Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Punjab Information Technology Board

Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) to extend its advanced technological infrastructure for maximum outreach to citizens of Punjab.
The PTCL Senior Executive Vice President Tariq Salman and the PITB Director General Aamir Z. Chaudhry signed the document on behalf of their respective organisations for setting up of Multi Channel Contact Centre.
The project is aimed at introducing a new proactive governance model in the country. The model is being closely monitored by the international agencies like World Bank, so that it could be presented to the rest of the world for adoption once proven successful.
The upshot of successful implementation is manifold and bound to reshape possibilities for local call center industry on one hand while educating citizens towards identification of their basic rights, said PITB Director General on the occasion.
Tariq Salman said the PTCL understands dynamic requirements of the project and is ready to meet any challenge in partnership with the Government of Punjab as and when required.

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Broadband Users in Pakistan

At the end of fiscal year 2009-2010 broadband Internet users in Pakistan have reached 900,648 and are expected to cross 1 million mark by the end of 2010.
Pakistan Telecommunication Authority said that Internet Service Providers added a total of 39,948 subscribers in June 2010 compared to 43,893 subscribers in May 2010.
Broadband growth rate has leaned down in previous three months but if history repeats itself, growth rate is expected to shoot up in coming months due to slashed rates.
Broadband penetration in the country reached at 0.52% at the end of April 2010 from 0.26% a year ago, showing 100 percent more penetration in one fiscal year.

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Orascom has sold its Tunisian Stakes to Qtel

Orascom Telecom has sold its 50 percent stake in Tunisian mobile operator Tunisiana to a Qatari-Tunisian consortium for $1.2 billion.
The consortium includes Qatar Telecom’s (Qtel), the Kuwaiti unit Wataniya, which already owns 50 percent of Tunisiana, the Qatari landline line and wireless carrier,
Qatar Telecom or Qtel, through Wataniya – Group’s arm in Tunisia, said that they have signed an accord with Orascom to complete the buyout.
Wataniya already holds 50 percent of Telecom Tunisie, or Tunisiana, North African nation’s biggest private telecommunications company.
According to Reuters, of the 50 percent stake, 75 percent is expected to go to Wataniya and 25 percent to Princesse Holding, subject to approval by Tunisian regulators. The deal is expected to pay for Orascom’s debt service.
As per Reuters, Qtel’s Chief Strategy Officer has stated that group is planning to sell shares to the public in its Iraqi unit in two years and in its Tunisian unit in 2011.
Qtel has presence in Pakistan through wi-tribe, country’s second largest WiMAX broadband operator.

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Wi Tribe No 1 Broadband Company

wi Tribe Broadband Achievement
In 2010 Annual Report , Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) announced that wi-tribe Pakistan successfully ranked number one in both the ‘Technology Neutral’ and ‘Wireless’ categories for highest Quality of Service, despite being the youngest broadband company, said a statement issued by the company today.
PTA’s acknowledgment of wi-tribe’s service quality emphasizes that the company is passionate about delivering nothing short of excellence to its customers.
To celebrate this achievement, PTA Chairman, Dr. Mohammed Yaseen, was invited by wi-tribe Pakistan’s CEO, Mustafa Peracha and his team for a cake-cutting ceremony at wi-tribe’s head office in Islamabad.
During the ceremony, wi-tribe’s CEO Mustafa Peracha expressed his delight on the recent achievement, stating,

“I am elated about wi-tribe’s success in Pakistan. I’m also thankful to PTA for recognizing our effort to take broadband to the next level.”

On the team’s effort he said,

“Today, I proudly share wi-tribe’s feat with my dedicated team, our community, customers and partners, who have continuously extending their trust and support. We aim to deliver an exceptional and personalized broadband experience to our customers, and believe in constant evolution, which will continue to reflect in all our offerings.”

In addition to recognizing wi-tribe’s quality-driven approach, the report also concluded that wi-tribe is the fastest growing broadband operator in Pakistan, successfully delivering high speed internet to customers in all its cities of operation.
During the last five years, Pakistan’s broadband subscriber base has increased by leaps and bounds. People from all walks of life, including professionals, students, academics and corporates are all finding high speed internet to be essential towards their respective progression. wi-tribe realizes the need to serve growing demands, with no compromise on quality of service.
With a focus on delivering high quality broadband internet across its network of operations, wi-tribe enables instant connectivity with its plug ‘n’ play devices, offering the latest in affordable internet technology.

