Indigo Talk Fiesta
Now paying your Line Rent in advance can get you additional free minutes on your i plan. With your free minutes lasting longer, you can talk even more each month, for no hidden costs or extra charge.
** All Government Taxes will apply
Terms & Conditions:
-Upon opting for indigo Fiesta program, the Customer can not avail any Line Rent Discounts, or any other form of discount for the Period of the indigo Fiesta program.
-The Advance Line rent shall be paid in full for the period opted for. No Discounts would be exercised on the Advance Payment. In case any Discounts exist, they shall be reversed for the Period of the Program.
-The Advance Line Rent Paid is non-refundable under all conditions and a request for the same shall not be entertained in any form or manner.
-Customer can not upgrade from one indigo Fiesta Program to another until the said Period of the chosen indigo Fiesta Program is complete. Customer shall be responsible for keeping a track of the completion of such Period from the date of purchase of their respective Fiesta Program.
-Customer can not upgrade or downgrade their i plan as he or she signed up for initially until the said indigo Fiesta Program Period is over.
The Customer cannot port out their number to any other cellular operator for One (1) year upon signing up for indigo Fiesta Program.
-The Customer is not allowed to change their Bill Date until after the expiry of the indigo Fiesta program Period.
-The amount paid for indigo Fiesta program shall not be used as a cash alternative/ substitute for Bill Payments and/or other facilities etc.
-In case of Sales Return from the Mobilink network, only the Security Deposit will be refundable, subject to pending payment and conditions
-All taxes for indigo Fiesta program will be charged upfront.
-All Existing Conditions Apply.
-Mobilink shall not be liable for any loss, harm, damage, cost, expense etc. (whether direct or indirect) which may be incurred by any person on account of anything contained in these Terms and Conditions for indigo Fiesta Program or any other services provided by Mobilink at any time, including the use of such Products and/ or Services.
-Mobilink reserves the right to amend these terms and conditions in like manner.
KARACHI (July 31 2009): HP announced a new programme to support the increasing number of Sun customers looking to transition to a more cost-effective and stable server and storage platform on Thursday,More than 100 customers have chosen to migrate to HP server and storage platforms over the last six months to significantly improve the return on their investments.-PR
he worldwide mobile phone market recorded another quarter of year-over-year decline in the second quarter of 2009 (2Q09). According to IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, handset vendors shipped a total of 269.6 million units worldwide, down 10.8% from 302.2 million units in 2Q08. The second quarter results are an improvement from the 17.2% decrease seen during 1Q09, but ongoing challenges stemming from the economic crisis remain a factor to watch.
"The challenges from the previous nine months - aggressive channel destocking, foreign exchange volatility, and uncertain demand - continued to plague the mobile phone market in the second quarter, but were not as severe as before," says Ramon Llamas, senior research analyst with IDC's Mobile Devices Technology and Trends team. "Those vendors who were able to adjust quickly were rewarded with greater shipment volumes. Although this tested the handset vendors' abilities to hit a moving target, customers reaped the benefits of lower-costs, even on key high-end devices."
For the full year, IDC believes that the market will decline 13%, with the market outlook for 2009 remaining relatively consistent among the top vendors. The small signs of improvement were centered around consumer demand for high-end handsets and the manufacturers' ability to shift portfolio to meet these needs.
"Among the big handset vendors, Nokia, Samsung, Research In Motion, and Apple, all beat expectations for smartphones within the second quarter," said Ryan Reith, senior research analyst with IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker. "This demand for high-end mobile phones has created a price war among large mobile operators and handset vendors. Apple's price cut on the iPhone 3G reflects a trend we expect to continue in the upcoming quarters, and one that will effectively maintain competitive pricing within mature markets."
Regional Analysis
- Amidst the ongoing economic challenges in North America, the market for converged mobile devices thrived with the arrival of the Palm Pre and the iPhone 3G S towards the end of the quarter. Shipment volumes for other converged mobile device vendors also benefited from increased attention and price adjustments on the segment, pushing the market even higher. At the same time, interest in prepaid devices remained strong for budget-conscious customers. Finally, the market for mid-tier and high-end devices began to show signs of improvement with the arrival of new devices from leading vendors.
- Despite the expected decrease in volume from last year in Latin America, the second quarter of 2009 was stronger than expected, showing solid sequential growth from the doldrums that were seen in 1Q09. Local currencies in the key markets of Brazil and Mexico experienced revaluation from the precipitous drops that occurred in the prior six months, helping to alleviate some of the economic pain being felt by many businesses and consumers. Interest in 3G services and offerings have been expanding in the region, helping carriers to increase, or at a minimum sustain, ARPUs that have been falling over time.
- Results in Western Europe continue to reflect weaker demand from the previous year despite some improvement from the first quarter. The growth of the very low-end segment was not sufficient to reverse the decline in traditional mobile phones. However, the robust growth of converged mobile devices was a sign that the recession may have reached the bottom and some improvements can be expected for second half of the year. In CEMA, the market showed more vitality after two quarters of abrupt decline, with regional shipments approximately 15% higher than in the previous three months. With handset distribution and sale largely out of mobile operator hands, the financial crisis had squeezed inventory out of the channel as bank and trade credit dried up. The recovery of shipments in the second quarter suggests that this process has now been largely completed and that underlying demand remains robust.
- High levels of private savings and aggressive national fiscal policies have helped sustain the demand for consumer products in Asia/Pacific, even as the global economy sputters along. Now, with several Asian economies showing the green shoots of recovery, mobile phone demand has also responded in a healthy fashion, with shipments for the region once again surpassing 100 million units in 2Q09.
Top Five Mobile Phone Vendors
Nokia finished 2Q09 with shipments back above the 100 million unit mark. Launches of key devices, including the E71, N97, and the 5800 converged mobile devices, mitigated further ASP decline and operational efficiency resulted in healthy gross margins overall. Nokia's shipment volumes were roughly equal to those of the next three vendors by the end of the quarter. While still substantial, this is nevertheless down from a year ago when Nokia's shipments were nearly equal to the next four vendors' combined total shipments. While CEO Kallasvuo was pleased with the overall results and the company's traditional advantages, he also highlighted Nokia's ability to shape the evolving wireless landscape, combining mobile devices and the Internet with Nokia's strong operations, ecosystems, customer relationships, and metrics to track success.
Samsung saw its shipment volumes edge back above the 50 million unit mark on the strength of its broad product portfolio and was rewarded with the highest year-over-year gain among leading vendors. Its touch-screen and messaging devices continued to find a warm reception in Europe and North America while feature-capable devices and slim form factors attracted customer attention in emerging markets. Meanwhile, operating margins returned to double digits despite higher marketing expenses. By the end of 1H09, Samsung was nearly halfway to its goal of shipping 200 million units in 2009.
