.000+05:00

Typical DAWN report. No names, finger pointing gossip.================================================Firm violates contract with Pakistan RailwaysKARACHI: Firm violates contract with Pakistan RailwaysBy Our Staff ReporterKARACHI, Dec 13: A fibre optic line is being laid by a private firm along the railway track in contravention of the agreement reached between the firm and the Pakistan Railways,

SEA-ME-WE-4 news

2005-12-14T10:49:00.000+05:00

Press release.[ See also http://www.paktribune.com/news/index.php?id=126219http://dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1002012 ]============================================HAMILTON, Bermuda--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 13, 2005--Teleglobe International Holdings Ltd (NASDAQ:TLGB): -- New SMW-4 consortium submarine cable will soon provide ME-IEX customers with a new path for IP capacity to Europe and Asia for

MMS Interconnection for Pakistan

2005-12-12T11:36:00.000+05:00

Big 3 gang up.bp=======================Pakistan's three GSM network operators, Telenor, Ufone and Warid Telecom have launched a MMS interconnection service. This would enable the subscribers of all three operators to exchange MMS or multimedia messages with zero interconnect charges. This was stated in a joint Press Conference of Ufone, Telenor Pakistan, and Warid Telecom here in Islamabad last

Warid wins licence in Bangladesh

2005-12-07T12:39:00.000+05:00

Farid Ahmed, Dhaka: The Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission has decided to award the country's sixth mobile phone operation licence to Warid Telecom International LLC of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).The 40th board meeting of the regulatory commission approved the offer from Warid, a concern of UAE's Dhabi Group, the New Age daily reported Tuesday.Omniah of Jordan was the other

TWA Cable from Karachi to UAE completed.

2005-12-07T12:35:00.000+05:00

e-marine lays new cable linking UAE- PakistanDec 6, 2005 - 08:02 - Abu Dhabi, 06 Dec. 05 (WAM)-- Emirates Telecommunications & Marine Services FZE- e-marine- a subsidiary of Etisalat, has announced the completion of a new submarine cable connecting UAE and Pakistan, branching to Oman. The project to lay over 1200 kms of submarine cable, awarded to e-marine by Tyco and owned by Trans World

An ode to President George W Bush

2005-12-06T11:09:00.000+05:00

Ok, so this doesn't really seem related to the subject matter of this Blog, but stay with me. It is.===================from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4501132.stm< Pakistan's government is to remove a poem from a school textbook after it emerged the first letters of each line spelt out "President George W Bush". The anonymous poem, called The Leader, appeared in a recent

Pakistan says rift is because of Etisalat’s management issues

2005-12-03T10:05:00.000+05:00

Etisalat's position becoming more and more untenable. Certainly some senior Etisalat executives have been fired, but this is a major corporation. They should either pay up or formally announce that it was all a mistake and back out.-================================-Pakistan says rift is because of Etisalat’s management issuesBY ISAAC JOHN 2 December 2005 DUBAI — Amid rumours that Pakistan

Iran Pakistan Fibre Optic Link

2005-12-02T11:55:00.000+05:00

Looks like PTCL is getting its act together and diversifying connectivity. One hopes that the connection will provide transit facilities----------------------------------------------------------ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Iran have decided to establish a working group to address any operational problems ahead of building an optic fiber link between the two countries within the next one year.The two

Pakistan keen that Etisalat deal will succed

2005-11-29T11:20:00.000+05:00

By Farhan Bokhari in IslamabadPublished: November 29 2005 16:45 | Last updated: November 29 2005 16:45Islamabad is keen that the the sale of a controlling stake in Pakistan Telecommunications to Etisalat of the UAE should not fail, partly because of concerns it could affect relations between the two states. The government should consider trying to salvage the deal – which is on the verge of

PTCL sale to Etisalat dead

2005-10-31T11:09:00.000+05:00

Looks like Etisalat finally figured out that it bid way too much for PTCL and has now backed out. Earlier another Arab bid ran out of steam when Kanooz al Watan backed out of its bid for KESC.Will Singtel come back to the table?http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/business/2005/October/business_October566.xml§ion=business

U.K. police arrest two linked to computer espionage case

2005-10-03T10:52:00.000+05:00

This is a followup to the previous post about custom trojans. Of course the advise to "anti-virus software up-to-date" is self serving. Most anti-virus will not detect custom trojans.============================================================London police have arrested two computer consultants who are believed to be part of an Israeli industrial espionage scandal in which malicious software was

