Nokia N8 Launched in Pakistan: ProPakistani

Nokia N8 Launched in Pakistan
NR3C Arrests Two Boys for Hacking SC Website
PTCL’s Q1 Profit Down by 19 % as Revenue Falls
Mobilink Brings ‘One Week Reactivation Promotion’
Telenor Pakistan Posts Better Than Expected Q3-2010

Posted: 27 Oct 2010 03:30 PM PDT

Nokia N8 Launched in Pakistan is a post from: ProPakistani

Highly hyped, 12 megapixeled Nokia's N8 has at last arrived in Pakistan, well sort of. Device was launched in an event arranged by Nokia in Karachi today.

Customers who had pre-ordered the phone with Ufone service centers, are said to receive their their phones soon.

However, the device would be available at retail stores after one month. Until then, you don't have any choice but to get the device from Ufone. It's because of some sort of exclusive agreement between Nokia and Ufone.

It maybe recalled that Ufone is accepting pre-orders at Rs. 41,900, which is 25 percent lower than the market price as claimed by Ufone.

Some (official) voices in today's launch opined that N8 would be priced at PKR 36,000 to PKR 38,000, while few others said N8 to be priced at PKR 44,500.

Nokia didn't confirm the exact price to anyone.

Henri Mattila, Head of Marketing for Middle East and Africa, Mr. Imran Khalid Mahmood, Country GM for Nokia, Mr. Adeel Hashmi, PR Head for Nokia Pakistan, Khurram Mahboob, Head of Devices, Loyalty & Affinity, Geo Marketing, Ufone were present at the launch event of Nokia N8.

NR3C Arrests Two Boys for Hacking SC Website

Posted: 27 Oct 2010 06:48 AM PDT

NR3C Arrests Two Boys for Hacking SC Website is a post from: ProPakistani

Two young boys, who are accused of hacking the Supreme Court's website, have been arrested by FIA, reported Dawn.

Saim Ali Shah and Salal Ali Shah were arrested by NR3C (FIA's wing for cyber crimes), after the incident was reported to PTA by Supreme Court's IT section. PTA had then forwarded the case to FIA, which through NR3C took action and finally traced these two hackers though what it claims “advance technology”. These two hackers were members of the self-proclaimed Cyber Army and Pak Bugs.

Dawn further noted that Supreme Court's website was hacked in collaboration with an Indian National.

The hackers had not only defaced SC's website but also had inserted derogatory and abusive remarks against the judiciary in the night of Sept 29.

Interestingly, arrested hackers were also involved in the recent hacking of NR3C website.

The cyber crimes have been on the rise in the country since the lapse of cyber crime ordinance about a year ago and there are no signs of its re- promulgation in the near future. Most criminals go unpunished taking advantage of the absence of the law.

Update:

Additional Sessions Judge Rawalpindi Tanvir Akbar has rejected a bail plea of the two up-mentioned hackers.

Dawn writes that the concession of bail was not granted by the judge considering the magnitude of the crime. They said the counsel for the accused could not produce documentary evidence in support of the claim that they were minors and under the juvenile justice system could not be kept behind the bars.

The only argument the counsel had advanced was that action against his clients was mala fide.

But Tariq Bilal, the legal adviser to the Cyber Crime Wing, said the FIA had no animosity with the accused and they had been arrested only after collecting substantial evidence against them.

PTCL’s Q1 Profit Down by 19 % as Revenue Falls

Posted: 27 Oct 2010 04:41 AM PDT

PTCL’s Q1 Profit Down by 19 % as Revenue Falls is a post from: ProPakistani

PTCL has reported its first quarter results which fell in profit by 19 percent, despite company's strategy of developing new sources of income.

Company's revenue fell to 13.9 billion rupees from 14.5 billion in same quarter previous year.

Net income fell to 2.08 billion rupees ($24.2 million) in the three months ended September 30, 2010 from 2.57 billion rupees, a year earlier.

Following is Company's Press Statement for the Q1 Results:

Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) today announced its financial results for the first quarter ended 30^th September 2010. The company has announced a net profit of Rs. 2.081 billion compared to Rs. 2.568 billion recorded in the same period last year .

During the last financial year, PTCL continued its strategy of developing new sources of income, on the Commercial side. In the financial year 2009-10, the growth momentum of PTCL remained strong in emerging segments of Broadband and Corporate Services. During the year, broadband footprint (wire line and wireless) expanded by more than 100% resulting in 172% increase in revenue from this market segment. For the period PTCL earned profit after tax of Rs. 9.294 billion which was 1.6% higher as compared with net profit of Rs. 9.151 billion for the last year.

PTCL group revenue during the year under review stood at Rs. 98.906 billion, showing a growth of 6.7% over last year. Of this, PTCL's revenue was Rs. 57.175 billion compared to Rs. 59.239 billion for the preceding year.

In order to address diversified needs of the customer base, PTCL continued to introduce innovative products and services based on latest technology. PTCL remained the largest and fastest growing broadband service provider in Pakistan. During the period under review, the DSL broadband customer base registered an increase of 110% spread over 600 cities and towns with 85% market share.

During this period PTCL EVO- Rev-A 3.1 Mbps wireless broadband service based on 3G technology has revolutionized the internet experience in the country. In less than a year, EVO has become the country's fast growing wireless broadband network with connectivity and roaming in over 100 cities across. PTCL also launched its EVDO Rev-B network which offers unparalleled internet speed of up to 9.3 Mbps. This achievement makes PTCL the first operator in the world to launch this service commercially in Pakistan.

