Category Archive

I came across an interesting paper at the ITU site titled “The Future of Voice” - you can also get the paper here at State of Telecom in Pakistan. This paper is a good guide to VOIP technologies and how different countries are dealing with it. It also talks about the future growth of voice markets and the technology trends which accompany it. In my next post I’ll write about the mention of Pakistan’s case in this paper.

At a related ITU workshop on this topic on Rauno Granath, Nokia’s Director of New Growth Markets and Networks, predicted that the worldwide number of subscribers to mobile telephony will reach 4 billion by 2010, and about 80 per cent the growth will come from lower income, emerging markets.

How will the Evolution of business models evolve to reach low-income consumers? This huge rowth in worldwide mobile subscribers means new business models must be created to meet the needs of low-income subscribers in emerging markets. The illustration below is an interesting way to look at it.

Source: “Voice services in new growth markets,” presentation by Rauno Granath, Nokia.

The paper also has a good number of illustrations, tables and data.

Many GSM industry supporters have looked at WiMAX as a competitor - though others disagree and call attention to its complementary uses as I’ve covered before in the post Why WiMAX?. In Pakistan Wateen is an interesting case because it wants to have a two prong strategy and cover all its bases. However in India there’s some resistance to WiMAX which gives an idea of the uphill battle WiMAX is facing.

Here’s a (story) which tells about the internal struggles in India about WiMAX standards. However the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), the body representing all GSM operators, has cited compatibility / interference issues and wants more time before agreeing to the proposed standards.

The global WiMax Forum has sought the Indian government’s support in its endeavour towards getting the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to include WiMax as part of International Mobile Communications - 2000 (IMT-2000) standards.

The forum has asked the Department of Telecom (DoT) and the Wireless and Planning Wing to support its cause in the upcoming ITU meet in Kyoto, Japan. Indian cellular operators have, however, opposed the move and said that the DoT must not support the forum’s proposal until further details such as compatibility and interference issues with regard to WiMax are available.

IMT-2000 is the global standard for third generation (3G) wireless communications as defined by the International Telecommunication Union. It has defined five standards which are followed globally for 3G services. In January 2007, a proposed sixth standard (WiMax) was submitted into ITU by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and supported by the WiMax Forum.

Read the rest of this entry »

Thanks to Ehti, a Wired Pakistan Forum contributor, I saw this video of Wateen’s WiMAX on Motorola’s site. It is about 2 minutes long. Even thought it is a marketing blurb for Motorola yet it gives a quick tour of Wateen’s work in Pakistan and its well worth the click.

I saw this news at a local paper that ISPs have lashed out strongly against PCL. The ISPs lodged complaint against PTCL for anti-competitive practices by offering lower rates to consumers than the rates it offers to ISP. I also saw this statement by the PM that 75% of house-holds in the country are to be covered with high speed Internet by 2015.

I am not sure what to make of these contradictory statements from the Telecommunication day on May 17.

The last time I checked PTA and PTCL were still in court about the bandwidth tariffs. If one was to look at the low bandwidth penetration rate and all the issues such as the ISP complaint described below, we are still in a poor shape. So HOW in the world are we going to go from say 2% to 75% in 7 years?

As you can note from the statements by Prime Minister, it does not specify an action plan or a policy change - just empty political statements. Does it give us any confidence about bandwidth proliferation in Pakistan?

Shaukat Aziz has said that we are moving forward with great speed to bridge the digital divide in the country by improving the access of information and communication technology to low-income groups and a target of 1.6 million broadband connections has been set for the next three years and infrastructure would be developed to cover 75% of house-holds in the country with high speed Internet by 2015.

“We are moving forward with great speed to bridge the digital divide in the country by improving the access of information and communication technology to low-income groups”, he expressed these views while delivering a speech on the world telecommunications and information society day being observed on May 17.

And then there’s the view from Pakistan’s Internet Service Providers (ISPs), as reported in The News.

As the world marks Telecom Day on Thursday, small telecom operators in Pakistan see their business threatened, blaming the giant Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) for anti-competitive practices, which has launched DSL service at much lower rates without the regulator’s approval.