China's ZTE plans WiMAX trial in Pakistan

2005-10-01T17:05:00.000+05:00

Mike Clendenin EE Times (09/19/2005 8:55 AM EDT) TAIPEI, Taiwan — WiMAX will soon be touching down in Pakistan. China’s ZTE Corp. said Monday (Sept. 19) it would launch a trial run in Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, of its beta equipment for the fixed wireless service. The trial will begin next month, through local provider Telecard, and include an installation of one six-sector base

Govt to fully facilitate telecom equipment manufacturers: Jahangir Tareen

2005-09-27T17:12:00.000+05:00

Tuesday September 27, 2005 (1439 PST)ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Industries, Production and Special Initiatives Jahangir Khan Tareen said on Tuesday that government will extend all possible support to the telecom equipment manufacturers in their pursuit of achieving excellence. Minister stated this on the occurrence of two-day exhibition on "Telecom Engineering 2005" organized by the

Gone Phishing

2005-09-16T10:09:00.000+05:00

Got an interesting email today. Someone phishing for Bank Al-Falah bank cards.There is a link to http://alfalah.updatingprivateinfo.com/ and the email 'demands' that you go in there, enter your Bank card info and PIN! The fraudulent site is really well made copy of the original http://www.bankalfalah.com/ , right down to the non-working 'contact us' page!The point of the excercise is for you to

Grey market telephony: PTA issues policy guidelines to ISPs

2005-09-15T11:13:00.000+05:00

The PTA is pretending that VoIP is illegal (it isn't, though some applications are for most people) and that ISPs are a bunch of bureaucrats with nothing better to do than to give the PTA a lot of reports every month....===============================================================KARACHI (September 15 2005): Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has issued policy guidelines for Internet

No backtracking on policies, Awais tells South Asia mobiles summit

2005-09-09T11:17:00.000+05:00

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Information Technology Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari Thursday said the government was in the process of legislation aimed at checking "anti-competitive behaviour, facilitate growth and ensure continuity of policies" in the telecom sector. "We are aggressively working on the data protection act and the e-crime bill alongside several other key initiatives to ensure the telecom

Deregulation process will continue to further boost national economy: Aziz

2005-09-09T11:00:00.000+05:00

ISLAMABAD, September 09 (Online): Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has announced that the deregulation process will continue to further stabilize national economy besides establishing the country on modern lines. He said this while addressing the inauguration ceremony of the highest telecommunication tower in the federal capital on Thursday. Prime Minister held that various sectors of economy were

ITCN 2005

2005-08-19T11:03:00.000+05:00

Everyone in IT and too many who had nothing to do with IT were at ITCN. Arwen Technologies spent a rumoured Rs2 million on their stand. Lets hope that it was worth it. Former Chairman PTCL, PTA and PEMRA , Mian Jawed was in town and warmly received at all the Telecom stalls. He was a guest of Xnet Solutions and officially opened their stand and launched their new firewall.The Corps Commander

Termination rates down

2005-08-19T11:00:00.000+05:00

Rates for termination of calls to Pakistan are down.Pakistan - Mobile and Proper $0.1100 USD Thats 11 cents per minute. One year ago the rates were 18 cents on the Grey market, more for PTCL.

Transworld Associates picks Tyco Telecommunications to supply Middle East submarine fiber-optic network

2005-07-30T18:36:00.000+05:00

Here is a press release from http://www.tycotelecom.com/July 29, 2005 Morristown, NJ -- Tyco Telecommunications , a supplier of undersea fiber-optic networks and marine services, today announced the beginning of construction for the TWA-1 undersea fiber optic cable network, as part of a multi-million dollar turnkey contract with Transworld Associates (TWA), a joint venture between Orascom Telecom

WLL operators to implement single cell mobility

2005-07-20T15:17:00.000+05:00

KARACHI: Pakistan Telecom-munication Authority (PTA) directed all Wireless Local Loop (WLL) operators to implement single cell limited mobility as per solution defined in a determination issued by the authority to resolve the issue of limited mobility.The authority has given 45 days time to WLL operators to ensure the implementation of limited mobility and they would also submit a compliance

PTCL not to pay damages

2005-07-20T15:10:00.000+05:00

“It was not our fault,” Junaid I Khan, president of PTCL, told Daily Times...Right.Big surprise there....It may not have been PTCLs fault, but it was certainly PTCLs responsibility to provide connectivity.