LG Electronics maintained its momentum from 1Q09 to gain market share and improve profitability. Driving its success was a strong portfolio of mid-tier and newly-introduced high-end devices as well as overall operational efficiency. LG also unveiled plans to improve its converged mobile device presence, with the launch of the GM730 this summer and up to five models by the end of this calendar year. Over the next two years, LG hopes to capture 10% of the converged mobile device market.
Motorola posted another quarter of operating losses as well as the largest year-over-year decline among the leading vendors. Not to be overlooked, however, is its significant improvement in reducing those losses 50% from the previous quarter. The company also made progress filling in some of the gaps in its product portfolio with the launch of several messaging devices. These include the Clutch i465, Karma QA1 and the Rival A455. Moreover, plans to release Android-powered converged mobile devices during 2H09 appear to be on track and gained further clarity with the rollout for accelerated application development with its MOTODEV program.
Sony Ericsson's challenges in the mobile phone market continued, earning the company a fifth place finish in 2Q09 while falling further behind Motorola. Ongoing cost reductions, competitive pressures in key regions, and an aging product portfolio resulted in a gross margin of just 12%, but nonetheless an improvement from the 8% in the previous quarter. Sony Ericsson announced plans it hopes will bear fruit later this year, including the launch of its GreenHeart and Communication Entertainment product lines, as well as enhanced content, services, and applications for consumers.
Top Five Mobile Phone Vendors, Shipments, and Market Share, Q2 2009
| Vendor | 2Q09 Shipment | 2Q09 Market | 2Q08 Shipment | 2Q08 Market | 2Q09/2Q08 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nokia | 103.2 | 38.3% | 122.0 | 40.4% | -15.4% |
| Samsung | 52.3 | 19.4% | 45.8 | 15.2% | 14.2% |
| LG | 29.8 | 11.1% | 28.1 | 9.3% | 6.0% |
| Motorola | 14.8 | 5.5% | 27.9 | 9.2% | -47.0% |
| Sony Ericsson | 13.8 | 5.1% | 24.4 | 8.1% | -43.4% |
| Others | 55.7 | 20.7% | 54.0 | 17.9% | 3.1% |
| Total | 269.6 | 100.0% | 302.2 | 100.0% | -10.8% |
"Motorola posts unexpected 2Q profit and says rest of year will see improvement"
Motorola Inc. on Thursday posted an unexpected profit for the second quarter after several quarters of losses, and said it expected things to keep improving this year.
The Schaumburg, Ill.-based electronics company earned $26 million, or 1 cent per share, in the three months ended July 4. That's up from $4 million, or break-even per share, a year ago.
The latest results were boosted 2 cents per share by various one-time effects, but even so, Motorola exceeded its own forecast, which called for a loss of 3 cents to 5 cents per share, excluding the cost of its restructuring initiatives.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had on average been looking for a loss of 4 cents per share.
Motorola's sales fell 32 percent from a year ago to $5.5 billion from $8.1 billion a year ago. Analysts were looking for revenue of $5.6 billion for the latest quarter.
"We will further improve earnings in the second half of the year," co-CEO Sanjay Jha told analysts and investors on a conference call.
For the third quarter, the company now expects results in a range from a loss of 1 cent per share to a profit of 1 cent per share. Analysts had been expecting a 1-cent loss.
Motorola shares rose 48 cents, or 7.3 percent, to $7.05 in premarket trading on news of the third-quarter forecast. The shares had already risen 58 percent this year, as investors have overcome the worst of their pessimism and have started to look for signs of a turnaround.
Motorola's sales have been on a multiyear slide, as its cell phone division has failed to come up with a product that can match the popularity of the Razr, a stupendously popular phone in 2005.
In the second quarter, Motorola shipped 14.8 million handsets, up from 14.7 million in the first quarter, but just over half of what it sold a year ago.
The profit was evidence of Motorola scaling back heavily on its costs. It has laid off 8,000 employees this year.
It is not the first time Motorola has appeared to be on the cusp of a turnaround: in the second quarter last year, it also posted a small surprise profit and reported shipping more phones than the first quarter. Its shared soared, only to lose more than half their value before the end of the year.
Motorola's non-phone divisions, which make police radios, equipment for cable companies, and other electronic gear, continued to make up for losses in the cell phone division, though their sales have also been affected by the recession. They make up two-thirds of the company's sales.
The Deputy Chairman of the Authority Tariq Malik told APP that the He said the purpose of the project is to facilitate the card holder, He said the present CNIC have a 3-D bar which has not much Malik said the project would be initiated on August 14 this year as a pilot project and would be completed by March next. To a question regarding the cost of the new card, he said it would ‘We have sent eight Nadra’s engineers to France for training to He said the new card would help eliminate CNIC fraud threats The Deputy Chairman said that Nadra has a large data base of about He informed that as many as 13.750 million people get free of cost CNICs since the scheme was announced by the government. Malik said that due to Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) the He said presently, the Authority is registering 66 females daily out He said Nadra has established eight National Swift Registration In addition to this, he said separate female counters have also been Malik added that so far 19,7000 IDPs have been registered with NADRA at camps only.
card would initially be issued to overseas Pakistanis and later it
would replace all CNICs.
as the chip would have all the relevant data of the holder, while could
be used for various purposes.
information of the holder rather it requires an on-line connection with
Nadra for the verification of the card holder.
be a cost-effective project as each card would cost Rs80 to the
applicant.
implement the project by the Authority,’ he said adding that the
international cost of each card is around $4-5 but NADRA would provide
at $1 only.
including dual and fake ID cards. He added that presently, people try
to apply for CNIC on fake documents but the Authority blocks their data.
100 million people and so far it has issued 71.5 million CNICs
including 43.2 million male and 28.3 million female CNICs.
Authority observed a tremendous growth in registration of females.
of 100 while in past the female registration ratio was quite low.
Centres (NSRCs) in different districts comprising female Nadra staff to
register maximum females.
set up for in Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps for registering
the female IDPs.
Do you remember that Mobilink used the same dialogue (back in August 2007) “In order to provide better services, we will charge your call center calls”, which was followed by everyone and Warid is Also doing the same thing with customer service calls.
This time its Telenor, that is displaying following message on its website.
"In order to provide better services to our valued subscribers, each balance inquiry via *444# (Rupee Account Balance), *111# (Free SMS Balance) and *222# (Free Minutes Balance) strings will be charged 10 paisa (exclusive of tax), with effect from 1st Aug 09"
Key Highlights
-One Grand Prize of Rs. 1 Million
-20 Prizes of Laptops
-All new Broadband subscribers who place their orders from July 16th to August 14th are eligible for the draw
-All new Student Broadband subscribers who place their orders from July 16th to August 14th are also eligible for the draw
-Applicable on all 1MB, 2MB and 4MB packages
-An open and transparent lucky draw at the end of the period will decide the winners.
Telenor Pakistan faced an operating loss of $14.3 million in the first quarter of 2009, following a loss of $ US 49 million in 2008.
