Week In Review: Week ending on Saturday, the 5th of July, 2008
July 5, 2008
Another week of regular activity in the IT and Telecom scene in Pakistan. Here’s what’s been cooking across the country:
Perhaps the most surprising news was the re-assignment of Telenor Pakistan CEO, Tore Johnsen, resigning from Telenor and joining TDAC as the Chief Executive Officer. Whereas the announcement for the new CEO of Telenor will be made on first of September 2008, Tore has proven to be a great leader to building Telenor has a strong, reliant brand for the consumer here.
Tore Johnsen had been the CEO of Telenor Pakistan since the inception in 2004. Before moving to Pakistan, Johnsen served four years as Strategy Director and later CEO of DiGi Telecommunications in Malaysia. He joined the Telenor Group in 1974, and he has held a number of managerial positions and international assignments. Johnsen holds a Master of Science in addition to studies in International Business Management. A new CEO of Telenor Pakistan will be announced in due time before September 1st. The Company, operating under “dtac” brand, was founded in August 1989 to provide wireless telecommunication service in 800 Mhz and 1800 Mhz frequency bands in Thailand under a 27-year “Built-Transfer-Operate” concession granted by CAT Telecom Public Company Limited (formerly known as Communications Authority of Thailand-”CAT. We wish Mr Johnsen the very best in his new venture and have no doubt that he will be as good for Thailand as he has been for Pakistan! Sawasdee Krup, Tore!
Senior Executive Vice President HR, Ismail Taha said that PTCL is taking steps to provide prompt, better and state of the art telecom services for its customers and they hope to achieve their goal very soon. The goal, as mentioned before, is to regain a better position in telecom market. He made these statements while visiting the Customers Facilitation Camp (CMC) in F-8 Markaz in Islamabad. A. Khawaja and other senior officers also accompanied him.
The number of mobile phone users in the economic year 2007-08 has increased to 34 percent and a Government report says that during the economic year 2008-07, the number of Zong’s connection has increased with 208 %. In June 2008, the number of mobile phone users was 6.32 billion, which has exceeded 8.5 billion.
Mobilink still stands as number in telecom sector with a user ship of more that 3.19 billion. This year, an increase of 20 percent has been recorded in Mobilink’s users.
Ufone is facilitating 1.75 billion whereas, Telenor, which was at number three a few weeks ago, has acquired a user circle that is even bigger than Ufone. Telenor has the second position in Pakistan Telecom Industry and this increase has proved itself a big shock for Ufone. Other than the top three, Warid is still doing a good business but its on the fourth number. The officials of Warid Telecom say that their company is focusing more on its infrastructure and availability than other issues.
Zong Telecom has attained more than 3.2 million users in just a couple of months. It is progressing efficiently and it is being expected that very soon, Zong will have it’s own place to call home, in the Pakistan Telecom industry.
Nokia announced the launch of its latest handset, Nokia N-78 that is equipped with latest features and graphics. The media event took place at Sheraton Hotel, Karachi where Nokia Country Manager, Imran Khalid Mehmood and the Product Manager Khurram Pradhan briefed the audience about the latest handsets and upcoming projects of Nokia.
Nokia N78 is amongst the first handsets with the integrated FM transmitters that allow the tones through car stereo. It is a sleek multimedia computer that fuses map reading, photography, music and mobility in a way that gives convergence a new meaning.
The handset also has a 3.2 mega pixel camera, multimedia player, picture browser and a powerful range of technologies including high-speed connectivity via WLAN and HSPDA 3.g. Additionally, geo-tagging becomes easier with Nokia N-78. This phone has got every thing that you need (and then some!)
Dr. Lian Jeog Seok and Cybil Yoo, members of an IT organization in Korea, visited University of Karachi. They visited Umair Basha Institute of Technology (UBIT)/ Department of Computer Science. The delegation met the Vice Chancellor of KU, Professor Pirzada Qasim and the Chairman of the department. The delegations discussed the development of IT services in Pakistan as well as the academia.