Using Warid

2005-07-09T13:33:00.000+05:00

I have been using Warid for the past few weeks. I bought the connection from a franchisee. Franchise staff were good and effecient. The connection worked as soon as I gave them my NIC card and the quality is consistently good. Coverage is excellent. Mobilink has just installed a tower on the roof of the next building but reception quality is still not good. Warid is much better.Customer support

SWM3 UP again

2005-07-09T13:03:00.000+05:00

SMW3 is apparently up and running again. Let the battle for this months bandwidth charges begin. I for one will not be paying for the 10 days of lost connectivity. Call centers are going for a full months of 'mufta' and that is cool!

Transworld Associates (Pvt) Ltd.

2005-07-02T11:02:00.000+05:00

This is a joint-venture between Orascom Telecom Holdings (Eygpt) and Saif Group (Pakistan). The project is to build an undersea fibre optic cable from Karachi to Fujaira. A total of 1285 km. Financing of US$7million.No news as to when the project will be up and running or even when the physical work will be started.

What, no internet? Gossip time

2005-07-02T09:51:00.000+05:00

Ok, so it is now Day 5 after the SMW3 was cut and as we don't have any work to do, its gossip time.[1] There were joint USA - Pakistan Navy excersises going on at around the same time as the cable was cut. Coincidence? Of course we dont know exactly where the excersises were but we can speculate as to how close it was to the site of the cable cut....[2] Most major bandwidth customers have some

Targetted Trojans

2005-06-21T13:03:00.000+05:00

Interesting scandal in Israel and a similar series of attacks in the UK. We have seen mass mailed trojans that employ infected PCs mainly for low level use such as SMTP relays. What we see now is targetted trojans. Software that attacks Financial companies, software that looks for and only infects conputers designing aircraft. High end attacks aimed at high end computers. The UK's National

PTCL sold

2005-06-21T11:15:00.000+05:00

The Etisalat/Dubai Islamic Bank consortium won the auction held by the Privatisation Commission of the Govt. of Pakistan. The winning consortium bid at US$2.5 billion was US$1 billion more than the next highest offer. China Mobile bid US$1.409 billion and SingTel US$1.167 billion.What does this mean for telecoms in Pakistan? For the industry this is good news and this is bad news. Etisalat will

PTCL - privatisation is on

2005-06-15T09:32:00.000+05:00

Some Union leaders have agreed to call of sabotage threats after the Interior minister reminded them of anti-terrorism laws. Other leaders are not so accomodating, but it does seem that the sell off will go ahead as planned. The amy signal corps are in control of the most sensitive locations, like international gateways and there is little that the unions can do. In any case PTCL engineers do not

PTCL privatization contd.

2005-06-13T14:49:00.000+05:00

The Govt. of Pakistan set June 18, 2005 as the new date for selling off 26% of PTCL and handing over management control to the new buyers.The Unions opposing this immediately called for a strike but were preempted by the arrival of paramilitary Rangers and also Police at Exchanges and PTCL offices. Upto 300 PTCL workers have been targetted by the security forces for arrest. Where the wanted

Mobilink Hearing at PTA

2005-06-08T17:18:00.000+05:00

JANG, KARACHI: Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) - the telecom watchdog in the country - on Tuesday issued a hearing notice to Mobilink, which would be conducted on June 9.Sources close to telecom regulator told ‘The News’ that in its reply to PTA, Mobilink said its service was affected due to the problems arising in the system of Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL),

PTCL Strike and the PC

2005-06-06T13:38:00.000+05:00

A threatened strike on the 6th of June by workers (we use that term loosely here) of PTCL brings the planned privatisation of the corporation to a halt. The workers had occupied the PTCL HQ building as well as demonstrated in several cities.It may that the Govt. is buying time to buy off the leaders or to intimidate them but then there have been many many U turns recently. The Privatisation

Changes in the 1996 Act

2005-05-27T15:44:00.000+05:00

Disturbing news, mainly because there are no details: "The cabinet, in order to sanction the telecom deregulation policy and cellular policy, approved amendments in the Pakistan Telecommunications Reorganisation Act 1996".

Warid Telecom

2005-05-27T15:25:00.000+05:00

Ok, so now we have products, we have voice connections. Warid is here and it is GOOD![1] Pricing. Excellent pricing. Warid has done its home work and presented a well thought out product. Its gone for low price and low cost distribution. Looks like they understand what the Pakistan market is about. [2] Its franchise shops are small - they will be able to survive in the cut throat market. Mobile

Warid is online..almost

2005-05-20T12:17:00.000+05:00

Well at least they have a website up, even if it doesn't have any content.