Average revenue per user in Pakistan stood at just Rs. 252 ($ US 3) per subscriber per month in the first quarter, the lowest in all 13 countries in which Telenor operates, but the number of subscribers grew by nearly 20 percent year-on-year.
A fresh air in the quarter 2, 09 where Telenor Pakistan has posted a growth in revenues by 8% and netting 908k subscribers compared to 597k in the previous quarter.
Just two days back a court in Moscow has allowed the sale of shares owned by Telenor in VimpelCom, a number two company by size in Russia, in which Telenor has 29.9 % of shares. The order from the court will result in a total loss of all the assets Telenor posses in Russia.
Earlier this year, the Siberian court ordered Telenor to pay VimpelCom damages after Farimex Products Inc., a small stakeholder in VimpelCom, sued Telenor for blocking the mobile phone network’s expansion into Ukraine few years ago. Telenor had termed the suit a fake and flawed and refused to pay the damages.
Court had authorized the auction of Telenor’s 29.9 percent share last month in a bid to recover $ 1.7 billion as court-awarded damages. If courts orders are implemented Telenor will lose every thing there before it can go for an appeal.In Short Telenor is in big trouble in all his operating countries and going may be they want to sell the setup. In these days china mobile is in contact with Telenor to may be take over the setup.
There is a rumor circulating in the market that Wateen is looking forward to a potential buyer to get the company rolling. Reportedly, they had allocated huge budget for TVC in recent past, but they haven’t come up with anything in the market.
It merits mentioning here that Wateen had used its last card by offering un-metered downloads for some of its packages, which gave them the opportunity to get maximum numbers of customers. But even this promotion was not advertised heavily on TV.
We are told that they are also incorporating tele-sales to boost their subscriber base, however, results of such practices are yet to appear.
PTCL is looking for various options to offer Video conferencing and GNOP, said Mr. Walid Irshad, President and CEO of PTCL during an interview with Sabah uddin Qazi for Huawei’s Win-Win Magazine.
PTCL may go with Huawei to use IPTV platform to create home to home video conference, revealed President PTCL
Indian Home Ministry is apparently set ready to give security clearance to Telenor Group for hiking its stakes in Unitech Wireless up to 74 percent, but that comes with a condition that none of the staff who have worked in Telenor Pakistan will be employed in India.
NEW DELHI: The home ministry is set to give security clearance to Norwegian telecom firm Telenor to hike its shareholding in Unitech Wireless, by
up to 74%, on the condition that none of the staff who have worked in Telenor Pakistan —100% owned by the Telenor group — are employed here.
The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) had last month deferred a decision on allowing Telenor to hike its stake in Unitech Wireless following reservations of security agencies on the Norwegian firm’s strong presence in Pakistan and Bangladesh. Both nations serve as a launchpad for various terror attacks here.
While the worries over Telenor’s operations in Bangladesh, where it holds 62% of Grameenphone, are not so pronounced, both IB and RAW were highly suspicious about the security implications of Telenor’s presence in Pakistan through a 100%-owned subsidiary of the Norwegian parent company.
It was in the light of the security agencies’ fears that allowing the same firm to operate here could be detrimental to national interest that FIPB had put off a decision on the Unitech Wireless’ FDI proposal at its early June meeting.
MHA has since examined the security agencies’ views on the matter in detail, while keeping in mind reputation and stature of Telenor, which has presence in 14 countries across Europe and Asia and has also revolutionised rural telephony in countries like Bangladesh through Grameenphone.
With the government determined that a wrong message should not go out to FDI investors, the home ministry has come around to the view that Telenor should not be held back from picking up to 74% stake in Unitech Wireless simply because it has a successful presence in Pakistan.
At the same time, home ministry officials were categorical that the security concerns of the agencies needed to addressed while granting the go-ahead. It is against this background that MHA came up with a reasonable solution that no employees who at anytime were part of its Pakistan operations are moved to the Indian subsidiary.
This means, staff currently working in countries other than Pakistan but have served there at some point of time will come under the ‘ban’. Though a manager working here can always be sent to Pakistan, he or she would not be allowed to return to the Indian arm of Telenor.
Keeping human assets of the Indian and Pakistani arms of Telenor separate is expected to take care of risks such as spying and subversion.
MHA will be submitting to FIPB its views favouring a conditional security nod for Unitech Wireless’ FDI proposal ahead of the next meeting of the Board. This would pave the way for a final FIPB clearance, allowing Telenor to hike is stake in Unique Wireless to up to 74%.
Telenor has 49% stake in Unitech and now requires FIPB nod to complete its deal for 67% stake. This would give Telenor management control and 4 of the 7 seats on the board of directors. Telenor-Wireless combine is expected to start services later this year. Unitech has a pan-India licence and has secured spectrum in 21 of the 22 telecom circles.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009 By Jawwad Rizvi LAHORE: A leading telecommunication company, which launched DSL (digital subscriber line)
The failure is the result of the Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd’s outdated network and lack of modern technology, it is learnt.
When contacted, a PTCL spokesman said there were exchange upgrading issues, causing problems for the people.
PTCL’s Executive Vice President Jamil Khwaja said for providing the best telecom services to the customers, the PTCL was expanding and upgrading its network in Lahore.
In that regard, the company had upgraded the cable network and provided ONU facility to Canal Bank Housing Scheme, Rizwan Gardens and surrounding areas for the satisfaction of customers, enabling them to utilise and enjoy telecom services smoothly.
“Now the customers of these areas can obtain broadband facility conveniently. The PTCL will upgrade its network step by step all over Lahore,” he said.
Khwaja said PTCL’s broadband was the fastest Internet service in the country and ADSL2-Plus technology had been provided on current land lines.
Kashif Iqbal, a resident of Samanabad, applied for IPTV service from the company. However, the PTCL does not provide IPTV connection only and it is necessary for the consumers to take both DSL and IPTV services.
On Kashif’s application, the company men installed DSL modem at his residence, but they refused to give IPTV connection, saying the network cable reaching his house was connected with the fibre optic cable, which does not support IPTV connection. A company official told him IPTV service could be provided only through copper cable.
Kashif told The News he had actually applied for IPTV connection due to problems faced by the private TV cable network in the area.
“The TV cable service in my locality was not good and remained suspended usually,” he said, adding he learnt from someone the PTCL was providing good IPTV service at cheap rates.
“I applied for it but the company installed DSL modem only which was not of use to me,” Kashif said, adding after refusal from the company he submitted an application for removal of DSL modem.
In another incident, a resident of Cantonment area, Shoaib Ali, applied for DSL student package on July 6. However, DSL service manager and DE of the telephone exchange at Cant refused to provide the service, saying the telephone exchange could not be upgraded.
The exchange was built in 2001 and was based on ONU-I technology which was not fit for DSL technology. Shoaib said they also told him that some 22 PTCL exchanges under their control were outdated which could not support DSL. Shoaib said the company official instead asked him to purchase PTCL-V phone and change his telephone number.
