PTCL launches Vfone Sindh package

Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) has launched an attractive ‘Vfone Sindh Package’ for its Vfone customers in Sindh, giving them the freedom to communicate at the most economical call rates.

Introduced specially for Sindh , this unique offer allows PTCL’s Vfone Sindh customers to make calls at nominal rates of Rs 0.50 paisa only. The daily line rent of Vfone Sindh package will be Rs. 0.50 per day, while call rates for Vfone to Vfone and Vfone to PTCL Landline will be Rs. 0.50 per min. Customers can call mobile & other LLOs at Rs. 0.50 per 20 sec.

Supported by high-speed CDMA 1x technology, Vfone also offers SMS facility to all networks at a nominal rate of Rs. 0.30 per SMS while internet charges are Rs. 2.00 per 15 min.

“With this offer, PTCL aims to facilitate its customers offering them true mobility and affordability.” said PTCL Senior Executive Vice President Commercial, Naveed Saeed. “Our aim is to exceed customer expectations by offering affordable rates and quality services.”

“Keeping in mind the needs of the customers PTCL is tailoring its products and services according to various regional needs,” said PTCL Executive Vice President Wireless, Omar Khalid. “PTCL Vfone offers unmatched voice quality and SMS service with access to high-speed Internet and mobility.”

PTCL Vfone has the country’s largest WLL coverage and is available with both prepaid and postpaid options.

3G in Pakistan

3G must for viability,Pakistan telecom industry needs new impetus

Pakistan Telecom Industry that has been booster for the country’s economy, now itself needs a catalyst of growth in terms of marketing innovations and technology evolution that is 3G.

Telecom experts and players are unanimous in observation that the entire industry has been facing glut and slowdown especially in revenues. Therefore, the industry needs introduction of newer and latest technologies including 3G, 4G, and Long Term Evolution (LTE).

According to the latest statistics released by Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), the telecom density in Pakistan has reached 68 per cent, which is among the highest in the world. Mobilink still remains the top shareholder with 36 million subscribers, followed by Telenor Pakistan that is at the second position with 29 million subscribers.
In order to secure its leading position in the future 3G markets, Telenor Pakistan has completed a tender in 2011 for an entire network swap and 3G rollout by selecting a Chinese supplier Zhongxing Telecom (ZTE). By the network infrastructure modernization with the latest technology, the growth of network profit and revenue is also expected. However, Telenor Pakistan has reportedly witnessed unenviable revenue slowdown with the first-ever continuous loss up to six million USD for the last three months since its inception 7 years ago. There is no question mark at all that telecom industry plays a pivotal role in the developing Pakistan economy and particularly the telecom operators have collectively been contributing positively to the national exchequer in the past years. As an European origin telecom giant, Telenor Pakistan, however, turns to be farcical day by day in devising their marketing strategy, which is actually undermining and annulling most portions of the advantages acquired from the network modernization. In this case, the revenue drop of Telenor Pakistan automatically generates a gloomy forecast and anxiety on the telecom industry overall performance. People should always keep in their minds, without a sound performance of telecom industry the economy of Pakistan may get even more miserable.
What is the way out? Of course, on one hand, the telecom industry players shall be wise enough to take up all necessary measures to revise their marketing and sales strategy in order to recover the lost amount. On the other hand, the market needs an injection of 3G/4G/LTE or whatever to get excited.

Consultancy appointed for 4G auction

Bahrain’s Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) has appointed a consultancy, Frontier Economics, to design and manage a competitive 4G mobile licensing process scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2013. A first stage will involve two paired 40MHz allocations in the 2600MHz band auctioned under technology-neutral licences in Q1 2013, while a further 2×30MHz in the band will become available by the end of 2014.

C Spire Wireless Launches LTE Services in Mississippi

­USA based C Spire Wireless (formerly Cellular South) has launched its LTE network, with coverage in four Mississippi markets. McComb, Brookhaven, Meridian and Greenville are the first of 31 markets that are receiving C Spire’s LTE services between now and the end of October. Another six markets will be activated by the end of 2012 as part of the company’s multi-million dollar investment. Additional expansion of LTE services is planned in 2013. The initial markets will cover 2,700 square miles, a population of 1.2 million and 364 cell sites.

T-Mobile Selects Tekelec for LTE Signalling Routers

­T-Mobile USA has selected Tekelec’s Diameter Signaling Router (DSR) for the buildout of the company’s LTE network, which will launch in 2013. The DSR provides T-Mobile with a central control point to route policy, charging and subscriber messages. This is essential to generate revenues from mobile data services and manage signaling growth in the New Diameter Network.

Earlier this year, T-Mobile announced its US$4 billion network modernization plan which includes the introduction of LTE services in 2013. One of the first steps is building a core LTE signaling network to support tens of millions of subscribers. Tekelec now has 19 Diameter Signaling Router customers, including five Tier 1 LTE operators in North America.

SaskTel to Test Huawei Supplied LTE Network in Rural Canada

­Canada’s SaskTel has awarded an LTE trial contract to Huawei for TDD-LTE based fixed wireless services in Saskatchewan. The trial will help determine the feasibility of wireless broadband and voice services for customers in predominantly rural locations, using Huawei solutions and equipment.

The trial will occur in a minimum of three rural locations. In addition, the trial will encompass the provisioning of equipment to a local telephone service, in order to determine comparability with existing landline services using copper wire infrastructure.

The trial is scheduled to be launched in rural locations in Saskatchewan by the end of December, 2012 and will conclude in August, 2013. Following the completion of the trial, Huawei and SaskTel will work jointly to analyze results, and provide a report that includes an economic overview for the replacement of parts of its rural copper network.

Tcell cuts call, text rate for Next network customers

Tcell Tajikistan has reduced the rate of calls to the Tcell network for subscribers of its Next network. The rate of the first minute of the call will now cost USD 0.02, followed by USD 0.01 per minute for further calls during the whole day. The rate of the first SMS message totals USD 0.02, and USD 0.005 per message for the rest of the day.

PTA committee to address Sim security concerns

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has established a four-member committee to draft measures to find new ways to sell prepaid Sims and ways to streamline prepaid customer data. The committee includes officials from the PTA and the ICT ministry, Dawn reports citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter. In 2009, the PTA told the mobile operators to only sell inactive Sims to customers after they show their national identity card. To activate the Sim customers must call a number and confirm their identity details. However, after more than three years, serious questions have been raised over the effectiveness of the system.

megafone

Megafon runs 5,000 3G base stations in Volga

Russian mobile operator Megafon announced that the of 3G base stations its Volga macro-regional branch is running has reached the threshold of 5,000. The total number of GSM and 3G base stations totals over 12,000 in the macro-region and the operator has over 13.7 million subscribers there.

CSL

CSL launches shared LTE plan for 1O1O service

Hong Kong mobile operator CSL has introduced a ‘1-for-All’ plan for its premium brand 1O1O. The plan, which is available on the operator’s LTE network, allows customers to share a single account with up to four users and comes with four free Sims, unlimited Wi-Fi hotspot usage, 5,000 voice minutes, and unlimited on-net SMS. The HKD 559 per month plan includes 7 GB of data, the HKD 659 plan includes 20 GB of data, and the HKD 759 plan comes with 35 GB of data. The plans also offer mobile device discounts ranging from HKD 3,500 to 5,500. CSL launched a similar plan for its lifestyle brand one2free.

Source: TelecomPaper

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