Wateen Telecom

2005-05-14T11:28:00.000+05:00

Wateen Telecom is a sister concern of Warid Telecom. Wateen is setting up a nationwide optic fibre network in Pakistan of about 5000 kms. This will provide a backbone for Warid Telecoms GSM network and hopefully will also be available to other telecom companies and ISPs.An especially important point to note is that the network seems to include links to Afghanistan, Iran, UAE and also India.

Warid Telecom launches

2005-05-13T14:38:00.000+05:00

Warid claims to have launched its service. There are articles in the press, parties in Islamabad and invitations to President House. However there is no tarrif announcement, I don't see any dealers in Karachi.So there is no price, no place, no product, just promotion.Vapourware.

SMS.ac spammers

2005-05-13T12:29:00.000+05:00

I have been receiving a significant number of spams from SMS.ac via friends. What happens is that when you sign up SMS.ac recommend that you use your webmail account. If you give them your account id and password (very intelligent of you) they will go into your Hotmail/Yahoo/Gmail account and send a spam to all your contacts. This is very intrusive and I am sure that none of you want to spam, so

PTCL bidding on June 10

2005-05-13T10:00:00.000+05:00

RECORDER REPORT ISLAMABAD (May 13 2005): The Privatisation Commission has scheduled the bidding of Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) on June 10, for acquiring 26 percent shares with management control as a wholly integrated telecom operator in Pakistan, a statement of the Privatisation Commission issued here on Thursday said. The commission has also scheduled investors' forum on

BlackBerry coming ?

2005-05-12T13:06:00.000+05:00

Press Release--May 10, 2005--Orascom Telecom Holding S.A.E. (LSE:GDR)(CAIRO:ORTE)(ALEXANDRIA:ORAT)("OTH") and Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ:RIMM)(TSX:RIM) today announced plans to offer the BlackBerry(R) wireless communications solution to mobile customers in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia. BlackBerry will operate on Orascom's GSM/GPRS networks and international roaming will be

Telekom Malaysia Bhd. on shortlist of bidders for PTCL

2005-05-12T13:05:00.000+05:00

KUALA LUMPUR (Dow Jones)--Telekom Malaysia Bhd. (4863.KU) has been shortlisted to bid for a 26% stake in state-owned Pakistan Telecommunications Corp. Ltd. (PTC.KA), the daily New Straits Times reports, quoting Telekom Malaysia Chairman Muhammad Radzi Mansor. "We are in the shortlist. We are preparing our bid and I believe they will be closing the deal at the end of this month," the report quotes

UAE TRA licenses new telecom provider

2005-05-12T13:00:00.000+05:00

The UAE Telecommunications Regulatory Authority has licensed a new telecommunications company in the country, a Dh4 billion telecom provider, in which the state pension and social security fund and other private investors will hold 40 per cent stake. The remaining shares will be sold through initial public offering...

Saudi Telecom Deploys Narus' VoIP Detection Application

2005-05-07T14:59:00.000+05:00

Press Release: In an effort to stop unregulated VoIP communications within Saudi Arabia, Saudi Telecom ( http://www.stc.com.sa ) has deployed Narus' ( http://www.narus.com ) VoIP detection application, which will capture and analyze traffic in real-time on the service provider's network, and block traffic destined for unregistered international VoIP gateways.

Pakistan: Better Late Than Never In Outsourcing

2005-05-03T15:03:00.000+05:00

Business Week has an article on Pakistans efforts in the Call Center field, also an interview with Shaukat Aziz .

PTCL to provide vocie, cable television and DSL in one service.

2005-05-02T14:08:00.000+05:00

MULTAN: Pakistan Telecommunications Company Limited (PTCL) would soon launch a three-in-one facility to enable the subscribers enjoy telephone, cable television and DSL (Internet) services—all through one line.

PTCL gives everyone call waiting

2005-04-29T18:23:00.000+05:00

PTCL seems to have turned on Call Waiting for everyone. There is general confusion as to why we now suddenly get beeps during calls and why internet dialup connections fail even more quickly than usual.Apparently if you hear the beep you can dial 'flash' followed by a 1 to get the call that is waiting. Don't know how to turn this facility off. It remains to be seen if PTCL charges us for this.

PTA issues show cause notice to Ufone for poor service

2005-04-28T12:32:00.000+05:00

PTA threatens Ufone over its bad service, although I would say that it is much better than that of Mobilink.