The country’s Internet Service Providers (ISPs) have warned that if the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) fails to stop the PTCL from offering such service, it would put the future of most of the operators at risk.

It was also reported that the ISPs Association of Pakistan (ISPAK) has formally complained to PTA asking to intervene and to play its role. According to ISPAK there should be a hearing on this. The ISPs offerDSL services of 256 kbps for home users at Rs1,00o-s1,200 per month out of which around 25 per cent is paid to PTCL for local loop sharing charges.

Read the rest of this entry »

Pakistani business community, bloggers and consumers have been asking for a sensible VOIP policy for a long time. Finally we see a glimmer of hope - PTA has published a consultancy paper on VOIP which invites comments by all. The 58-page - written by a consultant, Naseem A. Vohra - is a good summary of VOIP technology and VOIP situation in Pakistan. You can download the paper in pdf format from PTA site or from telecompk blog.

The paper addresses legal issues, policy issues and issues related to licensing and regulation of the service. Even though comments are inivited on this paper I doubt that anyone at PTA is eagerly waiting for the comments.  But even if the fate of our input is unclear this is no reason to not participate in the process. This may be the best time to provide your input and feedback to VOIP policy. I suggest that all bloggers aggregate their reader comments on this topic and send to PTA - perhaps on paper, just in case PTA has difficulty using the complex technologies of e-mail or Internet.

Here are a few excerpts from the paper. The idea is to give you the flavor of what points are raised and options presented. One has to go through the paper to make sense of some of the points below.

There are four options to deal with the situation.
1. Liberalized option – all forms of IP Telephony service are legal with minimal regulation.
2. Incremental option – some forms of IP Telephony service are legal with significant conditions placed upon IP Telephony entrants.
3. Consultation (largely “wait and see”) – a public consultation is underway to seek opinions before definitive rules on IP Telephony are issued;
4. Prohibition – IP Telephony is illegal except for use in the core network i.e. long distance and international networks which almost all LDI operators have deployed but it does not touch the customer.

Comments are invited on
i) Conclusion that option3 and option 4 are not viable anymore
ii) Conclusion that VoB will catalyze the growth of Broadband.

Comments are invited on
i) Conclusion that telecom sector in Pakistan has already started migration from circuit switching to packet switching
ii) Conclusion that the boundary between VOIP and gray traffic is not clearly defined
iii) Conclusion that regulation of IP Telephony will not push the prices further down

Comments are invited on
i) Conclusion that Incremental Approach is the right way to go.
ii) Proposal that IP Telephony offerings are placed under three categories
iii) Proposal that category 2 offerings are split into two types i.e. “IP IN” and “IP OUT”.
iv) Proposed recommendations for IP Telephony authorization.
v) Proposed amendment in Broadband/Internet Licenses

I admit upfront that this is only loosely related to telecommunication or Pakistan - but I decided its worth sharing with readers as many of us may not have thought about technology (r)evolution in this way. Even if you are a know-it-all tech guru, its an interesting clip. By the way the creator of this video was highlighted as 2007 Rave Award winner by Wired magazine, which wrote:

How do you sum up the power and potential of Web 2.0 in a 271-second video? By moving really, really fast. When Michael Wesch, who teaches cultural anthropology at Kansas State University, made “Web 2.0… The Machine Is Us/ing Us,” he’d been working for months on an academic paper that would explain new Web tools. As he struggled to define concepts like hypertext, tagging, mashups, and wikis, he had an epiphany: He was working in the wrong medium. He needed to use the tools of Web 2.0 to explain Web 2.0. Anthropology — humans studying the experience of being human — is a recursive discipline, and Wesch’s is a recursive video, cutting quickly between screenshots that show him bookmarking Web sites with del.icio.us, creating a blog with Blogger, and posting pictures on Flickr.

Enoy the clip.