The launching ceremony of two technical books, “Quality Assurance in Higher Education: A Global Perspective” and “Safety Management and Engineering: An Integrated Approach” took place at the Institute of Quality and Technology Management (IQTM) of Punjab University. The book on Quality Assurance is based on 15 research papers that have been edited by Dr. Abdul Rauf and Dr. Niaz Ahmad along with the second book which was has been written by Dr Abdul Rauf.
Quality Assurance Advisor at Higher Education Commission (HEC), Dr. Riaz Qureshi, PU Vice-Chancellor Prof. Dr. Mujahid Kamran, Dr. Abdul Rauf, Dr. Niaz Ahmad, Dr Javed Ahmed, Dr. Mehar Saeed and a large number of faculty members and students participated in the launching ceremony.
The Syndicate of University of Engineering and Technology approved the university’s annual budget for the year 2008-09. The budget comprises of two categories, recurring budget and development budget. Total income from recurring budget is Rs 1.559 billion while expenditure is Rs 1.610 billion.
The Higher Education Commission and Federal Government has allocated Rs 480 million and the Punjab government allocated Rs 24 million for the four ongoing development projects of the university.
DHL has provided access to its unique electronic services DHL Emailship with the help of Microsoft Office Online. Now, this service is downloadable in Asia Pacific. This service was not available in this region but now, customers can easily access shipping services using DHL Emailship.
The collaboration of Wateen and Motorola is the hottest topic of this month. The agreement, which has been signed by Wateen and Motorola, has got international acknowledgement, as the world’s leading technology magazine CIO has covered this story.
Wateen has been providing WiMAX services in Pakistan and recently it signed the biggest agreement for CPE devices with Motorola.
The ratio of Fixed lines and Wireless line (WLL) are showing a declining trend as the whole nation has moved to mobile phone services. A report issued by PTA for March 2008 says that the number of fixed line users has decreased by 6.1 percent quarter-over-quarters along with WLL subscribers, which has dropped by 4.4 percent month-on-month in May 2008.
Omair Chughtai, a telecom analyst at BMA Capital said that the decline was obvious but the data showed a massive decline, which is beyond expectations. According to him, it will take some years to stabilize landline position in telecom market.
China’s Huawei Technologies said that it has been selected by Mobilink to deploy a commercial WiMAX 16e Network in Pakistan. After Wateen, Mobilink will be the second company to provide WiMAX services in Pakistan, which will be benefiting for the country.
A representative of Huawei Technologies said that the company is going to provide its services to Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Karachi, Lahore, Faisalabad and Sialkot. Huawei is one of the leading WiMAX providers in the world and until now, it has won 19 overseas commercial WiMAX contracts.
A week ago, a news item in one of the dailies said that PTA has banned the imports of handsets from china but a PTA’s spokesperson has clarified that PTA has not taken any such action. He said that PTA had nothing to do with the imports of mobile handsets or type approval of handsets, and rather blocks stolen/snatched sets through International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number when reported by a complaint.
SAMENA Telecommunications Council recently concluded Telecom 2008, which brought together top industry executives from Pakistan and the MENA region in Islamabad to share their insights on key areas of importance to the telecom and ICT industry.
PTCL, PTA, The Summit Patronage, Symbia, Cisco, CRPL, Com Info Systems, Inmarsat, Blue Ridge Networks and Satcom collaborated to organize this two-day long event. Closing day guest of honor was Mr. Qamar Zaman Kaira, Federal Minister of Information Technology.
Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd announced that it has withdrawn the controversial circular of price hike in domestic leased line circuits used for internet and data services.
Representative of ISPAK, Wahaj us Siraj, said: “We appreciate the decision of PTCL management to withdraw the price increase which could have led to doubling the prices of internet for the customers”.
Intel Pakistan and Ministry of Education (MOE) recently announced an ICT for Education that aims to provide knowledge of computers and latest technologies of Information Technology to common citizens.
Under the agreement, Intel Pakistan will provide 4,500 computers to Government Schools across the country over the next five years in a continued effort to enhance the capabilities of next generation. Intel Pakistan has already donated 750 PCs to Government schools to date. It intends to provide 1,080 more computers during the year 2008.