Govt to beef up IT security training: Leghari

2005-04-26T14:49:00.000+05:00

Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari has called for efforts to secure information being stored and processed through information technology to ensure accuracy and transparency in the transactions.With the IT growing Information and Network security is becoming increasingly important, however there is a growing realisation that Pakistani security resources are very scarce. At the moment there are only 2

PTA renews Instaphone licence for $291m

2005-04-26T14:07:00.000+05:00

The PTA allows Pakcom Limited (parent company of Instaphone) to pay the license renewal fee of $291 million in installments over 15 years.

Etisalat gives way to second mobile and fixed lines operator

2005-04-19T13:05:00.000+05:00

Abu Dhabi - A second operator could enter the UAE market to offer mobile telephony alongwith fixed land lines as the Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (TRA) is working out the legal frame work, clearing the way for competition.Etisalat recently entered the big market of Saudi Arabia after taking over stakes in Sudan Telecom, Qatar, Zanzibar. It is now eying Pakistan as well as Tanzania.

Yahoo! Messenger! for SMS! with Mobilink! in Pakistan!

2005-04-15T10:33:00.000+05:00

The service connects Mobilink and Yahoo! messenger services. It allows Mobilink usrs to send a message to Yahoo! messenger users and vice versa. The Mobilink user has to pay for each SMS, but the Yahoo! user gets to send messages for free.Full Press release: http://www.hardwarezone.com/news/view.php?id=1118&cid=4

Comparision of mobile call rates

2005-04-14T14:09:00.000+05:00

The PTA's own site at www.pta.gov.pk doesn't usually work, so it is good to see that they have arranged for a mirror at http://pta.ire-s.com/index.php - this is not particularly fast, but it does work.There is a good comparision of prepaid tarrifs on http://pta.ire-s.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=542 and postpaid tarrifs on http://pta.ire-s.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=

Mobile number portability to start in January

2005-04-14T11:47:00.000+05:00

... All the six cellular mobile operators on Tuesday agreed to form a supervisory board to implement the MNP with assistance of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA). The operators will equally share initial expenses in this regard. In a meeting attended by the PTA chairman, PTA member (finance) and chief executive officers of Mobilink, Ufone, Paktel, Instaphone, Telenor and Warid

Optical Fiber Network Backbone

2005-04-12T10:49:00.000+05:00

Multinet Pakistan (Pvt.) Ltd. and Telekom Malaysia have announced a joint venture to lay the largest Optical Fiber Network Backbone in Pakistan. This network would consist of 4,500 Km of fully redundant rings.Involving an investment of US$100,000,000 the press release expects the network to be finished within 18 months.See http://www.multi.net.pk/longhaul/ for the full press release.

ZTE to setup R&D center in Pakistan

2005-04-09T13:57:00.000+05:00

ZTE, China's largest publicly traded telecommunications equipment maker, said it will set up a research and development center in Pakistan to serve the South Asian market.ZTE's involvement with Pakistan dates back to 1998, when it won its first foreign equipment order there, worth US$95 million (HK$741 million). Two years later it opened a manufacturing facility there, its first outside China,

Mobilink warned

2005-04-06T10:21:00.000+05:00

The National Assembly Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat [no, I don't know what that means or does, I just blog here - BP.], on Tuesday asked the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to initiate strict action against mobile companies that are offering poor services to their clients. Later, the PTA issued show cause notice to initiate proceedings against Mobilink, based on the result

Mobilink gets another area code

2005-04-05T11:50:00.000+05:00

Mobilink has started using 0301 in addition to its 0300 area code. There is a press release pretending to be a "Special Report" about this on the Pakistan Times website but it is vomit inducing so you are recommended not to click on this http://pakistantimes.net/2005/04/02/top10.htm link.The Pakistan Times used to be one of the Premier newspapers in Pakistan before being destroyed/nationalised by

Worldcall starts consumer VoIP

2005-04-05T11:45:00.000+05:00

Press Release: Worldcall, a payphone operator turned VoIP service provider, has deployed Verso's gateway and softswitchapplications to deliver consumer VoIP services in Pakistan. The provider is currently offering servicesin 3 cities, with plans to expand the service to 14 cities by the end of the year.

WLL to be restricted to single cell mobility: Awais

2005-04-05T11:40:00.000+05:00

Speaking at the Telecommunication Investment Conference organised by the CFA Association of Pakistan Mr. Leghari said "The ultimate success of the policies lies in the fact that the consumer is spoilt for choice". He also talked about number portability and lowering prices.

Govt seeks optical link with Indian telecom giants

2005-04-05T11:33:00.000+05:00

Ministry of telecom is negotiating with several Indian giants to materialise the proposed Pak-India direct optical link project, which was likely to start by June 2005.PTCL will be managing the Paksitan side of the deal.