According to reports, Multinet Pakistan Ltd, a subsidiary of Telekom Malaysia, has signed capacity supply and service contracts worth 40 Million USD with Telenor Pakistan. Telekom Malaysia controls 78% stake in Multinet Pakistan, which is a broadband company (ISP).  Multinet is also licensed to provide Long Distance/International (LDI) services.

The capacity contract will allow Telenor to use fibre-optic cable pairs and associated co-location facilities along Multinet Pakistan’s national long haul transmission network, known locally as Project Ittehad. The service contract entails maintenance and associated services from Multinet for the duration of 20 years. Project Ittehad is a 4,100 km fibre-optic backbone connecting 107 cities across Pakistan, the first backbone project to be launched after the state-owned carrier Pakistan Telecommunication Co Ltd’s long haul network was completed in 1996. More on this here.

Telekom Malaysia has faced sluggish growth in its domestic market due to fixed-mobile substitution and VoIP offerings. However Telekom has finally become successful at the international front. In 2006 its Asian investments brought solid revenue and earnings contributions to its financials.

Telekom Malaysia had spent much of the late 1990s saddled with unprofitable investments in Africa but by 2004, it decided to switch its focus to Asia by acquiring a stake in Indonesian mobile operator, Excelcom. Having acquired a 49% stake in Spice, Telekom re-established itself in the Indian market at an opportune moment. It is doing business in many additional Asian countries: Indonesia (Excel), Bangladesh (Aktel), Cambodia (Casacom), SriLanka (Dialog), Singoapore (MobileOne). Telekom had announced creation of a separate group management team to overseas business development projects.

It is one of the companies to watch for as its current projects can position it for long-term success.

In 2006 Wateen-Motorola WiMAX project in Pakistan created a lot of buzz all over the world. Many similar trials and services are being offered around the World. However it is still a big unknown if Wimax will be a success in emerging markets of Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and China. Can WiMAX deliver its promise of affordable broadband with wide coverage? Some skeptics think that WiMAX is more of a hype created by industry and not a reality yet. Of course adoption by public will be the proof of its success.

In Pakistan, Wateen’s project is going ahead full speed and it might be available for public in later half of 2007, according to Business Recorder. According to some blogs and discussion forums Wateen may offer WiMAX to 22 cities in the first quarter of 2007.  Malaysian owned Dancom also started offering Wimax in Karachi, starting with the business community. Their prices are still high for consumers.

Let’s take a look at the WiMAX technology and how can it meet broadband needs of today. See illustration below (source Telecom Magazine)  for end-to-end view of WiMAX.

The WiMAX Forum, an industry coalition, defines it as:

WiMAX is a standards-based technology enabling the delivery of last mile wireless broadband access as an alternative to wired broadband like cable and DSL. WiMAX provides fixed , nomadic, portable and, soon, mobile wireless broadband connectivity without the need for direct line-of-sight with a base station. In a typical cell radius deployment of three to ten kilometers, WiMAX Forum Certified™ systems can be expected to deliver capacity of up to 40 Mbps per channel, for fixed and portable access applications.

Point-to-multipoint wireless solutions based on WiMAX could have the potential to address the performance and economic challenges associated with providing cost-effective broadband access in the infamous last mile. The graphic below (source Telecom Magazine) shows how a wide range of end users can be served using which of the IEEE standards e.g. IEEE 802.16e-2005 for data mobility.

In addition to broadband Internet access, applications that are supportable with WiMAX include instant messaging, multiplayer interactive gaming, streaming media, VoIP, video and teleconferencing, and media content downloads.

As explained here, a typical WiMAX operation will be comprised of WiMAX base stations deployed in a cellular fashion to provide ubiquitous coverage over a metropolitan area. WiMAX base stations can be connected to the edge network by means of a wireless point-to-point link or where available, a fiber link.

Major Players

Some of the major names include: Motorola, Intel, ZTE, Samsung, Alcatel, Alvarion, Sprint, Aperto Networks.

From the US mobile phone proivders, Sprint has emerged as a champion of WiMAX. Sprint announced that mobile WiMAX is its 4G wireless technology of choice. It plans to begin building an entire Web-based phone network tuned to WiMAX starting next year. Intel, Motorola, and Samsung have invested heavily in the technology.

