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CONTENTJanuary 15 , February 15 , 2010January 15 , February 15 , 2010

ContentContent

6

48Page

Cover Story

83Page

37Page

LCD, LED sales surpass our expectations: Farooq

50Page

17Page

CONTENT

Editor's Note

Reader's Response

Interview

Telepedia

Cover Story

InsighT

Exclusive

Events

Tech Tools

Mosaic

Synopsis

Editorial 8

Letters to the Editor 9

LCD, LED sales surpass our expectations: Farooq 37

Provincial VAT Act 2010: 15pc VAT on tele-services proposed 10Celcos questioned for compromising quality 122009: PTA surveyed tele-services 13Ufone to rob Ufoners once again 17PTA reports Mobilink's leadership prevails 19Looming ARPU in 2009 24Timeline of telecommunication in Pakistan 28Education to eradicate unauthentic SMS 30Why the big phone companies are dogs 35Mobile phone user cross the 96.7 million mark 38Will India trigger 3G on time? 42When will 3G dawn? 43Cost cutting measures 44

PM applauses Huawei for services in telecom and IT 16IT labs the beginning of a new chapter 18The digital domain of life 25GST to eliminate under CEM on banking, telecom and insurance 36

World's tallest skyscraper in Dubai 20PEMRA bursts on dummy airing quacks 3010 Ways to save money in 2010 34Twisting trends in texting 45

Jazz exclusive partner of Avatar 14Bank Alfalah champion for uphold traditional National Dangal 21Wateen vs. Motorola a friendly cricket match 262010 International Consumer Electronics Show 83

The games that ruled 2009 46Gaming weapons with their real counterparts 47Top 10 media players (MP4) of 2009 53Mobile review 54Current mobile 58High range mobile 62Low range mobile 63Upcoming mobile 64ZTE exclusive mobiles 66Computer 67Accessories 68Laptops 70Top 10 favourite handsets of 2009 71

National 79International 84

Bank Alfalah joins hands Pak-Qatar' 72Wateen speeds up WiMAX services 73JAZZ Sim Lagao, Mazaay Uraao! 75PTCL EVO: Refer a friend and get discount 76PTCL Offers EVO PCMCIA for Rs. 999 77National 88International 95

CEO KHL Usman A. Sheikh 50

PEMRA under the shade of Corrupt Executive 48

Why the big phone companies are dogs35

Page

KHL adding pride to Made in Pakistan: Usman A.Sheikhthe

Ufone to rob Ufoners once again

Bank Alfalah champion for upholdtraditional National Dangal

Zubair Ahmed Kasuri Editor-in-Chief

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Editor sEditor sJanuary 15, February 15, 2010

A number of varying opinions are circulating in the telecom sectorabout the aftermath of last year - a year that triggered under multipleinternal and external threats. Is the year as successful as it has beenportrayed by the concerned authorities? Is the attitude of governmentencouraging for a sector that generates maximum revenue? Who isresponsible for the downward performance of the sector? The cellularsubscribers will cross the mark of 100 million very soon, is negligenceand corruption affordable in such a huge sector? Why the 3G licenseauction has not been arranged yet? Who is responsible for the delay of3G? Does a vital sector like telecommunication deserve ignorance?

2009 can not meet the expectations mainly due to the poor economyof the country, decline in the spending power of layman, strengtheningvalue of Dollar against Pakistani Rupee, emerging threats of terrorismand insurgency, power failure, and of course the blockage of illegal andunregistered SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) cards. Although thecellular operators have tried their level best to provide their subscriberswith minimum call rates and maximum value added packages but theARPU (average revenue per user) did not improve.

The foreign direct investment (FDI) is huge in telecom sector. Thesector is not inter-linking millions but also providing impressiveopportunities of earning and learning to the masses in all nooks andcorners but the attitude of government has remained hostile to thebenefactors. We have seen the imposition of excessive tax under thecamouflage of a number of services. Due to the protest offered by thepublic, government removed the 20 paisa tax earlier imposed on per SMS.No security is provided to the companies who suffer any kind of lossduring internal insurgency. Neither assets nor investments are secure.

The OICCI (Overseas Chamber of Commerce and Industry) haspresented the ISR (Investment Survey Report) of 2009 according to whichthe business margins have gone through pressure and resulted indeclining profit and decreased investment.

The year has shown that those investors who were interested inspending billions now prefer to spend carefully. Despite of increasedrisks, the deplorable situation is made worst by the discouraging attitudein terms of high prices imposed by Pakistan TelecommunicationAuthority (PTA) under the tag of multiple services and up gradation.

It is pertinent to mention that the results of the OICCI ISR depicted alimited increase in FDI (foreign direct investment) by 0.97 per cent, Rs148 billion in FY08 as compared to Rs 146 billion in FY07. However, thiscautious but continued increase in investments comes as a positivesurprise, forecasts for the following year i.e. FY09 indicate that membersplan to withhold investments by approximately Rs 55 billion - asubstantial decline of approximately 37 per cent.

“This clearly indicates that foreign investors who had over the yearscontinued to show confidence in the country are now cautious ofbringing additional capital for the time being - Rs 93 billion planned forFY09.”

There is much potential in the sector that can be exploited onlythrough positive and friendly policies. The delay in 3G services is not afault of PTA only but also of the government who has failed in devisinginfrastructure. The government is failed in solving the very basic needsof public. There is no electricity and security. PTA is trying to regularisethe sector but there is still room for improvement. It is shameful to seethat the government has not appointed the Minister of Telecom and IT.How the ministry can fulfil its duty in the absence of the respectiveminister?

The New Year has dawn with the hope that the government willsincerely try not to squeeze but to promote the telecom sector. India willsoon launch the 3G services and Bangladesh has also planned to start onewhere other developed countries are already serving their people withthe latest technologies. Let’s hope that this year will jot down animproved history of telecommunications!

Did the disastrous progress oftelecom sector end with 2009?

8

Note

Zubair Ahmed Kasuri, publisher of FLARE

leading telecom magazine, printed it from

Akkaz Printers, Shama Plaza, Lahore and

published from 46J, Gulberg III, Lahore.

9

Letters:Layout 1 1/21/2010 1:57 PM Page 1

The provincial 'Value Added Tax (VAT)Act 2010' has proposed 15 per centstandard VAT on telecommunicationservices, service provided by travel

agents, tour operators, event organisers,transporters and others, as specified in the Act.The supply of telecom services by a supplierresiding in Pakistan to a telecom supplier residingoutside Pakistan shall be zero-rated, theprovincial VAT Act 2010 adds.

A supply of services is made in province; forproviding services that are typically performeddirectly in the physical presence of individual (ifthey are performed in province); for servicesprovided by travel agencies and tour operators (ifthe place of business from which the services areperformed is in Province); for services in the areaof culture, the arts, sport, entertainment or similarservices, including services of the event organiserand related services, (if the place where therelevant activity is performed is in province); forhotel and restaurant services (if the place at whichthe service is actually rendered is in province); fortransport and related services( if the place wherethe services are performed in province); fortelecommunications services (if a person initiatesthe service in province) and a supply of servicesis made in province in any other case, if therecipient is ordinarily resident in province.

Under the Provincial VAT Act 2010, a supplyof services that is made in Pakistan and is notsubject to tax under the Federal Value Added TaxAct or a Provincial Value Added Tax law, otherthan this Act, is made in province if the registeredoffice of the supplier, or of the supplier's VATrepresentative in Pakistan, is located in province.

Place of initiation of telecommunications: Theperson who initiates a telecommunicationsservices is the person who is identified by thesupplier of the services as being the person whocontrols the commencement of the supply; theperson who pays for the services or the personwho contracts for the supply. The Provincial VATAct 2010 has also elaborated the progressive orperiodic supply. Where a progressive or periodicsupply is deemed to be a series of separatesupplies, the place where each such supply takesplace is determined separately.

Special rules where tax reverse charged torecipient: The value of a taxable supply of servicesthat is not made in Pakistan shall be, if the

supplier and recipient are related persons, theopen market price of the supply, reduced by thetax fraction of that price; or in any other case, theconsideration for the supply. Tax payable by therecipient of a taxable supply of services that is notmade in Pakistan shall be both output tax andinput tax of the person.

If an adjustment event occurs in relation to asupply of services not made in Pakistan that is, orwould be because of the adjustment event, ataxable supply, the recipient of the supply ofservices shall be treated as if he were also the

supplier of the services. In this regard, if aregistered person carries on economic activitiesboth at a fixed place in province and at a fixedplace outside Pakistan.

The person shall be treated as two separatepersons corresponding respectively to the taxableactivities the person carries on at each place. Theperson outside Pakistan shall be deemed to have

made a supply of services to the person insideprovince consisting of any benefit in the nature ofservices (as defined for the purposes of this Act)that is received by the person in province throughor as a result of the activities carried on by theperson outside Pakistan. The time of the supplybe determined on the assumption that a supplyhas been made; and the value of the services shallbe determined on the assumption that the supplywas made by a non-resident outside Pakistan toan associated person inside province.

The Provincial VAT Act 2010 has alsoexplained procedure on services consumed

outside Pakistan. A supply of services physicallyperformed shall be zero-rated. Leased goodsoutside Pakistan for each part of a lease, hire,licence, or other supply of the use of goods that istreated as a separate supply, the supply shall bezero-rated if the goods are outside Pakistan forthe whole of that period.

Services consumed outside Pakistan: A supplyof services that are typically performed directlyin the physical presence of individuals shall bezero-rated if the services are performed outsidePakistan. A supply of services shall be zero-ratedif the services are not directly connected withgoods situated in Pakistan at the time of supplyand the recipient of the supply is a non-resident who is outside Pakistan at the timeof supply and a supply of services shall be zero-rated if a person who is outsidePakistan at the time of supply and who willeffectively use or enjoy the services outsidePakistan.

A supply of services shall not zero-rated, if thesupply is of a right or option to receive asubsequent supply of goods or services inPakistan or the services are supplied under anagreement with a non-resident but are renderedto an unregistered person in Pakistan.

Inter-carrier telecommunications service: Asupply of telecommunication services by a telecommunication supplier resident in Pakistan to a telecommunications supplier resident outside Pakistan shall be zero-rated. �

Free download | flare.com.pk

10

Telepedia Sohail Sarfraz

Provincial VAT Act 2010:15pc VAT on tele-servicesproposed

Telecommunication services means a service involvingtransmission, emission or reception of signals, writing, images,

sounds or information of any kind by wire, radio, optical, orother electromagnetic systems including a provision of accessto global or local information network, but does not include thesupply of the underlying writing, images, sounds or information

According to the place of taxation rules of the Provincial VATAct 2010, the supply of services is made in Pakistan if thesupplier is a resident of Pakistan. A supply of services ismade in Pakistan if supplier is a non-resident with apermanent establishment in Pakistan and the supply ismade through that permanent establishment

In a significant development, PakistanTelecommunication Authority (PTA) hasissued show cause notices to five leadingmobile phone operators of the country on

their failure of improving their service qualityacross the country.

The notices have been issued on the basis of therecently concluded Quality of Service (QoS)Survey of mobile phone operators. The resultswere also shared with the mobile phonecompanies along with instructions to improvetheir service quality. Later, a reasonable time wasalso given to them so that they could improvetheir network performance. However, it is foundthat all mobile operators failed to achieve thedesired results. As a result, PTA issued showcause notices to all mobile companies for failingto maintain the quality as per the licenceconditions.

This survey included quality of voice and SMSin 14 cities of Pakistan, AJ&K and Gilgit Baltistanincluding all major highways. This exerciseconducted by PTA's enforcement teams with thelatest automated QoS equipment.

PTA has been conducting this surveythroughout the last year and shared results of firstthree quarters with the operators with directionsto improve their services. The final comprehensivesurvey was conducted in the fourth quarter of2009.

While talking about survey results, ChairmanPTA, Dr Mohammed Yaseen said that ensuringprovision of quality services to the telecomconsumers has always been a priority of PTA. Theobjective of conducting QoS survey is to ensurethat the telecom customers are being providedwith top quality services, he added.

It may be noted that every year PTA defines itstargets and goals where QoS survey of all servicesremains one of the major activities. The aim is toensure that the telecom companies provide qualityservice as per the licence conditions andinstructions of PTA.

Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA)has formulated two sets of Key PerformanceIndicators (KPI's) to improve and monitor theQuality of Service (QoS) of "Fixed Broadband" and"GPRS/EDGE" networks.

The objective of introducing these KPIs is tocreate transparency and set monitor-ablestandards in fixed broadband and GPRS/EDGEservices hence ensuring consumers' satisfaction.Extensive consultations with the relevantoperators and stakeholders were carried out forthe development of these QoS parameters. TheKPIs were finalised after discussing the varyingviews in detail with all concerned bodies whichwere incorporated in the final version.

The KPIs have been developed throughkeeping in view their applicability, possibility ofend-to-end testing (non-intrusive for networkunder test), ease of measurement, ease ofunderstanding for a field testing person, similartreatment of rural and urban regions in terms ofservice offerings and a push for futureimprovement in wireless broadband networking.

The KPIs' suite envelops parameters like networkavailability, service availability, link speed, retain-ability, bandwidth, contention ratio, round triptime, tariff comparison, customer servicecomplaints, billing complaints and serviceprovisioning complaints, as appropriate.

It may be mentioned that GPRS (GeneralPacket Radio service) and EDGE (Enhanced Datarate for GSM Evolution) are GSM wireless packet

data transfer standards commonly referred to as2.5G and 2.75G respectively. Using thesenetworks; services like internet connectivity,push-based email solutions with attachmentfacility, pull-based services, instant messenger etcare being offered to help in accessing personal orofficial information while roaming locally orglobally. Better GPRS/EDGE networks are also

necessary for introduction of more innovativevalue added services (VAS) in future.

PTA has been striving to serve the telecom andICT sector of Pakistan for its growth anddevelopment through different initiatives.Introduction of KPI's for Broadband Services is aneffort to achieve PTA's vision of "ProtectingConsumer Interest and Ensuring High QualityICT Services". �


12

Telepedia Flare Report

Celcos questioned forcompromising quality

This survey includes qualityof voice and SMS in 14

cities of Pakistan, AJ&K andGilgit Baltistan including all

major highways. This exercise conducted by

PTA's enforcement teamswith the latest automated

QoS equipment

Senate Standing Committee on IT and tele-com has hailed PTA's issuance of notices to fivemobile phone operators on failing to meet thebenchmark results of quality of service survey asper licence terms and conditions.

The Committee considered this initiative asbeneficial for the mobile phone subscribers in itsmeeting held to review the performance of Pak-istan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) onprotecting telecom consumers’ rights.

Chairman PTA, Dr Muhammed Yaseenbriefed the committee on PTA's procedures ofmonitoring Quality of Service (QoS) of all tele-

com services to ensure that the consumers’ rightscould be protected. He informed the committeethat Lirne Asia and other international forumsthat monitor regulators' performance worldwidehave rated PTA as one of the best in the regionon regulatory measures.

Chairman of the Committee, Senator IdreesKhan Shafi and other members including Senator Salim Saifullah, Senator Zahid Khan,Senator Moula Baksh Chandio, Senator FaisalRaza Abidi, Senator Mrs. Farhat Abbasi and Sen-ator Mrs. Fauzia Fakhar-ur-zaman have hailedPTA's performance.

The notices have been issued on the basis of the recently concluded Quality of Service (QoS) Survey of

mobile phone operators. The results were also shared with the mobile phone companies along with instructions to

improve their service quality

Senate hailed PTA for show cause notices

Last year Pakistan TelecommunicationAuthority (PTA) kept keen eye on theperformance of all those companies thatare offering telecom, whether cellular or

landline, services nationwide. Quality of Service (QoS) Survey of Cellular

Mobile Operators was conducted throughNEMO TOOL by all the zones at Rawalpindi,Islamabad, Gilgit, Muzaffarabad, Mirpur,Peshawar, Abbottabad, Lahore, Faisalabad,Multan, Quetta, Sibbi , Karachi , Hyderabad andSukkur.

The parameters checked during the surveywere Network Accessibility, ServiceAccessibility, Access Delay (Call Set Up Time),Retain ability (Call Dropping), Voice Qualityand SMSs. Out of these parameters, some werefound as improved while the others remainedunchanged.

During the reported period, the PTA carriedout a series of three surveys on pre-active SIMssale at registered sale points. In each survey, asample of around 20 - 100 pre-active SIMs,where available, was collected from differentregistered retailers.

During the survey, a total of 17 cities werevisited and 439 pre-actives SIMs werepurchased. It was found that after the issuanceof Enforcement Order to all the mobilecompanies and the raids conducted by the PTAfield officers along with FIA, the situationconsiderably improved.

The PTA also conducted CMTOs CallCentres Survey in Lahore, Karachi andRawalpindi to check/verify internal verificationprocedures of non-activated SIMs. The surveyrevealed that Mobile companies were adheringto PTA’s SOP.

A joint survey by PTA and FAB was carriedout to check the power level of BTSs transmittersand receivers and other parameters to ensurecompliance of clause 10 (1) of the “Protectionfrom Health Effects of Radio Base StationAntennas Regulations, 2008”. The survey wasconducted from April 1, 2009 to June 30, 2009.

The results revealed that power level of allthe BTSs surveyed was within the limits. In

order to gauge the Quality of Service (QoS)being offered by cellular operators to Pakistanistravelling abroad, PTA conducted a limited QoStest (Phase-I) in 2006-07.

Later in 2009 PTA initiated an in-depthsurvey with a reasonably good sample size (forthe frequently visited countries) for billing errorrate, voice quality, CLI display, call completionratios, SMS delivery and corresponding delaysand also on enhancing its KPIs.

During the period under review Quality ofService Survey of ISPs was conducted by ZonalOffices in seventeen cities. The comparison ofthe results of ISP Survey 2007 and 2008 has beengiven in Table - 3. In this survey a significantimprovement was observed in Quality ofService when compared to the last year.

The survey result of Cellular Mobile Qualityof Service depicts that Warid has maintainedwith a dignity its service accessibility in all citiesi.e. Islamabad/Rawalpindi 100 per cent, GajarKhan 100 per cent, Jehlum 97.95 per cent, Lahore99.09, Faisalabad 97.56 per cent, Karachi 98.67per cent, Hyderabad 99 per cent, Quetta 98 percent, Abbottabad 98.70 per cent, Nowshere 100per cent, Muzafarabad 97.55 per cent, Kotli 100per cent and Dadyal 98.33 per cent.

Telenor has remained incapable ofmaintaining its service accessibility inIslamabad/Rawalpindi 96 per cent, Jehlum97.99 per cent, Lahore 97.50 per cent, Faisalabad96.13 per cent, Nowshere 96.10 per cent, Kotli97.76 per cent and Dadyal 96.33 per cent whereUfone could not meet the mark inIslamabad/Rawalpindi where serviceaccessibility is 96.98 per cent, Muzafarabad withservice accessibility 97.55 per cent and Kotliwith 96.66 per cent service accessibility.

It is pertinent to mention that none of thecellular operator could meet the mark of voiceclarity i.e. more than three where none of thecelcos has crossed the benchmark of three whereWarid has shown highest voice clarity with 2.90speech quality in Dadyal.

Now PTA is in action and trying its level bestto regularise the telecommunication servicesand it is hoped that 2010 will be a new beginningin the performance of cellular operators. �


13

Flare Report Telepedia

The parameters checked during the survey were NetworkAccessibility, Service Accessibility, Access Delay (CallSet Up Time), Retain ability (Call Dropping), Voice Qual-ity and SMSs. Out of these parameters some were foundas

PTA initiated an in-depthsurvey with a reasonablygood sample size (for the

frequently visited countries)for billing error rate, voicequality, CLI display, callcompletion ratios, SMS

delivery and correspondingdelays and also onenhancing its KPIs

2009: PTA surveyedtele-services


14

Event Flare Report

Cricketer & Mobilink Brand Ambassador Wasim Akram

at the Jazz 'Avatar' screening with family.

Hasan, Sheharbano Zaidi & Nadeem Mandviwalla

present at the Jazz 'Avatar' screening.

Muneeb Nawaz with Jazz Brand Ambassador Ali Zafar

at the screening of 'Avatar'.

Guests in a cheerful mood present at the

Jazz 'Avatar' screening.

Ahmed Butt, Waqar Hamza & Fawwad Khan (EP)

present at the Jazz 'Avatar' screening.

Maria B, Wasif Mustafa & Najia Wasif at the


Fizza Ali expressing her views with Media at the


Head of Jazz Communications Ali Murtaza along with

Jazz Brand Ambassador Ali Zafar.

Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilanisaid that telecom sector in Pakistan hasmade enormous progress and theperformance indicators are showing

encouraging signs. He said tele-density, whichwas merely 2.3 per cent in 1999-2000, has nowsoared to 62.4 per cent, which is highest in theSouth Asian Region.

The total number of fixed and mobilesubscribers has reached around 102.16 millionwhile broadband connectivity has increased to 0.5million and is still showing a rapid increase, headded.

The Prime Minister expressed these views ina meeting with a delegation of HuaweiTechnologies headed by its CEO, August Ye,which called on him prior to the signing ofagreement between COMSATS Institute of IT andHuawei Technologies at the PM's House inIslamabad.

He said that information and communicationtechnology sector is considered as the engine ofgrowth and socio-economic development ofcountries all over the world. He said nowdevelopment of the countries is being measuredin terms of their potential and performance in thissector. New technologies and innovative ITapplications are transforming national andinternational economies.

The Prime Minister said that in order to caterfor the growing needs of telecom industry,quality human resource, especially, IT andtelecom specialists are of vital importance.

In this regard Government of Pakistan isplacing special emphasis on enhancing thecapacity of technical institutions, besidesundertaking Research and Developmentprogrammes in well-reputed institutions ofhigher education in Pakistan, the cornerstone ofour education, and IT polices, he added.

The Prime Minister appreciated that HuaweiTelecom is contributing significantly towards thecapacity building of engineering universities ofPakistan. Huawei has already established an ITCentre for Research and Development in theUniversity of Engineering and TechnologyLahore at a cost of over USD eight million.

Gilani was informed that now Huawei Tech isrendering assistance to establish one more IT andtelecom centre in COMSATS, Islamabad. Thecentre will serve as the seat of advanced learningand skill development of telecommunicationprofessionals. It will enable the students ofregional universities to well-equip with latesttechniques and technologies.

In addition to these initiatives, Huaweitechnologies have also committed to deliver theIT and telecom equipment worth USD one millionto improve the functionalities of ElectronicGovernment Directorate.

The Prime Minister said that Government ofPakistan recognises the valuable contributionbeing made by our time tested and all timesfriend China, and especially by HuaweiTechnology for capacity building in the field of ITand telecom technologies. He anticipated thatsynergy with Huawei Technologies wouldstrengthen Pakistan's R&D capabilities and hopedthat COMSATS Institute of informationtechnology in collaboration with other regionaluniversities would make benefit of this newfacility.

He asked the Ministry of IT to make concertedefforts to promote ICT applications and to

promote sustainable technological developmentin the country.

August Ye, CEO Huawei, assured the PrimeMinster that Huawei being a reliable and trustfulpartner of the Government of Pakistan and itstelecom companies would continue providingadvance technology in future. He informed thePrime Minister that Huawei established itsPakistan office in 1998 and is now havingtechnology cooperation with Pakistaniorganisations.

Huawei Pakistan is the leading telecom E2E

solution provider and has more than 1600employees which are composed of over 1,400Pakistanis. Huawei is the only vendor whichserves all the mainstream telecom operators of thecountry.

He further apprised the Prime Minister thatHuawei a world leading telecom solutionsprovider has achieved a target of over USD 30

billion in 2009 and ranks top three in worldtelecom industry.

On the occasion of signing ceremony betweenHuawei Pakistan and COMSATS Institute ofInformation Technology for setting up the secondjoint IT centre in Islamabad at a cost of USD 4.7million, the PM said that increased cooperation inscience and technology between Pakistan andChina would further strengthen their ties andbenefit the people of both countries.

The meeting was attended by Minister forInformation and Broadcasting, Qamar ZamanKaira, Minister for Petroleum, Syed NaveedQamar, Minister for Privatisation, Senator WaqarAhmad Khan, Secretary IT and SecretaryPrivatisation. Chinese Ambassador in Pakistan,Lou Zhaohui was also present during the meeting.

Under the agreement, Huawei will set up anintegrated platform for telecom engineers andstudents of the twin cities of Rawalpindi andIslamabad to focus on Research and Developmentactivities, and to keep abreast of the cutting edgetechnologies in the industry. Huawei’s existing setup at UET Lahore has gifted it latest telecomequipment and laboratory. Over 3000 studentshave received training at this centre.

Huawei is currently meeting 70 per cent needsof world's top 50 telecom companies including theBT, Vodafone, Telefonica, Orange and T-Mobile.In Pakistan it is providing telecom solution andequipment to PTCL, Ufone, Telenor, Warid, Zong,NTC, NLC and SCO. �


16

InsighT Flare Report

PM applauses Huawei forservices in telecom and IT

The total number of fixedand mobile subscribers has

reached around 102.16 million while broadband

connectivity has increasedto 0.5 million and is still

showing a rapid increase

Islamabad: PM Yousaf Raza Gilani having a meeting with CEO, Hauwei Technologies August Yo

at Prime Minister’s House.

Under the agreement, Huawei will set up an integratedplatform for telecom engineers and students of the twincities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad to focus on Researchand Development activities, and to keep abreast of thecutting edge technologies in the industry

Pakistan is a strange land where almostevery boon is present in abundance.However the utilization of opportunitieshas remained controversial. In a

likewise pattern, the markets of Pakistan areamong those charming places of investment thathave been badly exploited.

In a brief span of 62 years the industries ofPakistan have impressively flourished. Thetextile industry, the agricultural sector, thebanking sector, the fields of informationtechnology (IT) and telecom are among thedepartments that have made unique progress.

The progress of telecom sector is my point ofconcern in this article. Those foreign companiesthat once bothered to invest in the telecom sectorare nowadays making heaps of money.Although the trend of foreign direct investment(FDI) has decreased in 2009, the investmentsmade prior to 2009 have proved themselves asuccess. Mobilink has remained successful inscoring the lion’s share of telecom sector whereWarid, Telenor, Ufone and Zong are not farbehind in the race of celcos.

The telecom operators have adopted differentways for making their path smooth.Interestingly, Pakistan Telecommunication

Company Limited (PTCL) is the largest landlineoperator where Ufone is the subsidiary of PTCL.The practices of Ufone are different from thoseof PTCL. I want to highlight a recent offer byUfone in the perspective of charges on balanceinquiries made by Ufoners.

Months back, Ufone imposed Rs 0.60 chargeson the balance inquiry. Regardless of the protestregistered by the users of Ufone nationwide thecompany kept on the charges. And now aftersubsequent delay the company has introduced

“Call Summery Alerts” in order to strengthen itsrevenue.

It is shameful to see that Ufone has adoptedsuch deceitful manners to generate revenuewhile forgetting that the users of today are well-aware of their rights and are not an easy prey.Now Ufone is offering a package of obtainingDelivery Reports of SMS at certain charges permonth. It is pertinent to mention that monthsago Ufone cut off the facility of delivery reportsin order to improve its network.

Ufone is introducing the service “CallSummary Alerts” that offers call duration, callcost and remaining balance at the end of eachcall - a service that costs Rs 10 plus tax permonth.

A number of customers may not need thepackage especially those who check their

balance once a day. In caseyou check your balance twicea day, it means 60 times amonth that is 60 multiplied by0.12 (the charges of balanceinquiry plus tax) and you willbe charged Rs 7.2 per monthfor checking your balance

twice a day, where this service will cost youabout Rs 12.

It is worth mentioning here that Warid offerssame service free of cost, i.e. at the end of eachcall remaining balance is displayed along withremaining SMS - in case the user is subscribed toany daily or weekly SMS bucket.

For subscribing you can call 127 and followthe procedure to activate Ufone Call SummaryAlerts. After successful subscription, callsummary will be received in following format asa flash message: Call Duration: …sec, Call Cost:Rs… Balance: Rs..

In case you are not satisfied and want todeactivate the service then call 127 and followthe procedure to cut off the alerts. Rs 10 plus taxis charged for monthly subscription and in case the applicant has less balance then Rs 3 plus tax is charged for weekly basis. In case of having lessbalance daily charges of Rs 0.50 plus tax arecharged.

In case you are subscribed to voice bundlethen you can not receive these SMS alerts untilyour free minutes expire. It seems as if thecompany has left the subscriber with no way toescape.

I think it is time that Ufone must realise thatthe subscribers are no more innocent. Now theyknow what to pick and why. Today people arevery sensible and curious about their spending.Ufone must remain fair in its dealings andofferings in order to improve its tarnishreputation. �


17


Ufone to robUfoners once againA number of customers may not need the package especially those who check their balance once a day. In case you check your balance twice a day, it means 60times a month that is 60 multiplied by 0.12 (the chargesof balance inquiry plus tax) and you will be charged Rs7.2 per month for checking your balance twice a daywhere this service will cost you about Rs 12

Warid offers same servicefree of cost, i.e. at the end

of each call remainingbalance is displayed along

with remaining SMS - incase the user is subscribed

to any daily or weekly SMS bucket

The internet is “an international computernetwork through which computer usersall over the world can communicate andexchange information and ideas.” It is

now widely used and has made the exchange ofinformation in all the arts and sciences easy andfast. For the fastest and instant communication ofall kinds of documents and data of every kind, thee-mail is in use within the framework of theinternet. The memory of the computer is one ofits main functions. All kinds of information andfacts can be stored in a computer for further use.

So a small disk or cassette can have materialthat many books and hundreds of files mightcontain. Whole libraries can be computerised.Now, in our country, the record of all thecountry’s identity cards is computerised. Therecord of millions of hospital patients,expenditure on defence and different governmentdepartments and budget figures, besides otherkinds of details, is recorded in computers.

The telecom and IT exhibition held in Lahoreat a local hotel where large number of peoplevisited and showed marvellous interest to thedisplayed items especially in laptops.

Development Times organised the event incollaboration with Institute ofTelecommunication Engineers Pakistan.Cooperation for the event was extended byPakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA),Government of Pakistan and Engineers StudyForum.

A sizeable number of organisations, ITcompanies, universities and telecom groups wereexhibited in the Expo including, PunjabInformation Technology Department, PakistanSoftware Export Board Government of Pakistan,

Telecom Foundation Group, University ofEngineering and Technology Lahore, Universityof Central Punjab, overseas companies andleading software IT groups.

Theme of the conference was developmentand investment in telecom and IT sector whichcontribute a big share in the GDP of our nationaleconomy, experts made technical presentationson various subjects based on updates review and

futurist approach.The Punjab government has completed an

uphill task of setting up IT Labs in minimum timein 4286 schools of the province. In Punjab, eachschool will be furnished with a 15-seat computerlab, which will be run on three desktop PCs and12 NComputing virtual desktops that will beconnected to the PCs. In addition to reducingpurchase costs, electricity usage for these labs will

be 90 per cent lower than a traditional all-PCcomputer lab.

Punjab Chief Minister, Muhammad ShahbazSharif while talking on the occasion said thegovernment has not only laid the foundation of arevolution in education sector but millions ofstudents will also have an access to the changingsituation of the world and modern knowledgethrough this project. He appreciated the efforts ofAdditional Chief Secretary and Project DirectorJaved Aslam, Chief Secretary Javed Mahmoodand the entire team for completing the IT Labsproject in a transparent manner and minimumperiod.

He also inspected stalls set up by variousinternational and local IT companies in the fairand evinced keen interest in it. He said that theworld has become a global village in the presentscenario, therefore, it is imperative to equip theyoung generation with this technology for thedevelopment of the country. He said that keepingin view the importance of IT, the project of IT

Labs has been completed speedily. The Chief Minister of Punjab said that an

agreement had been singed with Microsoft in1998 for the promotion of IT in the province butdue to toppling of the democratic government bya dictator, this project could not be completed. Hesaid that now again an agreement is being madewith Microsoft and soon a delegation will alsovisit Punjab with regard to this agreement. Heextended his gratitude to those international

companies that have extendedcooperation for setting up IT Labs.

The Chief Minister said thatcomputers and other facilitieshave been provided in these Labsunder a complete package whichincludes provision of computers,training of master trainers, aftersale service and all other matters.He said that there is a need ofpromoting IT in agriculture,livestock industry, health andother sectors and hoped that 3.4million students to be benefitedfrom IT Labs annually will playtheir due role in the developmentof these sectors.

A talented student Arfa Karimwho showed best performance inIT sector and got Microsoft

certificate at a very young age paid rich tributeto the Chief Minister of Punjab on the steps takenfor the promotion of IT in the province.

Later, the Chief Minister gave away shields tothe government officers and representatives ofthe companies who took part in the IT Labsproject whereas Arfa Karim presented shield tothe Chief Minister. �

through this project. He appreciated the efforts ofAdditional Chief Secretary and Project DirectorJaved Aslam, Chief Secretary Javed Mahmoodand the entire team for completing the IT Labsproject in a transparent manner and minimumperiod.

international and local IT companies in the fairand evinced keen interest in it. He said that theworld has become a global village in the presentscenario, therefore, it is imperative to equip theyoung generation with this technology for thedevelopment of the country. He said that keepingin view the importance of IT, the project of IT


18


IT labs – the beginningof a new chapter

The Chief Minister said thatcomputers and other facilities have been

provided in these Labsunder a complete packagewhich includes provision of

computers, training of master trainers, after sale

service and all other matters

There is a need of promoting IT in agriculture, livestockindustry, health and other sectors and a hope that 3.4 millionstudents to be benefited from IT Labs annually will play theirdue role in the development of these sectors

Lahore: The visitors take keen interest in the laptops displayed during

an IT exhibition at a local hotel.

Pakistan Telecommunication Authority(PTA) has, within a few years, come along way towards achieving a highlypromising telecom sector even in a

difficult economic situation in the country. Standing on the unprecedented growth

patterns of the past few years, Pakistan'stelecom scenario today presents a look of agrowing sector with the launch of a great manystate of the art services and modern telecominfrastructure. The sector is maintaining goodforeign investment and generating significanteconomic activity and huge employmentopportunities in the country.

Mobilink, Pakistan’s market leader inCellular Services and part of Orascom TelecomHolding, holds 39 per cent of the market sharein terms of revenue for the year 2009, accordingto the Annual Report 2009 issued recently by thePakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA).

In highly competitive sector, market share istermed to be a strong parameter to show degreeof competitiveness in the sector. For a long time,Mobilink remained the market leader with asignificant difference, both in terms ofsubscribers and revenues with rest of the

operators and although competition hasincreased but Mobilink has still maintained itsperformance.

In addition to holding the lion’s share interms of revenue, other favourable performancetrends sustained by Mobilink and recognised bythe report for the financial year 2009 include thehighest Average Revenue Per User, the largestnumber of post-paid connections (0.5 million),largest coverage footprint with over 7,900 cellsites and the largest franchise network (429

franchises). The report also states that Mobilink holds the

largest share in terms of subscribers with 29.14

million subscribers at the end of June 2009. It isworth highlighting that according to theAuthority’s website Mobilink has added morethan one million subscribers since July and itssubscriber base as of October 2009stands at30.28 million.

