Pakistan appears set on implementing 3G service this year: Telecommagazine

As mobile users exceed 91 million, two telcos announce further capex investments

by Ek Heng, Asia-Pacific Correspondent

Mon. April 27, 2009

After market talk that began as early as two years ago, Pakistan appears set to implement 3G services in the country this year. Hafeezur Rehman, Federal Secretary for Information Technology and Telecom, was reportedly quoted this week as saying that 3G policy proposals are in the hands of the federal cabinet and spectrum auction are to be held within three or four weeks after approval has been obtained.

Besides the policy decision whether to open bidding to international players or restrict it to existing telcos, he added that the cabinet would make decisions on the base price for spectrum auction. He reiterated that the authorities are mindful of the gloomy market outlook and international recession.

As subscribers continue to grow in the country with the Pakistan Telecom Authority reporting a mobile user base exceeding 91.4 million by end February 2009 and a mobile density of 56.8 percent, incumbent telcos are girding to expand their capital expenditure programs. Based on the number of mobile subscribers, the state-of-play for telcos in Pakistan starts with five main operators: Mobilink (28.2 million subscribers), Telenor Pakistan (19.9 million subscribers), Ufone (19.6 million subscribers) Warid (17.3 million subscribers) and Zong with 5.9 million subscribers.

Telenor Pakistan and Zong to expand networks

Second-tier mobile player, Telenor Pakistan (TP) has selected Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) to conduct its network expansion. Under the terms of the five-year contract, NSN was chosen for the network expansion and infrastructure upgrading program because TP wanted proven expertise in large scale projects with a fast time-to-market, according to Irfan Wahab, Executive Vice President, Corporate Affairs of Telenor Pakistan.

NSN will install next generation base stations that are easy to deploy, energy efficient and help to optimize network usage as well as provide training for TP’s team. Globally, NSN implemented 200,000 base stations and it activates one base station every three minutes.

For more on this article, please click on the following link: Pakistan appears set on implementing 3G service this year: Telecommagazine

Finance, telecom help fetch $5.1bn in FDI: Dawn

By Shahid Iqbal


KARACHI, July 26: Increased attraction for financial business, telecommunications and oil and gas exploration collectively pushed foreign direct investment even higher than last year despite continued political uncertainties and poor economic performance.

The State Bank of Pakistan reported that while the telecommunications still maintained its attraction for the FDI, the financial business proved more attractive and invited more foreign investment than the telecom.

Researchers said for the first time financial business attracted more FDI than telecom sector during the last five years.

Telecom was still the second highest attractive sector despite decline in volume of investment in 2007-08 compared to last year.

Total FDI which crossed $5.152 billion compared to $5.139 billion of last year, a growth of 0.3 per cent, surprised many analysts and economists, painting a bleak picture for the economy.

For more on this article, please click on the following link: Finance, telecom help fetch $5.1bn in FDI: Dawn

China Mobile to further invest $ 800 mln in Pakistan: APP

BEIJING, June 19 (APP):China Mobile, the world largest telecommunication organization will make further investment amounting to $ 800 million in Pakistan. This was stated by President of China Mobile Wang Gian Zhuo during a meeting with Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir here on Thursday.

China Mobile has already made an investment of $ 800 million in Pakistan.

Wang said that besides making further $ 800 million investment, he would also pursue many internationally acclaimed telecommunication organizations like Sony-Erricson to take part in the development of telecommunication in Pakistan.

He said the Pakistan has great deal of opportunities for Foreign Investors as it offers equal level playing fields for both foreign and domestic investors.

The President of China Mobile said that he had recently held very fruitful meeting with the Pakistani leadership and was impressed about the incentive Pakistan is offering for the Foreign Investors, particularly for Chinese Investors.

For more on this article, please click on the following link: China Mobile to further invest $ 800 mln in Pakistan: APP

Robust growth forecast for telecom sector: The News

Thursday, June 19, 2008
By Jawwad Rizvi

LAHORE: Mobile companies in many regions of the world have not enjoyed the phenomenal subscriber growth witnessed in Pakistan propelling the telecom sector to the stature of a powerhouse in a short span of time.

With mobile penetration at 52 per cent, there is still great potential to be capitalised upon in this market. It must be noted that the overall environment has changed significantly in the last five years where aggressive competition within the industry has translated into benefits for the overall consumer and economy of Pakistan.

An analysis of the telecom industry of Pakistan showed that telecom companies in Pakistan had effectively used a mix of strategic marketing and technological advancement to push their growth and become one of the fastest growing telecom markets in the region.

Until 2001, a few telecom players were providing basic services to a small elite customer base, however, after subsequent deregulation and investor-friendly policies of the government, we are now witnessing a highly competitive market, where telecom services are accessible to all.

With six cellular operators working in Pakistan providing network coverage of almost 90 per cent, significant advantages are being passed on to the end consumers.

For more on this article, please click on the following link: Robust growth forecast for telecom sector: The News