Challenges

There are plenty of issues which can bog down WiMAX. Here’s a brief overview.

One wonders if 2007 is the year when Wimax becomes mainstream? At least Motorola believes so!

Continue below to read some opinions from the Telecom Press. Read the rest of this entry »

The earthquake of this week damaged the telecom and internet infrastructure, impacting many Asian countries. Banking services were severely hampered Wednesday but services had resumed Thursday after networks were reconfigured to detour around the broken cables. In June 2005 Pakistan’s only undersea fiber-optic cable link with the outside world at that time developed a serious fault, virtually crippling data feeds, including the Internet, for 11 days. See my previous post on Pakistan’s new undersea project.

This earthquake underscored the vulnerabilities of a system where huge amounts of data speed through the region in cables laid deep beneath the sea, noted Red Herring magazine.

The WALL STREET JOURNAL (12/29) reports that the slow but steady return of telecom services across Asia, after Tuesday’s earthquake damaged a critical nexus of cables off Taiwan, suggests that ‘workaround’ tactics and the quake’s holiday timing may limit its impact on business. Some telecom companies were working to reroute their service by other channels, including through Australia, the Indian Ocean or by satellite. Several ships were on their way Thursday to repair regional telecom cables broken by an earthquake off southern Taiwan, but officials warned that it could take several more days before Internet access across much of Asia returned to normal. One of the two cables that were broken is owned by a consortium that includes Singapore Telecom, France Telecom and Pakistan Telecommunication. The other is partly owned by China Unicom, StarHub and Telekom Malaysia.

An article in today’s BUSINESSWORLD (Philippines) reports that industry observers said that the chaos in Asia’s Internet service sparked by an undersea earthquake shows that the region’s cable network is too fragile and overly reliant on connections to the U.S. Undersea fiber-optic cables account for more than 95 percent of international telecommunications thanks to their strength, capacity and connection quality, according to South Korean provider KT Submarine Corp. These cables have been around for over 125 years. According to a report by policy think tank Rand Corporation the cables, which for the most part lie unprotected on the ocean floor can be dmanaged by ship anchors, fish nets that scrape the sea bottom and even in one case, sharks that gnawed on a line apparently due to its electromagnetic pulse.

One alternative would be satellites, which are costlier and do not provide as much capacity or quality of transmission as fiber-optic cables, analysts said. See my post to read more about use of satellite commuication for disaster management.

The Red Herring article notes that South Korea has 10 main undersea cables connecting it to the world and seven of them were damaged by the quake. India was highly vulnerable from damage to undersea cable links as well because it receives 80 percent to 90 percent of its bandwidth from the undersea network, industry officials said.

This incident has forced the global telecommunication industry to seriously consider resilience and business continuity. The world of today depends too much on communication technology to allow this to happen again. I expect to see many improvements in the coming months and years.

Triple play made its way to Pakistan. Triple Play service is a marketing term for the 3 services: high-speed Internet, Video (TV, Video on Demand) and telephone service - all over a single broadband connection. Wateen, PTCL and Nayatel are a few examples for which services are already or soon to be available in some parts of Lahore and Islamabad. The important question is if these services will be affordable and reliable?

Wateen’s triple play offering was recently unveiled with its services for DHA Lahore, scheduled for commercial launch in January 2007. With all the digging work going on in DHA, it will be a relief for the public. According to the press release by Wateen:

This project will provide DHA residents access to a breadth and depth of 21st century telecommunication and media services through fiber optic and wireless WiMAX networks. Services provided will include innovative telephony calling plans for local, nationwide and international routes, video conferencing/video telephony, true broadband internet (both fixed and wireless), DVD quality TV viewing and Value Added Services such as security & surveillance and interactive gaming.

Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) was awarded the country’s first IPTV operating licence in November 2006 and will be an major competitor. PTCL has yet to announce a timetable for rollout of the service. “We have some exciting plans that we will be announcing soon,” was all PTCL CEO Mohammad Bamakhrama would tell local press. According to discussion forums, PTCL will use Alcatel IPTV solution which is based on partnership with Microsoft.