ISLAMABAD: Universal Service Fund (USF) signed contracts for providing basic telecom services in Nasirabad with
CM Pak and Broadband Services in Multan Telecom Region with World Call. CEO CM Pak, Qian Li and CEO World Call, Babar Ali Syed signed these contracts with CEO Universal Service Fund, Parvez Iftikhar. Secretary IT, Naguibullah Malik witnessed the signing ceremony as the chief guest. staff report
Microsoft and Yahoo! today unveiled a 10-year deal to create an online search and advertising partnership in an effort to challenge Google, the world’s biggest internet search engine. Under the agreement, Yahoo! use Microsoft’s new Bing search engine on its own sites, while Yahoo! will act as the exclusive global sales force for the companies’ premium search advertisers. Yahoo! will get to keep 88 per cent of the revenue from all search ad sales on its site for the first five years of the deal, and have the right to sell ads on some Microsoft sites. Yahoo! estimated the deal will boost its annual operating profit by $500 million and save it about $275 million on spending since it will not have to invest in its own search technology. The deal has been announced more than a year after Yahoo! rejected a $47.5 million (£29 million) takeover bid from Microsoft and Yahoo!’s attempt to strike a search advertising deal with Google fell apart under regulatory scrutiny. Microsoft is counting on Yahoo!’s search engine, which ranks as the second largest in the world with a global market share of 8 per cent, to pose a more formidable challenge to Google, which holds 67 per cent of the global audience, according to the most recent data from the research company comScore. In the US, Google’s share is 65 per cent, compared with 20 per cent for Yahoo!. Despite spending billions to upgrade its search engine, Microsoft still held just a 3 per cent share worldwide and 8 per cent in the US in the comScore rankings. There is a chance a deal combining the powers of the second and third-ranked search engine companies would be blocked by antitrust regulators. Shareholders of both Microsoft and Yahoo! have been urging the two to strike a deal for some time. 
Mobinil, Telecom Egypt and Vodafone Egypt have submitted their respective bids to acquire Link Egypt, Broadband unit of Orascom Telecom. According to OT’ CEO, Khaled Bichara, two other unnamed firms have submitted bids before the deadline, which may include Etisalat, as perceived by analysts.
Orascom had announced in February 2009 to sell out 100 percent stakes of Link Egypt, in order to focus on primary Telecom business.
Earlier reports had clued that Link Dot Net Pakistan will be part of this sale out; however, strategic merger of Link Dot Net and Infinity contradicted the phenomenon.
Bichara said five firms had already completed due diligence on Link Egypt, and that OT and consultant EFG-Hermes would begin examining the bids.
Via Wireless Federation
If you ever wondered about the forward text messages you receive daily, who actually develops/generate them?
If you think these forward messages are created by someone like you, but in a distant part of country, then there are very little chances. Reason I am saying this is the amount of text messages that keep on appearing on regular basis. I believe this job is not possible by individuals and that too just for fun.
If cellular companies generate such forward messages? Here are good chances, and reasons are,
- Cellular companies benefited the most if forward messages are circulated around the region.
- It can be only cellular companies, which can spend huge money on generation of SMS content
Mind you, cellular companies may hire VAS companies, which are there in market for such tasks. These VAS content provider companies charge cellular companies for this.
SMS websites can be another possible source of forward text messages. But in actual, these websites are either associated with VAS content provider companies, or they lift content from other websites and/or messages their receive on their phones.
United Bank Limited (UBL) has successfully completed the implementation of Oracle Applications, which includes Oracle E-Business Suite Human Resource Management System, Oracle Payroll and Oracle General Ledger, in a record time of 9 months.
Oracle Certified Advantage Partner IBM Global Business Services completed the implementation that provides automated HR management , payroll and financial processing capabilities. All of this will enable UBL to increase business efficiency and operating performance through an enhancement and streamlining of their business processes. For example, The deployment of Oracle Applications has helped the bank save over 10,000 man-hours by reducing paper work and the level of human intervention that is otherwise required to create and post accounting entries.
In addition, via the implementation of the Oracle Fixed Asset Management system, the bank can easily view consolidated information of its total assets and maintain centralized records from disparate systems operating across 66 regions. The solution is being utilized by 1040 branches and maintains approximately 250,000 asset records.
“Oracle Applications have helped us improve the efficiency of our existing processes, and enabled us to improve our service levels to the business in order for them to meet their organizational objectives,.” said Mr. Kumail Dehradunwala, Chief Information Office, United Bank Limited.
“We are happy to have had the opportunity to support United Bank Limited’s objective to save costs,” said Samina Rizwan, Oracle’s Regional Director for South Asia Growth Economies-West. “Oracle has been successfully serving financial institutions for over three decades and we are glad that our solutions are helping local banks build their businesses in Pakistan by enhancing business efficiencies while reducing costs.”
“GBS is the leading implementation consultant for Enterprise Applications in the financial sector. The success at UBL is attributed to IBM’s delivery excellence, dedication to our clients success and developing synergies between our consultants and the UBL team,“ Armughan Rafiq, IBM GBS Manager South.
ProfiMail is a powerful e-mail client for mobile devices, supporting multiple mail accounts, HTML and attachments.
Through your mobile Internet connection.Simple. What you get: Main
ProfiMail screen, displaying multiple accounts, and two system
mailboxes.Next to each mailbox are icons summarizing its contents. Mail
reader with HTML text support, comfortable attachment browser, and easy
navigation. Built-in image viewer, for comfortable viewing images,
scaled or in original size. File Explorer for browsing files, managing
attachments, viewing and sending files.
Features:
* Automatic synchronization of messages with mail server
* IMAP folders
* Attachments – view, save, send
* HTML messages with images and hyperlinks
* Built-in File Explorer
* Writing using T9
* Address book
* Signatures
* Support for POP3 / IMAP / SMTP mail servers
* Multiple email accounts
* Rules and filters allowing selective message download
* Opens and browses ZIP archives
* Support for various character encoding – Western, Cyrillic, Central European, and more
* Build-in image viewer – JPG, PNG and other popular formats
* Text viewer for standard text, HTML and Word documents
* Optimized for GPRS – get headers first, then download message bodies which you really want to see.
* Main ProfiMail screen, displaying multiple accounts, and two system mailboxes. Next to each mailbox are icons summarizing its contents.
* Mail reader with HTML text support, comfortable attachment browser, and easy navigation.
* Built-in image viewer, for comfortable viewing images, scaled or in original size.
* File Explorer for browsing files, managing attachments, viewing and sending files.