Mobile phone operators are planning to launch their services in rural areas, which are far away from modern world but its surprising to see that the is almost no connectivity of any mobile phone operator in Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), Islamabad. The patients and their relatives have to face sever kind of troubles in emergencies.
The mobile network is not available inside the PIMS’s boundary. The mobile phone companies stated that they had suggested installing micro-towers inside PIMS’s boundary but the Administration opposed and no progress was made.
The Comsats Institute of Information Technology (CIIT) has introduced ‘Talent Farming Scholarship Scheme’ (TAFS) for academically bright students who have completed their Secondary School Certificate examination significantly from the cities where CIIT’s campuses are located.
The scholarship scheme acknowledges the scholastic talent of these young boys and girls through a scholarship award of Rs1, 000 per month for 24 months to enable them to complete their intermediate diplomas.
Until next week, this it the team, signing off!
MARKET FORCES: CGC wins Best Nokia Distributor Award
June 23, 2008
Doha • Consolidated Gulf Co. (CGC) has scored a hat-trick winning the Best Nokia Distributor Award third year in a row in the entire Middle and Near East region for providing efficient and quality services to the people of Qatar. CGC has achieved this big feat beating a galaxy of over 50 prominent Nokia distributors from all the MNE countries, including UAE, KSA, Pakistan and Iran. [Read more]
Mobile phone import dips by 12 percent
April 29, 2008
KARACHI: Country’s mobile phone import has plunged by 12.05 percent in the first nine months of current fiscal year inspite of constant growth in cellular subscribers.
During July 2007-March 2008, mobile phones worth $581.7 million were imported against $661.5 million during the same period last year.
While, on the whole the telecom import registered an increase of 0.8 percent, as worth of $1.64 billion of mobile phone and telecom equipment were imported during July 2007- March 2008 of the current fiscal year as compared with $1.63 billion during the same period in July 2006 – March 2007.
In March 2008, mobile phones worth $74.4 million were imported, registering a decrease of 23.19 percent when compared to March 2007 figure of $96.8 million.
Adeel Hashmi, communication manager, Nokia said, “our company has maintained its market share and volumes in the last quarter despite political challenges and market competition.”
“The decline in mobile phone import may be due to the country’s strategic situation and local factors but that has not affected Nokia’s market share or volume. Our commitment to local market is stable and our business numbers are intact and we see major growth for in the Pakistani market, which will be a contribution from all socio-economic segments of the society,” he added.
According to Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), mobile phone subscribers have crossed 80 million mark. The PTA data shows that Pakistan is a lucrative market, where about 2 to 3 million subscribers are being added every month.
On this phenomenon, the industry analysts are of the view that high inflation rate in the country has pushed the consumers to buy cheaper handsets or second hand mobile phone. Realizing the fact, mobile phone manufacturing companies are launching cheaper mobile sets, which are becoming popular among the people.
Apart from this, the manufacturing facility of mobile handsets and other telecom equipments is still lacking in Pakistan, even though the government is attracting foreign companies to invest in this area as there is a continuous demand for telecom related equipment in the country.
COM: Nokia sets up first CCC in Pakistan
April 24, 2008
LAHORE, Apr 19, 2008 (Asia Pulse Data Source via COMTEX) — – Nokia, the world leader in telecom technologies, launched its first Customer Care Centre named Nokia Care in Pakistan on Friday. The Nokia Care had been established here at Saddique Trade Centre in Gulberg area, Imran Khalid Mehmood, Nokia Pakistan and Afghanistan, told a news conference at a local hotel. He told newsmen that three such more centres would be established in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad/Rawalpindi soon. [Read more]
Telenor invested $1.8bn in Pakistan till end of 2007: CEO
February 24, 2008
By the end of 2007, Telenor had invested some $1.8 billion in Pakistan and it intended to connect the remotest corners of the country with valuable services, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Telenor Pakistan Tore Johnsen said here Monday.
In an exclusive interview with The Daily Times he said “we have also signed major investment contracts for network expansion and maintenance within the last 15 months and extended the agreements with Nokia and Siemens on network expansion and services until 2009.” The agreements, with a potential to result in $750 million worth of orders from Telenor Pakistan, are some of the largest of their kind in the industry.