Alcatel (NYSE:ALA) also helped Naya Tel  of Pakistan to supply the region’s first fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) solution to deliver a high bandwidth triple play (voice, video and data) services to over 30,000 subscribers in the capital city of Islamabad. More on this here. Sample rates for Nayatel’s Internet service are:

Now that we have these services available to select few, let’s monitor their success rate in 2007. Price is the main factor here and the one-time cost of the equipment (i.e. ONT) is likely to be the hurdle. If companies can asborb the equipment price in exchange for a contract, it can speed up adoption.

A front-page article in the Wall Street Journal (12/1 reports that some of the world’s biggest telecom companies are racing to tap China and other rapidly growing Asian markets by building faster pipelines for the surging volume of Internet and phone traffic produced by multinational corporations and the region’s consumers. The article mentions that Verizon  is set to sign a  $500 million agreement with five major Asian telecom carriers to build the first high-speed trans-Pacific undersea cable system, to be called “Trans-Pacific Express”, directly linking the U.S. and China.

Verizon Business and partners China Telecom, China Netcom, China Unicom, Korea Telecom and Taiwan’s Chunghwa Telecom will start building the cable in the first quarter with completion expected in the third quarter of 2008. Meanwhile, according to the article, people familiar with the matter say AT&T is in talks with Telekom Malaysia and Singaporean carrier Starhub to build a cable line linking Southeast Asia and the U.S. 

These are interesting developments. Recently Trasnworld Associates, Pakistan’s first private submarine fiber optic cable operator, have provided a new undersea cable system known as TW1, with a capacity of up to 1.28 terabits per second (Tbps). This will increase Pakistan’s bandwidth capacity and provide much-needed resilience against failures. Till this came along Pakistan had only one pipeline connecting it to the gloabl internet. For a good overview of Pakistan’s internet connections see KO’s blog post. The Trasnworld wesbite shows a glimpse of their work, as shown below.

Hopefully these projects will provided the much needed additional capacity needed for Asia’s growth and will speed up the work to reduce the deep digital divide.

This is a followup to my previous posts about bandwidth rate cuts. In the latest development Lahore High Court has granted PTCL stay against the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority’s decision to reduce bandwidth prices after the Etisalat-run company challenged the determination for the second time.

The NEWS article summarizes the issues nicely so I will present some excerpts directly below. This is a disappointment for those who wanted the prices to come down to an affordable level. I think PTCL has panicked due to its sliding market share and profits and has decided to use whatever means necessary to keep its tariffs high. No wonder Pakistan scored low on the digital opportunity index. It is the combination of lack of infrastrucure, monopoly at work and weak policies.

Read full news item here and also see the statement by PTA chairman about PTCL’s poor performance.

Compared to its previous decision, the PTA’s revised determination was quite mild, introducing a mere 6% reduction in the price of 2 Mbits and 20% reduction in higher data rates, yet PTCL’s new management from Etisalat decided to challenge this decision.

The Internet, IT and call center spheres of the telecommunication industry, who expected a letter-and-spirit implementation of the verdict, are voicing disappointment over the PTCL move to oppose the determination.

Call centers and business processing outsourcing (BPO) industry find bandwidth cost reduction imperative for making Pakistan an attractive global destination for such business.

This is turning out to be a real test for PTA’s authority. Lets hope the end decision works in favor of the public.

As this post is being written, ITU is hosting TELECOM WORLD 2006 Asia in Hong Kong. It is one of the leading events of the telecom world, “bringing the world’s leading ICT companies, decision-makers, organisations and governments together, Telecom WORLD features a major exhibition, a high-level Forum and numerous opportunities for meeting, discussing, networking and getting business done.”

One of the most interesting part of this event is the Forum where leaders (see a few leading speakers below) get together and discuss the technical, economic, social and policy matters surrounding telecommunications and ICT in general. The theme for this forum is Living the Digital World which seems quite appropriate given the fast-paced changes digital technology is making in the world.