* May be used as stand-alone application and is available absolutely for FREE
Download Link: ProfiMail 3.14
2.36 Billion Rupees of Universal Service Fund for Rural Telecom and Broadband Projects in Unserved Areas of Pakistan
Universal Service Fund signed contracts for providing basic telecom services in Nasirabad (Balochistan) with CM Pak and Broadband Services in Multan Telecom Region (Southern Punjab) with World Call. CEO CM Pak, Mr. Qian Li and CEO World Call, Babar Ali Syed signed these contracts with CEO Universal Service Fund, Parvez Iftikhar. Secretary IT, Mr. Naguibullah Malik witnessed the signing ceremony as the chief guest. In the Rural Telecom project, CMPak will be paid Rs. 1.57 Billion to provide telephony services to 648 unserved Mauzas to serve a population of around half a million in districts of Bolan, Jaffarabad, Jhal Magsi and Nasirabad of Balochistan. Whereas in the Broadband project, WorldCall will be paid Rs. 785 Million to provide broadband connections in 11 districts (38 small towns) of Southern Punjab, in addition to establishing 27 Educational Broadband Centres in high-schools, colleges and libraries plus 121 Community Broadband Centres. It is noteworthy that this is in addition to broadband services in MTR that PTCL will provide under a contract with Universal Service Fund signed last month. Giving his remarks on the occasion, Federal Secretary for Information Technology, Mr. Naguibullah Malik said that the Ministry of IT is striving to reinvigorate and stimulate the ICT sector by increasing level of telecom penetration in unserved areas of the country. He informed that Ministry of IT, through Universal Service Fund, has been successfully executing rural-telecom, broadband and optic-fiber programmes that are playing a huge role in socio-economic development in rural and semi-urban Pakistan. He further stated that Broadband Programme will give impetus to provision of other e-services like e-education, e-health, e-government, e-commerce etc. CEO of Universal Service Fund informed that after signing the two contracts, the total amount of subsidies through Universal Service Fund have crossed Rs. 10 Billion, which has generated total investments of Rs. 16 Billion in unserved areas of the country. Seven major Telecom Service Providers are rolling out these services under contracts with Universal Service Fund. The number of villages where services have already started with the help of Universal Service Fund has exceeded one thousand. Work is in progress for another five thousand villages, including 648 under today’s contract with CMPak. Another five thousand remaining unserved villages shall be covered by Universal Service Fund through future auctions. Mr. Mushtaq Ahmed Bhatti, Member-Telecom, Ministry of IT, and Dr. Muhammad Yaseen, Chairman-PTA, were also present at the occasion.
KARACHI: HP on Friday announced a new brand of affordable notebook PCs that merge business functionality with sophisticated design to stand out from the crowd. The HP ProBook series joins the award-winning HP EliteBook series to form one of the most versatile business notebook portfolios in the industry.Inspired by minimalism, the design of the new HP ProBook series combines matte and glossy surfaces, while stripping out the extraneous, leaving only a stylish and clean look. Distinguished by a choice of merlot or glossy noir finishes, a unique keyboard design and a set of professional innovations previously found only on higher-priced models, the HP ProBook series delivers HP's best combination of business features, functionality and value.
"The stunning HP ProBook s-series delivers exceptional style and aggressive pricing that will captivate small and medium business users," said Philip Lau, General Manager, Asia Emerging Countries, Personal Systems Group, HP. "But it's not just about good looks or low cost, the HP ProBooks deliver the right blend of features and professional innovations to provide a great user experience."-PR
Samsung Electronics Co Ltd has initiated "Meet the Star" campaign in Pakistan. The nation-wide s15-day activity, also running in Middle East and other parts of Asia,
aims at bringing Samsung Star Touch Phone, a full touch-screen mobile phone, to consumers and educating them along with providing a feel of the gadget.During the activity, consumers will also get a chance to the gadget Samsung Star phone through a lucky draw. The Samsung team is also visiting shopping centers and restaurants to give prizes through lucky draw. Samsung Mobiles Pakistan and Afghanistan Head Zeeshan Qureshi said that Samsung has always placed high priority at consumer interaction, bringing technological advancements to every Pakistani's doorsteps."-PR
Information for Persons with Disabilities in Pakistan is very limited. The CR department at Telenor Pakistan, along with its partners STEP, LABARD, NOWPDP, Ministry of Social Welfare & Special Education, has tried to include information in a must download guide about services from all across Pakistan that can be very useful to PWDs.
It is based on lengthy discussions with disability experts and focus group discussions with persons with disabilities at Telenor Pakistan’s own premises. And although this guide is not a complete resource, it is a sincere attempt and can be very useful for PWDs and their families, who want awareness about their rights and to provide a compilation of basic facilities and concessions offered by the Government of Pakistan and disabled persons organizations.
Universal Service Fund signed contracts for providing basic telecom services in Nasirabad (Balochistan) with CM Pak and Broadband Services in Multan Telecom Region (Southern Punjab) with World Call. CEO CM Pak, Mr. Qian Li and CEO World Call, Babar Ali Syed signed these contracts with CEO Universal Service Fund, Parvez Iftikhar. Secretary IT, Mr. Naguibullah Malik witnessed the signing ceremony as the chief guest.
In the Rural Telecom project, CMPak will be paid Rs. 1.57 Billion to provide telephony services to 648 unserved Mauzas to serve a population of around half a million in districts of Bolan, Jaffarabad, Jhal Magsi and Nasirabad of Balochistan.
Whereas in the Broadband project, WorldCall will be paid Rs. 785 Million to provide broadband connections in 11 districts (38 small towns) of Southern Punjab, in addition to establishing 27 Educational Broadband Centres in high-schools, colleges and libraries plus 121 Community Broadband Centres. It is noteworthy that this is in addition to broadband services in MTR that PTCL will provide under a contract with Universal Service Fund signed last month.
Giving his remarks on the occasion, Federal Secretary for Information Technology, Mr. Naguibullah Malik said that the Ministry of IT is striving to reinvigorate and stimulate the ICT sector by increasing level of telecom penetration in unserved areas of the country. He informed that Ministry of IT, through Universal Service Fund, has been successfully executing rural-telecom, broadband and optic-fiber programmes that are playing a huge role in socio-economic development in rural and semi-urban Pakistan. He further stated that Broadband Programme will give impetus to provision of other e-services like e-education, e-health, e-government, e-commerce etc.
CEO of Universal Service Fund informed that after signing the two contracts, the total amount of subsidies through Universal Service Fund have crossed Rs. 10 Billion, which has generated total investments of Rs. 16 Billion in unserved areas of the country. Seven major Telecom Service Providers are rolling out these services under contracts with Universal Service Fund. The number of villages where services have already started with the help of Universal Service Fund has exceeded one thousand. Work is in progress for another five thousand villages, including 648 under today’s contract with CMPak. Another five thousand remaining unserved villages shall be covered by Universal Service Fund through future auctions.
Mr. Mushtaq Ahmed Bhatti, Member-Telecom, Ministry of IT, and Dr. Muhammad Yaseen, Chairman-PTA, were also present at the occasion.