Rashid Khan, President and CEO, Mobilink,expressed satisfaction over the performance ofthe company. “2009 was a tough year for theeconomy and the country as a whole. However,the support by PTA, Ministry of IT andconsistent efforts of the employees has enabledus to successfully propel our operations in afavourable strategic direction. I would also like

to thank our loyal subscribers who continue totrust Mobilink, making it Pakistan’s largest andfavourite cellular family. 2010 is around thecorner and we look forward to continue addingvalue to the lives of our consumers throughquality of service and innovation.” �


19


Mobilink, Pakistan’s market leader in cellular services and part of Orascom Telecom Holding,holds 39 per cent of the market share in terms ofrevenue for the year 2009, according to the AnnualReport 2009 issued recently by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority

Mobilink holds the largestshare in terms of

subscribers with 29.14million subscribers at the

end of June 2009. It is worthhighlighting that accordingto the Authority’s web siteMobilink has added more

than one million subscriberssince July and its

subscriber base as ofOctober 2009 stands at

30.28 million

PTA reports Mobilink’sleadership prevails

Mobilink

30.88%

Ufone

21.20%

Zong

0.77%

Instaphone

0.04%

Warid

18.96%

Telenor

22.15%

Cellular Subscribers Market Share

Mobilink

39.20%

Ufone

18.86%Zong

3.90%

Instaphone

0.01%

Warid

18.96%

Telenor

24.27%

Cellular Revenue Share by Company

Finally United Arab Emirates inauguratedthe world's tallest building, namely, BurjKhalifa, a glistening concrete, glass andsteel pinnacle rising 828 metres out of the

desert sands in Dubai on January 4, 2010 in the firstweek of 2010.

Blistering fireworks rippled up and down themassive structure after Dubai ruler SheikhMohammad bin Rashed al-Maktoum officiallyopened it. He renamed the building, previouslyknown as Burj Dubai, Burj Khalifa in honour ofUnited Arab Emirates President Sheikh Khalifa binZayed al-Nahayan.

Sheikh Khalifa is ruler of Abu Dhabi, theemirate which came to Dubai's help late last yearto the tune of 10 billion dollars to bail out troubledproperty developer Nakheel, a subsidiary of DubaiWorld.

"Today the United Arab Emirates achieves thetallest building ever created by the hand of man...and this great project deserves to carry the name ofa great man. Today I inaugurate Burj Khalifa,"Sheikh Mohammad said.

Parachutists bearing the UAE colours of red,green, black and white then touched down as agiant portrait of Sheikh Khalifa was projected on anouter wall of the structure which cost 1.5 billiondollars to erect.

In the fireworks spectacle that followedblossoms of flames crackled up and down the hugebuilding and out into the Dubai night sky, followedlater by lasers sweeping the horizon from the manylevels of tower.

Dubai hopes the opening of the Burj Khalifa -the latest in a series of grandiose projects - willburnish an image tarnished by its crippling debtwoes.

The needle-shaped tower, described by itsdeveloper as a "vertical city" as it dwarfs existingskyscrapers, boasts new limits in design andconstruction.

Emaar Properties, the partly government-owned developer, maintained the suspense aboutthe skyscraper's final height, saying only that itexceeded 800 metres (2,625 feet). It said the tower

has more than 200 floors, only 160 of which will beinhabited, while the remaining floors are forservices.

“Burj Khalifa has a total built-up area of 5.67million square feet, including 1.85 million squarefeet of residential space and more than 300,000square feet of prime office space,” Emaar said.

This amounts to 1,044 apartments and 49 floorsof office space, served by 57 lifts. It also has a hotelcarrying the Georgio Armani logo.

Bill Baker, a structural and civil engineer andpartner in Chicago-based Skidmore, Owings andMerrill (SOM), which designed the tower, said ithas set a new benchmark.

"We thought that it would be slightly taller thanthe existing tallest tower of Taipei 101. (Emaar) kepton asking us to go higher but we didn't know howhigh we could go," he added.

"We were able to tune the building like we tunea music instrument. As we went higher and higherand higher, we discovered that by doing thatprocess... we were able to reach heights muchhigher than we ever thought we could."

A spiralling Y-shaped design by SOM architectAdrian Smith was used to support the structuralcore of the tower, which narrows as it ascends.Higher up it becomes a steel structure topped with

a huge spire. To reach the final stages, concrete waspropelled to a height of 605 metres - a world record.

The emirate narrowly escaped financialcatastrophe last month as neighbouring deep-pocketed Abu Dhabi threw it a last-minutelifeline worth 10 billion dollars to pay imminentdebt owed by Dubai World.

The group last month began negotiations withits creditors with the hope of reaching an

agreement over restructuring an accumulateddebt of USD 22 billion amassed by its troubledsubsidiaries. Dubai's total debt, mostly that of itsstate-owned companies, amounts to USD 100billion.

Abu Dhabi, and the Abu Dhabi-based centralbank of the United Arab Emirates, has alreadyextended financial aid of USD 25 billion to Dubaisince it announced early in 2009 that it needed tosort the debt problem of its firms. Dubai'seconomy was hard hit by the global financialcrisis, which turned off the tap on vital foreignfinancing badly needed for its breakneck-speedgrowth. �


20

Exclusive Flare Report

World's tallest skyscraper in Dubai

Emaar Properties, the partlygovernment-owned developer,

maintained the suspenseabout the skyscraper's finalheight, saying only that it

exceeded 800 metres (2,625feet). It said the tower has

more than 200 floors, only 160of which will be inhabited,

while the remaining floors arefor services

Today the United Arab Emirates achieves the tallest building ever created by the hand ofman... and this great project deserves to carry the name of a great man: Sheikh Mohammad

The Bank Alfalah plays an active role inpromoting healthy sports activities in thecountry and it has made a greatcontribution to the promotion of the

games. Recently, Bank Alfalah sponsored BankAlfalah Cup 2009 One-Day International cricketseries and 6th State Bank Governor's Cup Cricket.Bank Alfalah is also honoured to sponsor gameslike polo, squash, golf, car racing and wrestling.

Our new generation is not aware of desi khusti(wrestling) and Bank Alfalah has kept the oldtradition alive by sponsoring National Dangalwhere large number of people comes from allwalks of life to see the event. The final of NationalDangal, Pakistan’s traditional style of wrestling,held at the Punjab Stadium, Lahore. On theoccasion, the crowd participated enthusiastic andgave Bank Alfalah credit for sponsoring such amemorable event. People hope that Bank Alfalahwill continue to sponsor such events in future.

The competitions of local wrestling havestarted in Lahore after a long time. This will help inboosting the standard of traditional wrestling.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Abu DhabiGroup, Bashir A. Tahir said that our Group wouldcontinue to sponsor mega event of sports for thebetterment and promotion of youth in Pakistan.Wrestling and wrestlers are integral to Lahore’sculture. Some of the greatest wrestlers of theSubcontinent are born in Lahore. Rustam-e-ZamanGama Pehlwan, Rustam-e-Hind Imam Bux,

Hameeda Pehlwan, Lala Raj Pehlwan, KalaPehlwan, Bholu Pehlwan, Ghaus Pehlwan, BillaPehlwan Cahbuksawar, Kala Pehlwan Sheeshagar,Ikka Pehlwan and Achha Pehlwan are theprominent wrestlers.

Before a wrestler steps into the pit, he turns tohis white-turbaned coach and teacher - the khalifa

- to seek his permission. He asks in a voice thateveryone can hear, “Do I have permission KhalifaJi?” The khalifa picks up a bit of earth from the pit,throws it at his student’s body and says, “As Allahwills.” Every Sunday there is wrestling at VayamShala, outside Texali Gate. There still remain manypeople in Lahore who follow wrestling matchesand later talk about the contests of that day and ofdays gone by when they gather at the old city’s

hamams and sweetmeat shops. Lahore’s major wrestling contests before 1947

always used to be held in Minto Park. Largecoloured posters with pictures of the wrestlers,ceremonial maces resting against their shoulders,would be plastered on city walls. Wrestlingcontests were given special names such as ShahiDangal – or royal wrestling match – or KantadaarDangal, or the tightest of tight contests. A daybefore the dangal or contest, under the auspices ofthe munsif or judge of the show and the contractoror thekedar who had organised it, a procession ontongas was taken out through city streets, with theprincipal wrestlers perched on the front seats

wearing orange coloured and gold threadedturbans. Junior and minor wrestlers would followin the tongas behnd. The great dangals wouldengage Master Sohni’s Band which would be at thehead of the procession playing popular ditties ofthe day. Fans would stand on either side of thestreet cheering and raising slogans in praise oftheir favourite wrestler. There would also be adrumbeater in one of the front tongas makingannouncements. People would also throw flowersat the wrestlers.

The procession would stop at every majorintersection or chowk and the drumbeater wouldask for people’s attention and then say: “Kindfriends and supporters, in Data’s own backhard,this city of yours, tomorrow is to be held a grandwrestling match between Achha Gujranwalia andMad Elephant Akbar Pehlwan, patha of MehniAianiwala. Other matches will feature TonyPehlwan and Rakhho Pehlwan, the Star ofChichawatni, Jeeja Pehlwan, patha of SajjaPehlwan, and Noora Kulchafarosh. Hawai JahazPehlwan and Rocket Pehlwan will test each other’sstrength. The munsif’s decision will be final.Anyone who tries to create trouble during thematches will be handed over to police. Freeloadersare requested not to bother coming.” Fixedmatches are known as “Noora Kushti” and canlead to violent protests if the spectators, who havepaid good money to watch a fair contest, suspectthat they have been taken for a ride.

Bank Alfalah has rigorously tried to re-juvenilethe spirit of wrestling in Punjab and there effort isapplause by the enthusiastic audience. �


21

Flare Report Event

Bank Alfalah champion for uphold-ing traditional National Dangal

CEO, Abu Dhabi Group, Bashir A. Tahir said, “OurGroup would continue to sponsor mega event ofsports for the betterment and promotion of youth inPakistan. Wrestling and wrestlers are integral toPunjab’s culture”

Lahore: Minister of State for Interior, Tasneem Ahmed

Qureshi gives away cheque to the winner Basheer Bhola.

Lahore: Fahd Pervez, CEO Equity Global, Hamid Mirza,

Head of Marketing, Bank Alfalah, Nadeem Pehlwan and Ejaz

Gill address the press conference on the occasion.

Telecom major, Bharti Airtel, announcedthat it has agreed to acquire 70 per centstake in Bangladesh-based, WaridTelecom. Bharti plans to make USD 300

million fresh investment in the company thustaking the overall investment to USD onebillion. The new funding will be for capacityexpansion, coverage and innovative products.

Warid Telecom is a wholly owned subsidiaryof the Abu Dhabi Group and offers mobileservices across all the 64 districts of Bangladesh.It has a total customer base of over 2.9 million.Abu Dhabi group will continue to remain astrategic partner with balance 30 per cent stake.

According to a statement issued by BhartiAirtel, the acquisition would be partly bypurchase of existing shares held in WaridTelecom International by Abu Dhabi Group fora nominal consideration and balance by way ofissue of fresh shares at par.

"This landmark deal underlines our intent tofurther expand our operations to internationalmarkets where we can implant our uniquebusiness model and offer quality and affordabletelecom services", saus Sunil Bharti Mittal,Chairman and Managing Director, Bharti Airtel.He adds at the same time, it is symbol of thegrowing economic cooperation between theSouth Asian countries and we would like tothank the government of India and Bangladeshfor their support and encouragement.

This will be Bharti's second operationoutside India. The company launched its mobileservices in Sri Lanka in January 2009 on a state-of-art 3.5G network.

India’s top mobile operator Bharti Airtel hasnow officially announced the acquisition of 70per cent stake in Warid Telecom, coincidingwith the Bangladeshi Prime Minister SheikhHasina’s visit to India.

Airtel will buy out shares from owner Abu

Dhabi group for an unquoted “nominal” sumand also from the issue of fresh shares at par.The Dhabi group will hold 30 per cent stake andremain a strategic investor in WaridBangladesh. The group recently sold its assetsin Warid Africa to the Essar group.

While Airtel will have management andboard control of Warid, the Dhabi group willplace its nominees on the board.

Airtel will invest an initial sum of USD 300million to expand the operator’s network inBangladesh, and has plans to invest USD onebillion overall. Apart from India, Airtel also hasoperations in Sri Lanka and Seychelles. BhartiAirtel Lanka Pvt Ltd was launched in January2009 it claimed to have one million connectionsby June.

Bangladesh has a population of 160 millionof which less than half are mobile (51.4 millionmobile subscribers as of October 2009). Tele-density is at 32 per cent so there is largepotential for further coverage. Airtel’sChairman and Managing Director, Sunil BhartiMittal, has said that they’re looking to replicatethe rural drive launched in India, and forBangladesh’s tele-density to double in a few

years. Airtel set up a new unit to drive its foreign

expansion, signaling its growth ambitions areintact despite twice failing to reach a deal withSouth Africa's MTN. A day after agreeing to buycontrol of Bangladesh's Warid Telecom, Bhartisaid CEO Manoj Kohli would head the newinternational business group that would focuson expansion in emerging markets beyondSouth Asia.

"Bangladesh was the first step forward, andby making Manoj the head of internationalbusiness, they are giving a clear signal that moreacquisitions are on the cards," said R.K. Gupta,managing director at Taurus AssetManagement.

"The Indian market is kind of headingtowards saturation and potential growth isbecoming limited, and Bharti must have to lookat lesser developed markets where penetration is low," said Gupta, whose fundmanages about USD 420 million and ownsBharti shares. Deputy CEO Sanjay Kapoor will become the CEO for India andSouth Asia when the changes take effect onApril 1, 2010. �


22


Dhabi Group sells shares of Warid Telecom, Bangladesh

Airtel set up a new unit todrive its foreign expansion,

signaling its growth ambitions are intact despitetwice failing to reach a dealwith South Africa's MTN. Aday after agreeing to buycontrol of Bangladesh's

Warid Telecom, Bharti saidCEO Manoj Kohli would

head the new internationalbusiness group that would

focus on expansion inemerging markets beyond

South Asia

New Delhi: The son of Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, UAE Minister of Higher Education,

Sheikh Muhammad Nahyan Al Nahyan and Manoj Kohli, CEO Bharti Airtel, photographed during the signing

ceremony of buying 70 per cent of stakes in Warid Telecom, Bangladesh.

Warid Telecom is a wholly owned subsidiary of the AbuDhabi Group and offers mobile services across all the 64districts of Bangladesh. It has a total customer base ofover 2.9 million. Abu Dhabi group will continue to remaina strategic partner with balance 30 per cent stake

Financially speaking last year hasremained a bad year. Although the creditcrunch was recovering but the overallsituation was not very healthy. The

subscriber number has no doubt increased but theincome made by the telecom sector has notremained satisfactory. Among the main reasonfor this trend are the unstable economy of thecountry, weakening price of Pakistani rupeeagainst dollar and the vulnerable security state ofthe country.

Cellular phone operators’ average earningsfrom its subscribers failed to improve in 2009despite constant decline in tariff of telephonyservices, free minutes and SMS offers andintroduction of various value-added services.

The monthly Average Revenue per User(ARPU), the most important indicator ofoperators’ financial strength, has maintained itsdownward trend on the unexpected reducingutility of the telephony services by its subscribers.

According to the estimate of sector analystsand officials of various companies, the ARPU ofmobile phone sector is floating around USD 2.20(Rs 185) per month in 2009 - still a matter ofconcern for cellular operators - whereas themonthly ARPU was at USD 2.58 (Rs 204) by theend of 2008.

Four out of five foreign-based cellular phoneoperators conclude their financial year with theend of the calendar year, not showing anysustainability in the average income ofsubscribers in the last three quarters as comparedto the previous year. Nonetheless the

consumption pattern of the services still lackluster in the remaining last quarter according tothe various officials of the cellular phoneoperators.

Every operator has its individual ARPUcalculated on quarterly basis on its overallconnections, consumption of different services byits users - voice and non-voice. Unending

competition among the operators on price-warand telephony services, economic slowdown,impact of high inflation and load-shedding,higher general sales tax (GST) on the services anddevaluation of the rupee against dollar were themajor causes translating utility of the servicestowards decline gradually, as a matter of factmajority of the prepaid connection holders arelow-income users.

Particularly the GST on the services was thehighest at 21 per cent in the first half of thecalendar year, which is the second half of the

financial year in the country, however the slightcut in GST by 1.5 per cent to 19.5 per cent has castno sign of recovery on rupee despite companiesresorted to slash their calling rates.

The second most important factor is the rupeedepreciation against dollar, which has recorded6.4 per cent decline from 2008. The dollar wasregistered at Rs 79.16 by the end of 2008, which isnow at Rs 84.30 by 2009-end.

JS Research telecom analyst Mustafa Bilwanisaid the operators’ inactive and dormantsubscribers have kept them in the red zone, whichhas also ceased their monthly ARPU growth inthe current calendar year. He added thecontraction of subscribers’ base after rectificationof SIM’s database will help operator calculatingfair monthly ARPU and their cost of services thatmay lead to positive earning growths in thefuture.

Bilwani added that operators ARPUs havebottomed out after cut in calling rates, bundleSMS offers and value-added services, whichwould likely to sustain and start recovering in thenext quarters of 2010. Mobile banking and dailySMS bundle offers have been introduced in 2009that are expected to strengthen operators’ nextyear. Besides, operators have earned handsomemoney on the traffic of SMS on Eid and otherfestivals and imposed 10 paisa charges on theinquiry of balance on their network for generatingrevenues in the closing years.

Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA)commented in its analytical annual report 2009that operators have to focus on more value-addedservices in order to increase their income fromsubscribers because higher voice usage throughcalls is not sufficient for improving ARPUs.

The overall cellular phone connections haverisen to 96.7 million with the tele-densitytouching 59.03 per cent by the end of November2009. Mobilink subscribers base increased to 30.48million followed by Telenor at 22.27 million.Warid, Ufone and Zong users recorded at 18.71million, 18.36 million and 6.862 millionrespectively by the end of November 2009.

It is hoped that with the dawn of 2010 thesector will see improved growth and increasedARPU as the international economy is gettingstable and it is expected that the security andeconomic issues of national concern will beresolved soon. �


24

Telepedia Farooq Malik

Looming ARPU in 2009

Unending competitionamong the operators on price

and telephony services,economic slowdown, impact

of high inflation and load-shedding, higher general

sales tax (GST) on theservices and devaluation of

the rupee against dollar werethe major causes translating

utility of the services towardsdecline gradually, as a matter

of fact majority of theprepaid connection holders

are low-income users

The ARPU of mobile phone sector was floatingaround USD 2.20 (Rs 185) per month in 2009 - still amatter of concern for cellular operators - whereas themonthly ARPU was at USD 2.58 (Rs 204) by the endof 2008

Earth of today is far different andimproved as compared to the planetthat existed centuries ago. Have a lookaround and you will discover that the

world has transformed into something that wasunimaginable decades ago. The world ofcommunication, the world of advertisement aswell as the mode of business have emerged withnovel tactics.

You may wonder at what will be the firstreaction of a person who died some decades agoand is sent back to the world. He or she may dieof surprise. Alas they have not survived towitness the greatest revolutions in the history ofmankind. The technological revolution of todaywas not even exaggerated in the Hollywoodmovies. The best thing human beings have comeacross is the invention of cyber space.

The world has literally transformed over thelast few years and the credit goes to internet.Internet is not only the back bone of developingcountries but also outsource to the talentreservoir of developing world. The luxury ofonce has now become a necessity for successand growth in every walk of life.

Pakistan is a developing nation wherepolitical instability and turmoil has become acommon phenomenon. Despite of all theproblems faced by this nation, its growth in the

internet world is staggering and comparablewith the most progressive nation. Given thedirection in which the world is going, the trendwill only continue and accelerate.

According to the Morgan Stanley Report,Pakistan is within the top five countries with thehighest addition of internet users. From 2006 to2009, there has been more than 50 per centaddition in the number of internet users.Though internet penetration is still quite low inour part of the world as not everyone can afforda computer but internet cafes popped upeverywhere just like mushrooms to fill the void,hence internet is within everyone’s reach andfor everyone’s benefit.

This growing trend can be witnessed in thecellular sector where the number of subscribersis increasing at an exponential rate. The boomhas definitely reached Pakistan or in otherwords it worked as a big bang in Pakistan.

An anonymous philosopher once said,“Legalise it or I will advertise it”. Dynamics ofmarketing and advertising changedphenomenally over the last few years. From onenational television and handful newspapers,today countless channels and a good number ofnewspapers along with numerous mediums ofcommunication have come into being.

Traditional marketing and advertising has

become stale and lack novelty. With a variety ofoptions and opportunities, the internet hasbecome the unique and innovative advertisingmedium. The medium provides prospects for allkinds of businesses and their respectivecommunication, but it also presents a mean toflaunt the message incorporating creativeingenuity and distinctiveness.

As the rules clearly state that there are norules in advertising but logic has it, a campaignmust appeal to the targeted audience and theyshould be able to associate with it. Inconventional ways of advertisement:

• Message is delivered to the masses in astatic form involving negligible levels of userinteraction and not targeting specific audience.

• Not only is the time and cost to marketthrough these mediums is very high but it isalso impossible to measure its effectiveness.

• If any campaign is launched via suchmediums ignite negative reaction then it isagain costly to react, recall, revise and re-launch.

Comparing the conventional mediums withthe digital ones it is clear:

• Provides targeted advertising and anymessage can be customised according to thetarget audience.

• Any campaign can be launched fortesting then revised and re-launched in a coupleof days.

• Furthermore, with verifiable andtransparent reporting tools, it is easy to measurethe effectiveness and performance of anycampaign.

Although the internet usage is growing at avery fast rate in Pakistan, marketers mostly areunaware of the advertising opportunitiesassociated with this medium. Compared toother nations, we are still lagging in thisdomain.

Considering the fact that UK onlinespending has exceeded spending on traditionaladvertising mediums, Pakistan is nowhere inpar. With mostly telecom operators taking thelead in this domain, it is time that organisationstake full advantage of this medium as well.

Together with print and television a brandshould be activated through internet. No matterhow much we disagree but it is true thatfrequency sells and with the changing lifestyleof an average Pakistani, how ingrained thismedium has become in our lives, digitalmarketing is the next step which marketers haveto take. Pakistan has so far managed to playsignificant role in the realm of informationtechnology and will improve its stature with thepassage of time. �


25

Flare Report InsighT

The digital domain of life

You may wonder at what will be the first reaction of a person who died some decades ago and is sent back tothe world. He or she may die of surprise. Alas they havenot survived to witness the greatest revolutions in thehistory of mankind. The technological revolution of todaywas not even exaggerated in the Hollywood movies. The best thing human beings have come across is the invention of cyber space

Although the internet usageis growing at a very fast rate

in Pakistan, marketersmostly are unaware of theadvertising opportunities

associated with thismedium. Compared to othernations, we are still lagging

in this domain


26

Event Flare Report

Aqib Zulfiqar GM Finance Wateen Telecom pulls a shottowards the boundary.

Fawad Malik Captain Wateen Team hits for a four.Amir Rao Head of Motorola (Pakistan) during one of his

finest shots.

Wateen team celebrates a crucial dismissal.Man of the match, Masood Butt receives trophy from Mr

Rao Amir Head of Motorola (Pakistan) for his brilliant 85.

Fawad Malik Captain Wateen Team receives winner’s trophy from Mr Rao Amir Head of Motorola (Pakistan) and

Mr Aqib Zulfiqar GM Finance Wateen Telecom.

Mr Ali khan Captain of Motorola Team receives runner’s uptrophy from Mr Rao Amir Head of Motorola (Pakistan) and

Mr Aqib Zulfiqar GM Finance Wateen Telecom.

Wateen Cricket Team in a group photograph. Both teams shake hands after the match.

At the time of independence, Pakistaninherited a meagre 14,000 land lines.Now, there are over 94 million mobilephone connections in the country. The

huge growth in Pakistan's telecom sector ischaracteristic of many developing countries. Butthere are few other places where phone calls andconnections have had such an impact on a nation'sforeign policy, crime, pop culture,entrepreneurship, and more. From fixed line to mobile phone

Pakistan’s phone system was founded incolonial times. The telecom base put in place bythe British Post, Telegraph, and TelephoneDepartment (later to become the PakistanTelegraph and Telephone Department or the T&T)was primarily meant to serve the administrativesetup of the country. “The colonial infrastructure,although limited, was there. It was efficient andjust needed expansion step by step,” explainsMohammad Sharfuddin, a former assistantdirector of the Pakistan TelecommunicationsLimited (PTCL) who remained with the companyfor 37 years.

Sharfuddin recalls that when he came toPakistan in 1949, Karachi, then capital of thecountry, had five telephone exchanges inoperation: the Cantt Exchange, the GardenExchange, the Central Exchange on Bolton Road,the Trunk Exchange on I.I. Chundrigar Road, andthe Park Capital Exchange at Sabzi Mandi. “Allhad a 1,100 to 1,200 line capacity and you couldget a set and connection for about Rs 179,” herecalls.

The 1980s saw heavy capital investment todevelop the telephone sector, which eventuallyresulted in the formation of PakistanTelecommunication Corporation Limited (PTCL)and the introduction of cellular mobile services inthe 1990s, albeit for only a limited period. It wasthe first major stride that culminated, during thelast decade, in one of the biggest telecom boomsin the world.

In 1990s, three mobile telecom operators(Paktel, Ufone, and Mobilink) were present inPakistan. However, exorbitant connection fees,airtime charges, and billing on incoming calls keptmobile penetration at a meagre 0.2 per cent untilthe end of the decade. The Pakistan Telecom

Authority (PTA) introduced a calling party pays(CPP) policy in 2001, which resulted in industrycompetition that helped increase mobilepenetration to 5.28 per cent in 2004. Theintroduction of two new telecom operators inearly 2005 led to fiercer competition, cheaperconnections, and affordable handsets. By July2006, overall tele-density in Pakistan stood at 46.9per cent, of which only 3.3 per cent was due tofixed line services. Dialling diplomacy

Of course, before leapfrogging into the mobileera, phone connections in Pakistan have played amajor role in shaping society, influencing politics,directing foreign policy and more. Long before theNawaz Sharif-Atal Bihari Vajpayee hotline (whichlater became the Pervez Musharraf-Vajpayeehotline) made headlines in the 1990s, thetelephone was being used by Mohammed AliJinnah, the first Governor General of Pakistan, and

India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru tocalm communal tensions in the post-Partitionenvironment. “Nehru was in fact the firstprominent leader to have called Jinnah afterindependence,” recalls Mian Ata Rabbani, the firstaide-de-camp to Jinnah. “Riots, finances, andborder issues were all on the agenda,” he adds.

Two decades later, in 1970, the Americans‘called’ upon Pakistan, this time to normalise itsstrained diplomatic relations with China.Pakistan’s then President Yahya Khan wasapproached by US President Richard M. Nixon tostart a dialogue with China. President Khanconducted his role of intermediary largely on the

phone, flying to the US and China after theground work for talks was laid. Wing to wing

East and West Pakistan were also ‘connected’in June 1970, President Yahya Khan laid thefoundation for satellite communication at DehMandro, near Karachi, following a similar movein the Chittagong Hill Tracts in East Pakistan. “Iam sure that satellite communication will play asignificant role in creating a feeling of unity andopenness among our people and in speeding upthe process of inter-wing integration,” Khan saidat the time. However, noble the intention by thispoint the gulf between the two wings was toogreat. Khan’s policy of governing the eastern wingusing telephonic channels failed to have anyimpact. East Pakistan, agitated by the socio-economic neglect by the central government in thewestern wing, eventually slipped out of Khan’scontrol as he tried to govern it over the phone. Theagitation flared into a bloody struggle andeventually resulted in the formation ofBangladesh on March 25, 1971. Instanappings

But all was not fun and games as far as phoneswere concerned. In 1991, Instaphone, a subsidiaryof Millicom International Cellular based inLuxembourg, started the first mobile phoneservice in Pakistan. The huge mobile phone setsthat came with the service were outlandish, astatus symbol that only the wealthy could afford.But this luxury was to soon be the undoing ofmany wealthy businessmen who were kidnappedfor ransom in droves. The police soon determinedthat the kidnappers, armed with the new phonetechnology themselves, could track and pinpointthe location of high-value targets as well as usemobile technology to better coordinate the pick-ups. As a result of the spikes in kidnappings, themobile phone service was phased out by thegovernment of Pakistan in the mid-1990s, though,sadly, kidnappings for ransom remained aconstant.

When Pakistan lost the World Cup cricketquarter final to India in Bangalore, our playersreceived innumerable death threats - all via theirphones. Many changed their numbers andrequested police protection, but largely lived infear. Wasim Akram, the captain of the team who


28

Exclusive Taimur Sikander

According to the message,the calls could be a remote

trigger for a terrorist attack oreven a suicide bombing. The

fear that phones control us – rather than the other way

around – is an indication ofhow deeply embedded theyare in Pakistani culture and

society

Indeed, Alexander Graham Bell probably never imagined that his invention could one daybring Pakistan and India to the brink of war, as almost happened on November 27, 2008,when a jailed militant made hoax phone calls from his prison cell to the presidency

Timeline of telecom in Pakistan


29

Taimur Sikander Exclusive

was injured for the quarter final was the worstaffectee: his father was kidnapped. As had becomethe norm by the mid-1990s, deliberations with thekidnappers and the police continued over thephone and Akram's father was released a daylater. Politics over the phone

Meanwhile, politicians began to takeadvantage of the reach of communicationtechnology. After fleeing Karachi for Britain in1992, the chief of the Muttahida QaumiMovement, Altaf Hussain, ensured that hispresence was still felt in the country thanks to longdistance phone calls. In the mid-1990s, he kickedoff what are still regular ‘telephonic addresses’,attended by thousands of party workers in pin-drop silence. “The authorities keep cutting me offand making noise on the line, but mostly we getthrough,” Hussain said of his attempts to garnersupport for the MQM during the 1996 elections viaphone addresses. Even in the present era of videoconferencing, Skype, and live streaming online,Hussain's supporters’ old-fashioned technique ofattaching loud speakers to the receiver of thetelephone still draws huge crowds. Calling a coup

While phone calls no doubt helped orchestratethe many military coups that have punctuatedPakistani history, the true potential of thetelephone in staging a coup was realised in 1999.On October 12 that year, Nawaz Sharif, then prime

minister of Pakistan, tried to remove GeneralPervez Musharraf as the army chief and appointZiauddin Butt in his place. Musharraf, who was inSri Lanka, boarded a commercial airliner to returnto Pakistan, but Sharif had the Karachi airportsealed to prevent the plane landing, routing it toNawab Shah Airport instead. But GeneralMusharraf phoned top army generals from theplane, commanding them to oust Sharif'sadministration. General Musharraf then assumedpower for the following nine years. A threat on the line

Can one phone call forever alter the course ofa nation’s domestic and foreign policy? InPakistan’s case, the answer to that question is aresounding yes. Days after the attacks on the TwinTowers in New York on September 11, 2001,General Musharraf’s intelligence directorreportedly received a late-night call in which theUS government threatened to bomb Pakistan “intothe Stone Age” if it failed to cooperate. The threatwas made by then US deputy secretary of stateRichard Armitage, who contacted the Pakistaniadministration in the lead up to the invasion ofAfghanistan in 2001. PTCL as the moral police

In the past decade – the era of mobileconnectivity in Pakistan – SMS text messages havehad the same social impact that fixed line phonesdid in the 1970s and 1980s. The perceived powerof communication via SMS can be judged by thegovernment’s many attempts to monitor andcontrol text messaging. In 2003, for example, civilrights activists cried foul when words such asMMA, Shia, and Balochistan were blocked inmobile text messages.

Again, in 2009, the promulgation of the PakistanElectronic Crimes Ordinance (legislation aimed atcurtailing cyber crimes) had many concerned – andoutraged – that they could face 14 years’imprisonment for sending offensive text messages.The ordinance barred using digital devices andinternet or communications services to criticise thestate or rulers. The Federal Investigation Agencyalso formed a special cell to monitor text messages

for content that was offensive to the Pakistanileadership – a move that caused widespreadconcern about the FIA’s growing powers and theinfringement of the Pakistani public’s privacy.

At the same time, text messages were also used

in a revolutionary way, particularly during themovement in 2007 to restore Chief Justice IftikharChaudhry, deposed from his post by GeneralMusharraf. On July 20, 2007, when the JusticeChaudhry was first reinstated to his position, 400million SMS messages were sent nationwide, whichaccording to the PTA is the highest number of

messages sent in one day in Pakistan. Later that year, after General Musharraf

imposed emergency rule on November 3, bloggers,activists and community organisers used SMS tocoordinate protests and send updates on thepolitical situation since most of the media channelswere blocked. Indeed, the threat of mobile phoneswas such that the government used jammers at theSupreme Court, protest sites, and the homes ofopposition politicians and lawyers.

Since then, SMS text messages have been a vitaltool for spreading knowledge about and organisingprotests during lawyers’ movements to restore thechief justice in 2008 and 2009. Terrorists with telephones

While previously a tool for diplomacy, phonesmost recently have strained relations between long-time rivals Pakistan and India. Soon after theMumbai attacks of November 26, 2008, news of how‘connected’ the terrorists were spread like wildfire.According to eye witnesses, once the coordinatedattacks across Mumbai began, the terrorists wereconstantly on their phones, sometimes juggling ahandset in one hand while firing off rounds with theother. The terrorists also used BlackBerries tomonitor international reactions to their actions andkeep an eye on police response. A satellite phonewas found on the boat the terrorists allegedly usedto enter Mumbai, and much of their attack wasplanned using voice over internet protocol (VOIP).

In the wake of the attacks, the discovery of five

cell phones helped establish links between theMumbai attackers and Pakistan-based militants.One witness told an Indian court that the fiveNokia phones had been made in China andshipped to Pakistan. Phone records were alsoused to prove that the terrorists had been‘handled’ by commanding militants in Pakistan.

Post-26/11, Omar Saeed Sheikh, a detainedPakistani militant, further heightened Indo-Paktensions by placing hoax calls to President AsifAli Zardari and COAS General Ashfaq ParvezKayani using a mobile phone from hisHyderabad jail cell. Pretending to be the IndianForeign Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Sheikhcalled and threatened the Pakistani leadership. Pakistani phones: then and now

There was a time when Pakistanis whowanted to communicate had to head to the PCO,or gather around the phone after ‘booking’ a callwith an operator. Nowadays, people are settingup mobile businesses, conducting mobile moneytransfers, i-reporting in the name of citizenjournalism, navigating via GPS, and evensexting! As such, a history of the Pakistani phoneis a history of progress. �


30


At present there are over 80 operationalFM stations in the country. These radiochannels are electronic media tool toreach the masses in the nooks and

corners. These channels are airing differentprogrammes for the knowledge, entertainment andamusement of the listeners. All FM radio stationslegally-bound to submit programming formatrelated to their broadcast and obtaining a noobjection certificate (NoC) before airing anyprogramme.

Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority(PEMRA) has strongly denied that the Authorityrelaxed rules to offer favouritism in FM RadioLicensing and granted any FM radio licencewithout due adherence to the procedures ordainedin PEMRA laws.

