$50 Million IT Park for Islamabad Approved
PSEB IT Awards 2016: Here Are Top IT Exporting Companies of Pakistan!
Zong Takes a Tour of Pakistan in Zong 4G Express Buses
Zong has commenced a nationwide campaign to create mobile experience centers through fully customized 4G buses.
Labeled as Zong 4G Express, the buses are equipped with state-of-the-art 3D screens, automated selfie booths, internet kiosks and a drum squad. All services on the bus are enabled by Zong’s 4G internet.
The vision behind launching the 4G Express nationwide, is to enable internet users across Pakistan to experience Zong 4G and adopt a 4G lifestyle.
The activity is part of Zong’s long-term plan of developing a complete 4G ecosystem in Pakistan. The 4G Express will visit over 90 cities in all four provinces across Pakistan, specifically targeting educational institutes and markets where people can experience Zong products and services.
This unique initiative by Zong is aimed at encouraging people to experience the super-fast 4G internet and avail the most affordable data bundles offered by the company.
In addition, the company hopes to increase internet inclusivity in Pakistan through this drive and create awareness about its products and services.
It is pertinent to mention that Zong is the largest 4G operator in Pakistan providing 4G services in over 200 cities to more than 1.9 Million 4G subscribers.
The company has repeatedly expressed through its Brand promise of “A NEW DREAM” that it aims to create a 4G lifestyle by enabling a digital revolution in Pakistan. The 4G express is one such initiative that hopes to educate the people about 4G products and services and how they can effectively incorporate them in their daily lives.
Jazz Slashes its Internet Base Rate
Jazz has announced a significant reduction in its Internet Base Rate.
Now all Jazz prepaid subscribers can surf the internet by only paying PKR 2.39 per MB; previously the Telco was charging PKR 11.95 per MB on the Champions Package & PKR 21.51 per MB for rest of prepaid subscribers.
Speaking about this move, Muhammad Ali khan, Head of Data – Mobilink, said,
“Mobilink has always been at the forefront of providing the best customer experience and quality.
This significant data price reduction enables us to reduce the entry barrier in the mobile broadband domain and assists us in achieving our goal of digitally empowering each and every customer.”
Following the reduction in data base rate, customers will now be able to do more than ever before. The move has been made to accelerate the uptake of mobile broadband throughout the country and is line with Jazz’s digitization goals.
Since the Internet Base Rate is available for all prepaid subscribers by default, one doesn’t need to subscribe to it
PTA Sets Rs. 200 as Base Price for Sale of New SIMs in Pakistan
The Executive Committee of National Economic Council (ECNEC) on Tuesday approved country’s first state of the art Information Technology (IT) Park in Islamabad.
The Korean Exim Bank has agreed to finance the establishment of the first Technology Park in Pakistan to promote IT and Telecom sector with a cost of $50 million, announced State Minister for Information Technology and Telecom, adding that Exim Bank would provide soft loan for the IT Park.
Minister stated this while addressing a function after attending the ECNEC meeting here on Tuesday.
The minister said that work on the IT Parks in Lahore and Karachi would be started soon.
Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) has leased about 45 acres of land in Chak Shahzad, Islamabad to build state of the art IT Park.
PSEB is mandated to facilitate Pakistani IT industry and increase exports of software and services from Pakistan. One of the major functions of PSEB is to set up and operate IT parks and provide conducive and enabling infrastructure for the development of IT industry.
PSEB has been conducted surveys periodically since 2004; the survey results indicate that absence of IT parks as one of the top three concerns of IT industry.
Besides providing office space to IT companies, IT Parks are necessary for creating a platform for information exchange and linkage between academia, industry and the government.
IT Parks not only prove to be ideal research and development centers but also provide enormous boost to national economy; proven examples include IT parks in India, China and South Korea.
Proposed site for Islamabad IT Park
Scope & Salient Features of Proposed IT Park
- Phase-1: Construction of buildings having approximately 1, 000, 00-1, 500,000 square feet of covered area on 15 acres of land
- About 120-150 IT companies would be hosted initially
- Infrastructure development and establishment cost Rs 10.7 billion
- Broad band connectivity, power backup, transportation, data centers etc
- Facility management, legal and financial services, business generation and entrepreneurship development skills, international technology linkages with large corporations
Common facilities such as research and development centers, application development laboratories, incubator facilities and entrepreneurship services, auditorium and virtual collaboration classrooms for brainstorming on technology trends, future possibilities and networking
A loan agreement between Exim Bank and Government of Pakistan for the project is expected to be signed soon.
Anusha Rehman said that it is the vision of the government to launch state-of-the-art IT parks in Pakistan to change the dynamics of the IT industry of Pakistan. Pakistan has a lot of IT talent and potential but that potential has not been utilized fully on a global scale because of lack of proper infrastructure for the IT industry at present.
The minister mentioned that government’s focus is to provide an enabling environment through infrastructure such as IT parks to IT entrepreneurs and IT companies so that they can grow and nurture their business and products to their true potential both locally and globally.