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Pakistan, China conclude $15 billions deals

China and Pakistan concluded nearly 15 billion dollars' worth of deals, as Chinese Premier Wen JiabaoWen Jiabao said Beijing would "never give up" on the troubled nuclear-armed Muslim country. According to a list handed out to journalists, the biggest deal was 6.5 billion dollars to develop wind and solar power. According to a list handed out to journalists, the biggest deal was 6.5 billion dollars to develop wind and solar power. Pakistan depends on China's clout to offset the perceived threat from rival India and rescue its economy, overcome its severe energy crisis and make up for poor foreign investment.

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National Rabta Information Portal

State Minister for Information & Broadcasting Mr. Syed Sumsam Ali Shah Bukhari has inaugurated ‘National Rabta Information Portal (www.pakistan.pk), a single source facilitation web portal developed by Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), providing information and content repository to information seekers from within and outside the country at one place.
Secretary Cabinet, Mr. Abdur Rauf Chaudhry and Member Telecom, Ministry of IT were also present during the ceremony.
Speaking at the occasion, State Minister for Information & Broadcasting Mr. Syed Sumsam Ali Shah Bukhari said

The Government of Pakistan has a strong believe in utilizing Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) to move into the era of electronic service delivery (e-Services) by simplifying procedures, and making credible and timely information available to all the citizens at all levels. The electronic access of information will improve the productivity and efficiency of public and private organizations.
This would ultimately contribute to economic activities and bring benefits to the country.
Government is committed to promote freedom of expression and access to information in the greater public interest. The State Minister congratulated Chairman PTA and his team, on the development of such an informative portal for Pakistan. He said that it will bring plenty of information not only to the residents and ex-patriats Pakistanis but also to the foreigners visiting Pakistan.

In his opening remarks, Chairman PTA Dr. Mohammed Yaseen said

Every information medium has its own importance and impact on the society. Nevertheless during the last decade internet has emerged as the most important source for information dissemination, in addition to TV and radio. He emphasized that the outreach of internet has recently touched 2 Billion users mark globally.
He briefed about the objectives behind the development of a dedicated ‘National Information Portal’ the primary objective being to create a single source facilitation web portal that allows users to access any and all information regarding Pakistan that is already available electronically.
It has a theme of ‘connecting the un-connected’ Internet links so any user who visits the portal can be able to access information from a single source. He said that the portal would act as an enabler platform for fast access to one source of information and will increase effectiveness of public and private sector. The local information search via this portal would help retrieve information thus saving international bandwidth cost, he added further.

Chairman PTA further informed the dignitaries that PTA has also planned to develop the Urdu and Mobile version of this National Portal in order to provide more facilitation to the internet community of Pakistan.
The web portal has currently more than 1000 web links. Similarly it has 84 downloadable forms of various categories placed on it. It also contains links on educational institutions of the country, hospitals of Pakistan, print and electronic media, federal and provincial institutions and private sector.

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Endless Downloads with Wi Tribe

Wi-tribe has revised its wireless WiMAX packages to allow its customers endless downloads, with fair usage policies in place.
Endless downloads come with wi-tribe’s Desktop and Wi-Fi modems for 512 KB and 1.5 MB packages. wi-tribe says that service parameters may change upon utilizing 30GB on 512Kbps endless package & 40GB on 1.5Mbps endless+ package in any given month.