PEMRA has recently taken action against thoseFM channels that are indulged in misleading thelisteners through unauthorised information. Theaction was taken keeping in view the number ofcomplaints received by Pakistan Electronic MediaRegulatory Authority (PEMRA) about some FMradio channels that are airing pre-recordedprogrammes of quacks (hakeems) that prescribemedicines on dummy queries and useembarrassing language. These programmes are notonly disseminating vulgarity among masses butalso a matter of great health concern.

Executive Member, PEMRA, Dr Abdul Jabbarhas directed the General Managers of Lahore,Karachi, Peshawar and Qutta to be vigilant andmake necessary action if anybody violation of therole and regulation of the Authority.

In PEMRA Rules, 2002 it is clearly mentionedunder the category of Prohibition of broadcasts:

(1) The Authority, or an officer so authorised bythe Authority, may, giving reasons in writing,prohibit any broadcaster from broadcasting or re-broadcasting any programme, if the Authority, oras the case may be the officer, is of the opinion thatsuch particular programme is likely to create hatredamong the people or is prejudicial to themaintenance of law and order or is likely to disturbpeace and tranquillity or endangers nationalsecurity or is violating the terms and conditions of

the licence(2) Subject to sub-rule (1) of this rule, the officer,

after making such an order, shall inform theAuthority in writing within 24 hours, with hisreasons for passing the orders and all relevantsupporting material the Chairman shall decidewhether the matter requires the convening of anemergent meeting and if in his opinion it does not,the matter shall be put before the Authority in itsnext regular meeting

Suspension of the licence - the Authority maysuspend the licence of a broadcaster or cable TVoperator, for a period not exceeding three weeks,on one or more of the following grounds, namely:-

i. The licensee has failed to pay the annuallicence renewal fee;

ii. The licensee has contravened anyprovision of the Ordinance or rules made thereunder;

iii. The licensee has failed to comply with anycondition of the licence; or/and

iv. If the shareholders of the licensee, being acompany, have transferred, whether in one or moreor a series of transactions, the majority of theirshares.

Provided that no licence shall be suspended or

cancelled unless the licensee has been givenreasonable notice to show cause and personalhearing

Seizure of broadcasting or distributingequipment- The Chairman, or an authorised officerof the Authority, may order the seizure of alicensee's broadcast or distribution systemequipment or any other equipment which is used toprovide, assist or help to operate or broadcast aprogramme, which has been suspended orterminated by the Authority or which is in use forillegal operation.

It was also told that PEMRA has rather tookstern actions in the past and closed more than 150illegal FM stations which were either involved inillegal broadcasts or found igniting sectarian,communal or ethnic strife through their contentiouscontent. Not only this, PEMRA has recently issuedtwo free of cost FM radio licenses to Governmentof NWFP, one at Mardan and the other atPeshawar, to counter propaganda campaign ofterrorists.

It was told that FM licenses are meant for thecommunity/local areas development with the viewto offer healthy information, entertainment andeducation and are also used as tools for socio-economic uplift of masses that also generatesemployment opportunities. PEMRA has muchconsulted international practices in-vogue and thusfollowing suit to bring healthy media reforms inPakistan. �

Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) launched a crackdown operationagainst the cable TV networks in the country which were propagating immoral and unethical activ-ities through their respective networks.

These cable TV networks were promoting gambling through various illegal satellite TV channelssuch as Love Music, Joo Music, Teletrack and Sur Sangeet. PEMRA enforcement team initiated crack-down operation against such miscreants on January 6, 2010. In pursuance of this enforcement oper-ation, various Cable TV Networks indulged in heinous activities were stopped and equipment usedthereof was seized in the cities of Lahore, Faisalabad and Gujrat.

It is pertinent to mention that PEMRA enforcement team initially warned such cable TV opera-tor for refraining from illegal and unethical activities, however they paid no heed to the Authority’sconcern and continued violations for several weeks. The Authority eventually took serious noticeand decided to initiate crackdown operation to stop the menace of gambling from cable TV networks.Moreover, the matter was also referred to the concerned police station for registration of a criminalcase under the PEMRA laws, Prevention of Gambling Act 1977 and other relevant laws against theculprits.

PEMRA’s action against illegal, immoral and unethical activities of various cable TV networkswas highly appreciated by the general public.

PEMRA cracked down the cable TV gambling

PEMRA bursts ondummy airing quacks The action was taken keeping in view the number of complaintsreceived by PEMRA about some FM radio channels that are airing pre-recorded programmes of quacks (hakeems) that prescribe medicineson dummy queries and use embarrassing language

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Making a commitment to save moneyin 2010 is the rare New Year’sresolution that is easy to keep.

After a turbulent economic year, it’s a popularone, too. A December survey from financialservice firm Edward Jones found savingmore money next year is the topresolution for that a third ofconsumers. Try these 10 strategiesfor significant savings:

Pick a friendlier creditcard

“Being on thewrong card can costpeople thousandsmore a year ininterest rates andfees,” says SchwarkSatyavolu, a co-founder ofcomparison toolBillShrink.com. “Even ifyou pay off the balance infull each month, you could beleaving hundreds of dollars onthe table in rewards.” Terms andconditions are changing rapidly asbanks add fees and jack up interestrates in preparation for new federalregulations. After that date, compare youroptions using a site like BillShrink.com orCardRatings.com to make sure you have the bestcard for your financial situation and spendinghabits.

Track your cashShoppers can’t account for an average USD 21

spent each week, according to a Septembersurvey by Visa (V). Tallied up, that’s USD 1092per year in mystery purchases. Sign up for a freefinancial management site like Mint.com orWesabe.com, which sync with your bankaccounts to automatically sort and trackpurchases. You can also set budgets forindividual categories, and receive email or textalerts when your spending nears that pre-setlimit. There are plenty of sites out there, so useour guide to find the right one for you.

Join loyalty clubsRetailers offer benefits in loyalty

programmes, knowing that most customers areapt to forget their cards or otherwise miss out onperks, says Larry Chiagouris, a marketingprofessor at Pace University in New York City.Don’t make that mistake: Keep cards in yourwallet or on a key-ring, or add the accountnumbers to your smartphone. Loyaltyprogrammes can cover varied purchases,including books, movie theatre excursions,restaurant meals and even flu shots.

Hunt for coupon codesThe marketing strategy of offering coupon

codes to cement customer loyalty is increasinglypopular with retailers. Take advantage.

● Step 1: Type aretailer’s name and “code” into Google.

● Step 2: Use the results to savesignificantly on your in-store and onlinepurchases. (Headphone maker Skullcandy, forexample, recently offered code FROSTY50 forshoppers to save 50 per cent on its products atcheckout.) Bookmark our list of all-aroundfavourite coupon sites here. We also have lists forparents, and for saving on groceries, clothing andelectronics.

Shop the grocery sales circularThough many products on circulars only

come up on sale once every 10 to 12 weeks, byshopping smart, you can still cut your bill bymore than 50 per cent with a combination ofcoupons, weekly grocery store sales and storerebates. “They’ll practically pay you to take thatbag of potato chips out of the store,” says CindyChapman, a spokeswoman for social networkingsite MomsLikeMe.com.

Pay cashBuy-now-pay-later of credit cards sound

friendly, but are designed to entice you to spendmore. A 2008 study by researchers at theUniversity of Toronto and the Federal ReserveBank of Kansas City found that the opportunityto earn rewards led more consumers to pay by

credit, even if they were already carrying abalance. Instead, flash bills. It will keep you incheck and might also lead to discounts oneverything from health care to jewellery togasoline.

Reassess your phone planCarriers constantly offer new plans

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Cut spending on petsThe fuzziest members of

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Pay less by shopping around. Petco offers itssignature plush dog toy for USD 5.97, while Wal-Mart has a three-pack of a similar toy for USDseven -- roughly USD 2.33 apiece.

Haggle“When times get tough, consumers have to

get aggressive,” says Scott Testa, an assistantprofessor of business administration at CalibriCollege in Radnor, Pa. “On a high-priced itemyou’re crazy if you don’t haggle.” It doesn’t takea hard-line negotiation in most cases, either – youjust have to ask if there’s any chance for a betterprice, he says. For example, 68 per cent oflandlords said they would lower rents or give amonth or more free to retain tenants, accordingto a recent Rent.com survey.

Pre-negotiated discountsCollective buying groups like Groupon.com

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Seal up your homeDon't let the air you're paying to warm in the

winter and cool in the summer escape throughcracks around windows, doors, electrical outletsand other places. Enough sealing products likecaulk and weather-stripping to block draftswould set you back just USD 25 to USD 50. Inreturn, you’ll see your home’s energy efficiencyimprove by up to 20 per cent, according to theEnvironmental Protection Agency. For theaverage household, that could amount to morethan USD 400 annually. �


34


You should think that 2009 would havebeen a great year for telecom stocks,right? Think of all the hot gadgets:Apple's latest iPhone 3GS; Motorola's

new Droid; the BlackBerry Storm 2; and severalother touchscreen smartphones. But shares of theleading telecoms whose networks run thesedevices have missed out on the big stock-marketrally.

AT&T (T, Fortune 500), the exclusive iPhonecarrier in the United States, is down about one percent. Shares of Ma Bell's top rival, Verizon (VZ,Fortune 500), are also down slightly in 2009.Contrast that with Apple's stock more thandoubling and Motorola enjoying a Lazarus-likecomeback after a disastrous 2008. Thisphenomenon isn't confined to the United Stateseither: Shares of other leading telecom serviceproviders around the globe have also stumbled.

The U.S. listed shares of Germany's DeutscheTelekom (DT), the parent company of T-Mobile,are down about two per cent. Shares of FranceTelecom (FTE) are down nine per cent. ChinaMobile's (CHL) stock has fallen 11 per cent whileJapan's NTT DoCoMo (DCM) have plunged 28 percent.

Even one of the sector's better performers,Britain's Vodafone (VOD), has had a relativelymodest stock price gain of 12.5 per cent. (The S&P500 is up 25 per cent while the Nasdaq has surgednearly 45 per cent.)

What gives? Even though many new phonesare flying off the shelves and the carriers seem tobe able to find a way to charge you fees for every

conceivable data application imaginable, AT&Tand Verizon are both expected to report a slide inearnings this year compared to 2008. Next yearlooks only slightly better.

Analysts are projecting just a six per cent jumpin earnings on a one per cent increase in sales atAT&T, and a two per cent rise in profits at Verizonand less than one per cent increase in revenue.Unexciting growth prospects! Is there an app forthat?

Simply put, growth in the cell phone units ofAT&T and Verizon are not enough to completelyoffset declines in other areas of their business.Revenues from their "old" landline businessalready had been on the wane due to growth inwireless. The rough economy just made thingsworse as shrinking businesses had less of a needfor phone service.

Along those lines, AT&T reported a 10 per centincrease in wireless service revenue during thisyear's third quarter compared to a year ago, butsales in its voice (i.e. landlines) business declined15 per cent.

And even though wireless is now AT&T'sbiggest revenue generator, accounting for 40 percent of total sales, the old school phone businessstill has a big impact on the overall company. Voicerevenue accounts for more than a quarter of MaBell's total sales.

The trend was similar at Verizon. Wirelinerevenues were down five per cent in the thirdquarter while wireless sales were up 24 per cent.But Verizon relies even more on its olderbusinesses than AT&T. Wireline revenueaccounted for more than 40 per cent of total sales inthe quarter.

Plus, the strong growth in Verizon's wirelessrevenue was largely a result of the acquisition ofAlltel earlier this year. The third quarter 2008 resultsdid not include Alltel. If they had, wireless salesgrowth would have been just five per cent.

Clement said Verizon and AT&T may make"gradual inroads" in the video business but thatincreased subscribers may not necessarily lead tobigger profits since the cable and phone companieshave typically had to resort to aggressive price cutsto attract customers.

Joseph Bonner, an analyst with Argus Research,said both companies also have specific customer-related issues they need to overcome. AT&T, forexample, may benefit from having the iPhone in itsarsenal but there is a perception that Verizon's 3Gwireless coverage is better. Verizon, on the otherhand, lacks a true must-have device.

"These companies have to keep provingthemselves constantly. AT&T has a great phonewith the iPhone but there are all these questionsabout network issues. Verizon has to continue towow people with new products," Bonner said.

Still, Bonner thinks the two stocks may still beworth buying for some investors. They may neverwow Wall Street with the type of profit growth thatthe Apples and Googles of the world enjoy, but bothVerizon and AT&T do offer a bit of security forinvestors not willing to stomach a lot of marketvolatility.

"This year's rally has been for stocks that werebeaten down and more risky. AT&T and Verizonboth have strong dividends.Clement agreed, sayingthat the dividends make them attractive and thatVerizon and AT&T should outperform otherinvestments in a rough market. But talk aboutdamning with faint praise. If the best you can sayabout Verizon and AT&T these days is that they areprobably a better bet than a government bond, it's no wonder most investors have shunned them. �

Why the big phonecompanies are dogs?

The two U.S. phone giantshave other problems too: in

addition to competingagainst each other, they

also face stiff pressure fromcable companies and satel-lite companies like Comcastand DirecTV in other areassuch as high-speed data

and video services

AT&T (T, Fortune 500), the exclusive iPhone carrier in theUnited States, is down about one per cent. Shares of MaBell's top rival, Verizon (VZ, Fortune 500), are also downslightly in 2009. Contrast that with Apple's stock more thandoubling and Motorola enjoying a Lazarus-like comebackafter a disastrous 2008


35


The federal government from next budgetwould remove the general sales tax (GST)under Central Excise Mode (CEM) onbanking, telecommunication, insurance etc

as the National Finance Commission (NFC) hasdefined the three sectors as services and not goods.

Also, the federal government, with theconsensus of all stakeholders of the 7th NFC Award,has devised a formula to determine the level ofpoverty and backwardness so as to distribute 10 percent allocated share of the divisible pool under thesame head.

Further, through unanimously passing aresolution, tabled jointly by Ayaz Soomro of PPP,Sardar Ahmed of MQM, Amir Nawab Khan ofANP and Jam Madad Ali of PML-F, the housefelicitated the president, the prime minister, thefinance minister, the leaders of PML-N, ANP,MQM, PML-F and NPP respectively Nawaz Sharif,Asfandyar Wali Khan, Altaf Hussain, Pir Pagaroand late Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi, the CM Sindh, histeam and counterparts from Punjab, NWFP andBalochistan on the "unanimous and historical"decision on NFC.

"The federal government would remove exciseon telecommunication, banking, insurance etc fromnext budget," Dr Kaiser Bengali, Sindh's

representative in the NFC told the Sindh Assemblyin a presentation on "Decisions: 7th NFC Award".

Dr Bengali told the provincial legislature that theNFC had recognised that the GST on services was a

provincial subject under the constitution and theprovinces may collect this tax if so desired. Later,

talking to Flare the economist said the removal ofexcise from the three major sectors would beexecuted from July 1, 2010.

Earlier, Dr Bengali told the opposition memberNusrat Sehar Abbasi that the province would haveto improve and enhance its capacity to collect thelevy.

During presentation the technocrat unveiled aformula for the "calculation of backwardness",under which the NFC had taken average of thethree Human Development Indexes (HDIs)prepared by UNDP in 2003, Federal Bureau ofStatistics and the government of Pakistan in 1998-99 census. According to him, the commission hadconcluded that the average poverty ratio in Punjab,Sindh, NWFP and Balochistan stood respectively at23.2, 23.4, 27.8 and 25.6 in terms of percentage.

He said the mutually agreed formula had helpedthe NFC avoid any criteria favouring a certainprovince, as each of the provinces wanted the usageof that study which was favourable to it. The onlyresolution adopted by the house unanimouslytermed the national consensus on, what leader ofthe house Qaim Ali Shah said, "thorny issue" ofNFC Award as "a positive step towards the provincial autonomy and success ofdemocracy". �


36


GST to eliminate under CEM on banking, telecom & insurance

“The federal government would remove excise on telecommunication, banking, insurance etc from nextbudget,” Dr Kaiser Bengali, Sindh's representative in the NFC told the Sindh Assembly in a

presentation on Decisions: 7th NFC Award

Pakistan Telecommunication Authority(PTA) and State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) arelikely to finalise draft of the "Third PartyMobile Banking Regulations" within a

month. This was stated by PTA Chairman DrMuhammad Yaseen, while addressing a joint pressconference with Head of Sub-region Gulf andPakistan Nokia Siemens Network Waqar-ul-Islam,while introducing the 2009 Connectivity Scorecard.

"The PTA is closely working with the SBP onthe draft of the "Third Party Mobile BankingRegulations," which will connect all banks in thecountry with the cellular mobile operators formobile transaction," said the PTA Chairman.

He said that the primary objective of thesecollaborations was to develop a unified regulatoryframework to facilitate the telecom customers andbanking sector, since the mobile banking involvedboth financial institutes and mobile phoneoperators.

Dr Yaseen said that currently Pakistan hadoverall 63 per cent tele-density, while it had greatpotential for broadband proliferation. "At present,there are around 0.5 million broadband subscribersacross the country," he said. Responding to aquestion about 3G Services, he said that theMinistry of Information Technology and Telecom(MoIT & T) was working on the policy for issuing3G licences. The PTA had completed groundworkand would initiate the licensing process soon after

it received policy from the ministry, he said.Commenting on the study "Connectivity

Scorecard 2009" commissioned by Nokia SiemensNetworks and written by Professor Waverman,fellow of the London Business School and theconsulting group LECG, Dr Yaseen said that it wasalways important to have a reference to measurethe growth, performance and to enhance theworking strategies of any sector.

Syed Waqarul Islam claimed that the grossdomestic product (GDP) would grow by six percent if the Information CommunicationsTechnologies (ICT) grew by 10 per cent. He saidthe Connectivity Scorecard 2009, measured theextent to which the governments, businesses andconsumers in 50 countries made use ofconnectivity technologies to enhance economicand social prosperity.

He said the results showed that even the best-connected countries in the world had no reason forcomplacency when it came to use of theInformation Communication Technologies (ICT)."At present, when the governments around theworld are looking to boost their economies with avariety of stimulus packages, the ConnectivityScorecard shows that everyone of them, even themost developed, has plenty of room to develop theICT infrastructure and improve its actual use todevelop economy and society," he added.

Speaking on the occasion, Saad Waraich,

Afghanistan and Pakistan Country Director, saidthat the Nokia Siemens Networks hadcommissioned the study, which was the first of itskind to rank the countries not only on their

deployment of the ICT infrastructure, but also onthe extent to which people, governments andbusinesses put this infrastructure to economicallyproductive use. �

PTA, SBP likely to finalise draft The PTA is closely working with the SBP on the draft of the "Third Party Mobile Banking Regulations,"which will connect all banks in the country with the cellular mobile operators for mobile transaction

Flare Panel: How do you encompass yourexperience of working with Samsung?

Khurram Farooq: Working in a company ofthis size gives you a unique global perspectiveof the electronics field. Samsung is at theforefront of technology and we keep hearing allthe ‘world’s first’ and ‘world’s best’ thingscoming from Samsung. It is very exciting to beable to visit Samsung Headquarters and seethese innovations in person. Overall, theexperience has been a positive one, and givenme an insight of how Samsung has become abrand to be respected. The company has asingle-minded vision of becoming number one,and it manages to achieve it every time, forevery product, and in every market.

Flare Panel: How do you see the differencebetween the demand of developed anddeveloping market?

Khurram Farooq: Developed markets focusmore on quality, and price is a secondary factor.In case of developing markets, price is a primaryfactor. However, with the growth of theeconomy, consumer preference gradually shiftstoward respected brands. This is the case inPakistan, where we are experiencing a true shiftin consumer attitude, especially with regards tothe television industry

Flare Panel: How far the recession hasaffected the market?

Khurram Farooq: The recession in Pakistanhas mainly hit the bottom end of the market.

Upper-class people are still spending the sameway. This means that there has been a drop insales of low-end consumer goods, but luxurygoods are still selling at the same rate. In ourcase, LCD and LED sales have surpassed ourexpectations every time, recession or norecession.

Flare Panel: Is economic recession over?Khurram Farooq: As far as Pakistan is

concerned, we have a long way to go. Our owneconomy is not developed well-enough to

correlate with the global economy. We have ourown ups-and-downs which are independent ofthe global scenario. Here, the economy isimproving and people are now starting torecover from the effects of previous couple ofyears.

Flare Panel: Kindly comment on where yousee Samsung in particular and technology ingeneral in next five years?

Khurram Farooq: Technology in general willsee exponential growth. In five years,broadband will become a necessity, andconnectivity will become ubiquitous. Seamlessconnectivity will be more important thanconvergence. We will be able to take a picture from our camera, transmit it wirelessly to our TV to show to everyone, andprint it out in the next room while sending it toour relatives in another country at the sametime.

This is technically possible now, but it willbe effortless in the future. And at the forefront of this technology breakthrough will be Samsung, because Samsung is one of the only companies that has thetechnology and the research to make all theseinnovations in-house and can source all thecomponents from its own companies. In-housesourcing means that no one can limit theamount of components Samsung requires tomake their products, unlike other companieswho source from third parties. �


37

Flare Panel Interview

“In five years, broadband willbecome a necessity andconnectivity will become

ubiquitous. Seamlessconnectivity will be more

important than convergence.We will be able to take a picture

from our camera, transmit itwirelessly to our TV to show toeveryone, and print it out in thenext room while sending it to

our relatives in another countryat the same time”

Khurram Farooq is currently working as Marketing Manager in Samsung Electronicsfor the Consumer Electronics Division handling Pakistan and Afghanistan. Previously,he was the Regional Account Manager with Maginet (now Docomo InterTouch) which

is an entertainment and information company that caters to the hospitality sector, and

responsible for the Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran and UAE regions. He is a Computer

The cellular phone operators companieshave added 2.367 million new subscriberson their respective networks in the firstfive months of the current fiscal year

2009-10 despite having witnessed correction ofSIM data base in the recent months.

According to the latest statistics updated byPakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), theoverall cellular phone connections have raised to96.7 million with the tele-density touching 59.03per cent by the end of November 2009.

The cellular subscriber’s growth squeezed aftermillions of unregistered connections were blockedby the authorities and operators following thelaunch of SIM Information System. The user’s basewas shrinking every next month owing tosaturation of market coupled with the correctionof subscriber’s base.

Although the new system was introducedofficially in mid October, the subscriber’s basedwidened only by 10,452 connections this month,however the operators successfully recoveredtheir losing users and added 0.790 million in thesingle month of November.

Since the launch of new SIM InformationSystem 668, a massive number of SIMs werefound unregistered by Computerised NationalIdentity Card (CNIC), to counter thismismanagement users and cellular phoneoperators had to be involved in this campaign toblock unwanted or extra SIMs and reissue it to theexisting user by rectifying subscribers’ data.

PTA has blocked more than 12.7 million SIMsby October-end and continued to rectify users’

database in the collaboration with all fiveoperators.

Officials of the cellular phone companies saidthat operators were endeavouring to retain theirsubscribers by rectifying data of non-users andusers in order to prevent losing their customers,however a large number of customers did preferto buy new SIM or use other SIM rather thanstanding in the long queues for rectification ofdata.

It was observed in the survey of customers’care centres that subscribers are facing hardshipsand wastage of time by standing in long queuesfor rectifying their data. The increasing number ofthese customers is not being addressed adequatelyas the instruction given by the Authority to the

operators to increase staff numbers in theirrespective centres was not followed. The slowpace of work at customers’ care centres may givetime to operators to adjust their customers’ basewithout losing them gradually.

Mobilink subscriber base increased to 30.48million followed by Telenor reaching 22.27million. Warid, Ufone and Zong users wererecorded at 18.71 million, 18.36 million and 6.862million respectively by the end of November,2009.

The report states that cellular telecom sector inPakistan maintained a positive growth rate for theyear 2008-09 despite a cut throat tariff and callpackages competition and sluggish economicconditions in the country.

A recently released annual report PTA for theyear 2008-2009 has shown growth of 17 per centin revenue for the cellular industry overallreflecting that the industry is involved in a healthycompetition and its strategy to increase customerbase as well as revenues through value addedservices and call minutes has worked so far. Thetotal revenue of the industry saw a growth fromRs 182.122 billion in the year 2007-2008 to Rs212.423 billion in the year 2008-2009.

It is pertinent to mention that the popularity ofUfone has remarkably declined and the creditgoes to the pathetic media campaigns launched byUfone. The number of Warid subscribers has onceagain managed to surpass the Ufone membersand is determined to manage its position. The 2009has ended and 2010 has begun with newchallenges. The tariff is already minimum whereroom exists in the quality of service along withmore and more value added services. Let us waitand watch what the New Year has for the users. �


38

Telepedia Muhammad Yasir

Mobile phone userscross the 96.7m mark

The cellular subscriber’sgrowth squeezed after millions of unregistered

connections were blockedby the authorities and

operators following thelaunch of SIM Information

System. The user’s base wasshrinking every next month

owing to saturation of marketcoupled with the correction

of subscriber’s base

It is pertinent to mention that the popularity of Ufone hasremarkably declined and the credit goes to the patheticmedia campaigns launched by Ufone. The number of Waridsubscribers has once again managed to surpass the Ufonemembers and is determined to manage its position

Nokia Chief Executive Olli-Pekka Kallasvuopraised the mobile phone as a history changingtool and challenged developers to createprogrammes for poor countries.

"These little devices have done more toimprove people's lives than perhaps anytechnology in history," the head of the Finnishmobile phone giant said. The Nokia CEO saidthat relatively cheap mobile phones had donemuch to improve the lives of people indeveloping nations.

"Here is the Nokia 1616, nothing to get tooexcited about," he said. "(But) it includes a builtin flashlight, a dust resistant keypad, an FMradio, a speaking alarm clock.

Kallasvuo said there were 4.6 billion mobilesubscriptions among a global population of 6.8billion people. "We are near the day where wecan talk about the whole connected world," hesaid. He also announced that Nokia was puttingone million dollars behind the first "NokiaGrowth Economy Venture Challenge" toencourage developers to design mobileproducts or services that raise the standard ofliving in poor nations. "We want you to come upwith new and innovative ways to help people."

"We've seen what the tech community cando when it focuses on problems that are alsoopportunities. We want to channel that energytoward improving lives in the developingworld."

Nokia urges focuson poor nations

Globalisation of IT is a complexphenomenon but at the same time it isan undying reality. It neither needs anyintroduction nor pertains a universal

definition. However, the fact of matter is that itactually exists and it has eventually brought us inthe historic age of transformation.

Nations and regions of the world have beentransformed into a ‘wired planet’ through whichyou can make use of the great power ofinformation and technology.

Information Technology is the driving factor,rather a catalyst in the process of globalisation.Advancements in the early 1990s in computerhardware, software and telecommunications havecaused widespread improvements in the access toinformation and economic potential.

These advances have facilitated efficiencygains in all sectors of the economy. IT provides thecommunication network that facilitates theexpansion of products, ideas, and resourcesamong nations and among people regardless ofgeographic location. Creating efficient andeffective channels to exchange information, IT hasbeen the catalyst for global integration.

In the process of globalisation, information andcommunication technologies (ICTs) have beenimplicated in the structuring and restructuring ofhuman social relations. The power tocommunicate has been one of the greatestachievements by the human race.

Since, the development of the electricaltelegraph and the telephone in the late 1800smarked a qualitative shift in the scope and powerof ICTs. However, the new electricalcommunication systems brought disparateregions and peoples together into anunprecedented, increasingly synchronous globalnetwork of information, trade, finance andculture. In 20th century, the emerging globaltelecommunication infrastructure was extendedand expanded by the development of radiotransmission, satellite communications, andterrestrial broadband networks. More recently,digital encoding, storage, and transmission haveallowed for data compression and theconvergence of multiple formats into a commondigital stream, further accelerating the speed andvolume of global information and communicationflows. At the same time, the diffusion of

inexpensive personalcomputers, thedevelopment of thegraphical user interface,and the establishment ofcommon data exchangeprotocols have givenusers around the worlddirect access to anincreasing mass of data,text, and multimediadocuments - as well asthe power to create anddistribute suchdocuments themselves.

I do not want tofocus computers andhigh tech gadgets tosupport the concept ofglobalisation.Although, without theinvention of the merecomputer chip,globalisation wouldhave been a dream

forever, but as we can see all around us, thephenomena has gone far beyond from thecomputer world. Today,we see globalisationplaying a significant rolein trade, commerce andeven in our daily sociallife style.

It is old because itappeals to relentlesscompetition in thepursuit of profit, andbecause individualsatisfaction is its drivingengine. But it isfundamentally newbecause it is tooled bynew information andcommunicationtechnologies that are atthe root of newproductivity sources,new organisationalforms, and theconstruction of a globaleconomy.

The world hasshrunk due to the poolof globalisation createdby IT. Things areaccessible now andwhen I say ‘things’ thatdoes not relate to thetangible things only; youcan have all kinds ofinformation within yourapproach and you caneven have the mostsacred, rather secret dataas well (well, that maynot be so easy but still itis possible).

Globalisation shouldhave been the uniformphenomenon andresources weresupposed to be utilisedequally around theglobe. But unfortunately,

it today we have disparity even in theglobalisation. All of this partiality gives the sense ofsomething wrong which has been done whiledeveloping the concept of IT globalisation andcommunicating it vociferously. Communicationand information technology miracles arehappening every day but there are some areas inthe African region which are practically numbtowards these advancements.

Thus, it shows that we need to move towardssome other logical reason to justify this difference.It is possible that we might need to makeInformation Technology so efficient that it can bedispersed through out the world judiciously.Human beings have created radio when theywanted, they have transfer the technology evenbeyond the shores of the oceans and they havegiven life to a dead body by giving him a new heart.

In sum, globalisation is a new historical realitynot simply the one invented by neo-liberal ideologyto convince citizens to surrender to markets, butalso the one inscribed in processes of capitalistrestructuring, innovation and competition, andenacted through the powerful medium of newinformation and communication technologies butwith the absence of impartiality and equaldistribution of information and technology. �


39

Waqas Ejaz InsighT

Globalisation of IT – global yet restrained

Over eight years after third generation(3G) mobile technology made itscommercial debut in Japan, Indianphone users got only a taste of official

flip-flop on roll-out of the service during 2009 thatalso saw CBI raiding telecom ministry overspectrum allocation.

As for the mobile users, whose numbersswelled to more than 500 million for the first time,they got the option of paying for calls on persecond usage basis instead of the fixed one minutecall.

As much as the falling tariffs delightedconsumers, the CBI raidon Telecom Minister A.Raja's office dampenedspirits at the Departmentof Telecom. The result ismany crucial decisionslike implementation ofMobile NumberPortability, policy onspectrum allotment forexpansion of servicesand even 3G mobiletelephony were eitherrelegated to the back-seat or delayed inordinately.

Despite severe inter-ministerial (ministry oftelecom and ministry of defence) differences overvacation of spectrum (airwaves used fortransmitting voice and data), the governmentended 2009 with the promise of auctioning 3Gspectrum as per schedule on January 14, this year.

Although it appears to be a daunting task, the

government's determination, especially FinanceMinister Pranab Mukherjee's resolve to mop upfunds to bridge fiscal deficit, looks to make thisauction possible, although many other countrieshave moved to the next level of mobiletechnology.

Addition of 10-15 million new mobilesubscribers every month made India the fastestgrowing telecom market in the world and it alsohelped the country to achieve 500 million usersmuch ahead of 2010 target.

If private players flourished by adding newsubscribers, the state owned firms - BSNL andMTNL - lost market share mainly due to officialapathy and the resultant delayed execution ofprojects.

The case in point is BSNL, which started withover 30 per cent market share about seven yearsago and was considered a major threat to privateplayers, but was reduced to marginal player witha market share of little over 10 per cent and stillfalling.

Nothing short of an induction of a strategicpartner in BSNL could save the falling PSU. Butthis would not be an easy task for the governmentwith strong unions blocking the attempt everytime. The sector in general is prone tocontroversies, be it over allotment of spectrum,issuance of new licences or tariff regulation.

A major controversy erupted during the yearwhen the CBI raided the DoT offices. The agencyfiled cases against 'unknown officials' for allegedirregularities while allocating spectrum to newplayers in 2008. Minister A. Raja ruled out

resignation, saying he had followed proceduresand taken decisions "in consultation with theprime minister".

It all began when two new operators - Unitechand Swan Telecom - inducted foreign partnersand sold equity at much higher premium withinfew months of getting license and spectrum,compared to what they paid to the government.

The allegations also echoed in Parliament.Opposition parties, claiming a scam of Rs 600billion, said the DoT under Raja allocated 2Gspectrum at 2001 prices causing revenue loss tothe exchequer.

As the demand for auctioning 2G spectrumgained momentum to get its true value, the DoTreferred the matter to TRAI along with a host ofother issues including the possibility of imposinga cap on the number of players in a circle.

On the tariff front, it all started with one of thenew players in the GSM segment - Tata DoCoMo- which started offering one paisa per secondbillion option. Competition followed suit at therisk of putting margins under pressure.

One of the leading and incumbent privateplayers went to an extent seeking telecomregulator TRAI's intervention to ensure that newoperators do not indulge in predatory pricing.However, the trend of per second billing caughton and fell further with some operators evenoffering half a paisa per second call charges forboth local and STD calls.

It is pertinent to mention that Telecom MinisterA. Raja, whose decision to induct new operatorsin the already overcrowded market came undersevere criticism, said that the move would lead tolowering of tariffs and much wider choice tousers.

Going at this rate the tariffs are bound to fallfurther and may touch as low as 10 paisa a minutefor local call and 25 paisa for STD.

Experts feel that tariff would continue to fallfurther in 2010 when few more new players startservices. The year 2010 looks to be quitechallenging with 3G telephony and MNPhappening in the months to come. �Courtesy: www.livemint.com


42

Telepedia Flare Report

Will India trigger 3Gon time?

It all began when two newoperators - Unitech and

Swan Telecom - inducted foreign partners and sold

equity at much higher premium within few months

of getting license and spectrum, compared to

what they paid to the government

The Business Standard newspaper reported the auction,which has already been delayed several times, was nowlikely to take place at the end of February. The governmentsaid, “It aims to raise Rs 250 billion (5.38 billion dollars) fromthe sale of 3G bandwidth that would allow high-speedinternet, video downloads and other sophisticated serviceson cellular telephones”

File photo of A. Raja

Minister for Telecom

New and innovative technologies areemerging with each passing day, fromTV to IPTV, internet TV and nowhighly innovative mobile phones are

the major instances of technology evolvementduring last three years.

The new major thing in our life will beundoubtedly Technology, Media andTelecommunications (TMT) and it is now not sofar to expect that in every part of the worldmaximum percentage of the people will bedependent on TMT.

From dial-up to broadband and now fibre tothe home and 4G/LTE mobile networks, peopleare getting used to high data speed and usage ofdata and information accessibility is in trend thesedays.

When we discuss Third Generation (3G)services in Pakistan, especially its succession rate,we can say launching services for the sake oflaunching and global market equilibrium willdefinitely not worth it - if this service does not givea return. Pakistan Telecommunication Authority(PTA) was also looking into matter of 3G services.

First alarming question that comes into mindis should Pakistan go for 3G network or beyond it- by beyond mean 4G or E-Edge? The mobilemarket has penetrated to 58 per cent wheresubscribers have reached 97 million figures andexpected to be 100 million very soon.

Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) is lowbecause of excessive usage of voice services localcontent for using mobile broadband like 3G is notas such available.