“We appreciate the presence of a stable regulatory environment with a clear licensing framework in Pakistan. Ministry of Information Technology (IT) and Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) have been successful in providing a level playing field and have fostered a culture of industry consultation.”
Although, the government’s progressive policies have boosted market liberalisation process and discouraged monopolies, mobile phone operators are still facing three main areas of policy emphasis that will help with responsible growth in the future. These are: 3-G, infrastructure sharing and Alternative energy sources.
3G: “We understand the government’s ambition of introducing 3G in the market, but growth and investment in the basic mobile infrastructure should not be sacrificed, as there are too many people still without basic access to mobile telephony,” he said. Right now operators are focused on investing in far flung areas and un-served populations. If a huge fee is demanded for 3G, it will divert this investment with limited benefits for those who are still waiting to be connected with basic voice services.
“Therefore, we demand that the government should consider 3G not as a licensing opportunity, but rather as allocation of additional spectrum linked with roll out obligations and not hefty upfront fee. PTA and FAB should also make additional UMTS spectrum available in order to have equitable spectrum allocation,” CEO of Telenor said.
Telenor feels that our proposed “beauty contest” approach as adopted by many countries including Malaysia and Norway is much better than open auction, which has resulted in financial problems and major delays in rollout after 3G auctions in Europe. Also, this way, operators will be able to work on 3G side by side, even as they keep on focusing on provision of mobile services to those who are still unconnected and remain a priority.
Infrastructure sharing: The internationally recommended practice of using one tower to carry antennas for multiple mobile operators instead of having separate towers for each operator makes common sense. At the moment, Telenor Pakistan has the largest number of shared sites and believes that more should be done to encourage and enforce infrastructure sharing. It is an effective way of reducing operational expenditure while achieving long-term environmental benefits and maintaining quality for our customers, he elaborated.
Alternative energy sources: “We are the first in industry to have started using solar energy to power a commercial site,” Johnsen said. Here government has a role to play by practically encouraging such innovation and solutions that are more eco-friendly and less of a burden logistically in difficult terrains, where mobile coverage might be needed the most, and constant generator refueling is an issue, he added.
“Also, we sealed a 20-year capacity and services contract with Telekom Malaysia Berhad’s Pakistani subsidiary, Multinet Pakistan (Private) Limited. The contract has enabled us to utilise fibre optic cable pairs and associated co-location facilities along Multinet Pakistan’s national long haul optical fibre transmission network. The maintenance and associated services from Multinet further improves the reliability of our services to the growing customer base. The aggregate amount of both the capacity contract and the service contract is some $40 million.
“I see a healthy development on all fronts in the foreseeable future as in a short period of 3 years, facing intense competition; Telenor Pakistan managed to stand as the 2nd largest mobile communications network with 15 million customers in Pakistan. Today, Telenor Pakistan connects Pakistanis over 5,000 sites and is rapidly expanding,” he said.
Talking on the WiMAX he said, it is only one of the several ways of delivering broadband to the end consumer. The important aspect to consider while investing in technological infrastructure is the economies of scale that ensure economical, quality and wide coverage to the end user. With heavy investments already made in GSM mobile communications infrastructure, it is technologically and economically optimal to invest in broadband technologies evolving from GSM itself. Technologies like 3G and HSDPA are such options. We believe that HSDPA has more performance and economical advantages over mass deployment. This technology enables and encourages users since the handsets and data cards needed by the customer are available in wide variety and at affordable rates. Therefore, free mobility, a highly desired value, is not sacrificed.
Giving his views on telecom future in the country, he said, Pakistan is one of the fastest growing telecom markets in the world. The growth numbers have been remarkable.
According to PTA, the current size of the Pakistani telecom market is 77 million subscribers, 48 percent tele-density with an annual growth rate of 100 percent over the fiscal year 2006-2007. The contribution of telecom in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is placed at 35 percent of the total FDI and the sector is reported to make up 2 percent of the GDP.
In FY06-07, the company grew nearly 200 percent in terms of customers, experiencing the highest growth in the industry by a wide margin compared to its competitors. We have just announced excellent financial results for fourth quarter of 2007, with 2 million subscriptions added to its base within the 3-month period. The company crossed 15 million subscribers by mid January 2008 within less than three years of operation.