There are many hot topics in the agenda such as broadband triple play, digital content, Wimax etc. While each of the above topic merits in-depth discussions, I’d like to point out to one of the most important subject for the world today: Next Generation networks for Development. The decisions of today will impact how tens millions of people in developing countries with low income levels can join this information revolution. In my opinion, telecommunication related technologies have a vast potential to change these people’s lives.

In the ITU conference the Telecommunication Development Symposium will cover how telecommunication can enhance development. More information about this theme is here. Excerpts below:

Developing countries have made tremendous strides towards increasing connectivity by using fixed, wireless and mobile technologies. At the same time, there is wide consensus that the next phase of networked communications will be based upon Next Generation Network technologies that promise to achieve enhanced connectivity through cost-effective and sustainable infrastructure development and management.

The concept of the Next Generation Network (NGN) covers the transition from current to future packet-based infrastructures, which is essential to take advantage of new opportunities for development and to bridge the digital divide. It spans both the fixed and wireless worlds so that the same services can be delivered no matter what access technology is used — whether it is a mobile device, a fixed network broadband connection or a fixed wireless connection. As a result, NGNs promise to foster the use of communications for greater socio-economic development, including E-education, E-health, and E-government, and enable countries to boost productivity and growth.

Participants and attendees will learn what NGNs look like, which NGN applications can succeed in developing countries, whether existing business and regulatory models will be applicable, and whether developing countries can move beyond existing technologies to a state-of-the-art wireless NGN world. They will also discuss what kinds of handsets and devices will be most appropriate, how end users will pay for broadband services such as IPTV, VoIP and e-health services in an NGN environment, and what kind of NGN policy developing countries should embark upon.

I hope that after this conference a concrete action plan is published and follwed so that we can see some results and its not all talk. The representatives of developing countries need to take the lead on this.

The purpose of this post is to present a simple explanation about CDMA for ordinary consumers. The post will touch upon CDMA flavors (CDMA2000, W-CDMA), explain 3G technologies for mobile phones, and CDMA-based fixed or mobile Internet and phone service using wireless local loop.

For users and consumers the important thing is that CDMA is the prevailing mobile communication technology of the next generation: it enables 3G (short for third-generation technology, for mobile phones) and wireless internet access at high speeds. CDMA and 3G allow you to check your email from a smart phone, browse the web on the go on your laptop, send multimedia messages or watch streaming videos on your mobile.

At the risk of over-simplification, here’s a brief overview of CDMA flavors:

W-CDMA is the 3G technology (mobile phone protocol) for GSM mobile phone (wireless) networks, as in Pakistan and Europe. It is also referred to as 3GSM (3G and GSM). Wireless Intelligence reports that there are 83 million W-CDMA customers in 49 countries.

CDMA2000 is a whole family the 3G telecommunications standards for non-GSM networks, such as most of the mobile phone companies in US and some companies in Japan and South Korea. There are about 275 million users of CDMA2000 in 75 countries (estimated by CDMA Development Group). As explained below Pakistan is using CDMA2000 for Wireless phone and Internet.

The key point:

W-CDMA and CDMA2000 are competing standards and are incompatible!

And if that was not enough China has its own 3G standard, TD-SCDMA! Below is a view of CDMA subscribers over the years.

Above I have described CDMA for mobile telecommunication. CDMA is enabler of Wireless Local Loop (WLL) as well. That is, the use of a wireless communications link as the “last mile / first mile” connection for delivering plain old telephone service and broadband Internet to telecommunications customers. WLL can be fixed or mobile (with limitations). A number of Pakistani companies (listed as “operators” here) are providing wireless phone and Internet service using CDMA2000 technology. The state-of-the-art CDMA2000 1xEV-DO is provides a peak data rate of 2.4 Mbps.

There is a wealth of information about CDMA in Pakistan at PakCDMA Website.