The other aspect is the usage of new generationphones in masses. Out of 413,809 total subscribersof DSL are 262,661 i.e. 64 per cent.

Will 3G deployment create more jobopportunities? But mobile operators will prefer tohire internal resources on the same projectsbecause this is just an upgrade to technology and

will not require much resource. Some mobilehandsets may get obsolete and this could be alsopossible some old handsets with 3G feature maybecome expensive.

Elapsed of almost five years, PakistanTelecommunication Authority (PTA) hadannounced to launch 3G services in the country.In 2005, former Chairman, PakistanTelecommunication Authority (PTA), Major-General (Retd.) Shahzada Alam Malik had saidthat PTA would continue to introduce latesttelecom technologies for the benefit of theconsumers and shifting of cellular mobiletechnology from 2nd generation to 3rd generationwould take place within due course of time. Hedid not mention the period of launching 3Gservices.

Likewise, the new PTA Chairman DrMohammad Yaseen has also hinted the launch 3Gservice at many times. This year is expected to bea significant year for the Pakistan telecom sectorand it is hoped that PTA will succeed in launching3G services.

However, the so-called champion ofdemocracy, India, has failed to auction for thirdgeneration (3G) mobile telecom services andmissed a January 14 deadline where Bangladesh'stelecom regulator announced that licences to runthird generation (3G) mobile services will beauctioned this year in a bid to attract billions ofdollars of investment. Senate Standing Committeeon IT and Telecom along with PTA must draw atimeline for the 3G services so that subscribersenjoy the long-waited service and Pakistan too canmeet the pace with which the technology isprogressing around the world.

It is not only PTA that is neglecting the launchof 3G but also the PPP led government that ischoked with a number of domestic issues and cannot spare time to draw the policy and frame workfor 3G.

After a while of 3G services launched, DSLBroadband service providers could be in dangerbecause of mobile broadband. But let's see whattime has to say about it.

The 3G services will definitely add value tomobile user experience but with that PTA has tomake sure that 3G services' availability andaccessibility must be deployed at masses and mustensure some best key performance indicators forthe evaluation of 3G speed variability. �


43


First alarming question that comes into mind is should Pakistan go for 3G network or beyond it - by beyond mean 4G or E-Edge? The mobile market has

penetrated to 58 per cent where subscribers have reached 97 million figures andexpected to be 100 million very soon

There are total five mobileoperators, 14 long distanceand international, 37 local

loop operators and 11 WLLoperators working in

Pakistan. Telecom sector thatis already contributing two

per cent of the GDP and it isexpected that it will grow upto three per cent in the years

to come

Owing to downfall in revenues, most ofthe telecom operators adopted “cost-cutting measures” during the year2008-09. Throughout the year, the

sector’s financial health could not be improved inaccordance with the expectations owing to heavytaxes and falling exchange rates, which placedunprecedented burden on the operators’ importbills.

Due to economic slowdown, saturation in themarket and global financial crisis, the totalinvestment in the telecom sector during 2008-09reduced by nearly 47 per cent. Despite the factthat the operators have speedily rolled out theirinfrastructure, reaching out to most of thepopulation, there still remains huge areas likeBroadband, WLL and manufacturing, whereinvestment opportunities exist.

To cope with the financial crunch, telecomoperators adopted optimisation of humanresources, cut in employees’ perks andtemporarily froze statistics obtained fromMinistry of Finance and State Bank of Pakistan toavoid negative impact of economic slowdown onthe sector. As per data provided in the yearlyreport of PTA, the leading mobile operator,Mobilink, slipped from green to red zone inearnings because of the falling exchange rate andrapid drop in the subscribers’ base. It is pertinentto remember that Mobilink is the largest cellularoperator of Pakistan and if its earnings are in redzone than what could be said about the otheroperators.

A dismal situation in fixed-line penetration isthe major area of concern for the policy-makersand the regulator in Pakistan. After issuing anumber of licenses to the fixed-line operators, theregulator believed that the market forces wouldplay their due role for its expansion, butunfortunately, this could not happen.

However, despite these difficulties, the sectorsrevenue grew by 19 per cent which posesconfidence in the government and regulators’policies. Unlike expectations, most of the fixed-line operators could not roll out the infrastructuremaintaining the incumbent operator still thedominant player with its old copper basedinfrastructure a main hurdle in the sector’sgrowth.

It was also expected that a rapid roll out bywireless technology (WLL) would compensatethe declining fixed line penetration, which too didnot happen due to lack of investment by WLLoperators. Furthermore, the WLL operators likeWateen and Wi-tribe have smartly diverted theirresources to Broadband expansion in 3.5 GHz andinvested on new technology like WiMax.

This, too, caused slow growth in the fixed linesector. Issues like right of way and lack ofunbundling also proved major hurdles in thefixed line sector’s growth. A huge investment isrequired to roll out new generation of fibrenetworks in Pakistan.

This gives a major opportunity to large scaleinvestors to secure their investments in Pakistanin this segment of the industry. During thecurrent year, a total of USD 1.6 billion worth ofinvestment has been made by all the operators, ofwhich the cellular mobile share is about 75 percent.

The WLL has marginally increased investmentfrom USD 52.8 million in 2007-08 to USD 82.11million in 2008-09. However, the rest of all of thesectors have reduced the level of their investment.During this period, Pakistan attracted FDI worth

USD 3.7 billion altogether. In the current year, thetelecom sector received over USD 815 million FDI,which is 22 per cent of the total FDI in Pakistan.

Major countries which invested more than 70per cent in last five years in Pakistan’s telecomsector included United Arab Emirates, UnitedStates of America, Norway and China. The UAEemerges as the leading country investing over 36per cent of the total FDI in the telecom sector inthe last five years. UAE invested in companieslike Wateen, Warid Telecom and PTCL.

Etisalat, UAE based company, bought out 26per cent shares of the PTCL worth USD 2.4 billion.The UAE has invested over USD 2.3 billion in thetelecom sector of Pakistan since 2004-05. ChinaMobile has its first overseas adventure in Pakistancellular mobile sector, in addition to telecommanufacturing, through companies like ZTE andothers. Investment from China exceeded USD 599million in the telecom sector of Pakistan duringthe last five years.

Telenor, a Norway based company, alsobrought about half a billion US dollars foreigninvestment into Pakistan during the last fiveyears. The telecom sector contributes one to twoper cent in the total GDP, making its share in totaltax revenue as six to seven per cent per annum.During the year 2008-09, the sector continued tocontribute handsome amount in national kittythrough various taxes and regulatory charges. �

To cope up with the financialcrunch, telecom operators

adopted optimisation ofhuman resources, cut inemployees’ perks and

temporarily froze statisticsobtained from Ministry of

Finance and State Bank ofPakistan to avoid negative

impact of economicslowdown on the sector

Cost-cutting measures tofight off credit crunchThroughout the year, the financial health of telecom sector couldnot be improved in accordance with the expectations owing toheavy taxes and falling exchange rates, which placedunprecedented burden on the import bills of operators

Free download | flare.com.pkTelepedia Flare Report

44

Where time has brought a lot ofchanges in the world we live in,there are also sectors that arerevolutionised by the blow of time.

Communication has remained one of the mostimportant aspects of human life as it ensures thecommitment and interaction of social animalwith the society.

It is impossible to live an isolated life ashumans rely upon each other for a number ofjobs and it is simply impossible for anindividual to solely depend upon his or her selffor a variety of needs.

The insufficiency of a person for meeting therequirements of his or her life boosted up theidea of society. Society members not only helpbut also look after each other in a variety oftasks.

Means of communication have widelytransformed with the passage of time. Initiallyit was post (letters) sent to far flung areas tokeep up the link between families ororganisations. Then it was telegram that helpedin instantly propagating news and significantmessages. Telephone step in and broughtpeople a bit more closer however the price toabridge the gap was quite high. Then therevolution of information technology (IT)brought about change and the whole scene waswritten again.

With the appearance of cell phone the wayhumans interact with each other changed

altogether. In the beginning people used mobilephones to make calls only but as the time moveson improved uses of technology came intobeing. Today the best thing a mobile phone cando is to send a short message (of 160 characters).

With the beginning of short messagingservice (SMS) till now the facility has seen a lotof improvement. Numerous monthly and daily

packages are introduced to promote the SMStraffic. And now it is a common practice in notonly metropolis but also in small towns to greet

morning, holidays, birthdays, festivals andachievements to family members and friends ondaily basis. Now students are able to keep intouch with their class fellows to remaininformed about the lecture schedule andactivities at the campus. Children keep upinforming their parents about their whereaboutsto avoid any kind of panic. It is now not onlyeasy but also economic to contact one’s driverto fetch him or her home.

Keeping in mind the benefits this uniqueservice has offered let us peep into the trends ofsending SMS nationwide. It is obvious that notwo people can behave in the same mannersimilarly the way people text each other isdifferent for different people.

Gilani Research Foundation recentlyconducted a survey and discovered that Urduand Roman script is the most used language forsending SMS where some people use more thanone language for sending short messages. According to survey some people also copy and paste a message from any of the languages and use that in their SMS which they forward to otherpeople.

A nationally representative sample of menand women from across the country were asked,"Which language do you usually use for sendingSMS from your mobile phone?" Thirty seven percent said they send SMS in Urdu typed inEnglish alphabet i.e. Roman, 15 per cent useUrdu typed in Urdu alphabet to send textmessages whereas 17 per cent said they typeSMS in English.

Twenty nine per cent do not send any SMSwhereas two per cent gave no response. Thefindings of the survey reveal that aproportionately higher percentage of urbanites,respondents under 30 years of age, and mensend text messages in Urdu by using English alphabet from their cell phones,where as a significantly higher percentage of ruralites use Urdu alphabet totype Urdu SMS.

Keeping in mind these interesting facts it ispertinent to forecast that the facility of SMS hastriggered novel ways of communication where this facility is casting great impact on the mode of communication i.e.language.

Now Urdu is written in English alphabets bythe majority of mobile phone users and it isindeed a new beginning in the history ofcommunication where it is expected that time will encourage further changes in the realm. �


45

Usman Yaqoob Exclusive

With the invention of cell phone the way humans interactwith each other changed altogether. In the beginningpeople used mobile phones to make calls only but as thetime moves on improved uses of technology came intobeing. Today the best thing a mobile phone can do is tosend a short message

It was asked, “Whichlanguage do you usually

use for sending SMS fromyour mobile phone?” Thirty

seven per cent said theysend SMS in Urdu typed in

English alphabet i.e.Roman, 15 per cent use

Urdu typed in Urdualphabet to send text

messages whereas 17 percent said they type SMS in

English

Twisting trends in texting

Free download | flare.com.pkTech Tool Game Review

46

The first person shooter is perhaps the genrethat has gathered the biggest number offans in the entire computer gamingindustry. And it's pretty easy to understand

why: people love guns. And first person shootersgive people what they want: a lot of guns to playwith and many monsters to kill in an array ofdifferent environments. And you end up saving theplanet and, of course, the love of the nice girl that'salways getting into trouble.

As you probably know, guns always make anappearance in any shooter out there. Whether it's

Half-Life,Halo, Crysis,Unreal, Quake,Wolfenstein orCall of Duty(there are, ofcourse, otherFPS games butit would takeme forever toname them all;this is not a top10), each of

these games includes variants of classic FPS-esqueweapons.

That being said, the first in line is the CombatKnife. Computer game players everywhere (andespeciallyCounter Strikeplayers) willrecognise thisas it is the all-time favouriteclose combatweapon of FPSgame creators.Its real lifecounterpart isnot so deadly,however,being mainly used as a utility tool for clearingfoliage, chopping branches, opening ammo cratesand so on.

Next is a weapon that I believe to be featured inevery FPS game that has appeared since

Catacomb3D.The Pistol, ormorecommonlycalled,handgun. Inthe FPS genre,the pistol is thelast line ofdefence (if youget to use theknife, you'rereally in

trouble) and usually used when the player runs out

of ammo for his/her main weapons or when he/shewants to save up on ammo for the more tougherfights. And, basically, that's its use in real life as well.Pistols are especially favoured in close combatsituations where a firearm packs a greater punchthan your fists will ever do.

Next in line is the Shotgun. An item that evolvedtogether withthe FPS genre,the shotgun isa First PersonShootergamer's closecombatfavourite.Whether it'sthe usualtwelve gaugeversion, sawedoff version orautomatic version shotgun, you'll find this old timerin just about every shooting game that wants tomake an impression on the market.

Its real life counterpart, by the way, is just asuseful in close quarters combat as the video game

version. Not many firearms pack such a punch at aclose range (without also injuring the shooter),therefore the shotgun is one of the most fearedweapons on the planet. And FPS games make sureit remains just that.

This nextitem iseveryone'sfavourite, so I'llgive it someextra space: theAssault Rifle.The AssaultRifle is agamer'sfavouritechoice, offeringfirepower, manoeuvrability and handling prettywell in all situations. For its real life counterpart,things are basically the same. The assault rifle is sofamous that it is actually the standard issue infantryweapon in most, if not all modern armies. And asfar as assault rifles go, the United States M16 and

the Russian AK-47 assault rifles have made history.The M16 has been the US Army primary rifle since1964 and it's continuing its tradition even nowthanks to the improvements that have been madeover the years.

Another classic weapon is the Grenade, an anti-personnel weapon that is present in more than 90per cent of first person shooters. It's usually used forclearing out large groups of enemies althoughnowadays it has other purposes as well. The basicgrenade typesare:fragmentation,concussion,percussion,smoke, riotcontrol,incendiary,stun, sting,impact stun andanti-tank. Thesetypes are usedboth in games and in real life.

Next in line, we have the Sniper Rifle. Whenyou're planning on taking out a lot of enemies,doing anything like that without keeping thedistance is usually bad for your health. That's wherethe sniper rifle comes in, allowing you to makeprecise shots from as far as 2.300m (and even fartherwhen playing a video game). The fact that thisweapon has such a long firing distance is enough toterrify even the toughest of bad guys.

Last but notleast is theRocketLauncher.Perhaps theultimate classicweapon, theRocketLauncher ismeant to offer agreat deal ofdamage with alimited set of

projectiles. Just like in real life, you have to rechargeafter one projectile is fired (usually). While in-gameyou generally fire the Rocket Launcher against hugemonsters with acrazy amountof health, in reallife, things are alittle bitdifferent. TheRockets areusually firedagainstaircrafts,vehicles orbunkers. �

Courtesy: gadgets.softpedia.com

The Grenade an anti-personnel weapon that ispresent in more than 90 per

cent of first person shooters. It'susually used for clearing out

large groups of enemiesalthough nowadays it has other

purposes as well


47

Flare Report Tech Tool

Half-Life,Halo, Crysis,Unreal, Quake,Wolfenstein orCall of Duty(there are, ofcourse, otherFPS games butit would takeme forever toname them all;this is not a top10), each of

version. Not many firearms pack such a punch at aclose range (without also injuring the shooter),therefore the shotgun is one of the most fearedweapons on the planet. And FPS games make sure

Catacomb3D.The Pistol, ormorecommonlycalled,handgun. Inthe FPS genre,the pistol is thelast line ofdefence (if youget to use theknife, you'rereally in

trouble) and usually used when the player runs out

automatic version shotgun, you'll find this old timer

per cent of first person shooters. It's usually used forclearing out large groups of enemies althoughnowadays it has other purposes as well. The basicgrenade typesare:fragmentation,concussion,percussion,smoke, riotcontrol,incendiary,stun, sting,impact stun and

firepower, manoeuvrability and handling pretty

projectiles. Just like in real life, you have to rechargeafter one projectile is fired (usually). While in-gameyou generally fire the Rocket Launcher against hugemonsters with acrazy amountof health, in reallife, things are alittle bitdifferent. TheRockets areusually fired

both in games and in real life.

least is theRocketLauncher.Perhaps theultimate classicweapon, theRocketLauncher ismeant to offer agreat deal ofdamage with alimited set of

Courtesy: gadgets.softpedia.com


48

Cover Story Zubair Ahmed Kasuri

The Pakistan Electronic Media RegulatoryAuthority (PEMRA) is responsible forfacilitating and regulating theestablishment and operation of all

broadcast media and distribution services inPakistan established for the purpose ofinternational, national, provincial, district, and localor special target audiences.

PEMRA advertised for the issuance of FMlicenses in 37 cities of Pakistan. In the advertisementfor the first time in Pakistan’s broadcast historyPEMRA was giving two licenses for each of thestations including four for Islamabad, Karachi andLahore. Some 134 broadcast stations are already onair and in addition 82 licences are being offeredincluding four more for Islamabad and four morefor Lahore, raising the overall total to 216.

Violating the PEMRA Ordinance 2002, theGovernment is all set to grant licences of about 82new FM Radio Broadcast Stations (Phase VIII),allowing use of these channels for other thanentertainment purposes like spreading religious,ethnic or other controversial ideologies in the urbancentres of the country.

The Authority has relaxed the conditions forobtaining the licences for these FM Radio BroadcastStations, which would surely facilitate some vestedinterests, including the hardcore religious elementsin securing these channels to use as a tool to tearthrough the religious harmony in the urban centresof Punjab, Sindh and NWFP on the pattern of thenotorious Maullana Fazlullah type FM radio inSwat valley.

Interestingly, out of the 37 cities 31 were treatedas metropolitan cities and six includingHassanabdal, Murree, Nankana Sahib, Arifwala,Bhurewala and Jamshoro are treated as non-metropolitan cities. However, those readers whohave some knowledge of the constitution ofPakistan would know the difference between

metropolitan city and a non-metropolitan city.Cities are declared metropolitan or otherwise on thebasis of their age, population, demography and thelevel of basic amenities available to its citizens. Theparameters PEMRA has adopted in classifying cities

in metropolitan and non-metropolitan categoriesare false.

For example districts like Thatta, Sukkar, Vehari,Bhakar, Muzafargarh, Jhang, Sheikhupura, Badin,Noshero Feroe, Mirpur Khas, Mianwali, Narowal,Tharparkar, Mandi Bahudin, Okara, Shikarpur,Larkana, Khanewal, Sahiwal, Kasur, Gujrat andKhushab are considered metropolitan cities whichare not the one. Moreover, these places already havetwo or more operational FM stations and nowPEMRA is giving two more licenses, adding to analready supersaturated market.

All these illegal and irrational steps are initiatedby the executive member and D.G Enforcement MrAbdul Jabbar who at the present enjoys two veryimportant offices in PEMRA i.e. Director GeneralEnforcement and Executive Member of PEMRA. Allthe authority and power is at the disposal of Mr

In the advertisement for thefirst time in Pakistan’s

broadcast history PEMRA wasgiving two licenses for eachof the stations including fourfor Islamabad, Karachi andLahore. These licenses are

issued to air programmes onnews, current affairs, culture

and religion, and portrayed tobe a great achievement of the

present day governmentwhich means that the

government is desiring topromote religious FM

channels

Many illegal and irrational steps in the services of PEMRA are initiated by the Executive Member and D.G Enforcement Mr Abdul Jabbar who at the present enjoys two

very important offices in PEMRA i.e. Director General Enforcement and Executive Memberof PEMRA. All the authority and power is at the disposal of Mr Abdul Jabbar who has close

associates in the present government. His influential friends have helped him in his promotion from a junior post to the present executive status

Dr. Abdul JabbarDirector General Enforcement & Executive Member of PEMRA

Abdul Jabbar who has close associates in the presentgovernment. His influential friends have helpedhim in his promotion from a junior post to thepresent executive status. He is also using his Sindhiinfluence for his personal gains and also inharassing people. The proof of his illicitinvolvement was visible in the cancellation ofFaislabad and Sialkot FM station licenses in the lastbidding, which were later restored after the mutualcooperation of the effectees.

It is obvious that Authority will be approachedby a number of people of ideological affiliationswith the Taliban school of thought, and backed byunknown hands, ready to offer highest bids for thesaid FM channels to be launched from Islamabad,Multan, Rahimyar Khan, Sheikhupura, Jhang,Muzaffargarh, Gujranwala, Larkana, Jhelum,Khanewal, Bahawalnagar, Sahiwal, Kasur, Vihari,Gujrat, Mandi Bahauddin, Okara, Karachi, Thatta,Sukkur, Badin, Naushero Feroz, Mirpur Khas,Shikarpur, Tharparkar, Abbottabad, Mianwali,Khushab, Narowal, Bhakkar, Murree, NankanaSahib, Hasanabdal, Burewala, Arifwala andJamshoro (two channels in each city).

Analysts and political observers fear that theseFM Radio stations can most likely get fame of Sunni,Shia, Deobandi or Taliban channels and can be usedin dissemination of foreign intelligence operationsand the propaganda unleashed by anti-stateelements.

“It is like turning the whole country intoFazlullah-led Taliban-infested Swat”, said defenceobserver Seikh A. Shakil, adding, “The importantpoint is the religious knowledge. What do they

exactly mean by this,as we all know anumber of anti-Pakistan groups areusing religion as atool, so in such asituation, new FMradios if allowed,would ignite thealready flared upissues of religiousconcern, which cantake a drastic turnthreatening thesecurity of thecountry.” He warned,“Once they acquiresuch radio channelsafter having paidheavy licence fee, evenPEMRA would not beable to stop them.”

Zahid MahmoodAlvi, an expert ondiplomatic anddefence matters,pointed out towardscorruption aspect ofthe government’smove to use openingof radio channels as anappeasing or pressuretactic to earn moneyand hush up critics.“In the past too,PEMRA had beeninvolved in megacorruption scandals,as frequently reportedby local media. Theauthority awardedvarious licenses inOctober 2009 usingfavouritism as apolitical tool.”

Ejaz Hussain, former director finance of PBC,said the grant of such radio stations seems to be adouble-edged tool to pose financial kickbacks onone hand and serious threat to the security of thecountry on the other.

Famous broadcaster Syed Naseer Turabi saidthis is high time for intervention in the matter andstop PEMRA immediately from issuing newlicenses for such specific purposes. PEMRA, he said,

must first clearly make some rules in consultationwith all security agencies of the country and getclearance as to who should be granted these licensesand who should not. The rules, he said, should alsoelaborate as to which content and material orthought and ideology should be disseminated.

Experts say the procedure of issuance of licenseworld over is based on two major factors, one ispopulation and the other is economic viability, even

in Pakistan the precedent is PEMRA allowed onelicensee (FM 97) to shift its setup from Hassanabdalto Islamabad by taking population and economicviability as a plea. Then, they question, how comeand why PEMRA is now giving so many newlicences. “Obviously this would create a problem ofunnecessary competition for existing FM radiochannels”, they argue.

The corruption did not stop here. Interestinglyin the recent bidding the advertisement for the FMlicenses was first published on November 15, 2009and just after four days another advertisementappeared in the newspapers on of November 19,2009 adding the FM licenses for Lahore, Karachi andIslamabad, where everything else remained same.One would question PEMRA’s ability to advertisebefore making proper decisions. It appears that afew higher ups approached PEMRA and ordered toadd these stations overnight.

One more confusing decision came on 1st and2nd of January, 2010 when PEMRA extended thedate for the submission of applications for FMlicenses from December 31, 2009 to January 15,2010. Actually this extension date had to publish inthe newspapers before the end of deadline whichDecember 31, 2009; but late and confused decisionof PEMRA made many people suffer once again.

If one thinks that PEMRA would have stoppedmaking blunders then one is awed by a list whichwas published after a few days by PEMRA on theirwebsite www.pemra.gov.pk in which they releasedthe base prices of the advertised cities for FM radiostation licenses of phase eight. In the given list,bases prices of the licenses is increased from Rs100,000 to Rs 3,000,000 without consulting orinforming the stakeholders, ignoring the consensusadditional bank guarantee of Rs one millionannexed. All this is done to ensure inaccessibilityby small and medium investors in the localindustry. The step is sheer inclination towards therich and influential bidders. When contacted toexplain the initiative Mr Abdul Jabbad refused tocomment.

After looking at recent initiatives by PEMRA,one would wonder what a governmentorganisation that is suppose to facilitate andsupport local media minting money like acommercial organisation. The measure is alsoagainst the mandate of PEMRA. Not only thatPEMRA has failed to fulfil its basic responsibilitiesit has drastically disappointed millions of listenersnationwide.

The government of Pakistan and SupremeCourt must take notice of these irregularities andcorruption that is striking in the name of freedom ofpress and media. This would not only regulatePakistani media but also show the determinationof government on providing transparent andaccountable institutions. �


49

Cover Story

Source: PEMRA website

Flare Panel: Brief us about the achievementsof KHL.

Usman A. Sheikh: In a brief span of eightyears, KHL is the youngest organisation that hasachieved so much and come so far. KHL is oneof the only organisations in Pakistan that ishandling turnkey projects in power, constructionand telecom sector. We have partnered withMultinationals and have worked with leadingcompanies in the world. KHL is now truly aPakistani Multinational company with a workforce of over 600 employees.

Flare Panel: Tell us about KHL and itsoperations on national and international level.?

Usman A. Sheikh: KHL is a true serviceintegrator, providing turnkey solutions for thetelecom, power and construction sectors. KHLhas achieved distinguish leadership as a leadingintegrator in core areas of expertise providing

turn key products and services. We specialise indevelopment of metro and long haul optical fibrecable networks with now having the largestmarket share in Pakistan. Our turn key solutionsinclude design, engineering, supply, laying andcommissioning of OFC as well 24x7 O &m.

In addition, KHL also provides expertise inTelco and EMC works of MSC (Mobile SwitchingCentre’s), BTS (Base Transmitting Centre) andBSS (Base Sub Station) sites. KHL has anextensive setup for providing managedmaintenance services for OFC, GSM and WLLnetwork managing both passive and activecomponents both telco & non-telco around theclock. KHL with its 27 offices has developedstrong presence in China, UAE and SaudiArabia. We manage and control in-house supplychain management for all sectors with inventoryof spares handling for all major operators withinand outside Pakistan.

Apart from being a service integrator and aservice provider in true sense, KHL alsorepresents established international brand namessuch as ASUS - Taiwan, Segam Orga - France,Ascend - China, Atheeb Intergraph - USA andGhadder Power Generation – Lebanon and willbe establishing and representing one of thelargest OEM manufacturers in Pakistan shortlyi.e. ETK from Turkey.

To add value to the current technologicalscenario in the industry, KHL has established anR&D wing/company which is producing state ofthe art customised solutions to enhanceaffectivity and efficiency in the power, telecomand constructions sectors.

We are operating in UAE from Dubai and inChina from Beijing. We have also crossedregional shores and ventured towards Mauritiusto provide telecom operations as being the firstpakistani operator and being the first Pakistani


50

Interview Flare Panel

Mr Usman A. SheikhManaging Director &

Chief Operating Officer KHLAkbar Associates Group

Mr Usman A. Sheikh is associated with telecom and IT industry for last 16 years. Before starting hiscarrier in the realm of telecommunication and information technology, he has worked in power andenergy sector, in banking, in retail and with United Nations. For about 20 years, he has servedMultinationals before getting into business in 2002. His schooling in Paris has given him immenseexposure where his higher studies in United States helped him in better understanding the competition.In early 1990s, before coming back to Pakistan, he worked for three years in United States

multinational telecom company. While having astrong and commanding presence in the GCCcountries; we have ventured towards projects inOman, KSA and Bahrain as well. KHL reaffirmsits strength by “Adding pride to the MADE INPAKISTAN label” for all to be heard. We aretruly contributing to the national agenda of selfreliance.

Flare Panel: What are the expansion plans ofKHL?

Usman A. Sheikh: Our offices are alreadyspread all across Pakistan. In addition we havestrong and functional office presence in Chinaand Dubai to cater large turn key projects. Weare now expanding towards Oman, with roll outproject implementation in 2010-11.

Flare Panel: More and more companies areentering in the field, what tough time do youplan to give them?

Usman A. Sheikh: We believe that ourquality standards and focus on our accreditationon ISO standards and HSEQ policies aredeveloping us into a major force to match anyone, however, we also feel that competition is notonly the basis of protection to the consumer, butis the incentive to progress. KHL is proud to bethe lead sponsors on projects whereinMultinational are willing and working with KHLas partners or in vendor roles. What will keep usahead of our competitors is a name of trust withreliability and deliverance; we measure oursuccess by measuring yours.

Flare Panel: What measures have you takenfor customer’s satisfaction?

Usman A. Sheikh: We at KHL periodicallyconduct surveys at our customers’ end tounderstand their views and reservations; eachcomment made by a customer in a customersatisfaction survey has the potential to impactour business positively and measures are taken

accordingly. KHL has been awarded this year atGITEX as Customer Quality and Support Award.

Flare Panel: Are you satisfied with the roleof government departments like PTA? Whatthey lack and how will you comment on theircontributions so far?

Usman A. Sheikh: PTA has provided a levelplaying field, however, it needs to support andget active now before it is too late for 3G licenseissue. PTA must ensure new avenues for telecomgeneration and increase in subscribers andrevenue base. A telecom sector giving a billiondollar turnover thus requires immediateattention for the slot of Minister of IT andTelecom. It represents a major industry while its

protection and rights also need to be addressed.Even though; secretary of IT and Telecom MrNajeeb Ullah Malik is doing an excellent job,however, at government level a political positionencourages and attracts foreign investmentwhich is the need of the hour.

Flare Panel: The country faces severe poweroutage. What are your plans to fight with suchmassive issues?

Usman A. Sheikh: Pakistan is currently goingthrough major power crises that exponentiallyincreasing with every passing day. Keeping thatin mind, we believe that there is a great potentialof providing alternate power generationsolutions in our country.

Luckily, Pakistan is one of the few countriesin the world that are enriched with sunlight, atan average we get at least six hours of sunlightevery day. We see solar energy as a risk free,efficient and guaranteed way of cutting down ona big percentage of our power crises. Howeverin the light of this, the government shouldencourage and support these solutions and makepolicies to encourage people to utilise andincorporate solar panels. KHL is willing to workalongside the government to make solar energyviable for domestic and commercial use.

Flare Panel: Made in Pakistan is yourslogan. Throw some light upon the idea behindthis slogan?

Usman A. Sheikh: We at KHL, take pride inthe fact that after eight years since our inceptionwe have reached the benchmark of quality at parto most of our international vendors. Thetelecom companies in Pakistan now seek ourservices rather than those of the internationalvendors they did before. Indeed, we are a brandname of Pakistan; trying to portray the image ofgrowth and prosperity that we are adding to ournation.

Flare Panel: What is your message to ourreverend readers?

Usman A. Sheikh: Focus, work hard and lookfor the light at the end of the tunnel. If youbelieve in yourself, you will lead to success…. �


51

Flare Panel

We at KHL, take pride in thefact that after eight years

since our inception we havereached the benchmark of

quality at par to most of ourinternational vendors. The

telecom companies inPakistan now seek our

services rather than those ofthe international vendors theydid before. Indeed, we are a

brand name of Pakistan;trying to portray the image ofgrowth and prosperity that we

are adding to our nation

PTA has provided a level playing field, however, it needs to supportand get active now before it is too late for 3G license issue. PTA

must ensure new avenues for telecom generation and increase insubscribers and revenue base. A telecom sector giving a billiondollar turnover thus requires immediate attention for the slot of

Minister of IT and Telecom. It represents a major industry while itsprotection and rights also need to be addressed


53

Flare Report Tech Tool

Nokia 5235 pre-charged with music

Nokia 5235 Comes With Music runs on Symbian S60 5th

Edition OS, it comes with 3.2 inch full touchscreen, 2 megapixel

camera, 3.5mm headphone jack, 16 GB external memory and Ovi

Services.

The Nokia 5235 is also a touchscreen device that supports

dual-band 3G with 3.6Mbps HSDPA for fast downloads, a

microSD card slot for cards up to 16GB to store the songs and up

to 33 hours of music playback.

The Nokia 5230 has a 3.5mm audio jack too, so the only thing

that's missing is the dedicated music keys. Nokia has a good track

record in the audio quality department, so there should be no

problems. The Nokia 5235 runs Symbian S60 5th edition and

offers other Ovi goodies besides Ovi Maps - Ovi Store, Ovi

Contacts and Ovi Mail too.

This handset is set to arrive in the first quarter of 2010

Samsung M5650 Lindy

The Samsung M5650 Lindy looks almost like the S3650 Corby,

but it has more features. It comes with 3 megapixel camera, 3G

(HSDPA 7.2Mbps) and Wi-Fi connectivity, a front-facing VGA cam-

era and dedicated music control keys.

Other specs remain unchanged: 2.8 inch QVGA touchscreen

display, Bluetooth, stereo FM radio with RDS, 50MB of internal

memory, and MicroSD card support.

Despite all the new gadgetry jammed inside the Samsung

M5650 Lindy, it's bigger than the Samsung S3650 Corby only by

a hair, measuring 106 x 57 x 12 mm and 98 grams. The Lindy fea-

tures Samsung's TouchWiz interface, which brings goodies like

one finger zoom and Smart unlock along with it.


54

Tech Tool Mobile Reviews

Samsung S5150 Diva Folder

The Samsung S5150 Diva Folder is made in a clamshell

form factor equipped with 2.2-inch QVGA screen with a reso-

lution of 320×240 pixels, and an external display, hidden

under a semi-transparent mirror surface flip.

The Samsung S5150 Diva Folder comes with FM tuner, and

3.2 megapixel camera. The device is supports networks

GSM/GPRS/EDGE 900/1800/1900 MHz.

Where the S5150 does score points though is with the exte-

rior styling; the outer shell of the device is comprised of a strik-

ing silvery pillow-like finish. On the top flip there's an LED dis-

play lurking beneath the folds which can display incoming

calls or the time and is invisible when turned off.

The phone includes Bluetooth for hands-free headsets and

basic features like speakerphone and microSD memory card

support. The Diva Folder also includes a "fake call" feature that

should help ladies get out of difficult or unsafe situations.

The Samsung S5150 Diva folder will be available in January

in the Netherlands, Russia, the Ukraine, and other European

countries, followed by South Eastern Asia and China.

Sony Ericsson Elm

BSony Ericsson announce the Sony Ericsson Elm

GreenHeart, the handset features Noise Shield for clear voice,

access to social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter

and a built-in 5.0 megapixel auto-focus camera.

"Building on the established heritage of our parent compa-

nies we have worked continuously to maintain our leadership

position by committing to reduce our own CO2 emissions by

20 per cent and product life cycle CO2 emissions by 15 per

cent by 2015.” said Mats Pellbäck Scharp, Environmental

Director at Sony Ericsson.

"The Sony Ericsson Elm phone and the Noise Shield

VH700 are a testament of our continued commitment to the

environment and are part of the ongoing roll-out of our

GreenHeart strategy announced in June 2009," continues

Mats Pellbäck Scharp.


55

Tech ToolMobile Reviews

LG GW300

MThe LG GW300 is the first BlackBerry-style device

that we have seen from this LG Electronics. The device

comes with built in Facebook and e-mail clients.

The handset features include a full QWERTY keypad,

2.4” 240×320 QVGA display, stereo Bluetooth connectiv-

ity, USB 2.0 alongside 2.5G GSM, GPRS/EDGE network

support, it also has a built-in camera, but its resolutions

is still unknown as well as pricing or availability informa-

tion.

The LG GW300 also features a 2 megapixel camera

with four times zoom, which can be used to take photos

and upload them to Facebook.