Activation Charges (for new subscribers):

• Desktop modem (slider): Rs. 500
• Wi-Fi modem (slider PLUS): Rs. 1,500
• wi-tribe dongle (USB device): Rs. 2,500
• Activation charges are non-refundable

Things to know:

• Refundable deposit equal to monthly charge along with activation charges are to be paid in advance
• Excess usage will be charged at Rs. 0.15 per MB

**Fair Usage Policy:

• Service parameters may change upon utilizing 30GB on 512Kbps endless package & 40GB on 1.5Mbps endless+ package in any given month
• All wi-tribe packages are for consumer usage and not permitted for commercial use and/or reselling as per PTA regulations

For order and details: call 111-1-tribe (87423)

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Nokia OVI

Nokia Ovi Store

Nokia still enjoys the highest market share in terms of mobile phone usage in the world. But this dominance is mainly in the low-end handsets, while the company has challenges to face for smartphone markets. Despite this, Nokia said that its witnessing rapid growth in its online Ovi Store, which is now delivering three million downloads per day.
According to Nokia, in addition to three million daily downloads, over 250,000 new customers are signing up for an Ovi Store account each day. More than 400,000 developers have joined the Forum Nokia developer network. The Nokia Qt Software Development Kit has been downloaded 1.5 million times.

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Linked In is Becoming Popular

Social Networking Website Linked In

Social Networking website Linked In is becoming more and more popular.Linkedin is a website geared towards Professionals with the tagline ‘Relationships matter’, which provides a forum to share information, exchange ideas as well as opportunities.
Students and officers are using it very much and it seems as it will get popularity close to Twitter.

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Samsung Built School at Ladhayke Village in District Kasur

Samsung Built School in Kasur

Samsung Electronics has built of a modern school at Ladhayke Village in District Kasur, to serve a vast rural area and uplift the standard of education.
This school, constructed in collaboration with SOS Rural Support Programme (SOS RSP), was inaugurated by the Samsung Pakistan’s Senior Manager, Mr. In Jae Lee.
“Samsung Grammar School” for girls, has been built and furnished with generous funds provided by Samsung. It will be operated by the SOS RSP to provide a high standard of education to the region. The opening ceremony was a colourful event, graced by In Jae Lee, who shared the joy of creating this educational opportunity for the rural population. Students gave an interesting performance and a large number of media representatives were also present.

 Samsung Pakistan’s Managing Director, Mr. Heeh Chang Yee said,

 “Samsung has an elaborate Social-development and CSR commitment, whereby, we are making efforts to foster modern education in underdeveloped regions. We support well established welfare organizations like “SOS Villages” to provide quality education, thus accelerating the social, educational and financial progress of the whole region”.

Rabiya Siddiqui, PR Manager Samsung said;

 “It is a pleasure to see that a great brand of electronics – Samsung is playing a big role in developing schools in the rural areas. The talented students of Kasur region will now study in a modern environment and be ready to face the challenges of life. The Samsung Grammar high School is ready to serve the students living in many villages around this area. Free education will be provided to the deserving students.

Surrounding villages that will benefit from this institution include: Rohewala, Lohgarh Jhugian, Ladheke,Sheikh Pura Nauand Basti Ladheke, UC Sehjra Tehsil and District Kasur. Over 13,500 people in these rural communities do not have any premium quality educational institutions. The nearest Government Girls High School was 4.5 Kilometres away so the girls faced problems in reaching there, but now Samsung School has solved this problem.
Other recreational, cultural and training opportunities will also be provided by experienced and qualified teachers. The school structure comprises of class rooms, library, science labs, computer labs, sports and transportation facilities etc. SOS will also establish a community health centre in collaboration with SAMSUNG in the school building to fulfill the basic needs of the poor community.

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Pakistan Cricket Board Banned Facebook,Twitter for Players

Social Networking websites banned for cricketers

Pakistan Cricket Board has strictly asked all its members of the national cricket team to not to use any social networking website, especially Facebook and Twitter.
The crackdown comes in the wake of Zulqarnain Haider’s recent Facebook updates when he went missing in Dubai during one-day series against South Africa.
He had updated his status on Facebook mentioning that he was facing some kind of pressure.
The board has added a clause in the contract for players, saying that no one can use Facebook or Twitter during the contracted period.
Pakistan manager Intikhab Alam confirmed the directive, but maintained the ban was part of a clause in the players’ contract with the board.
“There is a clause in their contracts which states clearly they can’t use these social network sites or discuss cricket issues while under contract,” Alam said.
“It is for their own good so that they don’t get entangled into controversies.”
He subsequently announced his retirement from international cricket which followed his central contract being suspended by the board.

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