Pakistan Telecommunication Authority is trying its best to equip the nation with the modern technologies and state of the art communication system. Here is the official press release issued by the PTA to to provide Free SMS Based alerts to 60 educational institutesISLAMABAD—Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) would provide Free web-based SMS Alert System to around 60 educational institutes across country.
This SMS alert system will be used by schools to communicate with their students/staff. The PTA selected total of 60 institutes, including 21 colleges, 10 cadet colleges, 4 universities, one medical college and 5 special colleges for deployment of this SMS alert system.
As per details, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has started a project named “SMS-based Information System” for educational institutions, to equip them with an interactive mobile application for broadcasting important information to students and their guardians on their mobile phones.
It is a system of sending SMS by using computer software developed by PTA. It has been noted that usually management of educational institutions relies on mail-correspondence with guardians, which is costly and time consuming. PTA would provide this software free of cost to educational institutions across the country.
A formal launching ceremony of the system was held today at PTA Headquarters. On the occasion, Naguibullah Malik, Secretary (IT), handed over the software application along with its operating manual to Abdur Rauf Chaudhry, Secretary (Education).
The application was presented to Ministry of Education for onward provision to the among public-sector educational institutions. Both the secretaries also exchanged PTA souvenir with each other.
This software would help recipient to be aware of events like lecture venue, coursework deadlines, result announcements, attendance details and upcoming school functions or meetings. Since majority of students and parents nowadays own mobile phones and most of them are familiar with sending and receiving SMS text messages, this solution for information dissemination introduced by PTA in educational institutions of Pakistan through SMS would prove to be an important information and communication source.
It may be mentioned that PTA was engaged in proliferation of mobile-based applications to facilitate information-based society culture in Pakistan. Today the mobile usage in Pakistan is growing exponentially, both in terms of number of users and the amount of activity.
The package details are given above. If you wish to convert your package there are some simple steps you need to follow. Some facts 
Vfone Pakistan has revised its prepaid packages. Now there are only three packages to choose from compared to the five earlier. The new packages are named as Vfone Simple, Vfone Family and Vfone unlimited. The old packages ‘Bachat’, ‘Kafayat’ & ‘Sahulat’ packages are being merged into a single package; “Vfone Family” with a new daily line rent of Rs.5/day. The Vfone Simple package does not charge any daily line rent.
How to Convert Vfone Packages
Your default package is simple but the existing bachat, kafayat packages will be mereged with new Vfone family packages
The packages mentioned above are not for PCOs as they have different packages.
Medical researchers have unveiled a new gadget that could be used by The device, which attaches to a mobile The CellScope project focuses on the development of a modular, Researchers at the University of California Berkeley
doctors in the developing world to diagnose diseases such as
tuberculosis and malaria.
phone, allows physicians to create a portable microscope that can be
used to examine blood samples in the field and help spot some of the
world’s deadliest diseases.
high-magnification microscope attachment for cell phones. Due to its
portability, affordability and functionality, the CellScope will enable
health workers in remote areas to take high-resolution images of a
patient’s blood cells using the mobile phone’s camera, and then
transmit the photos to experts at medical centers. This device can
reduce both the cost and time of performing critical disease diagnoses,
as well as provide early warning of outbreaks in poverty-stricken
regions in the world. 
say they hope the gadget would be deployed in areas where the cost of
equipment and training currently prevents access to basic diagnostic
tests.
The consumers can make a free-of-cost call to PTA at 080055055 if their complaint is not resolved within given timeframe by the concerned telecom operator,” he said and added the PTA would take up the matter with the concerned authorities and would get it resolved amicably. He said Pakistan’s telecom sector has seen phenomenal growth patterns during the past decade. This phenomenal progress has brought huge benefits to the people of Pakistan in terms of network expansion, scope of services, reduction in tariffs and availability of an array of telecom operators with regard to choice of their service provider. Telecom sector maintains handsome inflow of money to the government exchequer. The vision of telecom growth coupled with consumer protection as envisaged in the `Pakistan Telecom Act, 1996′ has been realized through a teledensity of 61.8 percent and number of an expanding cellular mobile subscriber base that today stands at 94.34 million,” he added. In the last one year, he said, PTA have come a long way towards achieving a number of measures that have strengthened the industry and benefitted the consumers at large. “Our mechanism of checks and balances will only add to healthy competition and will promote good business in the sector. At the same time, as a guarantor of telecom consumer protection, Authority believes that the issues pertaining to consumer interest and grievances shall be tackled in a broader but more focused manner,” he added. He said the same has been the vision behind the revamping of Consumer Complaint Handling and Redressal Mechanisms at the operators as well as Regulators’ end.—APP
Islamabad—Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) Friday launched Redressal of Consumer Grievances Mechanism which would ensure proper resolution to the problems being faced by the telecom sector consumers. Addressing a press conference here at PTA headquarters, Chairman PTA Dr. Mohammed Yaseen unveiled the details of the package, saying that the consumers would have a complaint with the respective telecom operator and if the issue is not resolved, the consumer should file the complaint with the PTA Consumer Protection Directorate.
According to some statistics, the combined customer base of China Mobile (NYSE: CHL)’s and Telenor’s Pakistani operations is around 26 million, representing a 28% of the market. For the record, China Mobile entered the Pakistani market in 2007, when it paid $460 million to buy Paktel from Millicom International. Previously, they had tried to acquire Warid Telecom, another smaller operator in the country, but failed to reach an agreement on the price. China Mobile’s Pakistan subsidiary is called Zong and with just under 6 million customers, it is the smallest of the 5 main operators in the country.
China Mobile is reportedly in talks with Norway’s Telenor concerning an acquisition of their Pakistani mobile network. Both companies are denying such development, yet sources told the local Dawn newspaper that negotiations were being held secretly at the group level.
ISLAMABAD (July 27 2009): Chairman Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) Dr Mohammed Yaseen Sunday claimed that Pakistani cellular phone companies were providing cheapest call rates across the globe. "In a recent conference in India, the Indians claimed that 
they were providing cheapest calls world over.
However, I confronted and made calculations to prove that Pakistan was the country providing the most inexpensive phone facility to its consumers," said Chairman PTA Dr Mohammed Yaseen in an exclusive interview with APP. When his comments were sought over the spill over of Pakistani cellular phone signals to the neighbouring countries, Chairman said PTA had conducted comprehensive surveys to ensure that there was no spill over from either side.
"The cell phone towers are installed in the bordering areas under a prescribes Standard Operating Procedures (SOP). We are ensuring that the SOP is strictly followed. Moreover, we have held negotiations with the neighbouring countries including Afghanistan and India to address the issue," he added.
Answering a question about the government's ordinance on objectionable SMS, the chairman PTA said the government had issued the ordinance to establish a mechanism to check on those elements involved in the obnoxious SMS.