As a disclaimer I admit there are lots of technical details which I’ve chosen to ignore here for the purpose of keeping this post simple. For those who would like to dig deeper, I’d suggest these Wikipedia resources:
CDMA2000
W-CDMA

This is good news. INTEL Corporation has teamed up with Wateen Telecom and IT ministry of Pakistan to establish six tele-centres to provide low-cost connectivity for voice and data, ICT training and basic tele-medicine. This is part of INTEL’s “World Ahead Program”.

Intel would initially establish six tele-centres at Attock, Multan, DG Khan, Sukkur and Gwadar. Intel Corporation vice president, John Davies said that the telecentres would be a key step in bridging the digital divide and making technology more easily accessible to citizens in Pakistan.

ICT stands for Information and Communication Technology.  ICT is seen as an enabler for the developing economies. It is part of the UN’s Millenium Development Goals (MDGs). The question that arises is if ICT is just a good to have or is it really cost-effective? The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has performed studies on the impact of ICT and came out with promising conclusions. Included below is an excerpt from their 2006 ICT development report.

I am glad that INTEL has taken this initiative and from the news brief it seems to be a good plan.  Of course, technology companies understand the need and advantages of spreading interest in technology to less privileged areas of the world. For Wateen it is a good opportunity to showcase their cutting-edge Wimax technology implementation. And for the citizens of the above-mentioned cities it is a great opportunity. To use a cliche, it is a win-win situation.

Here are some statements about this - taken from GovTech website:

The Intel World Ahead program does more than just provide affordable PCs,”VP Davies said, calling it “a holistic program to help build everything from the right systems tailored to local needs, and critical connectivity, to sustainable local capabilities through quality education that makes a meaningful difference in people’s lives.” Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Wateen Telecom said, “We are proud to work with Intel and the Federal Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunications to bring the first ever WiMAX broadband deployment to Pakistan.We also expect to make available cutting-edge wireless broadband connectivity in selected urban and rural areas,” he added.

Recently the issue of digital divide in Pakistan has been getting attention in the press, courts and the government. Let us review the availability and affordability of broadband services in Pakistan.

Definitions of broadband vary - I’ll use the official definition from Pakistan Government’s broadband policy document: Always on Internet connection with a download speed of at least 128kbps connectivity.

There are two main problems with broadband in Pakistan:

a)The cost of broadband is prohibitively high in Pakistan (compared with developed and most developing countries) with the result that in 2004 there were more Internet users in London than in the whole of Pakistan (details here)
b) Within the country there’s sharp difference in the availability and prices of broadband. This is a problem faced not just by Pakistan but by most countries of the world: urban areas have better and cheaper broadband infrastructure than rural and remote areas.

Well how expensive is broadband in Pakistan? For instance in the US one can get the fiber-optic based broadband (5 Mbps) for $35 (about Rs. 2100) per month. In Lahore/Islamad/Karchi one would pay Rs.1000-2000 for a much slower connection with upper limits on usage volume. Who sets the broadband price and what are the criteria? Actually this is a topic of bitter dispute between PTA, the telecommunications regulatory body and PTCL, which till recently was the only service provider in Pakistan. PTCL is also referred to as the ‘Signifciant Market Player’ because of its incumbent status. See my previous post on battle of bandwidth rates.

These are the main controlling factors for broadband:

1. The role of government for deciding international bandwidth rates, oversight of service providers, and deregulation.
2. Role of private sector in making the necessary investments and providing acceptable service;
3. Market conditions (demand for bandwidth)

On a positive note, there is the recent announcement that World Bank has offered 125 Million USD to Pakistan to promote rural telephony. Excerpts below:

Minister for Information Technology Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari said rural tele-density in Pakistan stood at a dismal 1 per cent of the population and he was keen to take it to at least 5 per cent by 2010. The rural-urban divide is constantly widening as the mobile phone revolution is largely forced in the urban areas …

The minister said the government had identified four key areas, including basic rural telephony, broadband, e-services and content development, to focus on during the roll-out of the Universal Service Fund.

“Our aim is to provide at least 250,000 broadband connections and offer three major e-services within the next 12 to 18 months,” he said.