A humble tribute to Bader ul Islam
February 15, 2008
Editorial Note: The tribute below has been written by Veqar ul Islam, brother of the late Bader ul Islam. Both gentlemen have made a significant impact in inspiring the local industry to what it is today. Please do take a moment to read the life that Bader Islam led from the perspective of one person who knew him best.
Bader – My Brother, my
“Ladies and Gentlemen it is with great pleasure that I invite my brother, my mentor, my inspiration, my role model – Bader ul Islam to speak on this occasion.” This was the typical line I used when we were doing the farewell round for Bader in 1999. This was when he was transferred to head NCR West Africa region after serving as Country Manager for
Bader left us when he was only 58, however, the richness with which he passed his life, the commitment he had to whatever cause he opted for, the way he handled pressure, the way he climbed the ladder of success is simply a fairy tale story. He passed a complete life. As tears roll down my eyes, I will make an attempt to live through some of those moments to motivate all those who will read this humble tribute and to convince them that anyone with passion, hardwork, adherence to right values, humility, focus, family bondings can go places in life. Bader was no ordinary man. He was no ordinary corporate leader either. The story of his life is one that can inspire anyone to take on bigger, higher, greater challenges in life despite all the hurdles, uncertainties and unfairness of life.
Bader was a simple graduate. Even in the 70’s someone with a Bachelor’s degree would not get a half decent job. I remember fairly well that one time Bader was so disgruntled and frustrated with life that he decided to take on the job of a labourer to do some digging work at Shahrah e Faisal in
Untethering the Internet: Nokia unveils new converged devices and Internet services that encourage collaboration, creativity and sharing
February 13, 2008
New maps and personal media sharing services pave the way for context aware Internet services
Mobile World Congress 2008, Barcelona, Spain, Finland - Nokia President and CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo reinforced the company’s vision of combining the benefits and opportunities of the Internet by unveiling a new line up of converged devices and services that promote collaboration and sharing. The company also revealed the next step towards its Ovi Internet service environment by introducing ‘Share on Ovi’, a personal media sharing service that makes it easy to upload, manage and share personal media.
Telenor offers Nokia intellisync wireless email
November 30, 2007
KARACHI (November 30 2007): Nokia on Thursday announced that the mobile operator Telenor-Pakistan would offer Nokia intellisync wireless email to its consumers, small-medium enterprises (SMEs) and large corporations. The service branded as ‘Smartmail’, is currently available, said a press release.
“Nokia intellisync wireless email supports all kinds of media devices from entry level phones to high-end smart phones for professionals, this together with Telenor Pakistan’s largest EDGE coverage in Pakistan will provide customer convenience to all service subscribers,” said CMO Telenor Pakistan Sigvart Voss Eriksen.
“Nokia intellisync Wireless Email supports more than 100 vendors-the broadest support in the industry-allowing Telenor Pakistan to deploy email on a range of devices to meet the needs of various customers,” said Scott Cooper, senior vice president Mobility Solutions Enterprise Solution-Nokia.
Does Nokia N-Gage you!?
November 7, 2007
What would your impression be if you’d find a fully grown up guy playing a video game on his cell phone in a public place such as a shopping mall? Most people would disapprove of it; some might even make fun of that guy. In my opinion, that is what a Nokia N-Gage is meant for.
We have seen phone manufacturing companies such as Nokia, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Siemens, etc. release 100 of different models catering different segments of the market every now and then. Companies have recently been launching phones for music lovers, phones for the business class, users who want it all and even economic sets are flooded in the market, but I don’t find any cell phones for the gamers’ segment.
Few years ago Nokia saw this opportunity and did a good job by launching its N-Gage phones (N-Gage & N-Gage QD), which were designed specially both for gamers and music lovers. However; I’m really disappointed in these phone manufacturers because phones like N-Gage was a phone cum handheld unlike a Gameboy, Sony PSP or Nintendo DS which are just a portable gaming device. Only if Nokia wanted they could’ve easily make the N-Gage compete PSP and DS, where N-Gage would have the edge of being a mobile phone.