She said that vision behind the IT parks is that they would act as complete ecosystem with office space, incubators, accommodation for foreign visitors, gymnasium, lakes, biking trails, and not just raw office space.
An IT park should be a seat of learning and technology where there is exchange of knowledge and information between professionals and students, said the Minister.
Earlier the concept of IT Park was approved by the Planning Commission and the Ministry of Information Technology was in the process of preparing the PC-II in consultation with the World Bank. The World Bank had expressed its desire to invest up to $45 million in the project, however due to some hindrances, the government later preferred to engage Exim Korean Bank.
PSEB IT Awards 2016: Here Are Top IT Exporting Companies of Pakistan!
Today, Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) in collaboration with the Ministry of IT and Telecom held the inaugural “IT Awards 2016” at Marriott Hotel, Islamabad.
The ceremony was held to recognize the efforts of the various IT companies and reward them.
The chief guest of the award ceremony was Mrs. Anusha Rehman Khan, member of the national assembly and Minister of State of Information Technology and Telecommunication.
The event was further attended by senior executives of IT companies, government officials, and commercial counselors of a number of countries.
MD PSEB, Mr. Asim Shahryar Husain, during his keynote address at the event mentioned that PSEB is organizing the awards for the first time to motivate and to recognize the top IT exporters of Pakistan.
Executives of different IT companies including Mr. Salim Ghauri from Netsol, Mr. Naseer Akhtar from InfoTech, and Mr. Haroon Kanth from Teradata Pakistan shared their respective success stories at the ceremony.
Ms. Anusha Rehman, State Minister for IT and Telecom distributed the Awards.
Awards were divided in three basic categories listed below:
- Top 10 IT Exporting Companies
- 3 awards for Innovation.
- 3 awards for Startups.
- 3 awards for IT and ITES (Domestic).
Top 10 IT Companies were recognized as following:
- Platinum Award:
- Netsol
- Gold Award:
- Systems Limited
- S&P Global Pakistan
- Teradata
- TRG Pakistan
- Silver Award:
- Medical Transcription Billing Co.
- Ovex Technologies
- i2c Pakistan
- LMKR
- Mentor Graphics
It is worth mentioning that Netsol managed to fetch over 20 million dollars in IT exports whereas 4 other companies secured over 10 million dollars in IT exports.
Complete list of the top ten 10 IT exporters for the year 2016 was also unveiled at the event
The list of the companies which won the respective awards are compiled below:
Top 3 Companies in Innovation:
- Astica
- Solotech
- XGrid
Top 3 Startups
- SynergyIT
- Venture drive
- MD Vision
Top 3 IT and ITES (Domestic)
- Inbox
- Infotech
- NIFT
Minister IT and Telecom with Winners of PSEB IT Awards 2016
Speaking on the occasion, Minister IT stated that ICT is a top priority sector for the current government. The ministry had announced the telecom policy in early 2016 and the plan is to get IT policy approved by cabinet by early 2017.
It was because of the efforts of Ministry of IT that tax exemption on IT exports has been extended for another 3 years.
Minister IT congratulated the award winners and hoped that the awards will motivate other IT companies to improve their exports and reporting to get a chance for winning the awards next year.
Zong Takes a Tour of Pakistan in Zong 4G Express Buses
Zong has commenced a nationwide campaign to create mobile experience centers through fully customized 4G buses.
Labeled as Zong 4G Express, the buses are equipped with state-of-the-art 3D screens, automated selfie booths, internet kiosks and a drum squad. All services on the bus are enabled by Zong’s 4G internet.
The vision behind launching the 4G Express nationwide, is to enable internet users across Pakistan to experience Zong 4G and adopt a 4G lifestyle.
The activity is part of Zong’s long-term plan of developing a complete 4G ecosystem in Pakistan. The 4G Express will visit over 90 cities in all four provinces across Pakistan, specifically targeting educational institutes and markets where people can experience Zong products and services.
This unique initiative by Zong is aimed at encouraging people to experience the super-fast 4G internet and avail the most affordable data bundles offered by the company.
In addition, the company hopes to increase internet inclusivity in Pakistan through this drive and create awareness about its products and services.
It is pertinent to mention that Zong is the largest 4G operator in Pakistan providing 4G services in over 200 cities to more than 1.9 Million 4G subscribers.
The company has repeatedly expressed through its Brand promise of “A NEW DREAM” that it aims to create a 4G lifestyle by enabling a digital revolution in Pakistan. The 4G express is one such initiative that hopes to educate the people about 4G products and services and how they can effectively incorporate them in their daily lives.
Jazz Slashes its Internet Base Rate
Jazz has announced a significant reduction in its Internet Base Rate.
Now all Jazz prepaid subscribers can surf the internet by only paying PKR 2.39 per MB; previously the Telco was charging PKR 11.95 per MB on the Champions Package & PKR 21.51 per MB for rest of prepaid subscribers.
Speaking about this move, Muhammad Ali khan, Head of Data – Mobilink, said,
“Mobilink has always been at the forefront of providing the best customer experience and quality.
This significant data price reduction enables us to reduce the entry barrier in the mobile broadband domain and assists us in achieving our goal of digitally empowering each and every customer.”