When asked about those involved in fraudulent activities and fleecing the poor consumers through SMS for cash draws, the PTA chairman said the Federal Investigation Authority (FIA) would move against such elements under Spam Regulations. He said the PTA had installed a Redressal of Consumer Grievances Mechanism, which would ensure proper resolution to the problems being faced by the telecom sector consumers.
Dr Yaseen informed that the consumers would have a complaint with the respective telecom operator and if the issue was not resolved, the consumer should file the complaint with the PTA Consumer Protection Directorate (CPD).
"The consumers can make a free-of-cost call to PTA at 080055055 if their complaint is not resolved within given timeframe by the concerned telecom operator," he said and added the PTA would take up the matter with the concerned authorities and would get it resolved amicably. "We are providing level-playing field to all the operators and if any operator violates the laws, we would move for an action," he assured.
He claimed that PTA was efficiently redressing the complaints of the consumers and the redressal rate stood at 96 per cent during the month of April. When asked about the PTA-FBR row over the dues reportedly liable to the PTA, Dr Yaseen said there was no controversy and PTA was paying its instalments on a regular basis. "We have paid Rs 4 billion to the Federal Bureau of Revenue (FBR)," he added.
Asked about the poor performance of the Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL), Dr Yaseen said he had held a meeting with the PTCL management and they had assured of resolving all issues of the consumers by July-end. He said the PTA would launch a survey to check the quality of services being offered by PTCL in the first or second week of August. "Yes, a quality survey would be conducted in the first or second week of August, and if PTCL is found to be violating the laws inscribed in License, an action would be taken," he remarked. He said the PTA was also urging PTCL to allow other connections on PTCL's Fibre to Home service.
According to Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), the country’s mobile operators added 6.322 million subscribers on their network in 2008-09.
As per latest statistics released by the telecom regulator, the total mobile subscriber base across the nation reached 94.342 million on the network of five operators. Accordingly, the subscribers’ base widened by 7.1% with teledensity touching 58.20.Telenor ruled the market as it added the maximum subscribers of 2.767 million taking the total base to 20.893 million base, PTA data said. Zong has remained dominant in the market by capturing 2.435 million subscribers in the overall addition of subscribers. Its network has increased to 6.386 million by the end of 2008-09 followed by Warid, which attracted 2.39 million subscribers in the same period with the overall base stood at 17.886 million.The PTA data says by June 2009, Mobilink was leading the market share with 29.136 million subscribers. Ufone’s base stood at 20 million in the same fiscal year.The report unveils that the Pakistani mobile market has reached a saturation point so the operators have shifted their focus on to VAS to earn greater revenues.
KARACHI (July 26 2009): The ninth ITCN Asia 2009 will be held here at Karachi Expo Centre from August 11 to 13. This was announced by the Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) on Saturday. The event would be organised by the PSEB, Ministry of Information Technology in collaboration with the Ecommerce Gateway Pakistan. This has been described as one of the Asia's biggest international information technology and telecom shows.
It was further pointed out that ITCN Asia was designed to be a one-stop meeting place for trade matching of the global and regional IT players with decision-makers from the business and government sectors. With leading and influential IT experts flying in from around the world, the exhibition will include high-profile international conferences on IT, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), multimedia and broadcasting, and an e-marketing workshop.
Offer: Get 200 free minutes and 200 free SMS.
Qualifying Customers:
Customers who have not done any activity since 1 June 2009 will be able to avail this campaign
To check if you are part of the campaign: Call IVR 2222 or send an SMS containing “FREE” to 2222
Call IVR 2222. (charges are Rs. 1 + tax per min) or Send an SMS containing “FREE” to short code 2222 to avail the 200 free minutes and 200 free SMSs. (charges are Rs. 1 + tax) the 200 free minutes and 200 free SMSs will be posted to the subscriber’s account with in the next 48 hrs
Validity of Free Minutes & Free SMSs: 10 days After the free minutes and free SMS have been posted.
If the qualifying customers have lost/damaged their SIM they can get a replacement SIM free of cost (Only once) from any Telenor Sales and Service Centre or Franchise during the duration of this campaign
This Offer is being launched for all prepaid packages
This is a limited time Offer
All prepaid customers who have not done any activity since 1 June 2009
-Talkshawk per min
-Talkshawk 30 sec
-Talkshawk per sec
-Talkshawk A1
-djuice
-djuice jagtay raho
Free minutes & Free SMS can only be used for TP to TP calls and SMSs (On Telenor numbers).
ISLAMABAD (July 25 2009): Pakistan Telecom Authority (PTA) Chairman Dr Muhammad Yaseen said on Friday that the PTA had been making efforts to further improve the consumer protection. He said those consumers' satisfaction and protection was first priority of the PTA. Addressing a press conference, the PTA Chairman said Pakistan's telecom sector had seen phenomenal growth during the past decade.He was of the view that phenomenal progress had brought a lot of benefits to public in terms of network expansion, scope of services, reduction in tariffs and availability of an array of telecom operators with regards to choice of their service-provider. He said the PTA had directed the operators to develop a comprehensive complaint handling and redressal of consumer grievance mechanism in line with the Consumer Protection Regulations 2009.
Dr Yaseen said that a lot of consultation had been done with the industry and general consumer, aimed at keeping everyone on board in bringing up the said regulations and initiatives. "Our next step is the implementation phase for which the PTA along with operators have revamped their complaint handling systems, made them more consumer-oriented, organised and expanded through which consumers can lodge their complaints," he added.
He said the PTA had taken certain steps towards consumer complaint handling and redressal mechanism, which included establishment of Consumer Protection Directorate at PTA headquarters in Islamabad, introduction of Consumer Protection Regulation 2009 and feedback mechanism with telecom industries and public.
He said that the PTA was now at implementation phase and had revamped its complaint handling system and provided a range of modes, including helplines, e-mail system, web mails and fax number, providing the consumers further easement to lodge their complaints.
The PTA Chairman reiterated that the PTA would continue to facilitate its consumers in future. Being a regulator, he said the PTA encouraged holding dialogues with all the stakeholders and inputs from the media, which would help the body in promoting harmonious and co-ordinated efforts for the provision of telecom services in the country.
He said the telecom sector maintained handsome inflow of money to the government exchequer. The vision of telecom growth, coupled with consumer protection as envisaged in the Pakistan Telecom Act, 1996 had been realised through a tele-density of 61.8 percent and the number of an expanding cellular mobile subscriber base that today stood at 93.34 million.
In the last one-year, the PTA had come a long way towards achieving a number of measures that had strengthened the industry and benefited the consumers at large, he added. Today, he said the consumers had the option to choose from a number of service providers, yet it was imperative that operators maintained the standards of service. "Our mechanism of checks and balances will only add to healthy competition and will promote good business in the sector," he added.
The PTA had taken a number of measures for the benefits of consumers, including the establishment of a dedicated Consumer Protection Directorate (CPD) at its headquarters in Islamabad. Moreover, consumers could also access the PTA's zonal offices across the provincial capitals for redressal of their complaints, he said.