Telecommunication Investment Conference

2005-04-02T12:39:00.000+05:00

Karachi, 02 April 2005: The CFA Association of Pakistan is organising the first ever international Telecommunication Investment Conference with the theme of "Post Deregulation: Opportunities and Challenges" today.

Cricket loss leads to DoS attack

2005-03-28T13:56:00.000+05:00

March 27 When the Indian cricket team was threatened with a follow-on, a Denial of service attack "originating from India's Bangalore software technology park hit the Pakistan Internet Exchange around 4 p.m.".The attack lasted for more than an hour, but no one noticed as we were all watching the match on TV.

Pakistan cut off from the world, again

2005-03-28T12:46:00.000+05:00

Friday 25 March 2005Once again Pakistan was cut off from the rest of the world, and indeed itself. Apparently the power supply to a section of the Fibre Optic link to FLAGs link was severed during construction work by some factory owner in Gulbai, Karachi.Of course since most ISPs are just resellers of bandwidth and not 'real' ISPs we were cutoff even from those few websites hosted in Pakistan (

V

2005-03-24T14:40:00.001+05:00

PTCL launches its 'V' , wireless prepaid phone system in Karachi. It has been tested for several months in some smaller towns.IT is CDMA 2000 based, which seems to be overkill. Since PTCL already has a mobile phone company in 'U Phone', it is difficult to make out a case for such an expensive technology. The offer is Rs2999/- for a connection and a set.

Callpoints

2005-03-24T14:26:00.000+05:00

Callpoints is next up with a low rate package for Calling Cards . It matches DVcom's BIGtime in that long distance is Rs2.50 per minute and calls to the USA are Rs4.99 per minute.

Africa: The Impact of Mobile Phones

2005-03-21T12:46:00.000+05:00

Although not directly related to Pakistan, this Vodaphone sponsored research is quite interesting.The main points of interest are:[1] Mobile telephony has a positive and significant impact on economic growth, and this impact may be twice as large in developing countries as in developed countries;[2] A developing country which has an average of 10 more mobile phones per 100 population between 1996

Mobilink dying

2005-03-21T12:38:00.000+05:00

Looks like Mobilink is being nice to the new cellular companies by randomly stopping its service at various times in the day and night. Friday midnight to Saturday 4am the service was not working in Karachi - I know because I really needed the service at that time. Friends report similar stories for other times, other places.If Mobilink can send me an SMS to tell me about new lower rates,

WorldCALL Telephony over Cable?

2005-03-21T12:27:00.000+05:00

WorldCALL has a full page advert in the Business Recorder today announcing "The Launch of Telephony". Given that their Internet access over cable in Karachi does not work between 5pm and 8pm, one hopes that they are not going to use VoIP.There is nothing about this on the www.go4b.net website.

DVcom dishonesty

2005-03-15T14:49:00.000+05:00

We have several independent reports of DVcom overcharging customers of its BIGtime calling card.In one, early, instance the IVR indicated at authentication that 15 minutes of talk time was available, however the clients watch reported that only 12 minutes were allowed.More recently the IVR is more honest, but this means that the advertised rates are wrong. Whereas the newpaper advert claims that

Telenor is here

2005-03-15T14:41:00.000+05:00

Teleno launched officially today, carpet bombing of the airwaves, newspapers, TV and roadside banners. Pretty effective stuff for grabbing mindshare.Their rates are good. Rs2.99 per minute to call anywhere in Pakistan for postpaid, and Rs3.99 for prepaid. Line rent for postpaid is Rs145.Most importantly the main product differentiation seems to be on quality. We will wait and see how that works

The revolution has started

2005-03-09T12:42:00.000+05:00

The revolution is here and it is time to put the old regime up against the wall!Progress has been slow, and we have all been waiting for far, far too long.DVcom was the first to launch a serious attack on the pre-deregulation status quo. With fullpage colour adverts in daily newspapers and well made adverts on the popular TV channels, the BIGtime prepaid calling card launch was, well, big! It

Mobile cellular service policy: from dusk to dawn

2004-01-19T10:47:00.000+05:00

The News,By Tayyaba Khan. The cellular telephony sector is one of the fastest growing high-tech areas of our times. Right now in Pakistan the investment in this industry is around a billion dollars with more than 3 million subscribers. With the existing operators planning further investments to expand their infrastructure and subscriber base, it is safely assumed that by the end of the year