Following the reduction in data base rate, customers will now be able to do more than ever before. The move has been made to accelerate the uptake of mobile broadband throughout the country and is line with Jazz’s digitization goals.
Since the Internet Base Rate is available for all prepaid subscribers by default, one doesn’t need to subscribe to it
PTA Sets Rs. 200 as Base Price for Sale of New SIMs in Pakistan
Pakistan Telecommunication Authority has set Rs. 200 as base price of new SIMs in Pakistan, we have checked.
New prices will be in effect for all cellular operators from December 9th, 2016.
With this, no operator will be allowed to sell new SIMs below this base price, confirmed us a PTA spokesperson.
Before this operators could sell new SIMs at any price. They in fact used to sell SIMs for free under various promotions, to ultimately gain more subscribers.
These free SIMs also come with free resources (free minutes, SMS and MBs) of different value of up to Rs. 75 per SIM.
Selling SIMs free of cost, however, resulted in dormant SIMs as customers had the tendency of discarding SIMs after using free resources.
With new directives from PTA, now operators will have to charge Rs. 200 for each new SIM.
It is anticipated that operators will increase the value of free resources that will come with new SIMs with this new price.
It maybe recalled that all new SIMs are sold after biometric verification system. Moreover, one CNIC holder can not have more than five SIMs on his/her name.
It must be mentioned here that at least one operator opposed the decision and it might go legal against it. Unless any such thing happens, new SIMs in Pakistan will be sold at Rs. 200 from December 9th, 2016.
3G/4G Users in Pakistan Reach 35.5 Million
The number of 3G and 4G users in Pakistan reached 35.45 million at the end of October 2016, official documents of Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) available with ProPakistani revealed.
Mobile phone users in Pakistan reached 134.91 million by end October 2016, up from 134.41 million a month ago at the end of September 2016, registering an increase of around 0.5 million cellular subscribers during the period.
The documents further revealed that Ufone 3G subscribers decreased from 5,297,543 in September to 5,245,299 by end October 2016.
According to the PTA data, the number of 3G subscribes of Mobilink, Zong, and Telenor reached 11.78 million, 6.68 million and 9.24 million respectively by end October 2016 against 10.955 million, 6.66 million and 9.11 million by end September.
Warid LTE subscribers reached 599785 by end October against 577275 during this period.
The number of 4G (Zong) users jumped from 1,713,900 subscribers in September 2016 to 1,903,285 subscribers by end October 2016.
Mobile teledensity reached 69.22 per cent and Broadband subscribers increased to 35,446,843 during the period under review.
More in below graphics:
PTCL, Ufone Introduce Whistle-Blower Programs to Eliminate Corruption
Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited and Ufone have introduced whistle blower programs to eliminate any misappropriations with-in the companies.
Information available on official websites of both PTCL and Ufone mentions that anyone can come up and report any corruption, forgery, misappropriations or any sort of ill-deeds directly to the top management.
Ufone, PTCL said that such reports — from with-in the company, any partner vendor or from outside company — will be kept confidential, however, identity maybe revealed if there’s a legal requirement.
PTCL, Ufone said that all reports should come along with verifiable evidences or company may not undertake any investigation.
It must be mentioned that defamation cases maybe registered against whistle-blowers who deliberately submit false allegations, no matter how minor they are.
Specific examples of circumstances where a Whistle Blower can raise concerns could include but shall not be limited to:
Over-invoicing, demanding, seeking or acceptance of kick-backs, payment for goods or services not supplied or rendered and any act of fraud, bribery and corruption;
Forgery of company documents and financial instruments like cheques and securities;
Theft or misappropriation of company’s funds and property;
Conflicts of interest and abuse of office;
Disclosure of business secrets and other confidential company information obtained during the course of employment;
Usage of confidential information to obtain a personal reward or advantage;
Compromising the interests of PTCL/Ufone in dealings with vendors or contractors, consultants or suppliers;
Misuse of Ufone/PTCL property;
Misuse of authority;
Misuse of systems or sharing of passwords;
Discrimination towards any staff member, customers or any stakeholders on the grounds of sex, race or nationality;
Engaging in illegal or unlawful acts; and
Compromising PTCL/Ufone’s Safety Health & Environment (SHE) standards.
It must be mentioned here that whistle blowers can report instances directly to Etisalat — the parent group of PTCL and Ufone — for any investigations.
Reports can be made on following addresses:
Ufone:
ptmlwb@ufone.com
+ 92 334 0000 911
Chief Internal Auditor,
Pak Telecom Mobile Limited
Ufone Tower, 55 C, Jinnah Avenue, Blue Area,
Islamabad – 44000 – Pakistan
PTCL:
wb@ptcl.net.pk
+92-51-2283159
Chief Internal Auditor,
4th Floor, E Block, PTCL Headquarters,
G 8/4, Islamabad
Etisalat
groupwb@etisalat.ae
+ 971 800 2002
Chief Internal Auditor – Etisalat Group and/or the
Corporate Secretary, Etisalat Group
PO Box 3838, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
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