It also has a 3.5mm socket, for plugging in your head-

phones to listen to the phones FM radio or you’re

favourite MP3s. You can store your multi-media files on

the 4GB of external memory the device supports and you

can share-files over Bluetooth, which is also supported.

Trend T-786i Dual Sim GSM

Trend mobiles were the first in introducing the dual SIM mechanism that allowed a person to hold two different SIMs in onemobile phone. It has now come up with the simplest and yet themost loaded of the mobile phones. It is called the, Trend PerfectDual Sim, T-786i is available in Bar shape with keypad and touchscreen facility.

The features of T786i are startling, Its basic edge is that a usercan retain different network operators, SIMs in one cell phone andcan receive calls in both. It is a complete multi-media cell phone with 2 mega pixel camera,which has an audio and video recorders andplayers as well. The USB data cable allows theuser a unique facility of ‘Plug N Play’.

Attach the cable with your computer andview what you have recorded. There is no need of any software ordriver installation unlike other cell phones.Trend T-786i having Bluetooth connectivity,GPRS and MMS. Trend mobiles offers andunmatched Deluxe Package along with theset which includes a free-of-cost BluetoothDevice, 256 MB memory card, hands free, USB port,Desktop charger, 2 extra batteries and In-Car charger and aTrendy pouch to carry your cell phone in style.

The Trend T-786i is a fashion conscious handset, which has agood and attractive size of LCD and gives solid and quality feelwhen in use. Mobile phone holds another edge to other cellphones in the market. It has the style, it has the attractive look andit has all that you require in cell phone to begin with.


56

Tech Tool


57

Tech Tool

Nokia 2710 Navigation Edition

The Nokia 2710 Navigation Edition is embedded with Nokia

Maps with lifetime navigation license. It comes with - bar form fac-

tor, quad-band GSM/EDGE connectivity, S40 user interface, built-

in GPS and Nokia Maps.

Screen size aside, the Nokia 2710 Navigation Edition goes the

whole nine yards - built-in GPS receiver with A-GPS support, life-

time voice-guided drive and walk navigation via Nokia Maps, car

holder in the box (in select markets) and a dedicated keyboard

key to launch the navigation software. Finally, Nokia Maps 2.1 for

S40 with preloaded local maps (you can get upload more maps

for free with the Map Loader). The only thing it lacks is a digital

compass.

The Nokia 2710 Navigation Edition is powered by a 1020mAh

Li-Ion battery, good for some six hours of navigation. The device

was announced in December 2009 and expected to hit the mar-

ket during the first quarter of 2010.

Motorola WX395

Motorola is preparing release new entry in mobile

handset WX series, includes WX 395.

Motorola WX395 is in single colour - black. WX 395

is a entry-level in music world it has MP3 player,

expandable memory card but the drawback of

Motorola WX 395 mobile does not have FM radio.

With 1.8 inch CSTN, dimension:105x44.9x12 mm,

2MB memory, 2.0 Bluetooth, USB 2G cellular net-

works, GSM/GPRS (900/1800 MHz), 1.3 megapixel

camera, weight 83g without battery, calendar, talk time

up to 7 hour and 30 minutes and Games.

Rs

3890

Rs

3290

Rs

3290

Rs.

2,725

Nokia 5030 XpressRadio

DisplayDisplay Type: TFT, 65K colours

Size 128 x 160 pixels, 1.8 inches

SoundSound Alert types Vibration;

Downloadable polyphonic, MP3,

video tones ringtones, Speakerphone

Yes, Dedicated radio keys

MemoryPhonebook 1000 entries, Call

records: 20 dialed, 20 received, 20

missed calls

FeaturesMessaging SMS, Radio Stereo FM;

built-in antenna, Voice memo,

Flashlight, T9

BatteryStand-by Up to 525h, Talk time up to

10h

Samsung C160FM

Display Display Type: CSTN, 65K colours, Size

128 x 128 pixels, 1.5 inches

Ringtones Ringtones Type Polyphonic (16 chan-

nels), Vibration Yes

Memory Phonebook 500 entries, Call records: 30

dialed, 30 received, 30 missed calls

Data GPRS Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48

kbps

Features Messaging: SMS, EMS, MMS, Browser:

WAP 2.0/xHTML, FM radio, T9

Organiser, Currency converter, Built-in

handsfree

BatteryStand-by up to 180h, Talk time up to 2h

30 min

LG KG370

DisplayDisplay Type: TFT, 65K colours, Size

128 x 128 pixels, Vibration Yes

Memory Phonebook 500 entries, Call

records: 20 dialed, 10 received, 10

missed calls

Features Messaging SMS, Browser: No,

Games Yes, Colors: Black, T9,

Calculator, Calendar

BatteryStand-by up to 400h, Talk time up to

4h

Nokia 1661

Display108 x 45 x 13.8 mm, Weight 82 g

Memory8 MB Built-in, No Card Slot, (500 con-

tacts + 250 SMS + 20

dialed/received/missed calls each)

ConnectivityNone Display Size 128 x 160 pixels,

1.8 inches Display Colour TFT, 65K

colors

FeaturesColors Black, Grey Entertainment FM

radio with dedicated key, 2.5 mm audio

jack, Games Other Features

Flashlight, Organizer Ring Tones

Polyphonic Ringtones

BatteryTalk time up to 8h, Stand-by up to 624

h

Above prices are subject to change as per market


58

Tech Tool Current Mobiles

Rs

11,600Rs

8690

Nokia 2700 classic

DisplayDisplay Type TFT, 256K colours, Size

240 x 320 pixels, 2.0 inches

SoundSound Alert types: Vibration MP3 ring-

tones, Speakerphone Yes, 3.5 mm audio

jack

Memory Memory Phonebook 1000 entries,

Photocall, Call records: 20 dialled, 20

received, 20 missed calls

DataGPRS Class 32, EDGE Class 32,

Bluetooth Yes, v2.0, USB microUSB,

v2.0

Camera Primary 2 MP, 1600x1200 pixels

Video: Yes, 176x144 15fps

FeaturesMessaging: SMS, EMS, MMS, Email,

Browser: WAP 2.0/xHTML, Radio Stereo

FM radio with RDS, Java: Yes, MIDP 2.0

MP3/MP4 player, Organiser, Voice

memo, Voice dial, T9

Battery Stand-by up to 288h, Talk time up to 6h

Samsung E200

DisplayType TFT, 65K colours, Size 176 x 220

pixels, 1.8 inches

RingtonesType Polyphonic (64 channels), MP3

Amount 30 presset, Vibration Yes,

MemoryPhonebook 1000 entries, Photocall

Call records: 30 dialed, 30 received,

30 missed calls, Card slot microSD,

20 MB internal memory

DataGPRS Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32

48 kbps, EDGE Class 10, 236.8 kbps

Bluetooth: Yes, v2.0 with A2DP, USB

Yes, v2.0

FeaturesMessaging: SMS, MMS, Browser:

WAP 2.0/xHTML, Colours: Black,

Silver, Red, Camera: 1.3 MP, 1280 x

1024 pixels, video, Stereo FM radio

MP3/AAC/AAC+ player, T9,

Organiser, Built-in handsfree

BatteryStand-by up to 250h, Talk time up to

3h 30 min

Rs

7150 Nokia 5220


240 x 320 pixels, 2.0 inches Organic

wallpaper & wallpaper creator

Ringtones Type Polyphonic (64 channels), MP3,

AAC, 3D, True & video tones

Vibration Yes

Memory Phonebook 2000 entries, Photocall

Call records: 20 dialled, 20 received,

Data GPRS Class 32, HSCSD Yes, EDGE

Class 32, Bluetooth: Yes, v2.0 with

A2DP, USB: Yes, microUSB

Features Messaging: SMS, MMS, Email, Push E-

Mail, IM Browser WAP 2.0/xHTML,

HTML, Colours: Blue, Red, Green,

Camera 2 MP, 1600x1200 pixels, video

(QCIF), 3.5 mm audio output jack, FM

stereo radio with RDS, Nokia Xpress

Audio and Flash messaging, Yahoo! Go

and Yahoo! Ready

Battery Stand-by up to 406h, Talk time up to 5h

15 min

LG KP199


128 x 160 pixels, 1.77 inches,

Vibration Yes

Memory Phonebook Yes, up to 1000 entries

Call records: Yes, Card slot microSD,

up to 2GB, 60 MB internal memory

Data GPRS Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32

48 kbps, Bluetooth: Yes, v1.2 with

A2DP USB: Yes, v2.0

Features Messaging SMS, MMS, Browser:

WAP 2.0/xHTML, HTML, Games: Yes,

Colours Black, Camera VGA,

640x480 pixels, video, FM Radio,

MPEG4/3gp player, Calendar, Built in

handsfree, T9

Battery Standby up to 880h, Talk time up to

10h



59

Tech ToolCurrent Mobiles

Rs

10,990

Rs

12,190

Rs

14,500

Rs

12,860

Nokia 6303

DisplayDisplay Type TFT, 16M colours, Size

240 x 320 pixels, 2.2 inches, Sound

Alert types, Vibration Downloadable

polyphonic, MP3 ringtones,

Speakerphone Yes, 3.5 mm audio jack

Memory Phonebook 2000 entries, Photocall

Call records: 20 dialled, 20 received,

20 missed calls, Internal 64 MB, Card

slot microSD (TransFlash), up to 4GB,

Data GPRS Class 32, EDGE Class 32,

Bluetooth: Yes, v2.0, USB Yes,

microUSB, Camera Primary 3.15 MP,

2048x1536 pixels, autofocus, LED

flash, Video: Yes, VGA@15fps

Features Messaging: SMS, MMS 1.3 (up to

600KB), Email, IM, Browser: WAP

2.0/xHTML, Radio Stereo FM radio

with RDS, Flash Light 3, Nokia Maps

MP3/AAC/eAAC player

Battery Stand-byup to 450h, Talk time up to 7h

Samsung Star S5230

DisplayColour 256K colours (TFT resistive

touchscreen, Handwriting recognition)

Memory50 MB Built-in + microSD

Card(Supports up to 16GB)

ConnectivityBluetooth v2.1 with A2DP, USB, GPRS

Class 12 (48 kbps), EDGE Class 12

Display Size: 240 x 400 pixels, 3.0

inches (Accelerometer sensor,

Gesture lock)

FeaturesBrowser WAP 2.0/xHTML, HTML

(Jasmine) Colours: Black, White, Pink

Entertainment Stereo FM radio with

RDS, MP3/WMA/AAC player,

Shazam H.263/H.264/MPEG4 play-

er, DNSe Camera: 3.15 MP,

2048x1536 pixels, Smile detection,

Video (QVGA@15fps)

Speakerphone, Organiser, Mobile

Tracker Ring Tones: Downloadable

Polyphonic, MP3, WAV Messaging:

SMS, MMS, Email

Samsung S3653 Corby

Display 240 x 320 pixels, 2.8 inches

Memory90 MB Built-in + microSD Card

(Supports up to 8 GB)

ConnectivityBluetooth v2.1 with A2DP, USB,

GPRS Class 10 (48 kbps), HSCSD,

EDGE Class 10 (236.8 kbps)

FeaturesBrowser WAP 2.0/xHTML, HTML

Colours Jamaican Yellow, Cupid

Pink, Minimal White, & Festival

Orange, 2 Fashion Jackets

Entertainment: Stereo FM radio with

RDS, MP3/WMA/eAAC+ player,

Find Music recognition service,

Camera: 2 MP, 1600x1200 pixels,

Smile detection, MP3 Messaging:

SMS, MMS, Emailenhanced fixed

focus, LED flash, Video (VGA

15fps), MMS and Email.

BatteryTalk time up to 3h 40 min, Stand-by

up to 500h

LG KF510

Display240 x 320 pixels, 2.2 inches Scratch

proof (tempered Glass)

Memory16 MB shared memory + Extendable

memory card (microSD, up to 4GB)

ConnectivityBluetooth v2.0 with A2DP, USB,

GPRS Class 10 (48 kbps), EDGE

Class 10 (236.8 kbps)

FeaturesBrowser WAP 2.0/xHTML Colours:

Stardust Dark Grey, Sunset Red

Entertainment: FM radio,

MP3/MPEG-4 player, Games,

Camera 3.15 MP, 2048x1536 pixels,

autofocus, image stabilizer,

video(QVGA), flash, Touch-sensitive

navigation panel with haptics, Voice

memo, Built-in handsfree Ring

Tones: Polyphonic, MP3 Messaging:

SMS, EMS, MMS, Email

BatteryTalk time 4h, Stand-by 400h Smart

Power Saving



60

Tech Tool Current Mobiles

Rs

14,800

Rs

20,890

Rs

22,500

Rs

19,800

Nokia 5530

DisplayDisplay Type TFT resistive touchscreen, 16M

colours, Size 360 x 640 pixels, 2.9 inches,

Accelerometer sensor for auto-rotate,

Handwriting recognition, Sound, Alert types

Vibration

Memory Phonebook Practically unlimited entries and

fields, Photocall, Call records: Detailed, maxi-

mum 30 days Internal 70 MB storage,

Data GPRS Class 32, HSCSD: Yes, EDGE Class 32,

WLAN Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, Bluetooth: Yes, v2.0

with A2DP, USB: Yes, v2.0 microUSB, Camera:

Primary 3.15 MP, 2048x1536 pixels, autofocus,

FeaturesOS Symbian OS v9.4, Series 60 rel. 5

CPU ARM 11 434 MHz processor Messaging:

SMS, MMS, Email, Instant Messaging,

Browser: WAP 2.0/xHTML, HTML, RSS feeds,

Radio Stereo FM radio with RDS,

Battery Talk time up to 4h 54 min, Music play up to 27h

Motorola ROKR E8

DisplaySize 320 x 240 pixels, 2.0 inches

(Touch-sensitive keypad, Navigation

scroll wheel) Display: Colour TFT, 256K

colours

Memory2 GB Built-in + Memory Card (microSD)

Connectivity: Bluetooth v2.0 with A2DP,

USB, GPRS Class 12 (48 kbps), EDGE

Class 12

FeaturesBrowser: WAP 2.0/xHTML, HTML

Colours: Dark Navy, Platinum

Entertainment: Stereo FM radio,

MP3/AAC player, 3.5 mm headset jack,

Games (built in + downloadable)

Camera: 2 MP, 1600x1200 pixels, video

Built-in handsfree, Organiser, Touch-

sensitive keypad, Navigation scroll

wheel Ring Tones: Polyphonic (64

channels), MP3, AAC Messaging: SMS,

EMS, MMS, Email, Instant Messaging

BatteryTalk time up to 5h, Stand-by up to 300h

Nokia 6720 classic

DisplaySize: 240 x 320 pixels, 2.2 inches

Memory45 MB Built-in + 1GB microSD card

included (Supports up to 16GB)

ConnectivityBluetooth v2.0 with A2DP, USB, GPRS

Class 32, HSCSD, EDGE Class 32

(296 / 178.8 kbits), 3G

FeaturesTitanium, Grey, Brown Entertainment:

Stereo FM radio with RDS, 3.5 mm

MP3/WMA/WAV/RA/AAC/M4A music

player, WMV/RV/MP4/3GP video play-

er, TV-out, Games (N-gage + down-

loadable) Camera: 5 MP, 2592x1944

pixels, Autofocus, Panorama mode,

dual LED flash, Video, GPS + A-GPS

support, Nokia Maps 3.0,

Speakerphone, Document viewer

Voice memo Ring Tones, MP3

Messaging: SMS, MMS, Email

BatteryTalk time Up to 8h 30 min, Stand-by:

Up to 492h,

Samsung B7320 Omnia

PRO

DisplaySize: 320 x 240 pixels, 2.4 inches

Display: Colour TFT, 65K colours,

Memory100 MB Built-in, 256 MB RAM, 256 MB

ROM + microSD Card Processor:

Qualcomm MSM 7201A 528 MHz

ConnectivityBluetooth v2.0 with A2DP, USB, WLAN

(Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g), GPRS Class 10

HSCSD, EDGE Class 10 (236.8 kbps),

3G (HSDPA 3.6 Mbps)

FeaturesBrowser WAP 2.0 / xHTML, HTML

Colours Black Entertainment: Stereo

FM radio with RDS, Windows Media

Player 10, Games Camera 3.15 MP,

2048x1536 pixels, autofocus, Geo-tag-

ging, Video, 2ndary CIF Camera GPS +

A-GPS support, Speakerphone,

Windows Live, Yahoo!, AOL, Pocket

Office, MP3 Messaging

BatteryTalk time up to 10h, Stand by up to

590h



61

Tech ToolCurrent Mobiles

Rs

25,000

Samsung i8000 Omnia II All-in-one. Redefined.Ultra Brilliant 3.7" AMOLED Display of

Samsung i8000 Omnia II provides

unmatched luminescence & vivid eye

catching colors with crystal-clarity.

Samsung i8000 Omnia II has got the

brightest display even in direct sunlight.

Touch-Optimized User Interface of

Samsung i8000 Omnia II provides an

optimal user experience, moreover

Samsung i8000 Omnia II's 5MP camera

with dual power LED takes stunning

photos. All in all Samsung i8000 Omnia

II is a powerfull multimedia beast.

Nokia N97 A True Mobile ComputerDesktop to the laptop & now to your pock-

et, the Nokia N97 is the most powerful,

multi-sensory mobile computer in exis-

tence. Nokia N97 mobile phone features

touch screen, full QWERTY keyboard,

GPS, 32 GB memory, games, video, cam-

era, widgets, Ovi Store including much

more. With Nokia N97, Personalise your

homescreen, add more content & fully

customise your layout with your favourite

live feeds, mini views & services. Nokia

N97 is the Monster Machine.

Nokia N96 Designed for video & TVEntertainment.Entertainment with high-quality video,

on Nokia N96's brilliant 2.8" display &

with superb sound. Nokia N96 has 16

GBs of memory to take your videos,

music & other content, further expand-

able with memory card slot. Nokia

Video Center to find more internet

videos for download. Nokia N96 has 5

megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss

Optics, camcorder function with video

light. Integrated A-GPS & rich maps.

Connect to the internet in multiple

ways.

Apple iPhone 3GS 32GB The Fastest iPhone Ever Meet the fastest, most powerful iPhone

yet. iPhone 3GS features video record-

ing, Voice Control, up to 32GB of stor-

age, & more. The first thing you’ll notice

about iPhone 3GS is how quickly you

can launch apps. Webpages render in a

fraction of time, & you can view email

attachments faster. On iPhone 3GS

improved performance & updated 3D

graphics deliver an incredible gaming

experience, too. In fact, everything you

do on iPhone 3GS is up to 2x faster &

more responsive than iPhone 3G.

BlackBerry Bold 9000 Be BoldAccept no substitutes. The BlackBerry®

Bold™ 900 smartphone embodies ele-

gant design – without sacrificing the fea-

tures or functionality you expect from a

premium smartphone. BlackBerry Bold

900 connects you, helping you stay on

top of your day. With BlackBerry® Bold™

900 camera and video recording, you can

capture and share the moment with just a

few clicks. BlackBerry® Bold™ 900 - The

BlackBerry Experience: No Compromises

Nokia E90 Symbian OS v9.2 S60 release 3.1,

330 Mhz ARM processor, Full

QWERTY keyboard, GPS receiver

(built-in maps) The Nokia E90

Communicator is a premium busi-

ness device with high-speed mobile

broadband and integrated mobile

office that keeps you effective while

on the move.

Rs

56,000

Rs

49,000

Rs

37,500

Rs.

79,990Rs

45,000

Rs

52,000



62

Tech Tool High Range Mobiles

Rs.

2,500

Rs.

2,050

Rs

4,050

Rs

2,150

Trend T-180 Ultimate

Design: Navigation option 1.5, inch CSTN

color, screen embedded, antenna

Image & Messaging: 300K pixel camera,

SMS, MMS, Email

Connectivity: GPRS class 12, WAP 2.0,

PC Sync

Entertainment: MP3 Player, Embedded

Games

Nokia 1209

Dimension: 102x44.1x17.5 mm, Weight 79.9 g

Battery: Talk time up to 7h, Stand-by up to 365h

Memory: Built-in (Multiple phonebooks with up

to 200 entries, 20dialed, 20received, 20missed

calls) Connectivity: Display Size 96 x 98 pix-

els, 27.6 x 21.8 mm Display Colour CSTN, 65K

colors

Features: Colors Blue Entertainment Games

Other Features Flashlight, 5-way navigation

key, Dust-resistant keypad, Built-in handsfree,

Time tracker, Cost tracker Ring Tones

Polyphonic (32 channels) Messaging SMS (up

to 60)

Motorola W180

Dimension: 114x43x14mm Weight 85 g

Battery: Stand-by up to 465h, Talk time up to 9h

50 min

Memory: 70 KB user memory (750 SMS mes-

sages, 500 Phonebook numbers)

Connectivity: USB 1.1 for Charging only (No

PC Connectivity, just showoff) Display Size

128 x 128 pixels

Features: Colors Black Entertainment FM

radio, iTap, Games (3 pre-loaded) Other

Features Built-in handsfree, Currency converter

Ring Tones Polyphonic (32 channels), (20 pre-

loaded) Messaging SMS

Samsung B130

Dimension: 104 x 44 x 16 mm, Weight 68 g

Battery: Talk time up to 6h, Stand-by up to 250h

Memory: 460 KB embedded memory, (200

Phonebook entries, can store upto 100 SMS)

Connectivity: USB, GPRS Class 10 (48 kbps)

Display Size 128 x 128 pixels, 1.52 inches

Display Colour CSTN, 65K colors

Features: Browser WAP 2.0 Colors Black

Entertainment Games Other Features Built-in

handsfree, Calendar, Calculator, Alarm Ring

Tones Polyphonic (16 channels), MP3

Messaging SMS, MMS

Nokia 1680 Classic

Dimension: 108x46x15 mm, Weight 73.7 g

Battery: Talk time up to 7h 40 min, Stand-by up

to 424h

Memory: Combo 32 MB Built-in Flash, 4 MB

SDRAM (1000 Phonebook entries + 20 dialed,

20 received, 20 missed calls)

Connectivity: GPRS Class 10, EGPRS Class

6, SyncML 1.2

Features: Browser WAP 2.0 (XHTML) Colors

Black, Slate Gray, Wine Red, Deep Plum

Entertainment Nokia Xpress Audio Messaging,

Video recording/playback, Games, Camera

VGA, 640x480 pixels, English-Chinese diction-

ary Ring Tones Polyphonic, MP3 Messaging

SMS, MMS, Email, Instant Messaging

Rs

2,400

LG KP105

Dimension: 101x46x12.9 mm, Weight 65 g

Battery: Talk time up to 4h 30 min, Stand-by up

to 475h

Memory: Built-in, 300 Phonebook entries (10

dialed, 10 received, 10 missed calls)

Connectivity: USB Display Size 128 x 128

pixels, 1.5 inches Display Colour CSTN, 65K

colors

Features: Colors White, Black, Silver

Entertainment FM Radio, Games (Sudoku)

Other Features Built-in handsfree, Calculator

Ring Tones Polyphonic (16 channels)

Messaging SMS


Low Range MobilesFree download | flare.com.pk

63

Tech ToolLow Range Mobile

Rs

3,499

Free download | flare.com.pkTech Tool Upcoming Mobiles

64

Display

Type TFT capacitive touchscreen, 16M colours

Size 480 x 854 pixels, 3.7 inches, Multi-touch

input method, Accelerometer sensor Proximity

sensor for auto turn-off, Sound Alert types

Vibration; MP3, WAV ringtones,


Memory

Phonebook Practically unlimited entries and

fields, Photo call, Call records Practically

unlimited, Card slot microSD, up to 32GB

Data

GPRS Class 12 (4+1/3+2/2+3/1+4 slots), 32 -

48 kbps, EDGE Class 12, 3G HSDPA, 10.2

Mbps; HSUPA, 5.76 Mbps, WLAN Wi-Fi

802.11 b/g, Bluetooth Yes, v2.1 with A2DP

USB Yes, micro-USB v2.0 Camera Primary 5

MP, 2592 x 1944 pixels, autofocus, xenon

flash

Features

OS Android OS, v2 (Eclair), Messaging SMS

(threaded view), MMS, Email, IM, Push Email

Browser HTML, Radio Stereo FM radio with

RDS, Games Downloadable, Colours Black

GPS Yes, with A-GPS support, Java Via third

party application, MP3/eAAC+/WAV player

MP4/H.263/H.264 player HD video (720p)

over built-in HDMI slot, Google Search, Maps,

Gmail, YouTube, Google Talk Document view-

er, Photo viewer/editor Organiser, Voice memo

Battery

Standard battery, Li-Po

Size

Dimensions 106x57x12 mm, Weight 98 g

Display

Type TFT capacitive touchscreen, 256K

colours, Size 240 x 320 pixels, 2.8 inches

Smart unlock Cartoon UI, Sound Alert types

Vibration; MP3 ringtones, Speakerphone Yes

3.5 mm audio jack, DNSe (Digital Natural

Sound Engine), Dedicated music keys

Memory

Phonebook 1000 contacts, Photo-call, Call

records Yes, Internal 50 MB, Card slot

microSD, up to 8 GB

Data

GPRS Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps

EDGE Class 10, 236.8 kbps, 3G HSDPA 7.2

Mbps, WLAN Yes, Wi-Fi 802.11b/g, Bluetooth

Yes, v2.1 with A2DP, USB Yes, microUSB

v2.0, Camera Primary, 3.15 MP, 2048x1536

pixels, autofocus, Video Yes

Features

Messaging SMS, MMS, Email, IM Browser

WAP 2.0/xHTML, HTML, Radio Stereo FM

radio with RDS, Games Yes + downloadable

Colours Black, Neon Blue, Java Yes, MIDP

2.0 Social networking integration with live

updates MP3/WMA/eAAC+ player,

H.263/H.264/MP4/WMV player, Find Music

recognition service Organiser, Document

viewer, Voice memo, T9

Battery

Stand-by up to 300h, Talk time up to 3h

Samsung M5650 Lindy

Size

Dimensions 111x51.7x15.5 mm, Weight 115 g

Display

Type TFT resistive touchscreen, 16M colours Size 360

x 640 pixels, 3.2 inches, Proximity sensor for auto

turn-off, Accelerometer sensor for auto-rotate,

Handwriting recognition, Sound alert types Vibration;

Downloadable polyphonic, MP3 ringtones,


Memory

Phonebook Practically unlimited entries and fields,

Photocall, Call records Detailed, max 30 days, Internal

70 MB storage, Card slot, microSD, up to 16GB

Data

GPRS Class 32, EDGE Class 32, 3G HSDPA, 3.6

Mbps, Bluetooth Yes, v2.0 with A2DP, USB Yes, v2.0

micro-USB, CameraPrimary, 2 MP, 1600x1200 pixels,

Video Yes, VGA@30fps

Features

OS Symbian OS v9.4, Series 60 rel. 5, CPU ARM 11

434 MHz processor, Messaging SMS, MMS, Email,

IM, Browser WAP 2.0/xHTML, HTML, RSS feeds,

Radio Stereo FM radio with RDS, Games Guitar Rock

Tour 2 + Java downloadable, Colours Black, White,

GPS Yes, with A-GPS support; Nokia Maps 2.0 Touch,

Java Yes, MIDP 2.1, WMV/RV/MP4/3GP video player

MP3/WMA/WAV/RA/AAC/M4A music player

Document viewer (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) Photo

editor, Flash Lite 3.0, Voice command/dial

Battery

Stand-by up to 458h (2G) / Up to 438h (3G)

Talk time up to 7h (2G) / Up to 4h 18 min (3G)

Music play up to 33h

Size

Dimensions 106x48x13.8mm, Weight 85 g

Display

Type TFT, 256K colours, Size 176 x 220 pixels,

2.0 inches, Sound Alert types, Vibration; MP3

ringtones, Speakerphone Yes, with stereo

speakers, 3.5 mm audio jack

Memory

Phonebook, 1000 entries, Photocall, Call records

50 dialed, 50 received, 50 missed calls, Card slot

microSD (TransFlash) up to 8GB

Data

GPRS Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps

Bluetooth Yes, v2.1 with A2DP, USB Yes, v2.0

Camera Primary, 1.3 MP, 1280 x 1024 pixels

Video Yes, QCIF@15fps,

Features

Messaging SMS, MMS, Email, Browser WAP

2.0/xHTML, Radio FM radio with RDS, FM

recording, built-in antenna, Games Yes + down-

load, Colours Black, Java Yes, MIDP 2.0

MP3/WAV/eAAC+ player, MP4/H.264 player

Organiser Voice memo, T9

Battery

Stand-by up to 550h, Talk time up to 6h 30 min


Nokia 5235 Comes With Music LG GS200

Motorola XT701

65

Free download | flare.com.pk Upcoming Mobiles Tech Tool

Size

Dimensions 104x54.9x14.4 mm, Weight 105 g

Display

Type TFT capacitive touchscreen, 256K colors

Size 240 x 320 pixels, 2.8 inches, TouchWiz Lite

v1.0, Sound Alert types, Vibration; MP3 ringtones

Speakerphone Yes, DNSe (Digital Natural Sound

Engine)

Memory

Phonebook 1000 contacts, Photocall, Call records

Yes, Internal 30 MB, Card slot microSD

(TransFlash) up to 8GB

Data

GPRS Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps,

EDGE Class 10, 236.8 kbps, Bluetooth Yes, v2.1

with A2DP, USB Yes, v2.0 (proprietary), Camera

Primary, 3.15 MP, 2048x1536 pixels, LED flash

Video Yes, QVGA@15fps

Features

Messaging SMS, MMS, Email, IM, Browser WAP

2.0/xHTML, HTML, Radio Stereo FM radio with

RDS, FM recording, Games Yes + downloadable

Colors Dark Brown, Elegant Pink, Java Yes, MIDP

2.0, Dual SIM, MP3/WAV/WMA/eAAC+ player

MP4/H.263/H.264 player, Google Talk, Organizer

Voice memo, T9

Battery

Stand-by up to 400h, Talk time up to 4 h 30 min

Samsung B5722

Size

Dimensions 94x47x17.4 mm, Weight 82.8g

Display

Type TFT, 16M colours, Size 240 x 320 pixels, 2.2

inches, Second external, hidden LED display, Sound

Alert types, Vibration; MP3 ringtones, Speakerphone

Yes

Memory

Phonebook 1000 entries, Photocall, Call records 30

received, dialed and missed calls, Internal 40 MB,

Card slot microSD (TransFlash) up to 8GB

Data

GPRS Class 12 (4+1/3+2/2+3/1+4 slots), 32 - 48

kbps, EDGE Class 12, Bluetooth Yes, v2.1 with

A2DP, USB Yes, v2.0 microUSB, Camera Primary

3.15 MP, 2048x1536 pixels, autofocus, Video Yes,

QVGA,

Features

Messaging SMS, MMS, Email Browser, WAP

2.0/xHTML, HTML, Radio Stereo FM radio with RDS

Games Yes + downloadable, Colours Gray, Java

Yes, MIDP 2.1, MP3/WAV/eAAC+/WMV player

MP4/H.263/H.264 player, Photo editor, Organiser

Voice memo, T9

Battery

Stand-by up to 470h, Talk time up to 7h

Display

Type TFT capacitive touchscreen, 16M

colours, Size 480 x 854 pixels, 3.7 inches

Multi-touch input method, Accelerometer sen-

sor, Proximity sensor for auto turn-off, Sound

Alert types, Vibration; MP3, WAV ringtones


Memory

Phonebook, 1000 contacts, Photocall, Call

records Yes, Internal 4 GB storage, Card slot

microSD (TransFlash) up to 32GB

Data

GPRS Class 12 (4+1/3+2/2+3/1+4 slots), 32

- 48 kbps, EDGE Class 12, 3G HSDPA,

WLAN

Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, Bluetooth Yes, v2.1 with

A2DP, USB Yes, microUSB v2.0, Camera

Primary, 5 MP, 2592 x 1944 pixels, autofo-

cus, LED flash,

Features

OS Android-based OPhone OS 1.0,

Messaging, SMS (threaded view), MMS,

Email, IM, Push Email Browser HTML,

Radio

Stereo FM radio with RDS, Games

Downloadable, Colors Black, Red, GPS

Yes, with A-GPS support, Java Via third

party application, TV CMMB broadcast

receiver MP3/eAAC+/WAV player,

MP4/H.263/H.264 player, Google

Search, Maps, Gmail, YouTube, Google

Talk, Document viewer, Photo viewer/edi-

tor, Organiser, Voice memo T9

Samsung S5150 Diva folder

Size

Dimensions 89x47x15.2mm, Weight 94 g

Display

Type TFT, 16M colours, Size 240 x 320 pixels, 2.2

inches, Second external monochrome TFT dis-

play, 128 x 160 pixels, Sound Alert types

Vibration; Downloadable polyphonic, MP3 ring-

tones, Speakerphone Yes, 2.5 mm audio jack

Memory

Phonebook 2000 entries, Photocall, Call records

20 dialed, 20 received, 20 missed calls, Internal

70 MB, Card slot microSD, up to 8GB

Data

GPRS Class 32, 88 kbps, EDGE Class 32, 296

kbits, 3G Yes, 384 kbps, Bluetooth Yes, v2.1 with

A2DP, USB Yes, v2.0 micro-USB, Camera

Primary, 3.2 MP, 2048x1536 pixels, LED flash,

enhanced fixed focus, Video Yes, Secondary

VGA videocall camera

Features

Messaging SMS, MMS, Email, IM Browser, WAP

2.0/xHTML, HTML, Radio Stereo FM radio with

RDS, Games Yes, Colours Pink, Plum, Black

GPS Yes, with A-GPS support, Java Yes, MIDP

2.1, MP3/eAAC+/WAV/WMA player

MP4/WMV/H.263/H.264 player, Organiser Voice

command/dial/memo, Flash Lite 3.0, T9

Battery

Stand-by up to 288h (2G) / up to 288h (3G)

Talk time up to 4h (2G) / up to 3h 20 min (3G)


Nokia 3710 fold

Motorola MT710

ZTE-G S312

X990 I Chat n Qwertyn GSM 900/1800 MHz or850/1900 MHz n Dimensions: 106.8mm×60.5mm×11.95mmn Display: 320 × 240 pixels,2.4’’, 262K, TFTn Weight: TBDn Battery capacity: Li-ion900mAh n Voice Talk Time: Maxim 500minutesn Standby Time: Maxim 500 hours n Optional: Dual Sims dual standbyn Ringtones: 64 Poly, MP3 play-er n SMS: 270n Camera: 1.3/2.0M, MMS1.2n WAP2.0, Ringtone & Picture

downloadn T-flash / USB, Bluetooth, FM

ZTE-G S212 n Dual-SIM Cardn 102.3mm X44mm X16.2mmabout 90g n GSM 900/1800 or 850/1900MHzn MT 6223n QWERTY Keypad Yesn CSTN 1.44'', 128*128, 65Kcolor, 64+32Mbitsn Support MicroSD (MicroSDn Card not included in salesbox), 2GBn Battery Li-ion 1000mAhn Maxim 350hn Maxim 350 minutesn Stereo 2.2mm jackn Charger connector 12pinconnectorn Flash Light Yes

ZTE-V60General Features

Intel? Atom? MobileProcessor (1.6 GHz)1GB DDR2 system memory160GB SATA Hard Disk Drive(5400 rpm2)Microsoft?Windows?XP HomeOperatingSystemBuild-inHSDPA/HSUPAVivid 10.1¡± WXGA Wide Screen LCDBuilt-in Wireless LAN (802.11b/g)3-in-1 Media Card Reader(MS/MS Pro/SD),3 High Speed USB2.0 15-pin Standard External Display Output PortSize: 265mm¡Á185mm¡Á25mm Ultra Portable Notebook weight <1.2kg Communications Build-inHSDPA/HSUPABuilt-in Wireless LAN (802.11b/g)Built-in 10/100 Mbps Ethernet LAN

Items

Protocol

StandardSizeWeightTalk / Standby TimeOperating Temp.

