Week In Review: Week ending on Saturday, the 26th of July, 2008
Saturday, July 26, 2008 17:06The week was very tough for PTCL, because of workers’ countrywide strike and shut down of all telephone exchanges. Employees had demanded for the withdrawal of Unified Pay Scale and permanent jobs for old workers, but it was not accepted. After a whole week, a meeting was finally organized between PTCL workers and management team, to settle this growing issue.
As entire staff of PTCL was absent, subscribers had to face severe kind of problems. Now, there are more than 20,000 phone lines that are not working, are not being noticed as well and they await a PTCL engineer or line man.
A last meeting with was organized with leaders of employees union and senior management of PTCL, where it was decided that employees demands will be granted soon. Workers are still on strike, waiting for a written agreement, which
P@SHA has been organizing its annual Career Expo for last the three years to provide students with the latest information towards better and more sustainable careers. BearingPoint Management & Technology Consultants was the lead sponsor of the entire programme, while PixSense, Microsoft and Intel were the bronze sponsors of this expo.
The event received a huge response fro the students from almost every university. The place was crowded with attendees and the exhibitors, which showed how successful this event, but you should not make the judgment on quantity, rather make it on the quality of the interaction. The exhibition section contained a large number of IT and HR exhibitors, providing the students with an easy platform, which led right into the proper jobs. Moreover, the career counselors dealt with hundreds of students solved their complications and guided them to their required and deserved careers.
More than 20 companies participated in the Career Expo, which focused on job offerings to students of the related sectors and the delegates briefed attendees about their companies, job trends and future prospects. Among the exhibitors were P@SHA, PixSense, IBM, Avanza Solutions, LAALS, Online Corporation, TLS, TPS, Server4Sale, Alchemy, TRG, MIXIT and several others.
According to a research commissioned by Pakistan Software Export Board, Pakistan’s Information Technology exports have marked one billion dollar scale in economic year 2007-08.
According to this research, the country’s IT and related industries have observed $2 billion increase in its worth, sustain 50 percent growth rate in 2007-08.
The Pakistan Credit Rating Agency (PACRA) has assigned the long and short-term entity ratings of ‘AA-’ (Double A Minus) and ‘A1+’ (A One Plus) respectively, to Pak China Investment Company Limited (PCICL). These rankings decrease the expectation of credit risk, generated by highest capacity for timely payment of pecuniary commitments.
These ratings mirror the ownership of PCICL by the government of Pakistan and China, which provides a strong support to the company. Additionally, it also reflects the sound-risk absorption capacity of the company, an outcome of a robust capital structure and reliable position against risks.
Issuance of illegal SIMs, which is promised to be a history after 1st of August, is still being witnessed in several parts of this country and government’s personnel are constantly working against it.
Pakistan Telecommunication Authority has been directed to take firm action against this illegal act, making sure the SIMs are delivered to the buyer’s existing postal address. In fact, a few retailers have been arrested for not following PTA’s direction. It is hoped that such issues will be straightened out shortly.
From now on, according to federal government’s decision, mobile phone Subscriber Identity Modules (SIMs) will now be posted to the addresses given by applicants and not handed over to the purchaser on the spot.
Some 8 years ago, the number of mobile phone connection in entire Pakistan was just
3, 00,000, and it remained 3, 00,00 for quite a long period. Talking about today, the number has exceeded that 88 millions. However, there still is no provision to 50% population of Pakistan, rural and hilly areas. The number of subscribers is constantly increasing, so is the number of mobile companies. But, surprisingly, the five mobile companies of Pakistan are still unable to provide connectivity to whole Pakistan, which invites more companies for reward able investments.
Lahore Chamber OIC Telecom-IT Conference and expo, was organized at Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industries. The event focused on the latest challenges that are being faced in Pakistan in the field of IT and Telecom.
The participants included Minister for Excise and Taxation, Mujtaba Shuja-ur-Rehman, President of Lahore Chamber of Commerce, Mian Mohammad Ali, Iranian Council General, Saeed Khizaari and Chief Executive of SMEDA, Shahid Rasheed.
President Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce (FPCCI) Tanvir Ahmed Sheikh and Secretary TDAP, Naveed Arif inaugurated the four-day exhibition, jointly organized by Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP), FPCCI and ECO Secretariat.
Exhibition had been extended to two halls where companies from ECO countries including Pakistan, Turkey and Iran exhibited their products at 115 stalls. Addressing a joint press conference, FPCCI president and Secretary TDAP said that this is the second exposition of ECO countries and the contribution will be beneficial in increasing intra-ECO trade from exiting 7% to 15% in next three years.
First two days of this conference had been reserved for corporate visitors, while the last two days were for public.
Sui Northern Gas Company has introduced SMS services for its subscribers, which enables them to check and submit their annual bills and get other details via SMS. Subscribers will have to message at 7742 along with their SSGC code to utilize this service. This service is available on all five mobile services of Pakistan.
Oracle and i-flex solutions changed their name to Oracle Financial Services Software Ltd. Oracle has been acknowledged as a Global Power Seller according to Forrester Research’s June 2008 independent report, “Global Banking Platform Deals 2007: Vendors.”
Forrester Research defines Global Power Sellers as “leaders with more than 35 new banking platform clients, at least in six different regions of the world in 2007.” According to the report, Oracle won 71 deals with new clients, which cannot be witnessed in any other statistic. These deals were won across Oracle Financial Services Global Business Unit product lines, including Oracle’s Siebel, Oracle’s FLEXCUBE and the Oracle Financial Services Applications.
Zong Mobile expanded its services in Loralai, Khizdaar and Zhob (Balochistan). According to Salman Wasay, Director marketing the inclusion of these cities in Zong’s network proves Zong’s long lasting plans.
Zong is incredibly expanding its network in different regions of Pakistan. We can hear a new name being included in Zong’s network, every week.
NetSol Technologies Limited has won a multi-million dollar contract for its leasing solutions in North American captive finance division of a major Asian-based automobile manufacturer. According to this agreement, NetSol will ensure the provision of product licensing, software customization, system implementation, ongoing maintenance and support services for the NetSol Financial Suite.
“NetSol’s NFS provides a comprehensive platform, allowing the customers to expand their addressable markets, rapidly deploy new systems and processes, increase owner loyalty and improve customer service. Besides, it is a cost effective solutions, which enhances its importance.