He said that consumers could also lodge their grievances with the said setups, the contact details of which had been made available to general public and the redressal was achieved by taking up the said matters with the concerned operator to the satisfaction of the complainants. More than 80,000 individual consumer complaints had been received and redressed by the authority since the complaint cell started working.
The Consumer Protection Regulations, 2009, formulated by the PTA, had multiple features, including, service provisioning as per consumer choice, request and without discrimination, no activation or deactivation of services/packages without user consent, fair commercial practices, Consumer Complaint Handling and Redressal Mechanism Categorisation of complaints and many others.
In bringing up the said regulations, a lot of consultation was done with the industry and general consumer with an aim to keep everyone on board. Answering a question, the PTA Chairman said the towers were installed along borders with India and Afghanistan without signal spell over boundaries. Similarly, the regulators of other countries were also installed their telecom towers without spelling over signals to Pakistani areas.
KARACHI (July 25 2009): Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, a mobile phone manufacturer had announced the launching of the S9110, a cutting-edge watchphone featuring a full touch screen. The watchphone-basically a wrist-watch comprised of all the features of a cellular phone and Samsung had once again proved its prowess in the market.-PR
This measurement of this awesome gadget is a mere 11.98 millimeters (0.48 inches) in thickness. The new watch phone is able to retain its ultra-slim look due to the fact that, its circuit board is composed of 42 individual components, that are re-sized to reduce the thickness of the watch phone.
The all new slimmest watch phone from Samsung will be available in the first week of July and will be launched in France at first, with a price tag of 459 euros that amounts to $639. Samsung is planning to further launch this product in other European nations.
Samsung’s slimmest watch phone sports a 1.76-inch touch screen, that empowers the users to use important features such as, e-mails, listen to MP3s and make and receive phone calls. This tiny device also comes with a built in bluetooth function and voice recognition commands.
One of Samsung’s fiercest rivals, LG Electronics has developed its very own slim phone, that will hit the commercial markets in August 2009.
OSLO: Norwegian telecommunications group Telenor on Thursday reported a 61 per cent slump in second-quarter profit, due to sliding revenues and losses in its stake in Russian mobile operator VimpelCom.Net profit tumbled to 1.38 billion kroner ($220 million) during the quarter, a sharp decline from 3.54 billion kroner in the same period last year.
Second-quarter revenues held steady, slipping slightly to 26.9 billion kroner this year from 27.1 billion kroner in 2008. The group’s shares were down 0.2 per cent at 53.29 kroner ($8.51) in afternoon trading in Oslo.
A strong quarter for Telenor’s Bangladeshi, Norwegian and Pakistani operations contributed to the sustained revenue stream. However, the Nordic group sustained heavy losses in the Ukranian market, due both to that country’s ongoing recession and drops in the value of Ukraine’s currency, Telenor Vice President Paal Kvalheim said.
This year’s second-quarter revenues from the group’s Ukranian operation were almost one billion kroner lower than they were in the second quarter of 2008.
ISLAMABAD (July 23 2009): Telenor Pakistan would formally launch its special programme for helping disabled persons at a local hotel today (Thursday).
The programme, Telenor Khuddar Pakistan, has been shaped for the disabled persons as the company's corporate responsibility flagship initiative. Some 7-10 percent Pakistanis have disabilities and most of them face adversity at every corner.They fight negative social perceptions and are turned away by lack of accessibility and cannot get adequate training and technologies. With the launch of Khuddar Pakistan, Telenor aims at making a difference in the lives of the persons with disabilities by addressing these issues, with whatever corporate, political, and social will it acquires.
Sales Promo
Here’s another perfect reason to join the Ufone family!
By purchasing a new Ufone SIM or by transferring your existing number to the Ufone network you can obtain up to 1,000 free minutes and 10,000 free SMS!
Here’s how:
-Join Ufone between the July 21st to August 30th, 2009 period
-Use as much balance as you can, in addition to the already provided Rs.100 in your SIM and get up to 1,000 Ufone to Ufone minutes and 10,000 SMS to any network, absolutely FREE!
Note:
-Use Rs.150/- extra balance till 30th August 2009 besides the available Rs. 100/- balance in the -SIM and 10,000 SMS will be absolutely Free!
-Use as much balance as besides the available Rs. 100/- in the SIM till 30th August 2009 and win the same number of minutes.
-Free minutes limit is 1000
-Free minutes and SMS won will be credited to your account on 31st August 2009
-The offer is valid for SIMs purchased from 21st July 2009 to 30th August 2009.
Thursday, July 23, 2009 By Mehtab Haider ISLAMABAD: Telenor Pakistan Chief Executive Officer Jon Eddy Abdullah has said there are possibilities of mergers in the cellular industry in future. In an interview with The News, Abdullah said Pakistan had the lowest call rates in the world and a continuous reduction in charges, as seen in the past, to attract customers was no more viable for the future as the industry had already hit rock bottom. “This means that in the long term, having five operators in a market with intense competition and low prices may not remain feasible anymore. This can result in anything from mergers and acquisitions to dropping out of the market,” he added.
Answering a question about deteriorating law and order situation in the country and other factors impacting growth of the sector, he said high inflation eventually reduced usage of mobile services among consumers and pushed up the cost for the operators. Overall, it negatively impacted the demand and supply and hence growth.
“Though inflationary pressure eases around the globe and especially in our region, Pakistan still faces a high double-digit inflation,” he added.
“Largely, the overall law and order situation limits network expansion, restricts upgrading and maintenance of sites, increases security-related expenses and dampens investor confidence,” he said and added as networks in Pakistan grew at a tremendous rate, growth would certainly speed up if security conditions further improved.
When asked about the recent taxation measures taken by the government in the budget, he said general sales tax (GST) had been brought down to 19.5 per cent from 21 per cent, though the industry had demanded 16 per cent tax like the one on other services.
SIM activation tax had been slashed by 50 per cent, bringing it to Rs250, but the industry had asked for its complete withdrawal.
Regulatory duty on handsets has been eliminated, while customs duty has been brought down to Rs250, meaning that a total of Rs250 will be applied as taxes on the import of each handset.
“Although we consider these tax measures positive, we feel that there is more to be done. We are all aware of the impact of high tax rates on the industry, which depress growth in subscriber numbers, divert investments and ultimately discourage mobile usage.
“We also understand that when this industry flourishes, it helps the economy by attracting foreign direct investment (FDI), contributing heavily to the national exchequer, generating employment and increasing productivity of almost every sector. Therefore, it is imperative that the taxation structure for the mobile industry is rationalised further.
”When asked whether the taxation measures were pro-growth or anti-growth for the industry, he said tax reduction was obviously a pro-growth measure. The rapid increase in penetration over the last few years was made possible to a large extent by subsidisation of activation tax by the cellular operators.
The 50 per cent reduction in activation tax will free up funds, which can be invested in capacity enhancement and network expansion.