I was really excited as Nokia had announced the launch of a digital download site (Nov 2007) which would allow users to try all N-Gage games for free through a compatible Nokia device before paying and downloading the full titles. We don’t know what went wrong, but they postponed the launch because of a delay in software testing. The global site will be launched before the end of this year though.
The application is backed by some major publishers like EA, Capcom and Vivendi and the first titles to appear on the site will probably be Fifa 08 and Tiger Woods PG Tour. A free N-Gage application will need to be downloaded in order to use the service, though Nokia has promised this will come embedded in all compatible Nokia devices in the future. For now all you gamers out there can keep their fingers crossed; who knows we might see the N-Gage competing PSP in the near future.
A new way to connect
October 25, 2007
As a new category of connected devices are set to usher in a new era of reliable broadband computing, WiMax is set to do to data what mobile did to voice, according to key industry watchers.
WiMax silicon for laptops and mobile devices are all set to become a reality for business users starting 2008, making it possible for the flow of a whole new variety of content delivered on broadband infrastructure.
Industry majors are putting their weight behind the 802.16e standard, popularly referred to as WiMax. In a recent initiative, Intel, Nokia and Nokia Siemens Networks announced a joint effort to test interoperability across Intel’s forthcoming WiMAX silicon for laptops and mobile Internet devices, Nokia WiMAX devices and Nokia Siemens Networks WiMAX infrastructure equipment. This effort is clearly set to ready the device, access and infrastructure world for the wireless broadband onslaught. Interestingly, Nokia’s Nseries Internet Tablets will be among the very first WiMax-enabled open Internet devices to ship in 2008.
“WiMAX enables the mobile Internet and makes it possible to get content on a variety of new mobile devices at broadband speed,” said Raviv Melamed, General Manager of Intel’s Mobile Wireless Group. “Intel, Nokia and Nokia Siemens Networks all recognize our collective responsibility in ensuring that people can take full advantage of WiMAX.
Simply put, the infrastructure behind the networks and the devices that access those networks must work together seamlessly.”
A personal experience
As with all connectivity technologies, the penultimate step is personalisation of information and access. WiMax is expected to give this a paradigm fillip.
“WiMAX will translate into people being able to take their favourite Internet experiences — be it watching videos, streaming music or doing research on the Internet — on the go without compromising on quality,” said Ari Virtanen, Vice President, Nokia Multimedia.
“WiMAX will translate into people being able to take their favourite Internet experiences — be it watching videos, streaming music or doing research on the Internet — on the go without compromising on quality.”
Under the mantra of smaller, faster and more energy-efficient computing, consumers, chip major Intel foresees a shift towards using a combination of technologies to use the Internet for entertainment, business and content-heavy personalisation on-the-go. This was the basis of the company’s message at its recent Intel Developer Forum.
“Mobile users have an insatiable appetite for and want even more mobility, connectivity and a full Internet on their smaller devices. Intel will satisfy those needs by delivering our latest 45nm processors and WiMAX to notebooks, as well as Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs) in 2008, and also using some of these technologies to bring an affordable computing and Internet experience to emerging communities and economies around the world,” said David Perlmutter, Intel senior VP and GM, Mobility Group.
Due out later in 2008, the Montevina processor technology will span the full range of notebook designs from mini-notes to full size and will be Intel’s first Centrino processor technology for notebooks to offer the option of integrated Wi-Fi and WiMAX wireless technologies for greater wireless broadband access.
“Mobile users are demanding to take the full Internet experience anytime, anywhere – in essence these users want the full Internet to be delivered to them wirelessly and in their pocket,” added Anand Chandrasekher, Intel senior vice president and general manager of the Ultra Mobility Group. In the first half of 2008, Intel expects to take a major step to deliver its first platform designed from the ground up for MIDs and UMPCs – codenamed Menlow, which will deliver 10x lower power compared to the first UMPCs in the market.
Access and infrastructure come together
Telecom operators across the region, especially in the emerging markets like the Middle East and Africa, are laying the foundation to support the expected WiMax takeoff.