Conscious efforts were made to further facilitate landline customers by expanding the spectrum of available services and packages. The geographical reach of popular packages was extended to benefit a broader customer base. PTCL further streamlined its pricing strategy to make it more customer focused by offering convenient payment plans.

Special promotions were launched on Independence Day, Ramadan, Hajj, Christmas, Eid and New Year. Off peak and Sunday rates were also introduced to encourage higher usage. Besides the already available Pakistan Plus and International Plus packages, regional packages for new areas and local call packages were introduced in certain cities. Mobile Bucket was another package launched to facilitate the customers who call frequently from fixed line to mobile networks within Pakistan. A positive shift in land line usage was witnessed because of unified rate of Re.1 per minute on-net calls.

PTCL has also worked on the network expansion in the financial year .The Pakistan Internet Exchange (PIE) has been expanded by establishing an international presence. PTCL has also planned expansion in unserved areas through USF subsidy. PTCL has established Centralized Network Operation Center (NOC), and entire PTCL network is now being remotely monitored thus enhancing the operational efficiency.

President PTCL Walid Irshaid commenting on the results said, "I am pleased to announce that we remained focused on our strategy of positioning PTCL as the leading integrated telecom company in Pakistan providing multiple solutions to business and household market segments and extending vital services to other telecom operators in Pakistan". He said "we remain highly conscious of the fact that our success and growth can only come from satisfied customers it remains our challenge to provide friendly, seamless and prompt customer's service.

To this end, we endeavored to embark on several projects intended to bring PTCL closer to the customers". On this occasion he further said that "we strongly believe that PTCL is poised to grow and remain the leading and dominant integrated telecom service provider of choice for customers throughout Pakistan".

The management and employees of PTCL remain committed to provide quality services at competitive prices through optimal use of resource for achieving enhanced revenue and greater levels of customer satisfaction as well as improved shareholders' value.

Mobilink Brings ‘One Week Reactivation Promotion’

Posted: 27 Oct 2010 02:48 AM PDT

Mobilink Brings ‘One Week Reactivation Promotion’ is a post from: ProPakistani

Following the September 28th Re-Activation campaign, Mobilink Jazz is now giving its customers not only one day, but one whole week to gain rewards on re-activating their SIMs!

Criteria:

Customers who have not used their SIMs since 25th September 2010 and will make one call or SMS between October 25 to October 31 and have subscribed through SMS to 550 will get:

50 minutes free minutes
and 100 lucky customers will win the bumper prize of Rs 100,000 each!

Customers who have done an activity between Oct 25-31 and sent and SMS to 550, will also be required to send another SMS to 550 between Nov 6 to Nov 10 to confirm their cash prize

Promotion Mechanics

Confirm Prize (Free Minutes)

50 minutes will be given on Nov 5, 2010 to subscribers sending SMS on short code 550 and performing an outgoing activity
Validity of free minutes will be 7 days
Minutes will be for On-net calls only

Cash Prize

100 customers will be selected from the customers who:

Were part of the original target base
Subscribed to the promo by sending SMS to 550 during the promotion i.e. between Oct 25, 2010 and Oct 31, 2010 as well as performed outgoing activity
Winners will be updated in the 550 SMS application
Customers need to send another SMS to 550 to confirm their cash prize winning
Only those customers will be eligible for the prize who will send confirmatory SMS to short code 550 between Nov 6, 2010 and Nov 10, 2010
Date of cash prize disbursement will be communicated later

Telenor Pakistan Posts Better Than Expected Q3-2010

Posted: 26 Oct 2010 10:51 PM PDT

Telenor Pakistan Posts Better Than Expected Q3-2010 is a post from: ProPakistani

In the third quarter of 2010, Telenor Group reported revenues of USD 4.09 billion compared to USD 3.87 billion representing an organic revenue growth of six per cent in local currency, said a statement issued by the group today.

EBITDA margin stood at 33 per cent, and operating cash flow margin remained at 23 per cent.

Telenor's consolidated mobile operations added seven million subscriptions during the quarter.

"Telenor Group delivered yet another strong quarter, with increased organic revenue growth, solid EBITDA margin and an operating cash flow of USD 953 million," said Jon Fredrik Baksaas, President and CEO of Telenor Group.

Telenor Pakistan

Commenting on Pakistan's performance, Group CEO said:

Telenor Pakistan performed better than we expected following the flooding which has severely affected the country.

Highlights

Telenor Pakistan's revenues for the reported quarter stood at USD 199 million down from USD 210 million in 2nd quarter 2010, while 11 percent higher than the same period in previous year.

Thanks to increased sales, Telenor said, company's EBITDA margin for Pakistan stood at 29.7 percent, 5 percent percent higher than same period last year.

Telenor Pakistan managed to cut its expenditure by 37 percent as compared to same quarter in 2009, due to focus on network capacity investments.

Due to intense competition, Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) went down to PKR 220.31 as compared to PKR 235 in same period previous year.

You can download here Telenor Group’s Quarterly Financial Report (228 KB – PDF File)
Download here Telenor Group’s Summarized Financial Stats (292 KB – XLS File)

Update:

Jon Eddy Abdullah, CEO Telenor Pakistan while commenting on the results said:

"Telenor Pakistan continues to consolidate its business growth. The previous quarter saw Pakistan facing one of the worst floods in its history. Telenor Pakistan responded with concerted efforts, becoming the first and one of the largest corporate contributors to the relief drive.

A calamity of the size we witnessed is bound to have some negative impact on the business environment of the country. However, this was minimized with the help of our teams and their well coordinated efforts."