MemoryLCD

Keyboard lightsBattery

Phone bookMelodyVibratorSide Volume KeyInbox Content/

Features

GSM 900/1800 MHz or850/1900GSM Phase 2+106mm×45.6mm×18.1mmAbout 65g (without battery)5– 6h / 180h

Standard：-10℃ ～ +45℃Limit：-15℃ ～ +55℃Flash: 64+ 32MbitDisplay size 1.5” inch (65k color) 8 LED amber color Standard Battery: 580 mAhLi-ionSIM & PhoneYesYesnoSolar battery cover, Battery,travel charger, user guide


66

Tech Tool ZTE Mobile Range

Apple introduced the first iMac more than a decade ago. And the design phi-losophy remains the same: an all-in-one computer that as powerful as it is beauti-ful.

Specifications� Mac OS X v10.6 Snow Leopard� 3.06GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 3MB shared L2 cache� 4GB (two 2GB SO-DIMMs) of 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM; � 500GB 7200-rpm Serial ATA hard drive� Slot-loading 8x SuperDrive � NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics processor with 256MB of DDR3 SDRAMshared with main memory

Stay connected, share, get work done and havefun with a stylish, simple-to-maintain PC packedwith power and protection.

Specifications� Free Dos� Intel Core 2 Quad processor Q8200� Chipset Intel G43 Express� Standard memory 2048MB� Memory DDR2� Hard Disk 320 GB� Lightscribe SuperMulti SATA Drive� Nvidia GeForce G210, 512MB Dedicated Graphics Memory

A quad-core processor and scalable chipset give theVeriton M265 great flexibility, while a large-capacityhard drive and abundant memory increase perform-ance speed for efficient multitasking. A built-in speak-er enhances multimedia presentations and completesthe Veriton M265 appeal as an essential businessmachine. Specifications� Free DOS

� Intel Pentium Dual Core E5300 (2.6GHz)� 800Mhz FSB / 2MB L2 Cache� Intel G31 Express Chipset� 320GB SATA 7200RPM� 2GB Memory� 2 x DDR2 667/800 Socket (Dual channel support)� Maximum 4GB

Benefit from a simple and reliable PC without the fuss andfrills for your everyday needs. deal for families looking fora user-friendly yet affordable PC that maximises value. Aversatile performer that is designed to meet the demandsof yours or your family lifestyle. Enhance work and playwith an efficient performer that also offers peace of mind insecurity and support.Specifications� Free Dos � Intel Pentium Dual Core E5400 (2.7GHz)

� 800MHz front side bus� 2MB L2 Cashes � Memory Installed 2 GB� Maximum allowed 4 GB (2 x 2 GB)� Speed supported PC2-6400 MB/sec� Type 240 pin, DDR2 SDRAM� 320 GB SATA 3G (3.0 Gb/sec)� DVD+/-R/RW 16X 12X +/-DL LS 12X RAM SuperMulti SATA drive

Apple iMac 21.5-inch

Acer eMachines EZ1600

HP Pavilion P6118L

Acer Veriton M265Compaq Presario CQ3011L

Compaq Presario CQ3012L

Rs50,490

Rs 1,19,900

Rs42,990

Rs31,490

Rs33,990

Rs30,900

The technological marvel of the eMachines EZ Series all-in-one desktopincludes Genuine Microsoft Windows XP Home , an Intel Atom Processor, bothGigabit and wireless connectivity and a gorgeous 18.5 inch LCD.

Specifications� Genuine Microsoft Windows XP Home� Intel Atom Processor N270� (1.6GHz, 512KB L2 cache)� 1024MB DDR2 SDRAM � 1 DDR2 slot total, 0 DDR2 slots available� 160GB SATA� 8X DVD R/RW SuperMulti double-layer (DL) drive

Benefit from a simple and reliable PC without the fussand frills for your everyday needs. deal for families lookingfor a user-friendly yet affordable PC that maximises value. Aversatile performer that is designed to meet the demands ofyours or your family lifestyle. Enhance work and play withan efficient performer that also offers peace of mind in secu-rity and support.Specifications� Free Dos � Intel Pentium Dual Core E5200 (2.50

GHz)� Intel G31 Express� Memory Installed 1 GB� Maximum allowed 4 GB (2 x 2 GB)� Type 240 pin, DDR2 SDRAM� 250 GB SATA 3G (3.0 Gb/sec)� DVD+/-R/RW 16X 12X +/-DL LS 12X RAM SuperMulti SATA drive

67

Tech Tool Latest ComputersFree download | flare.com.pk

Free download | flare.com.pkTech Tool Accessories

68

Philco PC concept designed in Steampunk etiquettes

3D Camera ends up in the Guinness book Portable DVD Projector

Tech ToolFree download | flare.com.pk

69

70

Free download | flare.com.pkTech Tool Latest LapTop

Specifications� Intel Atom Processor N208/1.66GHZ, � Intel Graphic Media Accelerator 950, � Display 10.1" / WXGA 1366 * 768, � Memory 1GB, HD 160GB(Serai ATA, 5400rpm), � Front Side Camera 640 X 480, � Window XP Home Edition 32-Bit, � Battery Upto 2.5 hours of use, � Weight 1.19 Kg (including the supplied battery)

The 15.6-inch Compaq Presario CQ61-231tu puts the versatility and pro-ductivity of notebook computing within your reach.Specifications� Fee Dos� Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T6600 (2.2GHz)� Processor Cache Level 2 cache 2 MB� Bus Speed 800MHz� Memory (2 x 1024 MB )� Memory Max Up to 4 GB DDR2� Hard Drive 250 GB SATA (5400 rpm)� Super Multi DVD Writer (+/-R +/-RW) with Double Layer support� Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X4500

With a striking gloss black Espresso HP Imprint finish, the HP Pavilion dv6-1333 is certain to captivate. Powered by the 2.1GHz Intel Pentium DualCoreMobile Processor T4300, and with Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium onboard, this Entertainment Notebook PC from HP.Specifications� Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium� Intel Pentium Dual Core Mobile Processor T4300� 2.10 GHz, Level 2 cache 1 MB / 800Mhz FSB� Memory 4096 MB � 8 GB DDR2 memory� Hard Disk Drive 320 GB 7200 rpm SATA � Lightscribe Super Multi DVD Writer (+/-R +/-RW)

Specifications� Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 32-bit, � Intel® Atom™ Processor Z540 (1.86 GHz, � HT Technology supported*2), 2 GB DDR2 SDRAM, � Flash Memory 64 GB,Intel® � Graphics Media Accelerator 500, 11.1" wide (WXGA 1366 x 768), � Memory Card Reader(Pro Duo, SD), � Wifi, Bluetooth, Front Camera, � Battery Life: 7.5 Hours, Weight: 745g

More than 8 hours battery life (All Day Computing), ultra-light weight andsophisticated design, all at the right price. This is the Aspire Timeline. With theAspire Timeline series, Acer has taken a big, if not the biggest step forward inthe concept of mobility, Specifications� Windows 7 Edition� Intel Pentium Processor SU4100 (1.30GHz / 800Mhz FSB with 2 MB L2 cache� 4GB Memory Dual-channel DDR3 SDRAM � 320GB Hard Disk SATA� 5400 RPM� DVD Super Multi� Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD

Precision aluminum. The new gold standard. Carved from a single block of aluminum,the new MacBook Pro unibody enclosure is slim and streamlined with a soft-brushedsurface and stunning contours. But its not all about beauty. The unibody also makesMacBook Pro more durable than ever.� 2.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 6MB on-chip shared L2 cache running� 500GB 5400-rpm Serial ATA hard drive� Maximum write: 8x DVD-R, DVD+R; 4x DVD-R DL (double layer), DVD+R DL (double layer), DVD-RW, DVD+RW; 24x CD-R; 10x CD-RW� NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics processor with 256MB of DDR3 SDRAM sharedwith main memory

VPCW115XG

HP Pavilion dv6-1333sa

Compaq Presario CQ61 - 231TU

VPCX115LG

Acer Aspire Timeline 4810T Apple MacBook Pro 2.8GHz 17"

Rs54,990

Rs 48,900

Rs66,990

Rs81,490

Rs2,29,990

Rs137,500

71

Free download | flare.com.pk Favourite Mobiles 2009 Tech Tool

Free download | flare.com.pkSynopsis National

Lahore: Bank Alfalah has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Pak-Qatar Family Takaful, Pakistan’s first and largest family Takaful operator, andFWU AG, a global facilitator of bancatakaful.

This agreement will lay the foundation for Bank Alfalah to launch its firstShariah compliant Bancassurance (BancaTakaful) products across its branchnetwork. These products will provide Bank Alfalah’s customers with Long termSavings plans specifically catered to fulfil their future financial needs. In addition,the Takaful cover will offer financial protection to families for the fulfilment ofthe above obligations in case the breadwinner is unable to do so due to untimelydeath - all this without having to compromise on their beliefs. �

Bank Alfalah joins hands with ‘Pak-Qatar’ and FWU AG

Mr Pervaiz Shahidf from Bank Alfalah with officials of Pak-Qatar Family Takaful, and FWU AG at agreement

Karachi: Dawlance, the largest and numberone Home Appliances Company of Pakistan,has achieved another milestone by introducinga range of front and top loading automaticwashing machines to its portfolio. DawlanceAutomatic Washing Machines are nowavailable in capacities ranging from 6KG to9KG in the market.

Dawlance is specialised in introducing itsproducts which best suit Pakistani consumers’needs. And once again, the newly launchedproduct is well equipped with specialized features such as I-Novate FuzzyLogic, Memory Function and Tilt Drum which make washing process very easyfor users and add comfort to their lives.

Dawlance category manager, Mr Arshad Jabbar said, “This machine has thecapability to automatically calculate the amount of water, detergent and washtime required based on the quantity of the wash load you put in which ensuresa hassle free operation for our consumer. Keeping in view the load sheddingissue, these machines have been inserted with a memory card that remembersthe wash cycle it was operating on, thus in case of electricity failure the machinewill resume its operation exactly where it left off, with out any wastage ofelectricity, water, detergent and time".

The Dawlance automatic washing machines are equipped with customisedwashing options i.e. the user can themselves choose the water level, washduration, detergent level (for heavily soiled clothes), rinse levels, spin dry etc.Depending on the activity and occasion, the machine can be very convenientlyprogrammed to cater the desired output.

Commenting on the addition of this Automatic Washing Machine toDawlance’s appliances portfolio, Mr Hasan Jamil, Head of Marketing said,“Dawlance Automatic washing machine would be a stepping stone in the widerange of Dawlance domestic appliances. This exciting product will surely makethe lives of people easier and they will have an exciting experience of washingwhich they never had before.” �

Dawlance Automatic WashingMachines

Viper Technology has been nominated as Pakistan’s first Intel’sAuthorised Service Provider (IASP), enabling the firm to provide itsclients with support and efficient warranty services on Intel basedMachines.

This is the first time that any IT company in Pakistan has beenawarded the status of IASP by Intel. This will not only promote thelocal IT firms but will also enable the Pakistani technology providersto work at international standards.

Being appointed as IASP in Pakistan enables Viper Technology thebenefits of unrestricted advanced warranty replacement. The companywill also have the benefit of technical troubleshooting training andcertifying employees who complete it successfully.

Viper Technology iscurrently providingdesktops, Mobile andserver solutions to theSMB and enterprisesegments including banks,media houses, defence,textile, and educationsector.

CEO Viper Technologyand President PakistanComputer Association, MrKhushnood Aftab said, “Itis an honour to be the first company in Pakistan to have beenappointed as Intel’s Authorised Service Providers. Viper has beendevoted to the local IT industry for 15 years and has always been inthe forefront to bring the latest technology to the country. IASPcontract has fortified our stance on providing our clients with ITsolutions that are secure, cost-effective and more flexible than ever.”Sharing his insight on the features of this contract, Mr Khushnood said,“Viper Technology is committed in supporting the customers withunique approach that is attentive, responsive and reliable, helpingthem to grow with complete confidence.” �

Karachi: Close to eighty of the world's leading communicationsservice providers are now using the market leading Nokia SiemensNetworks NetAct Optimiser, a highly automated tool for improvingradio network quality and performance.

NetAct Optimiser speeds the optimisation process by 50 per centcompared to traditional methods, while improving networkperformance by an average of 15 per cent leading to increased returnon revenue. NetAct Optimiser is also a key component of NokiaSiemens Networks' Self Organising Networks (SON) Suite.

Shanghai Unicorn is one of the latest to select NetAct Optimiser toimprove its multi-vendor GSM radio network performance and toautomate the network optimisation process. Hou Wenjun, manager ofShanghai Unicorn Optimisation Department said, "Network quality isvery important in maintaining and acquiring subscribers. NokiaSiemens Networks NetAct Optimiser improves the performance of thewhole network regardless of the vendor and the work efficiency hasbeen improved a lot."

Optimiser is also an essential part of the Nokia Siemens NetworksSON Suite offering for GSM, WCDMA/HSPA+ and LTE integratedwith the NetAct network management system. Automatedoptimisation of network coverage and capacity improves the qualityand performance of mobile networks and reduces the need for timeconsuming and error prone manual processes in network operations.Optimising the network assets and capacity utilisation also lowersCAPEX. �

Viper Technology authorised by Intel

NSN NetAct Optimiserpopular among Cos

Senior officers of Viper Technologies and Intel at the signing ceremony of MoU.

72

Karachi: Building on its global WiMAXleadership position, Motorola Inc's (NYSE: MOT)Home and Networks Mobility businessannounced that Wateen Telecom has acceleratedits rollout of WiMAX services and is on its way todoubling its existing customer premisesequipment (CPE) volume from 100,000 to 200,000by year end.

Motorola remains Wateen's exclusive WiMAXCPE and infrastructure supplier, deliveringreliable, easy-to-install, high performance devicesto the Pakistani operator for nationwidedistribution. This latest agreement with Wateenbuilds on the success of Motorola's recentannouncement of shipping its one millionthWiMAX CPE.

Tariq Malik, Chief Executive Officer, WateenTelecom, said, "We required leading WiMAXtechnology to provide first-class services andmeet customer demand across an extendedPakistani network and after a competitive reviewselected Motorola to provide next-generationWiMAX CPE units. We are confident that the

deployment of the CPE products will enhanceWateen's position as a leadingtelecommunications provider."

“Wateen Telecom’s ambitious expansionplans allow the company to reach a widercustomer base and address popular demand,”said Ali Amer, Vice President, Middle East, Africaand Pakistan, Motorola Home & Networks

Mobility. “It is atestament to thestrength andbreadth of ourWiMAX CPEportfolio thatWateencontinues tooffer onlyMotoroladevices to itscustomersacrossPakistan.”

“Motorola’s

WiMAX solution supports Wateen’s growthplans by providing reliable, best-in-classperformance with easy installation CPEs. Ouroperational costs have been greatly reducedbecause we require fewer base stations and canextend higher order modulation 40 per centfarther within the service areas. These attributestranslate into a faster return on investment,reduced churn and greater customer satisfaction,”added Amer.

As part of its latest CPE order, Wateen haschosen Motorola’s WiMAX USBw 100, which willbe made available to consumers and businessesfor the first time in Pakistan, and the outdoorWiMAX CPEo 450, as well as the newlyintroduced WiMAX CPEi 775 and CPEi 750 forindoor use within a home or office environment.

Wateen’s services currently cover 22 cities inPakistan, and the company recently reached amilestone of 100,000 subscribers. The CPE unitswill provide a larger number of subscribers inPakistan, from small businesses to largeenterprises, with unprecedented access to flexibleand affordable wireless data and voice services,from basic telephony and fast internet access tosecure data connectivity. �

Lahore: With a view tointroduce value-added servicesduring the next financial year,Mobilink Pakistan is set to launchMobile Commerce (M Commerce),under which it would introducethe concept of Branchless Banking.According to Mobilinkspokesman, this would enable the

consumers to have the experience of paying utility bills, opening andusage of bank accounts through cell phones, and national andinternational remittances.

The company is mulling over provision of total telecom solutionsthrough cell phones. He said Mobilink has invested USD 2.5 billion forupgrading its communication infrastructure and other sectors in thecountry and also planning to introduce 4G (LT) Technology in near future.The company foresees huge potential in the market that was why itinvested USD 150 million during the current year, he added.

He said the company welcomed the government initiative for cut intaxes on telecom sector that helped the telecom sector boost its revenuesa lot. The Mobilink has about 8000 cell sites across the country, the biggestnumber by any operator in the country. About the launching of 4Gtechnology, he commented talks in this regard are under progress withthe government.

He dispelled the impression thatsome cellular companies hadcartelised in blocking the launch of 3Gtechnology in Pakistan and said thetelecom operators were in consultationwith the Ministry of InformationTechnology and the PakistanTelecommunication Authority for theadvent of new technology. Thedecision has to be taken by thegovernment and we would follow itsdirections, he added. "We have morethan 2000 touch points which is the maximum number by any operator."

The company is now shifting its focus on broadband services andalready this service has been introduced at Karachi with brand name"Infinity." About the company's revenue, he said the Mobilink has bagged40 per cent of the market share which is maximum than any other operatorduring the current fiscal. He said his company was rated amongst 100leading companies of the world and this achievement reflected itsperformance and the confidence it enjoys by the consumers. �

Wateen speeds up WiMAX services

Mobilink set tolaunch MobileCommerce


73

SynopsisNational

Karachi: Samsung Electronics, the global leader and award winninginnovator in consumer electronics has successfully completed yet anothervaluable Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative in Pakistan,whereby it has technologically modernised & completely renovated thecomputer facilities in the SOS Children’s Village school at Dodhial inHazara Division.

Samsung has modernised this previously outdated facility by buildingtwo computer labs, each carrying 15 latest computers along with modernfacilities and a pleasant ambience, thus today, thousands of children areable to get modern education here. Samsung continues to make extensivedeliberations for enhancing the level of education in the remote areas, as itfollows an elaborate CSR philosophy, which entails consistentcontributions towards social uplift, in every society it operates.

The Public RelationsManager of SamsungElectronics Pakistan, MsRabiya Siddiqui said, “Itis a pleasure to see thesetalented children getstate-of-the-art computereducation. As part ofSamsung’s traditionalsocial-developmentprogramme, we aim tofoster modern educationin underdeveloped regions, by providing impetus to the endeavours ofsincere organisations like SOS Villages”.

Samsung firmly believes that it is the right of every child to get qualityeducation. Thus by making this social effort, Samsung has enabled thechildren of Dodhial village, and a large number of students from itssurrounding areas to get quality education at very nominal fees.

SOS Children's Villages is an NGO, active in the field of children'srights, needs and concerns across 132 countries. Founded in 1949, it hasalso won the world-renowned “Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize” forextraordinary contributions towards alleviating human suffering. It is oneof the biggest NGOs working in Pakistan.

This particular SOS village at Dodhial was founded in 1982. Samsungchose to uplift this facility because, despite an extremely remote location,this facility provides its students with equal-rights, quality education andsuperior training, from pre-school through schooling & vocationaltraining. �

Samsung revolutionises SOSvillage Computer facilities

Rabiya Siddiqui, Manager PR at Samsung Electronics pictures withchildren at the inauguration of computer lab at the SOS village Dod-hial. Samsung provided 30 latest computer setups in addition to ren-ovating the facility catering to 650 children of nearby rural villages.


75

SynopsisNational

Warid came up with another instant messaging solution, this time it doesnot even require GPRS, now you can enjoy “Instant Messenger over SMS”and chat with your buddies on MSN Messenger, Yahoo Messenger & Google-talk just by sending SMS.

Just send an SMS <EmailAddress> space <EmailPassword> to 1126. For example: [email protected] <space> 123 and send it to 1126, the

password is always the password of yourHotmail, Yahoo or Google account that youare trying to sign in to. After logging in theuser will be able to send a list of his onlinefriends with whom he can talk via SMS. Userneeds to have an already made MSN, Yahooor Google account before he or she can login.

When the user logs into the service thesystem will send him or her list of onlinefriends. From this list the user can choosewhich friend to talk with. After a connectionwith that friend is established the user cantalk to him by simply replying to themessages. Some useful commands to send to1126:� <Email Address> <Email Password> (to login to a new account)� ON (to sign in to all saved accounts)� OFF (to sign off from all saved accounts)� FRIENDS (to receive online friends list)� ACC (to view all saved accounts)� REMOVE <Email Address> (to remove an account from saved accounts)� HELP (to receive commands list and get service introduction)� STATUS (to change your status to online, busy or do not disturb)Points to remember:� Every SMS to 1126 is charged Rs1+tax.� The service supports all popular messaging clients like MSN, Yahoo!And Google Talk.� The service does not require an internet connection on your phone.� The user will get charged for logging in and out of the application andsending messages to his friends. The messages sent by your friends to you arenot charged.� To log out the user must send OFF to 1126. The user is automaticallylogged out after 24 hours.� When the user logs in to any unsaved account they will be given theoption to save it.� You cannot create your account through the service. �

It is so simple send an SMS and 50 minuteswill be in your hands – but here is a glitch,you will have to use these free minuteswithin five days. Points to remember:� All subscribers who have not done anyoutgoing or incoming activity sinceNovember 8, 2009 are eligible for thispromotion.� Subscribers can win 50 free On-netminutes by sending an SMS to 550� The free minutes will be posted within 48 hours after a subscribersends an SMS to 550, these minutes will be valid for 5 days. Freeminutes will be posted on first SMS (to 550) only. If a subscriber sendsmultiple SMS on 550, he will be posted free minutes only once.� All those subscribers who send SMS on 550 and recharge theiraccounts will get additional free minutes bonus for three months, whichwill be equal to 100 per cent of the first recharge amount of the monthvia Jazz load or scratch card. The maximum bonus on recharge given toa subscriber will be 100 minutes in one month. Example: A subscriberwho loads Rs300 will get maximum of 100 minutes in one month.� Each instalment will be equal to value of 1st recharge transaction inthe previous month.� February – 1st instalment equal to 1st recharge between Dec 15 andJan 31.� Mar – 2nd instalment equal to 1st recharge between Feb 1 and Feb29.� April- 3rd instalment equal to 1st recharge between 1st Mar-31stMar� The monthly bonus minutes given on the first recharge of the monthwill be posted after 10th of the following month.� For February bonus, only the first recharge after hitting short code550 will be considered, for bonus in subsequent months first rechargeof the month will be considered.� Any recharge transferred through Jazz Share will be excluded frombonus award.� Customers will be intimated about the posting of free minutes andbonus on recharge by SMS.� Customers who have lost their SIMs can get new SIMs free of cost.� This offer is valid till January 15, 2010. �

Warid get IM over SMS JAZZ Sim Lagao, MazaayUraao!

Karachi: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., aleading mobile phone provider, unveils its newsmartphone platform, Samsung bada. At thisunveiling, Samsung showcases the bada SDK(Software Development Kit) for partners andpresents the unique benefits and unprecedentedopportunities that the bada platform will bring todevelopers, mobile operators and consumers.

Mr Steve Han, Managing Director-SamsungPakistan stated that Samsung bada is a drivingforce in accomplishing Samsung’s vision of a‘smartphone for everyone.’ To achieve this vision,Samsung bada offers a feature-rich platform forenhanced mobile experiences for consumers, anda complete mobile ecosystem through adeveloper support programme that both theapplication store and consumers will benefitfrom. Based on Samsung’s accumulated expertisein developing advanced mobile phones, thecompany will allow its users to enjoy ultimatemobile experience through superb features.

Samsung bada, meaningOcean in Korean, enablesdevelopers to take full advantage

of mobile device capabilities to create compellingapplications with ease. Applications can usedevice functions to make phone calls, sendmessages, or access the contact list. Also, various

service applications can share information suchas personal profiles, social relations, schedules,or contents with a simple user confirmation inorder to provide services with greater personalrelevance and cooperative service extension. Theflexibility of the bada platform makes itapplicable to a wide range of devices than anyother mobile operating system.

Mr Zeshan Quershi, Head of Mobile phones,

Pakistan and Afghanistan at Samsung Electronicssaid, “In providing Samsung bada, I believe thatSamsung will become a true leader in the mobileindustry; offering a wider range of smartphonechoices for consumers.” He added, “At the sametime, Samsung bada presents a powerfulopportunity for developers to get theirapplications onto an unprecedented number ofSamsung devices across the world.”

Based on Samsung’s signature TouchWizUser Interface, Samsung bada platform providesan easy, simple, and intuitive UI withoutcompromising efficiency. It provides creativityand user interactivity through flash control, webcontrol, motion sensing, fine-tuned vibrationcontrol, and face detection. Samsung badadifferentiates its position by supporting variousservice-centric features such as social networking,device synchronization, content management,location-based services, and commerce services -all supported by back-end bada servers. Theseground-breaking developer-friendly featuressupport developers to implement variousservices without additional effort. �

Samsung unveils “bada”

Free download | flare.com.pkSynopsis Flare Report

76

PTCL EVO: Refer a friend and get discount

To avail the discount you must be an existing EvoPostpaid subscriber. Get a friend or familymember to sign up for a new Evo connection andPTCL will give you 25 per cent off from your nextmonthly bill. You can refer as many friends as youwant. PTCL will give you 25 per cent off eachmonth for every friend that you sing up e.g. Refer

three friends and get 25 per cent off for next threemonths.Fill in the contact details of anyone you thinkmight be interested in an Evo connection in theform. Your friend will get an email letting him orher know that you have referred for an Evoconnection. PTCL will also call your friends toconfirm their orders. If any of your friend signs upPTCL you will get 25 per cent off on your next bill.Points to remember:• This offer is only valid for our existing Evopostpaid subscribers, however your referredfriends can choose any package (prepaid orpostpaid).• Your friend must pay his first month’s bill foryou to be eligible for 25 per cent discount on yournext month’s Evo bill.• There is no limit to the number friends thatyou can refer.• If the friend that you have referred returnsthe Evo you will not be eligible for any discount.• If you have referred more than one friendyou will get 25 per cent off per month for eachfriend that you have referred. �

PIA awards outstanding studentsLahore: Children of PIA Officials were awardedGold, Silver, Bronze Medals and shields by PIASenior Staff Association (PIASSA) for outstand-ing educational achievements at high schoollevel during 2007-2009. An impressive ceremonywas held at PIA Head Office, participated bymanagement, officers and staff with their chil-dren. Director HR and Administration PIA, Mr HaneefPathan presided the function. Over 400 studentswere awarded Shields and Medals who securedabove 75 per cent marks in Matriculation, Inter-

mediate, O-Level and A-Level examinations forthe years 2007, 2008 and 2009 and young chil-dren on becoming Hafiz-e-Quran.Fifteen students were awarded gold medals, 16silver and 16 were awarded bronze medals forsecuring high percentile marks i.e. above 80 percent and those students who secured high num-ber of A grades in O Level and A Level exami-nations while other students were awardedshields. Director HR and Administration, Mr HaneefPathan congratulated the students for attaining

high marks in their respective examinations andalso complemented the parents. He said that theofficers of PIA should also work with the samezeal in their respective departments for the bet-terment of the airline. President PIASSA, Mr Abid Saleem and GeneralSecretary Mr Asad Sadiq also spoke at the occa-sion. The ceremony was attended by PIA Direc-tors, General Managers, PIASSA Zonal Officebearers, Senior officers and their families. �

Director HR and Administration PIA, Haneef Pathan andPresident PIA Senior Staff Association, Abid Saleem at aceremony organised by PIASSA to award medals for out-

standing educational achievements to students at highschool level during 2007-2009.


77

SynopsisNational

PTCL EVO that started its journey from Rs 6,000 for its EVO USBdevices is now offering PCMCIA cards for Rs 999 only.

This reduction in price is only for the device; however, monthlypackages are going to remain the same – which I believe should belowered by 20 per cent at least.

Note: PCMCIA cards are compatible with laptops only havingPCMCIA slots. External PCMCIA cards are also available in market -however, that will take your initial cost high as of having a USB.Postpaid Tariff/Package Details:

Package 1 (For subscribers having PTCL Landline)Option 1: USB Device Rs 3,999 (upfront)Option 2: PCMCIA Card Rs 999 (upfront)

Package 2 (For subscribers not having PTCL Landline)Option 1: USB Device Rs. 3,999 (upfront)Option 2: PCMCIA Card Rs. 999 (upfront)

Service ChargesMonthly Service Charges: Rs2000 (Payable through PTCL Landline

Bill)EVO LITE: Rs1200 – 50 hours* or 3000 minutes – 30 days validity *

Rs21/additional hourDAY PASS: Rs100/day – Valid for 24 consecutive hours. �

After Telenor Persona Karobar, a postpaidplan for SME sector of Pakistan, now PersonaKarobar package brings another industry firstoffer for its customers and their businesspartners.

Now with Teamtalk offer, Persona Karobarcustomers can make free calls to their businesspartners through teamtalk bundles. Thisfeature for an SME to make free calls to theirbusiness partners is an industry first inPakistan. All features of the offer for SME’s are:� Make free calls to your company employees;� Make free calls to your business partners;and� Send SMS / MMS at special rates tocompany employees as well as businesspartners. �

PTCL offers EVO PCMCIAfor Rs 999

Persona TeamTalk: PostpaidPlans for SMEs

Mobilink announcesspecial prices for selectedcountries, which are as low asRs1.36 per minute against aweekly subscription charge ofRs10 per country.

It means that if you subscribe for one country then you can call Rs1.36 perminute to that specific country for one week.

Customers will have to subscribe to their desired destination once a week.One time subscription fee will be charged at the time of subscription.Subscription validity period will be seven days. User can opt for maximum ofnine destinations at one time (separate fee per destination will be charged).

For Canada and USA (L+M) the subscription charges have been doubledsince two destinations get opened through the country code of 1.

For subscription type the name of the country and send an SMS to 424.Oncethe SMS is sent, a USSD string will be sent back to you for further subscriptionfor a particular country. You will dial the USSD string on mobile screen andpress send to avail the discounted rate for that country e.g. type ‘UK’ and sendsit to SMS short code 424. You will get a message, Type *104*1*44*01# & presssend to avail this offer for UK (landline).

To Un-Subscribe from a particular country, you have to type the followingUSSD string and press or send * 104*4*<<xxxxx>>*<<yy>># where xxxxx iscomplete country code (can be of any number of digits) yy can be any of thevalues (01:Landline 02:Mobile 03: Landline Mobile)

Points to remember:� Charging pulse for all calls is 60 seconds.� The above discounted rates are not applicable for users on internationalroaming.� Maximum nine countries can be selected at one time, with multiplesubscription fee deductions for different destinations.� In case of multiple selections, the validity of previously selected destinationwill remain intact.� Weekly subscription charges are Rs10 per country.� Combined charges for USA and Canada are Rs20 per week.� 19.5 per cent federal excise duty applies on usage and 10 per cent governmenttax applies on recharge.� Using SIMs without proper documentation is a crime - PTA.� Limited time offer only. �

Jazz internationalcall discount offer

Ufone Solid Offer – freecall after 3 minutes

According to this offer, the customer has to pay for the first threeminutes and can avail up to 57 minutes absolutely free. Ufone’s SolidOffer comes as the biggest offer announced by Ufone in the recent pastand stands as yet another ground breaking stance made by the everevolving organisation.

This offer is valid for all UWon,Tension Free, Public Demand & Joshcustomers. To avail this limited timeoffer, the subscribers can send SMS ‘32‘to 444 with a onetime charge of Rs 10only. This offer is applicable on Ufone toUfone calls only.

Mr Ali Ikram Head of Pricing &Strategy said, “We at Ufone are not juststriving to meet customer expectationsbut exceeding them. This Solid Offerfrom Ufone will bring smiles on the facesof millions of customers around thecountry. Customer satisfactionencourages us to strive more for delighting our users time after time”.

Points to remember:� The maximum call time is most likely to be less than one hour.� Terms and conditions apply.� This offer is not valid on bundle offers� This is a limited time offer 19.5 per cent FED on usage and 10%withholding tax at recharge or bill applies. �

79

MosaicNational

Islamabad: A PTCL staffer busy in repairing the telephone line during maintenance work in the Federal

Capital City.

California: Namira Salim, first Pakistani Astronaut at-tends the unveiling of Virgin Galactic's Space ShipTwo

(SS2) which will carry Namira to Space.

Faisalabad: Students of a local college busy in their studies in computer lab.

Lahore: Punjab Chief Minister M. Shahbaz Sharif givesaway the shields among the participants of IT Lab

Project.

Islamabad: Students take photograph with their camerasduring Chrysanthemum and Autumn

flower exhibition.

Rawalpindi: Incharge Education Wing Afifa Shumail delivers lecture to the school children about road safety

at Sapient Hall School.

Multan: A lady takes photo of her companion with hercell phone during Punjab CM Mian Shahbaz SharifInter Divisional Sport Programme at Sports Ground.

Islamabad: The students hold their degrees during the 7th convention Al-Shifa Medical College.

Hyderabad: Students capturing the moments with video cameras during 12th Convocation 2009 of Mehran University of Engineering & Technology.


81

MosaicNational

Lahore: Dr Samar Mubarik, a renown scientist, photographed with Vice Chancellor ofGC University Dr Khalid Aftab and other distinguish faculty members after the

inauguration of LASER and Accelerator Laboratory at GC University, Lahore.

Faisalabad: Federal Minister for Textile Industry, Rana Mohammad Farooq Saeed Khanvisits IT Lab of National Textile University (NTU).Lahore: A lady capturing the moments through her video camera at Bagh-e-Jinnah.

Islamabad: CTO PTCL, Muhammad Nasrullah receives the Special International Recognition Award.

Islamabad: Female rangers stand alreat during Muharram.

Lahore: Group photograph of (Left to right) Hameed Akhtar Chadda Vice PresidentFPCCI, Malik Iftakhar Vice President SAARC, Khawaja Khawar Member FPCCI, Mian

Idrees Vice President FPCCI, Tahir Malik Chairman Trafco Group of Companies,Nadeem Bhatti Member FPCCI at the wedding of daughter of Mr Tahir Malik.

Lahore: Bank Alfalah CEO Sirajuddin Aziz and IBA Dean and Director Dr IshratHussain exchange documents at an MoU-signing ceremony.

Lahore: Knowledge Share Fair Participants from Techlogix’s esteemed clientele BukhshGroup, Crescent Group, DUHS, HEC, KESC, Mobilink, PU, PUCIT, UET Peshawar,

Ufone and ZTBL.

Free download | flare.com.pkMosaic National

82

Thatta: President Asif Ali Zardari gives away the documents of government land to adeserving lady at Jhangri Village.

