Pakistan News

Ali Zafar Was Telenor’s Brand Ambassador, wasn’t he? If this was the case then what’s this in following advert? When Mobilink took him on board?

We know that cellular companies used to fight for employees, but this battle of snatching brand ambassador is something we saw for the first time. Our inside sources have communicated us that Ali Murtaza, who is heading Jazz Brand brought Ali Zafar on board with Mobilink. Murtaza was previously with Telenor. So the picture is evident now on how it happened.

Moreover, Brand Ambassadors will start asking for higher prices, with this trend.

On an additional note, I believe, brand ambassadors should not ruin the amount of investment and time a company has spent on them. I wonder, if Telenor gonna play Ali Zafar’s advert or not now onwards.

Jazz has given this full page advert in various news papers today. If Mobilink is planning something big now?

And btw look at the offer, if you haven’t used your Jazz Sim for last 10 days (June 20th), simply switch it on, and recharge. You will get instant Rs. 30 plus 100 percent free balance on your first re-charge.

Here is the TVC (Thanks to Saadia for sharing the link)

Click here to view the embedded video.

• Mobilink Launches MBA Programme for Youth
• Telenor’s ‘Apni Dharti Slogan Competition’
• As Mobilink Plans for its Brands
• 68 Paisa Per 30 Seconds on All Netowrks: Jazz Budget
• Get Free Minutes on Recharge for Mobilink Jazz Numbers

AMRITSAR/ISLAMABAD: Indian death row prisoner Sarabjit Singh, who is languishing in a Pakistani jail for the last 18 years, has got a new lawyer, days after the Supreme Court in Islamabad dismissed his appeal against capital punishment.

Here is this very interesting development happened at Google. With the service, you need to simply type in urdu roman, and in return it will give back your words in urdu fonts.

Here is the link

With Transliteration Engine, you don’t need to worry about typing with an English keyboard, as resultant language will be in urdu fonts. Give it a try, you will love it.

This development will ease the way for Urdu websites, as we are more familiar with roman urdu instead of Urdu keyboards; and those Urdu webmasters will not have to worry about keyboard now. They can simply type roman urdu, and get the Urdu language in return. Simply copy it and paste in your news/post/web pages.

مجھے اردو لکھتے ہووے برا اچھا لگ رہا ہے

Here is the screen shot (You can toggle between languages easily by clicking Ctrl + G)

• Media Play in Pakistan
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• Copy Data from Badly Damaged and Scratched CDs and DVDs
• Get Budget Updates on Mobile Phone with Telenor

Home >> Regional >> Islamabad >> JF-17 Thunder production begins in Pakistan Pakistan has started assembling of the first Pakistani-built JF-17 Thunder multirole combat aircraft today .

Adil Najam

These are two amazing pictures.

Both were taken today (June 30, 2009) but they tell two very different stories. Each story is equally true and each story is equally important. The stories are about the little girls in the pictures. But they are also stories about each one of us.

The first is a picture of hope. It depicts a child clinging to her mother and a bus window while on a bus that is returning to Buner, in district Mardan, as some IDPs start returning to their homes.

The second is a picture of displacement. The picture of another child - only a little older than the first one - at a UNHCR camp (Yar Hussain) in Swabi who is pushing a canister of water for her displaced family.

Our prayers are with both these little girls. May we all see more pictures like the first and less like the second. But it is more than just the return of IDPs to their homes that we must strive for. Not until the future of every child in Pakistan has been made safe and peaceful and secure can the future of any of us be safe and peaceful and secure.

Wi-Tribe today announced the official launch of its wireless broadband service in Pakistan, its largest market to date. The launch phase will include the cities of Karachi, Islamabad, Lahore, and Rawalpindi.

“Today, a new milestone is achieved in the evolution of wi-tribe and the realization of our vision to become one of the top 20 telecom players by 2020,” said Sheikh Abdullah Bin Mohammed Bin Saud Al-Thani, Chairman of The Qtel Group.

“Following our launch in Jordan, Pakistan marks a major stepping stone towards our expansion strategy and our intention to leverage the scale and strengths of The Qtel Group in order to deliver the latest technologies to our customers and continue to enhance services across our operations,” added Sheikh Abdullah.”