Players like Saudi Telecom for example are looking at broadband technologies to provider enhanced services for customers in a fast growing market.
“Our new contract confirms WiMAX technology’s growing momentum worldwide and confirms the market readiness of Alcatel-Lucent’s WiMAX solution today,” Olivier Picard, President of Alcatel, Europe and South region Having roped in Huawei Technologies to deploy what it claims to be the WiMAX 16e-based commercial network in the Middle East, Saudi Telecom, the largest service provider in Saudi Arabia will cover major cities including Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam.
Under this agreement, Huawei will design and deploy an end-to-end WiMAX 802.16e network including Base Station, Access Service Network Gateway, Network Management System, as well as an Authorisation, Authentication and Accounting system. The WiMAX 802.16e-based network is expected to deliver high quality network coverage and bandwidth capacity satisfying STC’s needs to accommodate an increasing number of broadband subscribers.
Delivering cost effective services and remote connectivity is another benefit of investing in high-speed broadband infrastructure, especially in emerging markets.
With much of Africa facing major challenges with limited fixed line access, technology major Motorola has been roped in by Warid Telecom Uganda will deliver a high-speed wireless broadband network, allowing Warid Telecom Uganda to quickly and cost-effectively connect the unconnected.
Initial deployment of a 802.16e WiMAX network in Uganda, due for completion by the end of 2007, will enable residential and enterprise voice and data connectivity services such as Voice over IP (VoIP) and virtual private network (VPN).
“In selecting the country’s first 802.16e WiMAX network for our broadband services we remove the limitations that come with deploying fixed infrastructure and have a more cost-effective solution for reaching more subscribers across all market segments, ” said Zul Javaid, CEO and Country GM for Warid Telecom Uganda.
“We believe WiMAX will greatly change the broadband landscape in Africa, not only enhancing access for consumers but also allowing for lower tariffs to bridging the digital divide and provide operators with new revenue opportunities,” added Ali Amer, VP, Motorola Home & Networks Mobility, Middle East and Africa.
“We believe WiMAX will greatly change the broadband landscape, not only enhancing access for consumers but also allowing for lower tariffs to bridging the digital divide and provide operators with new revenue opportunities.” Ali Amer, VP, Motorola Home & Networks Mobility, Middle East and Africa
In addition to delivering equipment and services to Warid Uganda to support its ambitious deployment schedule, Motorola is currently working with Warid International’s subsidiary Wateen Telecom in Pakistan on the deployment and management of a nationwide end-to-end 802.16e WiMAX network.
In more WiMax action, Alcatel-Lucent and Pakistan Mobile Communications Limited (Mobilink), a wholly owned subsidiary of Orascom Telecom Holding, have signed a contract to participate in deploying a live network based on the Universal 802.16e-2005 WiMAX solution. The network will cover major cities in Pakistan, including Karachi, the nation’s financial capital and the major business center.
Based on the IEEE 802.16e-2005 standards (also called Rev-e), the new WiMAX network will be deployed in the 3.5 GHz spectrum enabling rapid implementation of broadband services available in fixed and nomadic environments. It will deliver high-speed internet access, enabling the delivery of advanced broadband multimedia services, such as video streaming, through a variety of end-user devices including laptops, desktop computers, modems and WiMAX terminals.
“The deployment of WiMAX will enable our subsidiaries to complement their GSM offering with broadband services,” said Tamer El Mahdi, CTO of Orascom Telecom Holding.
“The introduction of WiMAX will help us address the needs of our corporate and residential subscribers in Pakistan who want the ability to access wireless broadband services everywhere and at anytime,” added Marwan Hayek, CTO of Mobilink.
Alcatel-Lucent will supply its Universal WiMAX end-to-end solution, including base stations, wireless access controllers, an operation and maintenance center (OMC) as well as customer premise equipment (CPE), and network integration services. The new network leverages equipment already installed in Mobilink’s GSM network, helping to reduce deployment cost.
“This new contract confirms WiMAX technology’s growing momentum worldwide and confirms the market readiness of Alcatel-Lucent’s WiMAX solution today,” said Olivier Picard, President of Alcatel–Lucent’s activities in the Europe and South region.