Lahore: GC University Vice Chancellor Dr Khalid Aftab distributes certificates amongthe participants of three-day training workshop on “Eidetic Model of Growth in People

with Intellectual Disability” at the GCU Psychology Department.

Lahore: Governor Gilgit-Baltistan and Federal Minister for Information and BroadcastingQamar Zaman Kaira, Punjab Governor Salman Taseer and CM Gilgit-Baltistan Syed Mehdi

Shah cutting ribbon to inaugurate the 5-day Gilgit-Baltistan Investment Conference.

New Delhi: National Assembly Speaker, Dr Fehmida Mirza shakes hand with women parliamentarian of Lok Sabha, on occasion of the inauguration ceremony of “20th

Conference of Speaker and Presiding Officers of the Commonwealth” held in India.

Rawalpindi: Lady visitors capturing the moment with camera during group painting exhibition at Rawalpindi Arts Council.

Rawalpindi: Ambassador of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Abdul Aziz Bin Ibrahim AlGhadir called on Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani at General

Headquarters.

Islamabad: Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani expresses condolence to the families of Shuhada of Police’s officials at their residence G/9.

Director HR & Administration PIA, Haneef Pathan, President PIA Senior Staff Association, Abid Saleem,General Secretary, Asad Sadiq, Dy. General Secretary, Dr. Imran Ahsan, Organising Secretary, Javed Iqbal Ch

addressing PIA officers at the awards distribution ceremony organised by PIASSA at PIA Head Office.

The three-day 2010 InternationalConsumer Electronics Show (CES) heldin Las Vegason with some 2,700exhibitors unveiled their latest

technology innovations. The world's largest technology trade show,

organised by the Consumer ElectronicsAssociation (CEA) where more than 20,000 newproducts displayed at the show.

Additionally, the 2010 CES will feature morethan 250 sessions and 800 expert speakers as partof the CES conference programme, which willcover a range of industry topics from social mediato safe driving to technology policy.

Experts say perhaps the hottest topic at theshow this year is 3-D television and whetherconsumers who enjoyed movies in the format,such as "Avatar," would pay extra for a new TVadapted for such images.

The CEA estimates that 2.2 million 3-D setswill be sold in 2010 and that by 2013 more than25 per cent of all televisions sold will be 3D-TVs.

Anotherpositivesurprise inthe consumerelectronicsindustry hasbeen devicesthat playBlue-raydisks. Theassociationestimates thatmore thanseven millionof the players

- many ofwhich have

internet connections - were shipped in 2009, morethan double that of 2008.

A breathtaking wave of 3-D televisions has hitthe Consumer Electronics Show (CES), where thetechnology is being touted as the next big thingin home theatre. The Japanese electronics giant'splans range from being part of a 3-D televisionnetwork in the United States to streaming liveperformances in the format.

On the CES show floor, massive TV screenslinked to wireless versions of the glasses for a 3-D effect were displayed by South Korea's LG

Electronics. Many consumers upgraded to high-definition

sets in the past three years, and an infrastructureto deliver 3-D content to homes is not in place,according to McQuivey.

Toshibaunveiled aflat-panel CellTV thatconvertsdigital videointo 3-D.Panasonicwent 3-D witha "Live In It"campaign forits electronics.

SouthKorea's Samsung teamed up with DreamWorksAnimation, maker of "Shrek" and other hitmovies, and Technicolor in a push to bring more3-D entertainment into the home. The three firmsannounced they have formed an alliance to"accelerate the worldwide deployment of in-home 3-D to mainstream consumers."

Microsoft announced that "Project Natal"

gesture recognition games, where the humanbody serves as the controller, will be released atthe end of the year for the Xbox 360 videogameconsole.

"2010 is going to be the biggest year in Xboxhistory," Robbie Bach, the head of Microsoft'sentertainment and devices division, said in aspeech which kicked off the annual ConsumerElectronics Show (CES). �


83

Event Flare Report

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer gives hiskeynote address at the 2010 International

Consumer Electronics Show.

Vice President of Public Affairs and Communications for LGElectronics USA, Inc. John Taylor speaks at a press event at the

2010 International Consumer Electronics Show.

(L-R) Samsung Electronics America President of ConsumerElectronics Division Tim Baxter, CEO of DreamWorks Animation

Jeffrey Katzenberg and Chairman and CEO of Technicolor FredericRose hold a copy of the 3D movie, "Monsters vs Aliens" during a

press event at the 2010 International Consumer Electronics Show.

Retired American soccer star Mia Hamm (L) joins Sean Maloney,executive vice president and co-general manager of IntelCorporation's Intel Architecture Group (IAG), at the 2010

International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.

(L-R) Erin Davis, son of music legend Miles Davis, Cheryl Davis,Miles Davis' daughter, and Vince Wilburn, Jr., Davis' nephew,

display the Miles Davis Tribute headphones at a Monster CableProducts Inc., the 2010 International Consumer Electronics Show.

Panasonic employees unveil a prototypemodel of the world's largest 152-inch sized

plasma display panel (PDP).

ENLARGE PICTIURE

Casio workers test the Casio Exilim cameras in the booth at the2010 International Consumer Electronics Show.

Free download | flare.com.pkMosaic International

84

Indian models display the Olive 7 stylish smart mobile phone during the launch inNew Delhi.

A stranded passenger of Spanish airline Air Comet cries as she talks on the phone afterthe airline's flights were cancelled and its licence was suspended in Madrid.

An employee for Japan's mobile communication giant NTT docomo displays chocolate-bar-shaped mobile phones called "SH-04B", produced by Japanese electronics giant Sharp and

designed by Japanese accesory shop Q-pot, at NTT docomo's showroom in Tokyo.

Cathrin Durakovic (L) and Mete Kaan Yamann, winner ofthe Miss and Mister Germany 2009-10 beauty pageant pose

after the beauty contest in Listow, northern Germany. Some 16 male and female contestants took part in

the final selection.

A young woman talks on her mobile phone during afarmers' demo in demand of changes in agricultural

policies in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel checks her mobilephone prior to travelling to Copenhagen for the UN Cli-

mate Summit in Berlin.

PM of Ukraine Yulia Tymoshenko smiles in Kiev as she speaks by mobile phone toGrigoriy Surkis, Head of the Ukrainian Football Federation, regarding the Europeanfootball's governing body (UEFA) Executive Committee's final meeting of the year.

85

MosaicInternational

An employee of Japanese mobile communication giant NTT docomo demonstrates howto buy a softdrink from a vending machine with a mobile phone at the company's

headquarters in Tokyo.

Globalive Chairman Anthony Lacavera (R) and Ken Campbell, Chief Executive ofGlobalive's WIND Mobile, pose with an employee and WIND mobile's first customer

after the official launch of WIND Mobile, a new cellular service, in Toronto.A couple watching cell phone after capturing the moments during Hagoita-ichi Festival at

Senso-ji Temple Asakusa in Tokyo, Japan.

Chiba University professor Hiroshi Ryu displays the flyingrobot, which fluters its wings 35 times a second like a hum-

ming bird, at his laboratory in Chiba city, Tokyo. The hum-mingbird robot, 10cm in length and weighing only 2.6g, has

four plastic-made wings, driven by a micro actuator.

A woman checks the SMS in her cell phone during theRally Dakar 2010 technical check in Buenos Aires, Ar-

gentina.

French prisoner speaks on the phone with the FrenchFirst Couple after being released from jail in Santo

Domingo.

The people take snap of fireworks lighting up the skyscrapers of Hong Kong islandacross the harbour at midnight to usher in New Year's Day. Thousands of people

crammed into Hong Kong's harbour, where 9,000 fireworks.


87

MosaicInternational

Sony employee displays a prototype model of the dye-sensitised solar cell which generates maximum power of 30-40mmW to sound a Walkman digital audio player at

the annual Eco Products Fair in Tokyo.

Softkinetic, a Brussels-based software company, has teamed up with another Belgianfirm, Optrima, a maker of 3D cameras and sensors, and US computer chip giant Texas

Instruments to make this vision of the future a reality in San Francisco.

ENLARGE PICTURE A woman checks her cell phone, one of hundreds of holiday travelers who were delayedfor hours following an electrical problem that suspended rail service at New York.

Chairman of Olive Telecommunication, Arun Khanna poses with models as they display the Olive Zipbook X107H-3G computer with inbuilt high speed connectivity

and the Olive 7 stylish smart mobile phone during the launch in New Delhi.

A Boeing 787 Dreamliner jet takes off for its long-waited first flight at Paine Field InEverett, Washington.

Children react to a person wearing an inflatable phone outfit with a climate changemessage in Radhuspladsen in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Ali Q. Gilani terminatedLahore: The 7th mega

event in the telecom and ITsectors involving a high-levelexperts conference and Expoof telecom and ITtechnologies are being heldon January 19 to January 20,2010 which organising by amagazine in collaborationwith Institute ofTelecommunicationEngineers Pakistan.

While the PakistanTelecommunicationAuthority, government ofPakistan, Federal Ministry ofTelecom and IT, Pakistan

Software Export Board andEngineers Study Forum hasalso extended co-operationfor the event. A sizeablenumber of organisations: ITCompanies, Universities andTelecom Groups areexhibiting in the Expo,including Punjab InformationTechnology Department,Software Export BoardGovernment of Pakistan,Telecom Foundation Group,Universities of Engineeringand Technology Lahore,University of Central Punjab,Overseas Companies and

leading software IT groups.The theme of the

conference is Developmentand Investments in Telecomand IT sectors, whichcontribute a big share in GDPof our national economy.Experts would maketechnical presentations onvarious subjects based onupdated review and futuristapproach. A large number ofexecutives, professionals,business executives andintellectuals will beparticipating in theprogramme. �

Karachi: At a launchingceremony held in the Egyptiancapital, Cairo, Nokia hasunveiled the latest device inthe company's range focused

on mapping and navigation,the Nokia 2710 NavigationEdition. The new arrival isGPS enabled and pre-loadedwith Nokia Maps, making itthe most affordable GPSdevice in Nokia's broadportfolio. It will be available inthe second quarter of 2010.

Due to the accessible andaffordable pricing, the newdevice is expected to bepopular in the developedand developing world alike.

The handset has beenoptimised for use acrossurban environments, smalltowns, as well as rural areas - incorporating straight line pedestriannavigation with theassistance of an integrateddigital compass. �

Nokia 2710 NavigationEdition

Islamabad: PakistanTelecommunicationAuthority (PTA) hasintroduced an online facilityfor overseas Pakistanis inorder to get their SIMs dataregularised or to block extraSIMs/connections issuedagainst their ComputerisedNational Identity Card(CNIC).

This automated facility hasbeen made available on theweb sites of PTA and allcellular mobile operators.Since the launch of SIMInformation System 668, atotal of more than 12.6 millionmobile subscribers havesought their SIM information,out of which 9.2 millionqueries were receivedthrough SMS whereas 3.4million queries were receivedthrough PTA’s weblink of

SIM Information System. An analysis of web queries

revealed that around 60 percent of total web queries werebeing made by Pakistanicommunity living abroad.Written requests of overseasPakistanis are also beingreceived to facilitate them inlodging their complaints andgetting extra SIMs removedagainst their CNICs. OverseasPakistanis can now visitPTA’s website http://www.pta.gov.pk/668/sim_info_overseas.htmlto resolve this issue. The PTAintroduced SIM InformationSystem 668 in October 2009,which enables the mobilesubscribers to know totalnumbers of SIMs issuedagainst their respective CNICnumbers with each mobileoperator. �

Overseas Pakistanis torectify their SIMs

Intel education awards ceremony held

Conference on telecom, IT sectors

Waridoffers SMS

to PTCL,Vfone

Islamabad: Intel Pakistanheld the Intel educationawards ceremony inrecognition of schools andteachers using technology toenhance learning skills. Theaward ceremony wasorganised by the IntelEducation Initiative incollaboration with the FederalMinistry of Education, whichwas attended by MuhammadJuman J Jamro, AdditionalSecretary Education.

Addressing on the occasionMuhammad Juman said thatstudent's success depends onaccess to technology to meetthe requirements of modernworld. Integration oftechnology into education willenhance the teaching and

learning skills, he added.Juman said that IntelEducation has providedopportunities to the poor

students to reach the level oflearning, which the nationneeded but they could notafford.

"Teachers play a significantrole in our society and the Intel

Education awards are heldwith this in mind," said AsharH. Zaidi, Country Manager,Intel Pakistan.

He further said that theIntel Education awards areheld annually in Pakistan inconjunction with theimplementation of the IntelTeach programme, which

provides professionaldevelopment and guidance toteachers on how to usetechnology to enhance studentlearning in the digital world.

In addition to the teachertraining, the Intel TeachProgramme also hosts forumsand workshops to enhance theuse of ICT in learningenvironment, and so far hasreached more than 28,000teachers and principals, headded. On this occasionRehana Shabir Principal F GCollege for Women, G-10/4was awarded with thePrincipal of the year the award.Nardis Gul Yousafzai of F GMargalla College for Women,F-7/4 was awarded with theTeacher of the year award. �

Lahore: Now Waridcustomers both prepaid andpostpaid can receive andsend SMS to any PTCL V-Fone number withinPakistan. Every SMS sent toany PTCL V-Fone numberwill be charged as perstandard off-net SMS chargeswith no charges on receivingthe SMS. There is noactivation procedure for thisfacility. Recognised as themost reliable service providerWarid Telecom is determinedto deliver the exceptionalservices to its customers. �

Specialpackages by

PTCL Islamabad: Pakistan

TelecommunicationCompany Ltd (PTCL) haslaunched special internationalcall rate packages for itsvalued customers to add tothe joys of Christmas andNew Year. This includes aspecial tariff of Rs0.40 per 20seconds to the internationaldestinations, which includesISA (fixed + mobile) Canada(fixed + Mobile), China (fixed+ Mobile), UK, Australia andGermany (fixed only).

The rates have beenreduced from a previous costof Rs two per mint. The PTCLhas vowed to maintain thequality of service and enableevery PTCL line forinternational dialling. ThisSpecial Tariff was applicablefrom December 15 to January15, 2010. �

At last the management ofPTCL had got rid of anti-PTCL person Executive VicePresident, CorporateCommunication, PTCL, AliQadir Gilani after six years.

During his tenure, theperformance of PRDepartment remainedunsatisfied. He alwayspromoted women in thePTCL and flourishedvulgarity. The managementhad decided to terminateGilani who was involved incorruption where case will besoon filled against him, thePTCL sourced disclosed.

The gap between PTCLand customers has widenedand PTCL lost its fame forlast couple of months becausehe did not tackle the PRdepartment satisfactorily andspent lavish life.

During the PTCL workersprotest, Gilani said theemployees’ union wasmisleading the PTCL workersfor its benefit. The company’smanagement termed theprotest a clear violation of thecode of conduct issued by theNational Industrial RelationsCommission. �


88

Synopsis National

Lahore: The PakistanTelecommunicationCompany Limited (PTCL)announced three packagesfor its subscribers inLahore. The PTCL (North)Senior Executive VicePresident Tariq Sulemanannounced "Mouj Masti","Tip Top" and "Lash Pash"packages with attractiveincentives while talking toFlare.

He said that afterhaving successful resultsfrom the provincialmetropolis, the same wouldalso be extended to other

cities of the country. Hesaid that the PTCLobserved 2009 as"Customers Year" andfocused its attention toimprove the quality ofservices.

Tariq Suelman furthersaid the company isintegrating its system whilecomplaint-handling systemhas been rapidly improvedup to the customers'satisfaction.

The PTCL has alsoplanned to establish datacentres to facilitate itscustomers, he added. �

Islamabad: The openingceremony of the second andfinal training camp forKhuddar Pakistan BlindCricket Talent Hunt was heldat a local ground.

The talent hunt organisedby Pakistan Blind CricketCouncil (PBCC) and TelenorPakistan, aimed towardsidentifying raw talent for the national and juniornational teams.

Under the umbrella ofTelenor Khuddar Pakistan,the talent hunt is an efforttowards integration andsocial inclusion of the visuallyimpaired.

Telenor has always beeninvolved in some sort ofactivities very actively.

Blind Cricket Talent Hunt

Pakistan’s monitoringagencies and GSM operatorsoperating in the country havebeen reporting a problem ofinterference and spill oversignals into Pakistani territoryfrom neighbouring countries.

It was learned that in arecent meeting between highups of telecom authorities ofPakistan and Afghanistan,issue was discussed.Afghanistan officials also raisedthe issue of interference signalsemanating from Pakistan’s sideto Afghan territory.

Sources familiar withsituation confirmed that both

countries agreed that thecomplete stoppage of theinterference and spill oversignals across internationalborders on the either sidewould be ensured. In thisregards a mutual SOP has beenprepared by government ofPakistan.

It merits mentioning herethat there are relevantregulations from ITU/APT tofollow in case of spill oversignals. It is further told that IT& Telecom Division draftedSOP that has been forwarded toFrequency Allocation Board fortheir input, after which SOP

will be forwarded to PTA forimplementation, very soon.

Such interference signalscan easily be found if you gonear border areas, particularlyin Sialkot and Azad Kashmir.And there were as many as sixIndian GSM mobile operatorsrecognised by handset (withmanual network selection) –when one flew to border areanear Sialkot.

Such SOP arrangementswith India are yet to befinalised; despite the fact thatissue was conveyed toconcerned Indian authorities,said the source. �

SOP prepared for GSM Signal Spillover international borders

Islamabad: PakistanTelecommunicationCompany Limited (PTCL),in its efforts to capture more

and more subscribers hasintroduced a package,offering any customer whowants to acquire a newtelephone connection canalso get Ufone SIM with thesame number as of PTCL

landline. As per package, nospecial charges for PTCLnumber or Ufone SIM, therewould be same installation

fee and line rent charges forPTCL landline. The SIM willbe sent to the customerthrough Courier Service andcustomer just needs to payordinary Ufone charges.This service can be acquired

by calling 0800 80 800helpline or through walk-inchannels.

According toinformation, this servicewould be applicable on onlynew telephone connectionrequests while existingcustomers can opt forsecondary PTCL landline inorder to avail this service.This is a PTCL’s newtelephone connectionpromotion, so Ufonecustomers cannot apply forthis service for their existingnumbers.

Every new telephonerequest in PTCL undergoesa resource confirmation orfeasibility process, if that isclear then the customer willsurely get the desired

number which is selected atthe time of order taking. Theprocess takes at least sevendays and it depends on thearea customer and thefeasibility report.

Ufone will send the SIMto customer premisesthrough courier and courierrepresentative will collectRs150 from the customer asSIM charges. Identicalnumbers have been reservedexchange wise in three maincities. Neighbour number isvery important in order toidentify the right exchangefor the requesting customerto avoid ambiguity.

There are no otherspecial features excepthaving Identical NumberUfone SIM as well. �

Same PTCL, Ufone number package launched

PTCL targeting Lahore


89

National Synopsis

Karachi: LG Electronicsannounced the launch ofthree new Windows phonesin the next few weeks,delivering on LG'scommitment to further growits share of the globalsmartphone market.

The three devices willkick off LG's mostaggressive smartphonestrategy to date, which willultimately result in a total of13 new LG-brandedWindows phones launchedglobally before the end of 2010. �

LG tolaunch newWindows

phones

Karachi: Intel Pakistanrecently signed amemorandum ofunderstanding (MoU) with aconsortium partner in Pre-Step (the pre-service teachereducation programme). Theagreement has been made tolaunch a technologyprogramme in GovernmentColleges of Pakistan with avision to improve the basiceducation by strengtheningteachers training institutes.

Pre-Step is a five-year,national programme led bythe Academy forEducational Development

(AED), with support fromthe United States Agency forInternational Development(USAID). The programme isdesigned to improve thequality of basic education inPakistan by improvingteacher preparationpractices and strengtheningthe capacity of up to 75teachers training institutesand 15 universities. Thisprogramme will alsoprovide an opportunity forteacher educators to learnabout, practice and makeplans to use active teachingapproaches. �

Intel, Pre-Step to launch technology

programme

Islamabad: Director Sports CDA Rizwan Ahmed (second from left),

Director Real Estate and Site Acquisition, Telenor Pakistan

Shakeel Ahmed (third from left) and Chairman PBCC Syed Sultan

Shah (centre) along with the selected finalists.

No Line RentCompetitive Rates

Telephone

Internet3 Mbps

Unlimited Downloads

70+ ChannelsSuperb Quality

Cable TV

Karachi: Samsung MobilesPakistan has appointed therenowned company “TeletechEnterprises” as its officialdistributors in the country.

Teletec has a team of highlymotivated, well-qualified andexperienced professionalsdedicated to bringing the mostrevolutionary mode of GSMmobile phones to Pakistan.This new distributor has adealer network presence inalmost all major cities ofPakistan that will enableSamsung to provide the bestquality of products andservices to the Samsungcustomers all over the country.Samsung has complete

realisation of the fact thatPakistan is one of the mostpromising cell phone marketsin the world that is successfullygoing through rapid evolutionto provide instant andconsistent connectivity andcellular services to its vastpopulation.

Steve Han, ManagingDirector Samsung Electronicsexpressed his commitment bysaying, “Samsung has a firmresolve to provide itscustomers with revolutionaryproducts and immaculateservices, to extend the mostfulfilling mobile experience toits customers around theworld. We place great

importance on Pakistan as ahigh potential markettherefore; Samsung hasintroduced its latest range ofpopular Smart-phones andTouch-phones along with thehigh quality conventionalphones for the Pakistanicustomers”.

He further added that,“The appointment of Teletec asSamsung distributor is anaddition in current distributionnetwork in Pakistan and willensure further enhancementsin the sophisticated and swiftnetwork of Sales and Service inPakistan, that will fulfill theneeds of all our customersmore proactively. �

The European Union(EU) has released €8.5million (more than onebillion Pakistani Rupees) tothe Government of Pakistan.This was communicated byEU Chargé d'Affaires, MrTomas Niklasson, to MrSibtain Fazal Aleem,Secretary, Economic AffairsDivision, Government ofPakistan, through a letter.

The above-mentionedpayment by the EU is thesecond tranche of its sectorbudget support set at€39,000,000 (equivalent toapproximately 4.87 billionPakistani Rupees) for theSindh Education ReformsProgramme (SERP) to bedisbursed over the period

2007-11. The SERP is sectorbudget support provided aspart of the EuropeanUnion’s efforts to make asustainable contribution tothe education sector inPakistan.

The overall objective ofthe European Union'scontribution to SERP ispoverty alleviation in theProvince of Sindh throughprogress in achieving theEducation for All (EFA)goals. The purpose of theprogramme is to improvethe capacity at school,district and provincial levelsto deliver qualityelementary educationservices in an equitable way.It will particularly target

those communities that havebenefited the least fromeconomic growth bygranting them access to anacceptable standard ofeducation.

The level of assistancefrom the EU clearlyindicates the keyimportance attached by theEU to education for thefurther development ofPakistan. The support isgiven in the context of theEU-Pakistan DevelopmentCo-operation Programme,under which the EU nowhas current grantcommitments to Pakistantotalling over €200 million(more than 25 billionPakistani Rupees). �

EU provides Rs1bn for education Live internet streamingof Radio Pakistan

CIO Year Ahead ’10 Summit Samsung appoints Teletec

Karachi: Leading analystfirm, Gartner has positionedOracle in the Leadersquadrant of “MagicQuadrant for Web AccessManagement” for 2009.

The Gartner MagicQuadrant, a graphicalrepresentation of amarketplace at and for aspecific time period,positions vendors within aparticular segment based oncompleteness of vision andtheir ability to execute onthat vision. It depictsGartner’s analysis of howcertain vendors measureagainst criteria for thatmarketplace, as defined byGartner.

“Enterprises increasinglydepend on a complex mix of

web-based applications andinternet services tosuccessfully run theirbusinesses,” said Amit

Jasuja, Vice President,Oracle IdentityManagement. "With best-in-class web access

management, enterprisesnot only have quick accessto the growing webapplication universe, but

also streamlined andprotected enterprisesecurity.

We believe our

placement in the Leadersquadrant demonstratesOracle’s commitment todeliver flexible, integratedand easy-to-use solutionsthat enterprises around theworld trust to manage theirenterprise security.”

According to Gartner,“The leaders in the WAM[Web Access Management]market for 2009 havematured, with largervendors offering relativelystrong products atreasonable prices, investingin new associatedfunctionality and ‘completeidentity management’strategies that leverage theircustomer bases for increasedsales and market share.”

“The leaders have

experienced continuedstrong growth year overyear, while almost everyother entrant in the MagicQuadrant has experiencedslower growth or no growth,or is working from asignificantly smallercustomer base. To lead inthe WAM and larger accessmanagement markets in2009 and beyond, vendorswill need to focus onproviding a full-featuredproduct, the necessaryorganizational skill set,deployment scenarios andexpertise, andrecommendations as to how individual customerscan best use their products in their broader IAM initiatives. ” �

Oracle a leader in Web Access Management

The Pakistan BroadcastingCorporation (PBC) has startedlive streaming of itsbroadcasts on the internet.

The step has been taken tobridge the divide throughenhancing focus onintegration of communicationand opportunities fordevelopment. By streamingon the internet, RadioPakistan has not onlyextended its radius ofcoverage but also providedeasy access to its listenersworldwide.

According to a statementissued by the PBC,programmes of NationalBroadcasting Service (NBS)can now be listened live onthe internet. The service is a

dedicated Current AffairsChannel of Radio Pakistan,which broadcasts news, talkshows and interviews ofprominent personalitiesbesides social and culturalprogrammes 17 hours a day,starting at 6:55 a.m. andconcluding at 12 midnight.

It was felt that theaudience needed to be keptinformed with the latestevents. For this purpose, aNews & Current AffairsChannel (NCAC) waslaunched on April 18, 2001,which was the only channel ofits kind in Asia. NCAC wasconverted into Current AffairsChannel (CAC) and then onAugust 28, 2008, it wasconverted into NBS. �

CIO Pakistan organisedThe Year Ahead ’10 Summit atthe Karachi Sheraton offeringthought leaders and seniorprofessionals of the ICTindustry an opportunity tointeract with GlobalInformation Technologyreport at the World EconomicForum.

The report assesses theNetwork Readiness ofcountries and helps to putPakistan’s position on theglobal map into perspective.

Irene Mia, Co-Editor andSenior Economist shared thereport’s findings andcomparative analysis tostrategic countries thatPakistan is traditionally

compared to. In addition to MsMia, other members joiningthe session included, ThierryGeiger, Economist GlobalLeadership Fellow andChristoph S. Sprung, SeniorManager India & South Asia.

The event was attended byconcerned professionals in thelocal ICT industry andbusiness community as well asrepresentatives from the tradeand mainstream media. TheCIO Year Ahead Summit wassupported by CentralDepository Company (CDC),Intel, Cisco, OvexTechnologies, CommTel andMutlinet with Dawn News asthe media partner for theevent. �


91

National Synopsis

Islamabad: PakistanTelecommunicationAuthority (PTA) and FederalInvestigation Agency (FIA)have jointly raided illegal

gateway exchange operatingin Commercial Area and

Defence at Phase-IV inLahore resultantly arrestingtwo persons, says a pressrelease issued by PTA.

More than 50 cellulardevices along with alliedaccessories have beenrecovered from the scene.This raid was conducted onthe information obtainedthrough PTA's facility,which detects illegal telecomtraffic. The PTA Zonal Officein Lahore was monitoringthe illegal activity before theraid.

It may be noted that PTAhas launched a campaignagainst grey traffickers

along with monitoring theillegal activities on twenty-four hours basis andadopts different proceduresand processes to apprehendthe culprits and to preventlosses to the nationalexchequer being caused byillegal telecom business.

The Chairman PTA, DrMohammed Yaseenappreciated the joint effortsof PTA and FIA teams andwarned all those involved inthe illegal telecom businessto stop their activitiesotherwise PTA shall takestern action against them asper the law. �

HP conducted a bloggersmeet up in three cities ofPakistan, Lahore, Karachi andIslamabad. The intention ofthe event was to bring thebloggers community onplatform where they can helpteach HP that how they canreach online masses ofPakistan successfully.

Mr Khalid, EmagineGroup, started by telling theaudience all that HP is aboutto introduce HP mini (anetbook) in Pakistan and theyare happy to engage bloggerscommunity in the launch.Then he placed “Blogs orSocial Media?” as a questionin participants’ plates. Heresome people raised the forksand knives.

As soon as the questionwas raised, answers startedcoming out from nook andcorner and bloggers gave their thorough view point that what they really thinkabout blog and socialplatforms.

Bloggers had their opinionthat with social media, theycan reach the masses.

But by using blog, anindividual or company canonly give/spread outinformation, where hundredsor even thousands following it– while social media, forinstance Facebook or twitterare more of communicationtools.

It was further discussedthat how a company can build

a brand through bunch ofblogging and social media.Case studies of Dell, Apple,IBM, Microsoft and Nokiawere discussed and how theyplan their branding and salesthrough blogs, Facebook andTwitter.

Discussion was taking to-and-fro motion between socialmedia and use of blog. Assoon as the tug of war ended,Khalid dropped anothertopping on the meal whichwas “How can bloggers helpHP?” Discussion was worthlistening as most of thebloggers had their own blogsand they were productiveenough in spreadingknowledge with theirexperience. �

HP bringing bloggers closerWealth ManagementServices by IGI

Investment Bank

Swift a riding pleasure PTA, FIA raid illegal gateway exchange

Novell announced thatBankIslami Pakistan Limited,a dedicated Islamiccommercial bankheadquartered in Karachi, haschosen SUSE Linux EnterpriseServer and SUSE LinuxEnterprise Desktop as itsoperating platform of choice.

With around 1400 users in102 branches, SUSE LinuxEnterprise providesBankIslami Pakistan with asecure, scalable, reliable andeasy-to-use operating platformfor its IT infrastructure. SUSELinux Enterprise Server is theplatform for the Bank’smission-critical applicationenvironment, while fordesktops; SUSE LinuxEnterprise Desktop is

deployed on Sun Ray statelessthin-client terminals from SunMicrosystems.

BankIslami will now beable to easily install, deploy,configure and update serversand desktops securely andremotely, using the advanced

administration tools built intoSUSE Linux Enterprise. Thesolution also allows

BankIslami to configure anyaspect of the Linuxenvironment, significantlyreducing the time and costsinvolved in administration

and maintenance. Thecompany can also minimizethe number of IT personnelrequired at each branch, andwithout requiring CentralOffice staff to visit individuallocations to provide technicalsupport.

“We felt that SUSE LinuxEnterprise would be a morestable solution than aproprietary operating system,because the risk of virusinfections and maliciousattacks is considerablyreduced,” said Asad Alim,Head of Information Systemsat BankIslami Pakistan.“Moreover, as a financialinstitution, we needenterprise-class support -something that few Linux

vendors other than Novell canprovide.”

BankIslami initiallyconsidered other proprietaryoperating systems but feltconstrained by the potentiallock-in to a single vendor.Linux scored over otherproprietary operating systemsin aspects such asfunctionality, frequency ofreleases and ease ofdeployment. The security ofLinux and the opportunity toreduce costs were alsofavourable factors. Afterhoming in on Linux, the bank chose SUSE LinuxEnterprise Server and SUSELinux Enterprise Desktop tosupport its business-criticalsystems. �

BankIslami selects Novell’s SUSE Linux Enterprise Platform


92

Synopsis National

Karachi: IGI InvestmentBank Ltd., part of the IGIFinancial Services Group, hasrecently launched acomprehensive suite ofWealth Management servicesspecifically designed for theneeds of its high net-worthclients.

Individuals looking toinvest will now have access tothe resources and expertise ofa financial group involved inbusinesses ranging frominvestment banking,securities brokerage,insurance, assetmanagement, etc., to providethem the best set ofinvestment solutions from

across the industry. IGI Investment Bank Ltd.

has been corporate andindividual investors for thelast two decades, and isknown across the industryfor its integrity andreliability. As part ofexpansion, IGI financialgroup has created internalsynergies to grow in sizewhile remaining one of themost dynamic and flexibleinvestment firms. This makesit possible to pool expertiseand create a customisedstrategy for every investorthat comprehensively coversevery aspect of their financialwell being. �

Lahore: Pak SuzukiMotor Company, a leadingcar manufacturer in Pakistan with the largestmarket share, launched its new model ‘Swift’.

The new Swift is theepitome of success as it has won 98 awards in 25 countries around theglobe.

More than 1.5 million units have been sold so far.

Swift is the first andforemost hatchback car inPakistan with powerful 1.3L MPI Engine.

It has ABS with electronic brakedistribution (EBD), 15 inchesalloy wheels, central locking system, electronicpower steering, immobiliser,luxurious interior and above all a dynamic exteriorthat makes it an ideal car.

In short the new Swift is‘fun to ride, pleasure todrive and pride ofownership’. �

Techlogix, a globalconsulting and IT ServicesCompany, organised a“KnowledgeShare Fair”, aspart of its uncompromisingcommitment to enableexcellence by learning. TheKnowledge Share Fair was anendeavour to share knowledge,both within Techlogix and toour customers, across the fullspectrum of technologies andfunctional domains thatTechlogix works in.

The attendees includedforty people from Techlogix’scustomer base representingorganisations such as Ufone,Mobilink, Higher Education

Commission, Crescent Group,ZTBL and several leadinguniversities.

The event offered courseson more than 25 topics. Thecourses included eight 2.5 day-long deep dive sessions onTechlogix’s key practice areas(Campus Solutions, BusinessProcess Management, BusinessIntelligence, EnterpriseApplication Integration, etc)and fifteen 1-4 hour shortcourses on a variety of ITrelated topics (BankingSolutions, EnterpriseArchitecture, Service OrientedArchitecture, ProjectManagement etc). �

Karachi: KarachiChamber of Commerce andIndustry (KCCI) has urged

PTCL to provide V-phonewireless connections ofsame landline numbersmaintained by the victims ofBoulton market and othermarkets of adjoining areas,president KCCI, AbdulMajid Haji Muhammad

said. He said PTCL has

ensured and agreed

provision of V-phonewireless connections ofsame landline numbers tothe affectees on specialdiscounted price of Rs1000 instead of Rs3500 to resume theircommunication with their

clientele with convenience. Earlier, Khurram Saigal,

Chairman, Communication

Sub-committee-KCCI, alongwith Zulfiqar Ursani, RGM-PTCL, visited theaffected markets to observethe status of PTCLcommunication systemwhich were founddestroyed. �

PTCL to facilitate affectees

FBR collects over Rs577bn

Wishing New Year wasnever as easy as it hasbecome now due to theadvent of technology wherepeople just pressed a buttonin order to wish their lovedones the good luck to befollowed on coming year.

The internet and mobilephones have fast replacedthe tradition of sending postcards and greeting cards,which is why there were justa few shops that bothered todisplay the cards of HappyNew Year.

SMS being the mostpopular and cheap way ofcommunication was largelyadopted by the peoplewhere the messagescomprising New Yearwishes, quotes and poetry

was forwarded to the dearand near ones in a largenumber.

It was not only thematter of time, but one hasto take hassle by purchasingcard days before the eventand then making it sure that

it has been received by theconcerned person on time.People started sending new

year messages from earlymorning of December 31,but the process gainedmomentum after eveningwhere most of the mobile

networks got jammedaround 12.