Dr. Nasser Marafih, CEO of The Qtel Group and Chairman of wi-tribe, commented: “Consumer broadband is at the heart of the Qtel Group strategy and a major pillar of growth. The launch of wi-tribe in Pakistan is a very important moment for all of us at The Qtel Group as it reflects a major stepping stone towards our commitment to bring broadband wireless access to more people, to connect individuals and businesses more easily and to improve access to the internet in all new and emerging markets.

“Broadband penetration levels in new emerging markets are currently very low compared to markets in the region. However, consumer demand for wireless services is growing at a fast pace. So we will continue to focus on this area in the future as we see good business opportunity and significant growth potential,” added Dr. Nasser.
Shaikh Abdulrahman Ali Al Turki, Chairman and CEO of A.A. Turki GroupA.A.

Turki Group of companies (ATCO), commended on the growth and success achieved by the wi-tribe group stating, “At ATCO we are extremely pleased with wi-tribe’s developments since its establishment in 2007. The addition of Pakistan to our tribe is proof of our firm commitment to bridge the digital divide and bring to emerging markets the best in connectivity and ease of access. It is about time these markets got excellent quality service.”

“wi-tribe uses WiMAX technology to provide customers with the advantage of broadband internet access wirelessly, giving them the option of accessing the internet whenever and wherever they choose within the network area,” commented Sami Hinedi, CEO, wi-tribe Group. “We strongly believe in improving the lifestyle of our customers by understanding their needs and offering them the best personalized customer experience. We want to provide solutions that are simple, easy and valued by individuals, businesses and the Government,” he added.

Wi-tribe is a focused and dedicated consumer wireless broadband provider and will offer instant connectivity with applications tailor-made and simplified to accommodate the needs of every customer. The wi-tribe service will deliver broadband internet access through the ‘plug in and play’ option offering speeds of 256Kbps, 512 Mbps, and 1 Mbps. The process of becoming a wi-triber is extremely simple and beneficial. The wi-tribe service uses an efficient and highly effective plug and play modem which provides online access on the go. Internet users in Pakistan will experience the best in consumer wireless broadband service and wi-tribe’s unique customer care experience.

The wi-tribe group was founded in April 2007 by two shareholders, QtelQtel (Q.S.C.), and A.A. Turki Corporate Trading and Construction (ATCOA.A. Turki Corporate Trading and Construction (ATCO), with strong partnership with Clearwire, one of the world’s leading wireless broadband service providers. Wi-tribe intends to leverage The Qtel GroupQtel Group’s regional operating experience and multinational footprint, ATCO’s network of investors and Clearwire’s broadband wireless experience to extend wireless broadband services to the masses. Wi-tribe is focused on delivering excellent network quality and services in targeted areas, mainly for residential, small office/home office customers, and developing a strong platform for distribution of broadband content.

• wi-tribe Stands Next in WiMAX Operator’s line in Pakistan
• Wi-Tribe WiMAX Soft Launch Soon
• DragonWave Deployed in Pakistan by Wi-Tribe
• Another Wimax Operator Launching Soon – Augere
• Wateen to face WiMAX Competition in Pakistan, Soon

Owais Mughal

This photo reminds me of a Shafiq-ur-Rehman joke. To count animals, a student first counts their legs and then divide the number by 4. One can use the same formula here to find out how many camels are shown.

Place: Clifton Beach, Karachi; June 25, 2009
Photo Credits: Jahangir Khan

Universal Service Fund signed three contracts with PTCL for providing Broadband Services in the Un-Served Urban areas of Southern Punjab and Lower Sindh and for providing Optic Fiber connectivity to all Tehsils in Southern Balochistan.  CEO-PTCL, Walid Irshaid and Chief Executive Officer Universal Service Fund, Parvez Iftikhar signed these contracts.

Universal Service Fund shall be paying Rs. 1.16 Billion for the project to provide broadband in un-served urban areas of Southern Punjab (MTR) and Rs. 550 Million for providing broadband in lower Sindh (STR-1). Similarly Rs. 1.2 Billion will be paid to PTCL for laying 1,166 Km Optic Fiber cables in Southern Balochistan.

Through the two broadband projects, 63,000 broadband connections in Southern Punjab and 23,500 in Lower Sindh are targeted to be achieved. The MTR project also includes establishment of Educational Broadband Centres (EBCs) in 206 high-schools, colleges and libraries plus 58 Community Broadband Centres (CBCs) for those who cannot afford PCs. Similarly 82 EBCs and 43 CBCs will be established in STR-1.