Read the full news item here. One of the first thing which comes to mind is the Grameen Phone in Bangladesh. I hope Pakistan will learn the lessons from them.

I plan to monitor this situation and post updates.

With some luck the Pakistani Internet user base may get a long overdue and much deserved break. That is, if the recent bandwidth rate cuts proposed by PTA are implemented and that’s where the battle is. Here’s a bit of history of the PTA vs. PTCL bandwidth rates controversy.

In an effort to accelerate the spread of broadband services in Pakistan, PTA cut bandwidth rates significantly in June and asked PTCL to apply the new tariff rates. This decision was based on a policy paper (PDF) by PTA in April – which concluded that lack of competition and high international bandwidth rates are harming consumers and businesses. The drastic reduction in bandwidth rates created a chain of events. Instead of complying with the PTA decision, the Etisalat-run PTCL took the legal course. In August, the Lahore High Court reversed the PTA decision on reduced bandwidth rates.

The chart below (taken from PTA paper referred above) shows the comparison of domestic leased circuit tariffs between India and Pakistan.

As reported by the Pakcdma site:

Based on the LHC verdict, the PTA has called the LDIs, ISPs, software companies’ representatives and PTCL for a review meeting on its determination. In its August 7 decision, the LHC gave the regulator 60 days to reach a fresh plan of bandwidth rate cut, which has been long over due for the Pakistani market.

The PTA was also directed to adopt the proper procedure for price determination by asking parties to submit and exchange their respective cases; holding a formal hearing; and issue fresh determination this time avoiding the pitfalls.

Read the PTCL response here. PTCL argued that the tariffs should be based on cost criteria.

Whatever the results may be, at least there is a process and some progress. Let’s hope for the best! Read the rest of this entry »

With the recent broadband deregulation, many new technologies and companies have started providing broadband services in Pakistan. The pricing, availability and service quality varies by geographic location. The results of annual Internet Service Provider Quality of Service survey by PTA is a good starting point, though it includes dialup service as well as broadband.

Below I provide a short summary of providers by technology. Comparing prices and plans is still a mind boggling task!

• DSL: A technology based on copper lines i.e using plain old phone service and a special modem – works only if you are within a couple of miles of the phone exchange.
o PTCL list of broadband providers
o A few players: Micronet, Dancom, Habib Rafiq International, Cybernet World Online, WOL, Paknet, Maxcom
o Sample Rates: Micronet – Islamabad – 256 Kbps for home for Rs 1000.

• Wireless / CDMA: Offers Internet access using CDMA tecnology – it is fixed or limited mobility network. See more here.
The dominant players are: WorldCall, DV Com, Telecard, Diallog.

• Wimax: Coming in 2007 (Warid, WorldCall). See my post for details.

• ISDN: By PTCL. Not conisdered consumer friendly in terms of application process and reliability. Details at http://www.ptcl.com.pk/isdn_bri.html

• Cable: Limited urban infrasturcture availability.

When this news broke in June it was covered by media around the world - after all its not often that Pakistan gets to be the testing ground for a brand-new technology. Sometimes it helps to be a latecomer in the game - you get to try out the latest trends without carrying the baggage from previous technologies which did not make the cut.

I find it ironic that the initiative is mainly controlled by Wateen (UAE) and Motorola ..  any Pakistani company or organization does not seem to be in the picture. Perhaps it is a good thing that the government is not involved in this (anymore than they really have to).

Here’s an excerpt from InformationWeek about this project: (full article)

Wateen Telecom, the major carrier in Pakistan, tapped Motorola to plan, design, and deploy the nationwide wireless broadband network as part of the country’s Broadband Pakistan effort to get Internet access to under-served areas. The company expects to support more than 1 million users, and Motorola’s initial deployment should be completed by year’s end.

The scale of this project sets it apart from prior implementations which are usually city-wide. If the project claims are realized this will provide a much needed relief to the broadband hungry Pakistani public. It is well-known that technology projects rarely go as planned but I’m keeping my fingers crossed …Go Wimax!

Learn more about the Wimax technology & standards here.