“It is the quickest way towish besides that it costsnothing,” said UsmanMurtaza. Murtaza addedthat internet was aconvenient way of wishingsome occasion as one couldeasily browse the suitablemessages through thevarious websites and send itto the relevant person.However there are numberof people who do notconsider the technology as asubstitute of fast decliningtradition of greeting cards.“The pleasure of receivingsome greeting cards wasunexplainable, which can’tbe achieved by thousands ofSMS and emails that we

receive on the occasions likenew year,” said GhousiaBangash, a housewife.

She said that the real feelof celebration was only feltwhen they used to headtowards market to buy thegreeting cards for the lovedones and would post it andthen would wait for thecards to be received bythem. “The joy of opening,reading and then decoratingthese cards wasunimaginable,” she argued.

The new year messagesthat started from December31 continued till the eveningof January 1, which not onlyincluded the prayers for thereceiver, but also prayers forthe stability and progress ofPakistan. �

Internet, SMS easy, quick services

KnowledgeShare Fair2009-2010 at Techlogix


93

National Synopsis

The City Traffic Police haveintroduced a new ‘TouchScreen System’ for conductingtest for driving licence, saidChief Traffic Officer (CTO) DrMuhammad Akhtar Abbas.He stated while addressing aceremony to inaugurate thenew system.

Additional InspectorGeneral of Police, TrafficPunjab, Zahid Mehmood,Regional Police Officer (RPO)Rawalpindi, AdditionalInspector General of PoliceMuhammad Aslam Tareeninaugurated the new system.City Police Officer (CPO)Rawalpindi, Senior TrafficOfficer (STO) Syed IshtiaqHussain Shah and otherofficers were also present on

the occasion. The CTO told the

participants that the ITdepartment of the CTPprepared the automatic signtesting system. He said that400 questions have been fed inthe touch screen system andthe candidates have to reply atleast seven questions out of 10,which would appear on thescreen, to qualify for thedriving licence.

He said that specialsoftware of ‘voice option’ hasalso been fed in the system forilliterate candidates. He saidthat the licences have beenupgraded with a security barcode, adding that the securityfeatures could be checkedthrough UV light. �

Rawalpindi TrafficPolice goes Digital

The Federal Board ofRevenue has collected arevenue amounting toRs577.337 billion during firsthalf of the year of the currentfinancial year, as againstRs553.833 billion collectedduring the same period of lastyear, showing an increase of4.2 per cent.

The revenue collectionsfrom July-December includedRs208.594 billion as DirectTaxes and Rs368.743 billion asindirect taxes, Asrar Raouf,Spokesman to FBR andMember Direct Tax policy toldFlare.

He said that as comparedto Rs210.336 billion direct taxescollected during last year, the

collection during the currentwitnessed negative growth of0.8 per cent. However, theindirect taxes witnessedpositive growth of 7.3 per centwhen compared thecollections of Rs343.497 billionthe last year, Raouf added.

The Spokesman FBR saidthat during month ofDecember of current financialyear provisionally Rs120billion have been collectedagainst the target of Rs125billion.

If the Karachi Ashuraincident had not occurred theFBR could raise Rs130 billionagainst the target of Rs125billion for the month ofDecember, he remarked. He

said that if the advance tax ofRs32 billion is included in thetotal tax collection couldexceed to Rs600 billion.

Replying to a question, hesaid that draft Value added tax(VAT) has been submitted inthe parliament for approval.He expressed the hope thatafter the approval of the VATcountry could be able to collectin the first year ofimplementation an additionalamount of Rs150 billion.

However, he said thatInternational Monetary Fund(IMF) observes that after theimplementation of the VAT,Pakistan would be able to fetchan additional tax collection ofRs400 billion. �

Lessons in using the internet safely are setto become a compulsory part of thecurriculum for primary schoolchildren inEngland from 2011. The lessons are one

element of a new government strategy beingunveiled called "Click Clever, Click Safe".

Children will also be encouraged to follow anonline "Green Cross Code" and block and reportinappropriate content. The measures have beendrawn up by the UK Council on Child InternetSafety, a new body comprising 140 organisations.

"We must ensure that this virtual world is safefor our children just as we try to ensure that thereal world is," said Prime Minister Gordon Brownat the launch of the campaign.

"The internet is a wonderful and powerful toolthat is changing the way we learn and the way westay in touch," he added, "but unfortunately thereare risks from those intent on exploiting itsbenefits."

The "Zip it, Block it, Flag it" campaign isintended for use by schools, retailers and socialnetworks, although it will be up to individualsites to choose how they use it.

A large scale public information campaignbased around the slogan will be mounted fromFebruary 2010. "We hope that 'Zip it, Block it, Flagit' will become as familiar to this generation as'Stop, Look and Listen' was to the last," said thePrime Minister.

It will encourage children to not give outpersonal information on the web, blockunwanted messages on social networks andreport any inappropriate behaviour to the

appropriatebodies, whichmay include thewebsite,teachers or evenpolice.

"The digitalcode is thegreen crosscode for thedigital age,"said Dr Tanya

Byron, who headed a review into inappropriatematerial on the internet and in video games. "Noone is saying it is scary stuff," said Dr Byron. "It'sabout the management of risk in the same waythat we want children to understand and managerisk in the real world, in the offline world."

"No-one is saying there are huge massivedangers out there," said Dr Byron. "18 per cent ofchildren have said they have come acrossinappropriate material," she said. "Its 18 per centtoo many but it's not as big as people believebased on the scare stories and fear-mongering."

UKCCIS comprises organisations includingGoogle, Microsoft and Facebook, which have

pledged support for the campaign. The 140organisations are also updating a self-regulatorycode of conduct governing online behaviour. Therules will be published in 2010 and will act as abenchmark against which the government canreview websites.

One measure that has been discussed by thegroup is the use of a "panic button" on socialnetwork sites to flag up inappropriate content.The Child Exploitation and Online Protection(Ceop) centre - the UK law enforcement agencytasked with tracing online sex offenders - alreadyoffers a report button for web sites. Clicking thebutton allows users to contact specially-trainedCeop officers for advice and Ceop says it receives10,000 hits a month.

It is already used by social network Bebo andMSN Instant Messenger but the government willannounce that all 270,000 computers providedunder its Home Access scheme will nowincorporate the button.

A critical part of the government's plans areeducating children about the potential dangersthey face online. Currently only secondary schoolpupils are taught about internet safety.

Under the new proposals, online safety wouldbe taught to all pupils from the age of five inEngland as part of their personal, social, healthand economic education (PSHE), which includesdrug awareness, bullying, sex education, healthyliving and personal finance.

Teaching PSHE is not currently compulsory,but if legislation goes through it will becomecompulsory in England from 2011. �

Washington: A new study by a group of economists looking at why people save moneyfound that simply sending out cell phone reminders increased savings balances by six percent.

The study challenges the idea that people simply do not have enough self-control tosave. Instead, the problem may be they just aren't paying attention, said DartmouthUniversity Economics Professor Jonathan Zinman, one of the study's four authors. "Savingsisn't at the top of their mind," said Zinman. "Basically all we did was reminded them."

While a six per cent increase may not send bankaccount balances soaring, nudging up the savingsrate has been historically difficult - until the latestrecession.

Classroom financial education has not provenparticularly effective, said Jennifer Tescher,director of the Centre for Financial ServicesInnovation. But online and cell phone platformscould deliver messages with greater impact. "Thisis an idea we think has tremendous potential."

The economists conducted their study in threelocations in the developing world, but said they were confident the results would translateto the U.S. In three cases conducted in the Philippines, Peru and Bolivia, the economiststeamed up with local banks to send reminders to people randomly selected from thosewho had recently opened a savings account.

While positive or negative language did not have a significant effect on the savingsrate, mentioning a customer's specific goal did. When reminders mentioned incentivesoffered by the bank for consistent deposits, bank savings increased by almost 16 per cent.

"One thing that can make savings salient today is being reminded of your future goal,"Zinman said. In the U.S., where some banks let customers set up automatic deposits intotheir savings accounts, the reminders might be used to urge people to set up such defaultsavings programs, Dean Karlan, report co-author and Yale University economics professor,said.

"People are spending less and saving more and they haven't needed any text messagesto do that," she said. But the study's authors said their focus on attention has far-reachingimplications in areas like dieting or quitting smoking and could explain some irrationalbehaviour like overspending on extended warranties. �

San Francisco: The internet buzzed with renewedrumours of Google making its own smartphone, after theinternet powerhouse said it is internally dabbling with amobile device. Google workers are trying out a devicethat “combines innovative hardware from a partner withsoftware that runs on Android to experiment with newmobile features and capabilities,” vice president ofproduct management Mario Queiroz said in a blog post.

Google is seeking feedback in a process it refers to as“dogfooding” in which innovations are tested internallybefore being offered to the public on the basis thatemployees should be willing to “eat our own dogfood.”

“This holiday season, we are taking dogfooding to anew level,” Queiroz wrote. “Unfortunately, becausedogfooding is a processexclusively for Googleemployees, we cannot sharespecific product details. Wehope to share more after ourdogfood diet.”

The Android-based mobile devices are being sharedwith Google workers worldwide, according to Queiroz.The blog post came a morning after Google workersevidently excited about getting “Google phones”exchanged comments on wildly popular microbloggingservice Twitter.

“ZOMG we had fireworks and we got the new Googlephone,” one Google worker said in a tweet. “It’sbeautiful.” ZOMG is texting slang that originated as atypo of an acronym for “Oh My God” but has come to beused when the phrase is meant a bit sarcastically or whilestating the obvious, according to the online UrbanDictionary. �

Text messages can increase savings Google hints at makingmobile telephone

Internet safety for children targeted


95

International Synopsis


96

Synopsis International

Mobile phones spreading in North Korea

Bharti eyesBangladesh

deal

Bing trademark challenged

Abu Dhabi: EmiratesTelecommunicationCompany, or Etisalat, plansto invest in telephoneservices in Syria andLebanon as the governmentsof those countries beginselling off their state-ownedtelecoms assets in comingmonths.

Etisalat, which alreadyruns phone companies in 15countries, hopes to broadenits overseas operations stillfurther when Libya declaresthe winner of its auction of athird GSM licence. Etisalat isa strong contender for thatbusiness, said Jamal Al

Jarwan, chief executiveofficer for EtisalatInternational Investments.

Al Jarwan told a businessconference organised byMEED magazine thatEtisalat wants to become oneof the ten largest telecomcompanies in the world. Tohelp achieve this goal, itwants to acquire othercompanies soon to takeadvantage of lower marketvaluations resulting fromthe global economicdownturn, he said.

Etisalat will take part inthe privatisation of Syria’slone mobile telecom

operation as well as ofLebanon’s two state-runtelecom operators, AlJarwan said to reporters onthe sidelines of theconference in the capital.

Both countries want greatercompetition in their phoneservices.

He added that it wouldbe premature for him to

comment on the amount ofinvestment a Libyan licencefor GSM mobile and fixedtelephone lines wouldrequire, should Etisalatemerge the winner of thebidding in that NorthAfrican country.

Etisalat announced inOctober that it had acquiredthe Sri Lankan telecoms firmTigo for USD 207 million. AlJarwan said his cash-richcompany would startoperations in India duringthe first quarter of next yearand that it is looking at othermarkets in Asia, Africa andMiddle East region with

interest. “These regions have

growth potential in thetelecom sector,” he told theconference. Etisalat hasample cash reserves ofDh10.84 billion, and its freecash flows exceeds Dh5.7billion, the chief executivesaid.

The company, with assetsexceeding Dh69 billion,reported a six per cent year-to-year growth in revenuesduring the nine monthsending September 30. Its netprofit for the same periodgrew by nine per cent, whileits earnings per shareswelled by eight per cent, hetold the conference. �

Etisalat Eyes Syria, Lebanon and Libya

Telstra shares fall on revenue warning

Mumbai: India's leadingtelecom, Bharti Airtel, may belooking to buy Bangladesh'sWarid Telecom for up to USD900 million, Bharti is set to buya 70 per cent stake in Warid,Bangladesh's fourth-biggesttelecom company, with aninitial plan to invest USD 300million, Bangladesh'stelecoms regulator.

The proposed deal wouldgive Bharti access toBangladesh's rapidly growingmobile sector at a time when itis locked in an intense pricewar in India with rivalsReliance Communicationsand Vodafone Essar. �

Telstra has downgradedits first-half sales revenueand cut its full-year guidanceon the same day itannounced progress of akind had been made in thecrucial negotiations with thegovernment over the Telco'sparticipation in the USD 43billion national broadbandnetwork.

Telstra attributed thedowngrade - which it expectsto flatten revenues for theyear to June 30 - to strongcompetition in the mobilebroadband market which hashurt revenues from both itsfixed-line telephony andbroadband products.

The Telco had previouslyforecasted growth in the lowsingle digits. Telstra alsoblamed the strength of theAustralian dollar andtougher than expectedoperating conditions in HongKong for the adverse affecton its sales growth.

Shares of Telstra were

down 2.8 per cent at USD3.45, a steeper decline thanthe broader market. Thebenchmark S&P/ASX 200index was 1.2 per cent lower.

Telstra maintained itsother guidance figures andsaid it was on track toachieve its targeted free cashflow of USD six billion infiscal 2010.

The downgrade comes asTelstra and the governmentannounced they had agreedon tentative terms that couldsee the Telco migrate itstraffic from its coppernetwork to the NBN.

The parties are alsodiscussing commercial

wholesale terms that couldsee the NBN Co leaseTelstra’s expansive backhauland its network of accesspipes and ducts needed toinstall fibre to homes. But adefinitive deal is still a wayoff from being signed anddelivered.

But with Telstra’swillingness to progress adeal, it now seems likely thatthe Telco will be able tobargain away some of theharsher implications of thebill. The governmentindicated that the potentialdeal would meet its demandsfor the structural separationof the Telco giant. �

San Francisco: Lawyers fora small US technology firmsaid it is suing Microsoft on thegrounds it has prior claim tothe name “Bing.”

Bing! Information Design(BID) filed suit in a circuitcourt in the state of Missouriaccusing Microsoft oftrademark infringement,unfair competition, and“tortuous interference withbusiness expectancy.”

“For nearly ten years myclient has been using the Bing!mark,” attorney AnthonySimon said in a release.

“Microsoft’s use of theidentical mark and itsaggressive advertising have

gutted all of my client’s effortsto distinguish its business andcreated confusion that must beremedied.”

Microsoft told that it hadyet to see a copy of the lawsuitbut that the argument isspecious. “We have not beenserved with a complaint, butare aware of the suit based onmedia reports,” Microsoftspokesman Kevin Kutz said inan email response.

“We believe this suit to bewithout merit and we do notbelieve there is any confusionin the marketplace with regardto the complainant’s offeringsand Microsoft’s Bing.”

He added that Microsoft islooking forward to defendingits position in court. BIDcreates interactive illustrations,designs, graphics, animations,and technical diagrams,according to Simon. �

Tokyo: Mobile phonesubscriptions are spreadingfast and due to reach 120,000early next year incommunist North Korea,where an Egyptian providerstarted a service a year ago,a press report said.

"It is a bigger-than-expected success," themarketing manager of thetelecom joint venture wasquoted as telling a visitingJapanese researcher on EastAsian affairs, MasayukiAramaki, in Pyongyang, JijiPress reported.

The hard-line communiststate is known for its humanrights abuses and for its tightcontrols on outsideinformation, for example, byfixing the tuners of radios

and television sets to officialstate-run stations. But thecompany manager, whosename was not given, wasquoted as saying that cellphone use was not onlyspreading among thepolitical and business elitebut also citizens in theshowcase capital ofPyongyang.

"Scenes of citizensactually using mobilephones in the streets haveserved as a bigadvertisement," the managerwas quoted as saying.Beijing-based Aramaki, whohas frequently visited NorthKorea for social surveys, toldJiji: "The explosive spread ofmobile phones inPyongyang is a change,

which may be called a livingrevolution."

North Korea began amobile phone service inNovember 2002 but shut itdown without explanation18 months later and beganrecalling handsets. This yearNorth Korea's official mediahas said that the country wasexpanding its telecomnetwork nationwide, layingfibre-optic cables from thecapital to all provinces, andrenovating its broadcastingsector. �

Washington: The USFederal Trade Commissionannounced that it had filedsuit against Intel, accusingthe world's biggestcomputer chipmaker ofillegally using its dominantmarket position to stiflecompetition. The FTC

alleged that Intel has wageda systematic campaign for adecade to shut out

competing microchipsproduced by rivals bycutting off their access to themarketplace.

"Intel has engaged in adeliberate campaign tohamstring competitivethreats to its monopoly,"said Richard Feinstein,director of the FTC's Bureauof Competition. "It's beenrunning roughshod over theprinciples of fair play andthe laws protectingcompetition on the merits,"Feinstein said in astatement.

"The Commission'saction seeks to remedy thedamage that Intel has done

to competition, innovation,and, ultimately, theAmerican consumer," hesaid. The FTC complaintsaid Intel's anticompetitivetactics were designed to putthe brakes on superiorcompetitive products thatthreatened its monopoly inthe central processing unit(CPU) microchip market."Over the last decade, thisstrategy has succeeded inmaintaining the Intelmonopoly at the expense ofconsumers," the FTCstatement said. "In theprocess, Intel deprivedconsumers of choice andinnovation." �

Stockholm: Nordictelecom operator TeliaSoneraannounced the launch inStockholm and Oslo of theworld's first commercial4G/LTE mobile network, upto 10 times faster than currentnetworks. "Today, as the first

operator in the world,TeliaSonera launches 4Gservices commercially tocustomers in Stockholm,Sweden and Oslo, Norway,"the company said in a

statement.The 4G/LTE network will

enable the use of services"requiring high transmissionspeed and capacity, such asadvanced web TVbroadcasting, extensiveonline gaming and webconferences," KennethKarlberg, TeliaSonera'spresident and head of mobileservices, said. "The twopioneering 4G city networkscover the central city areas ofStockholm and Oslo and willbe used for mobile data," thecompany also said, addingthat 4G was the fastesttechnology available on themarket, "with speeds up toten times higher than today'sturbo 3G." �

TeliaSonera launches 1st4G/LTE network

Brussels: EU regulatorssignalled they could clearOracle Corp's USD sevenbillion take-over of SunMicrosystems after the USsoftware company promised

measures to ease competitionconcerns. The EuropeanUnion's executive EuropeanCommission said it wasoptimistic a "satisfactory

outcome" was possible. It hadpreviously objected to thedeal, citing possiblecompetition constraints onSun's MySQL database afterthe take-over.

Oracle promised to keepthe market open for others tomake storage engine softwarefor the MySQL database, saidthat it would be more openthan MySQL's previousowners, and would not askfor commercial licences frommakers of MySQL storageengines for applicationprogramming interfaces. �

EU warms to Oracle-Sun deal

Stockholm: Worldnumber four mobile phonemaker Sony Ericsson said ithad solved the softwareproblem which hit its keysmartphone offerings inBritain in the run-up to thekey Christmas sales period.

"Sony Ericsson UK andIreland is pleased toconfirm that new softwareis now available for bothSatio and Aino(smartphones)," thecompany, owned byEricsson and Sony Corp,said in a statement. "We canconfirm this updatedsoftware has been approvedby UK operators and fixesprevious software issues."

Smartphones, withadvanced mobile internetand networking functions,have bucked the recentdownturn in the handsetmarket and are a keyelement in Sony Ericsson'splan for returning to profitnext year.

However, late inNovember, Britain'sCarphone Warehouse,Europe's biggest mobilephone retailer, temporarilywithdrew the recentlylaunched Satio smartphonefrom sale because of asoftware problem. Britishretailer Phones 4U followedsuit. �

Smartphone softwareglitch fixed: Sony Ericsson

Kuala Lumpur: UScomputer giant Dell will cut700 jobs in Malaysia as it looksto slash costs, newspaper

reports said. The companysaid the affected workers fromits plant in northern Penangstate would leave Dellbetween January and Junenext year, through a voluntary

separation scheme (VSS).The move will see Dell's

workforce in Malaysiareduced to 3800. The company

has another support centre inCyberjaya, a high-tech hubsouth of Kuala Lumpur.Spokeswoman JasmineBegum said the layoffs were aresult of the Penang plant

stopping production ofnotebooks for Latin America,Canada and US markets, thereports said. The company willcontinue making products forSouth Asian and Australianmarkets.

Affected workers "will begiven competitive VSSpackages. We will also providethem with career counsellingand outplacement services,"the Dell official told. Companyofficials could not be reachedfor comment. Dell beganoperating in Malaysia in 1995with a manufacturing anddirect-sales business but nowproduces desktops,workstations, notebooks,servers and storage productsin Penang. In 2007, it launchedits first global IT supportcentre outside of the US inCyberjaya. �

Dell to lay off 700 workers in Malaysia

Brussels: EU regulatorsaccepted a pledge byMicrosoft to allow rivalinternet browsers on itssystems, ending a longantitrust dispute with the USsoftware maker. CompetitionCommissioner Neelie Kroessaid millions of Europeanconsumers would benefit bybeing able to choose theirbrowser and the decisionwould encourage webcompanies to innovate.

Microsoft will allow usersto select from among 12browsers including its ownInternet Explorer, Mozilla'sFirefox, Apple's Safari andGoogle's Chrome on more

than 100 million PCs frommid-March. The decisionaverted another penalty forMicrosoft which has beenfined 1.68 billion Euros (USD2.44 billion) by the EuropeanCommission for previousinfringements of anti-competition rules.

The European Unionexecutive said Microsoft'slegally binding pledgeaddressed its concerns thatthe company may have

breached EU antitrust rulesby bundling its InternetExplorer web browser withits dominant Windowsoperating system.

Microsoft will also givecomputer makers the optionto turn off Internet Exploreror install a rival browser, theCommission said. Microsoft'scommitments will be valid inthe European Economic Areafor five years, theCommission said, ending itsantitrust investigation, whichwas triggered by a complaintfrom Norwegian browsermaker Opera. The EuropeanUnion executive in Januaryaccused Microsoft of seekingto thwart rivals by bundlingthe company's browser withits Windows PC operatingsystem, thereby harminginnovation and reducingconsumer choice. �

Microsoft browser pledge ends EU dispute

US Federal Trade Commission files suit


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Synopsis International

Cairo: Egypt said itwanted Orascom Telecomand France Telecom to patchup an ownership row overMobinil but said the Frenchfirm had agreed to find a newEgyptian partner if Orascomsold its stake.

Mobinil has been at thecentre of a long and oftenacrimonious dispute betweenits two main shareholders,Orascom and FranceTelecom, after the case wastaken to arbitration and thecourt said the Frenchcompany should buyOrascom's stake.

After rejecting three offers

from a France Telecom unit tobuy other freely traded stock,Egypt's regulator agreed tothe unit's latest offer of 245Egyptian pounds (USD 44.90)for each outstanding Mobinilshare. Orascom said itopposed the regulator'sdecision.

The CommunicationsMinistry said in a statement it"continues to hope ... that thetwo parties in the commercialdispute reach a conciliatorysolution that allows them tocontinue in their successfulpartnership" in Mobinil,Egypt's biggest mobileoperator by subscribers.

But the ministry saidFrance Telecom had agreedto find another Egyptianpartner or alliance if Orascomsold. The deal, ifimplemented, could netEgypt-based Orascom morethan USD 1.6 billion butwould remove it from itshome turf.

An Orascom statementsaid Sawiris, who haspreviously pledged not togive up his firm's stake,"denies he had made anystatements to any TV channelor newspapers in connectionwith the sale of OT's stake inMobinil." �

Oslo: Opera Mobile 10, abrowser for use on mobilephones, is now available in a betaversion for Windows Mobilesmartphones. Opera Mobile 10Beta for Windows Mobileresembles the PC browser Opera10, the company claims.

That includes new functionslike a speed dial function forwebsites, tabbed browsing and apassword manager. Theprogramme is available for freedownload from the Norwegiansoftware house athttp://www.opera.com/mobile/. �

Washington: Internetpioneer AOL returns to WallStreet after finalising itsdivorce from Time Warnerand ending one of the mostdisastrous corporatemarriages in history. AOLcommon stock begins

trading on the New YorkStock Exchange a little morethan six months after mediaand entertainment giantTime Warner decided to cutits losses and spin off theailing internet unit.

While the AOL of 2001

was worth as much as 165billion dollars, prior to thebursting of the dotcombubble, the AOL of 2009 isvalued at just 2.8 billiondollars by analyst RossSandler of RBC CapitalMarkets Corp. With AOL'sdial-up internet-accessbusiness being supplantedby broadband, AOL chiefexecutive Tim Armstrong,who was hired away fromGoogle in March, said theindependent AOL would befocused on "content, ads andcommunications."

"Today we're producingabout 80 per cent of our owncontent," Armstrong, whowas a senior vice presidentat Google, told financialanalysts at the UBS GlobalMedia and CommunicationsConference in New York.

Armstrong said the Dulles,Virginia-based AOL wouldbe using a new globalplatform which would helpdetermine "what types ofcontent to produce, when,how and where it's going."

On the advertising side,Armstrong said he expectsto see growth in AOL'sdisplay advertising business.AOL was testing a new adplatform that will launchnext year that is "very goodat display targeting," he said."It will be open to all adcustomers. They can usecredit cards to sign up. �

New cellphone

browserfrom Opera

The world's tallest building -Burj Dubai - is now fully coveredwith du's enhanced mobilenetwork coverage, to provide allresidents and visitors withseamless 2G and 3.75G networkcapabilities for an enhanced userexperience. The move is in-linewith du's efforts to expand itsmobile network across majorlandmarks in the UAE, and tocover 99 per cent of residentialareas by the end of 2009, inaddition to offering fixednetwork services.

As a result, every Burj Dubairesident and visitor will benefitfrom du's state-of-the-artethernet to the home technology;this enables customers to enjoy avariety of services including duIPTV, broadband with 24 Mbps,voice telephony, Video onDemand, IP telephony, leasedlines and Multi Protocol LabelSwitching (MPLS) amongothers.

du's mobile and fibre opticsnetworks are also available withthe same level of quality in thesurrounding buildings andhotels in the Downtown BurjDubai area, including Souk AlBahar, Boulevard Residence, TheAddress - Downtown BurjDubai, The Palace - The OldTown hotel, Al Manzil hotel andThe Dubai Mall. �

du providesservices atBurj Dubai

Digital rights groups andbloggers have heapedcriticism on Facebook'schanged privacy policy.Critics said the changes wereunwelcome and "nudged"people towards sharingupdates with the wider weband made them findable viasearch engines. The changeswere introduced via a pop-upthat asked users to updateprivacy settings.

Facebook said the changeshelp members manageupdates they wanted to share,not trick them into revealingtoo much.

"Facebook is nudging thesettings toward the 'discloseeverything' position," saidMarc Rotenberg, executivedirector of the US ElectronicPrivacy Information Centre(Epic). "That's not fair fromthe privacy perspective."

Epic said it was analysing

the changes to see if theyamounted to trickery.

In a statement, theElectronic FrontierFoundation said: "These new'privacy' changes are clearlyintended to push Facebookusers to publicly share evenmore information thanbefore." It added: "Evenworse, the changes willactually reduce the amount ofcontrol that users have oversome of their personal data."

Facebook began testingthe privacy changes duringmid-2009 before introducingthem site-wide. The changeslet people decide who shouldsee updates, whether all 350million Facebook membersshould see them, and if theyshould be viewable across theweb.

Barry Schnitt, a Facebookspokesman, said users couldavoid revealing someinformation to non-friends byleaving gender and locationfield blank. He said thechanges to privacy made iteasier to tune the audience foran update or status change sodefault settings of opennessshould have less impact. �

Facebook faces criticism

AOL going public

Los Angeles: Google Incplans to sell its own cellphone direct to consumersas soon as next year,bypassing wireless operatorsin a rare strategic move, theWall Street Journal citedsources.

Called the Nexus Oneand made by smartphonemaker HTC, the phone will

run on the search giant'sAndroid operating system -around which Motorola andother cell phone makershave built devices - and willbe sold online.

Cellular service will haveto be bought separately, itadded. The internet searchleader may be sounding achallenge to wireless carrierssuch as Sprint and Verizon,as well as smartphonemakers like Apple. It marksa departure for the leader inweb advertising, which hasrarely sold devices directlyto consumers. Google'sAndroid phones have wonattention in the mobile

industry lately, withMotorola and Sony Ericssonchoosing to launch it withtheir new top models.

Analysts say the aim is togain access to valuableconsumer data that can beused to sell ads at premiumprices, rather than to makemoney from direct hardwaresales, as companies such asNokia or Research in Motiondo. Research house IDCestimates the market sharefor Android operatingsoftware rose to 5.4 per centfrom 4.2 per cent in July-September in WesternEurope, a key market. �

Google to produce, sell own 'NexusOne' phones

Egypt wants Orascom, France Tel deal


99


Iraq signs $445m fibre optic cable deal Telenor ups stake inUnitech Wireless

Washington: Bowing toChinese law, Apple isreportedly blocking iPhoneusers in China fromdownloading applicationsabout two figures Beijingconsiders "separatists": theDalai Lama and exiledUighur leader RebiyaKadeer.

IDG News Service said atleast five iPhone softwareprogrammes related to theTibetan spiritual leader areunavailable in Apple'sChina App Store along withone related to Kadeer. IDG,publisher of Macworld,Computerworld, PC World

and other magazines, saidthe move would makeApple the latest UStechnology giant to censorits services in China.

China regularly blocksaccess to web sites deemed

sensitive and a number ofUS companies, includingMicrosoft, Cisco, Googleand Yahoo!, have beenhauled before the USCongress in recent years andaccused of complicity inbuilding what has beencalled the "Great Firewall ofChina."

IDG said Apple letssoftware developers choosethe countries where theirproducts appear but it wasunlikely the Kadeer andDalai Lama programmedevelopers had decided tomake their productsunavailable in China. �

Apple blocks iPhone applications

Broadband and ETS the 'keys' to changeSydney: Kevin Rudd tied

together two of his mostcontentious election promises -the USD 43 billion nationalbroadband network and theemissions trading scheme - byclaiming both were vital to theeffort to tackle climate change.

Speaking at a government-backed forum on the future ofbroadband in Sydney, thePrime Minister said the rolloutof the NBN would reduceAustralia's carbon emissionsby five per cent. The NBN aimsto connect 90 per cent of thepopulation to a fibre-to-the-home network capable ofdelivering internet accessspeeds of 100 megabits persecond, almost 100 times fasterthan today's average.

"Together, the NBN andCarbon Pollution ReductionScheme are critical toAustralia's efforts to addressclimate change," Mr Rudd said.

In his first major speech onthe NBN since announcing theproject in April, he described itas a "historic act of nation-building" and essential forAustralia to compete on theglobal market. Mr Rudd toldthe forum, attended byCommunications MinisterStephen Conroy, thegovernment would inject USD26.5 million into projects thatwould "stop the rot" inbroadband infrastructure forrural and regional areas.

"The reality is thatAustralia's current broadband

infrastructure is not up toscratch," he said.

The funding forms part ofthe government's USD 60million digital regionsinitiative, announced in theMay budget. The money willgo to seven projects to deliverbetter health, education andemergency services to regional,rural and remote communities.

More than USD threemillion has been allocated toregional bushfire preventionand detection schemes usingadvanced technologies, whilethe biggest allocation of USDseven million will help 17remote towns in the NorthernTerritory get e-health services,benefiting about 30,000 mainlyindigenous patients. �

New Delhi: Norway'sTelenor has put Rs14.93 billion(USD 327 million) in its thirdround of investment in Indiantelecoms firm UnitechWireless, taking its holding to60.1 per cent. Telenor, whichhas agreed to take a total 67.25per cent stake in UnitechWireless that founded byIndian realty Unitech Ltd, willcomplete the remaininginvestment through a fourthand final transaction, it said ina statement.

"This third investment will,as the earlier transactions,provide Uninor with workingcapital to fund the roll out ofservices across India," SigveBrekke, head of Telenor

Group's Asian operations saidin the statement. India'scabinet in October, which hasallowed the maximumpermissible 74 per cent foreignholding in Unitech Wireless.

Unitech Wireless launchedmobile phone services inDecember under the Uninorbrand and now has operationsin eight of India's 22 telecomzones. It holds telecom licencesfor all of India, and is aimingfor eight per cent of the Indianmobile market by 2018. Indiais currently the world's fastest-growing and thesecond-largest wireless marketwith more than 500 millionusers. �

Nokia to sell over 500mphones in 2010

Helsinki: Top cell phonemaker Nokia will sell morethan 500 million handsets thisyear, above marketexpectations, a seniorcompany executive told. "In2010, Nokia will ship over 500million units across threeplatforms, which will be about40 per cent of the globalmarket share," Nokia's Mobile

Phone Unit Chief RickSimonson said.

In a Reuters poll, analysts'average forecast was thatNokia would sell 458 millionphones in 2010, and 424million in 2009. A Nokiaspokesman said Simonson'scomment was not a newforecast. "Our last forecast wasgiven on December 2," he said.On December 2 Nokia forecast10 per cent growth in cellphone market volumes in2010, while its market sharewould remain roughly on parwith 2009. �

Microsoft views Chinaas top search market

Shanghai: China is a vitalmarket for Microsoft's websearch business, as it chasesleaders Baidu Inc andGoogle in the world'sbiggest internet market, theworld's largest softwaremaker said. Since launchingits English-language Bingsearch site in June,Microsoft has been gainingsteady share in the UnitedStates, with 10.3 per cent inNovember versus 17.5 percent for Yahoo! and 65.6 percent for dominant playerGoogle, according tocomScore.

Microsoft hopes to getoff to a similar fast start

with its Chinese-languageBing site, which is still in itsbeta phase following a low-key launched in June."Microsoft is committed tothe China market and thesearch market in China isthe most important strategicmarket for Microsoft," thecompany told Reuters. �

Doha: Iraq signed a USD445 million deal with thetelecommunicationscompany Gulf BridgeInternational to link thecountry to the Gulf andIndia via a high-speed fibreoptic cable. Announcing thedeal in Qatar, Iraqi Ministerof TelecommunicationsFaruq Abdel-Qadir said themodernisation of Iraq'scommunicationsinfrastructure was at least asimportant to the country asthe contracts Iraq recentlysigned with internationalcompanies to develop its oilfields.

The cable would furtherimprove data links betweenEurope and Asia Abdel-Qadir added that at leastfive additional undersea

cables would be needed tomeet future bandwidthdemands. Abdel-Qadir toldthe German Press Agencydpa that the Iraqigovernment was "notsatisfied" with the serviceoffered by the three mobilephone companies operatingin the country. Iraqannounced it was in talks

with companies for a fourthmobile phone license.

The cabinet in July

approved plans to set up afourth mobile phonenetwork. AsiaCell, Kuwait'sZain Group, and KorekTelecom now hold Iraq'sthree mobile phone licenses.In May, the Iraqigovernment fined thecompanies for poor service.Zain was ordered to payUSD 18.6 million, KorekUSD 1.2 million and USDAsiaCell 1.1 million. AhmedMekky, CEO of Gulf BridgeInternational, told dpa thatthe company is nowstudying the possibilityextending the cable to Syria."The project will represent aleap in connecting the Gulfregion with the world," hesaid. "This is the project'smain goal." �

Flare Jan Feb 2010

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