Giving his remarks about the projects, Federal Secretary for Information Technology, Mr. Naguibullah Malik said that the Ministry of IT is striving to increase the level of telecom penetration all over the country. He informed that Ministry of IT, through USF, has been executing broadband, optic fiber and rural telecom programmes which are playing a huge role in socio-economic development in Pakistan. He further stated that Broadband Programme aims towards accelerating the pace of broadband proliferation in the country and will give impetus to provision of other e-services like e-health, e-government, e-commerce etc.

Regarding Optic Fiber Program, Secretary IT informed that in order to strengthen the infrastructure, a series of projects to provide Optic Fiber connectivity to all Tehsils is being run and its initiation in Southern Balochistan after Western Balochistan and Sindh will add on to its importance.

CEO of Universal Service Fund informed that thirty-eight small and medium size cities and towns in 11 districts of Southern Punjab and 77 cities and towns in 09 districts of Lower Sindh will benefit. He further informed that 1,166 kms of Optic Fiber Cable will be laid in Southern Balochistan under the third project for providing Optic Fiber connectivity to nine unserved towns in Bela, Pasni, Turbat and Hub Tehsils. This will also provide an alternate optic fiber route to Gawadar and other coastal towns of Balochistan.

• USF Signs Contract with Wateen For Sindh Optic Fiber Project
• USF Awards Rs. 930 Million Contract to Telenor
• USF Awards Rs. 600 Mln Optic Fiber and basic telecom Projects to Wateen and PTCL
• USF awards Rs. 1.4 Billion Contracts for Broadband in Un-served Urban Areas
• Wateen Strengthens Commitment to Telecom

Mobilink today signed an agreement with Citibank N.A Pakistan (“Citi”), to promote and facilitate the growth of mobile commerce in Pakistan.

Under the agreement, Citi will utilize Mobilink’s extensive retail infrastructure to extend the reach of financial services to the previously un-reached masses starting initially at select pilot locations followed by nation-wide launch in line with State Bank of Pakistan’s guidelines.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Rashid Khan, President and CEO, Mobilink commented, “89 percent of the people in Pakistan continue to remain un-served by traditional banking channels due to various limitations. Our aim is to facilitate their access to financial services, which will in turn enhance their economic participation – a key driver in social development. Our partnership with Citi will enable us to create a robust, secure and convenient mobile commerce environment that will take the mobile banking experience to the next level.”

“We continue to innovate and spearhead transformation of conventional banking,” said Arif Usmani, CCO & Managing Director of Citi, Pakistan. “Our partnership with Mobilink will enable the public to make convenient and secure payments “literally” at the touch of a button. We are committed to the State Bank of Pakistan’s vision of reaching out to the un-banked population and believe that financial services offered via mobile phones will have a positive impact on our economy”.

Using Mobilink’s cutting edge technology, customers will be able to open branchless bank accounts with Citibank through a quick and convenient registration process via authorized retailers across the country. The service will allow customers to maintain their accounts through their mobile phones make secure peer to peer transfers to any Mobilink number and withdraw or deposit cash from any of the supported Mobilink franchises and Customer Care Centers across the country simply via SMS.

Mobilink and Citi envision taking this partnership further by using this platform to empower subscribers to avail and repay loans, purchase goods and services, pay bills, buy airtime and a host of other services using their cell phones. Such services will further Mobilink’s vision of “reshaping lives” of the people of Pakistan by providing unparalleled benefits that were previously available only to a limited section of the society.

As a pioneer heralding the onset of “Mobile Currency” in Pakistan, Mobilink is the only mobile operator to have made headway in the m-commerce arena. Earlier this year, Mobilink launched its Mobile Money Order (MMO) Service in partnership with Pakistan Post. The first and only service of its kind in the country, MMO is already available in 37 cities (73 outlets) across Pakistan. Mobilink is also the first and only mobile operator to have launched a mobile payments solution in Pakistan under the brand name of Mobilink Genie enabling customers to access their bank accounts from their mobile phones and make mobile payments.

• A Leading Pakistani Bank’s Website Got Compromised
• UBL Advertising Cellular GPRS Services
• Telenor to invest in Mobile Banking
• Mobilink to Start Mobile Banking This Month: Naguib
• Mobilink Spots Potential in Mobile Commerce

Tuesday, June 30, 2009 at 10:38 am under Pakistan Breaking news Production of JF-17 Thunder Starts in Pakistan ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has started assembling of the first Pakistani-built JF-17 Thunder multirole combat aircraft today .