CONTENTS Leading Telecom News Magazine

CONTENTS MAY15-JUNE15, 2008

Interview:
Customers are Strength
Mr. Marwan Zawaydeh, CEO, Warid Telecom
14

Telecom:
Abu Dhabi Group - Top Foreign Investor in Pakistan 8
Shift in Telecom Tactics 10
Is Telecom Honeymoon Period Over? 11
Illegal Sale of SIMs 12
Neglected Post Paid Customers 16
Ericsson Showcased 3G Advantages 20
Telenor Doctor on Move 24
Zong-ing The Telecom 26
Nokia’s Debutant Customer Care Centre 28
NSN to Deploy NTC’s IP Backbone 34
Market Place 42
Nokia’s Bluewin TV for your Mobile 77
Cover Story: 46
PTCL’s Loot Sale? Cover Story:
Will the new government be able to save our national asset?
PTCL's Loot Sale? 46
Will the new government be able to save our national asset?

IT:
E Commerce industry in Pakistan 40
HP Mainframes Outplay in Asia 79
Future of Call Centers in Pakistan 85
Hactivism Roots in Pakistan 86

HR:
Human Factor Intelligence 75
Abu Dhabi Group - Top Foreign Investor in Pakistan | 8 The Challenge of Retention 83

Events:
Telecon 2008 Concludes in Karachi 18
TELETECX 2008 22
Reema Signed as Wateen’s Brand Ambassador 30
SUFI Festival Concluded 38
Canon Swept Lahore Digital Mela 67

Informative:
Coming Mobile 50
Current Mobile 52
Mobile Review 58
MOTO Masti 63
India Debuts with 3G Branded Phones 66

SUFI Festival Customers are Strength Briefs:

Concluded Mr. Marwan Zawaydeh, CEO, Warid Telecom National 88
38 14 International 97

Reema Signed as 30 India Debuts with 3G 66

4 Wateen’s Brand Ambassador Branded Phones Telecon 2008 Concludes in Karachi 18
 Sharing Infrastructure Becomes Vital
Power crisis is leaving worst financial impacts on telecom sector like

any other business domain of the country. With increasing competition,

decaying service prices, investment pressure for 3G rollout, emergence

of new players and growing operational expenses, power shortage in the

country has fanned the fire in shaking telecom investors. An immediate

and effective re-evaluation of business strategy should be carried out in

order to lessen the effects of this dilemma.

With considerable geographic spread and a populous rural track, tele-

com companies are working vigorously to expand their network reach to

far flung areas of the country. The current business scenario, where the

rise in cost of primary and uninterrupted power supply has amplified

enormously telecom companies must tie their hands together to share

their infrastructure to minimize the expenses.

Estimates, suggest that there are more than twenty thousand telecom

towers in he country that worth millions of dollars. Market study predicts

that at least twenty percent telecom towers are erected with no competi-

tor's presence, which can be shared amongst the cellular operators.

Telecom infrastructure sharing can not only shave the fat off an opera-

tor's capex but also opex costs as well, can be vital in coming days. All

operators' under the umbrella of government must unite to gain the ben-

efits of network sharing.

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6
Cellphone Snatching
THE newly-appointed IG, Sindh, has shown his resolve to curb street
crimes, specially the menace of cellphone snatching. It's a welcome sign
but needs an entirely new strategy to deal with it.
As a concerned citizen of Karachi, I would like to put forward a plan that
I believe can be highly effective in catching these criminals red-handed. The
police should appoint some of their own men as bate by getting them
dressed up in civilian dresses and asking them to stand at bus stands and
all those marked places where cellphone snatching takes place the most.
They should expose their cell phones and pretend to be in the middle of a
conversation.
I can bet they will be confronted by these cellphone snatchers and that
is the time when a team of undercover policemen, already watching this
activity from a distance, could catch the criminals red-handed.
It's like throwing bait and waiting for the catch. Twenty or 30 such exer-
cises will seriously curb this menace to a great extent provided our police
get serious about this issue.
Arsalan Faruqi, Karachi
Credit Card Theft
I feel sorry to say this, but there is no way to prevent credit card theft and
fraud. This is a multi-million-dollar crime all over the world, and banks/cred-
it card companies and governments, despite their best efforts, are unable
to stop it. However, banks/credit card companies all over the world, in their
greed, continue to advertise and sell credit cards and promote their use, as
this is very lucrative for them.
I would, therefore, advise credit card holders that there is only one way
to avoid credit card theft and fraud, and that is to stop using them.
Abid Shaikh, Karachi
PTCL Ordinary Broadband Service
Today, I read about PTCL's poor broadband service, and I want to
inform you that I am also the victim of same company. After applying for
PTCL broadband, I had to wait for two long months, before I received my
username and password from the installation team. Afterwards, I had to
wait for my DSL modem to reach me. This all process took almost three
months.
During these days, after the DSL was installed, due to some domestic
reason, I could not pay my phone bill. This resulted into disconnection of
my landline phone and the broadband as well. However, after paying the
bill, and contacting the customer centre, my phone got working but the
broadband was never restored. I don't know what procedure to follow, as
the help line guys do not respond to any of my call. Someone please help
me in this. Rizwan Ullah, via Email
Future of the Internet in Pakistan
The Internet industry in Pakistan has come a long way over the last eight
years. The market has now grown manifold with the largest majority of sub-
scribers in Karachi while the rest are almost evenly divided between Lahore
and Islamabad.
The question is: Is Pakistan ready to hop onto the bandwagon of infor-
mation disseminated through the Internet? New wireless WiMAX technolo-
gy shows it possibilities to achieve download speed of up to 65 Mbps at
close range to users. This would be sufficient to plug many of the gaps in
the Internet infrastructure quickly and at much lower cost and inconven-
ience than digging up roads to lay new cable.
This is the need of the hour that the government should help and work
in tandem with companies like Wateen Telecom for the promotion of WiMAX
so that all the able-bodied people of Pakistan residing in towns and cities
other than the three privileged ones mentioned above
Zill-e-Rehman Khan Niazi, Islamabad
Send us your letters at flare.mag@gmail.com or at our postal address. Flare reserves the right to edit letters for clarity and space.
Misuse of Cellphone SIMs
In developed countries one cellphone SIM is issued at a time to a per-
son after verification of proper credentials of user and a contract is signed
for a particular period between the service provider and a user during which
the user cannot break the contract.
In Pakistan various service providers issued uncounted cellphone SIMs
without proper documentation, which has created serious security threat
not only for the country but also for intelligence and law-enforcement agen-
cies.
Terrorists use cellphone SIMs to communicate among members of their
groups in order to plan and conduct acts of terrorism.
After two years the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has
asked service providers to block dubious SIMs by May 22. Out of a total of
81 million mobile phone subscribers, 7.4 million SIMs have been issued by
cellular companies on fake or non-verifiable documents while Nadra has no
details of 35 million SIMs in the country.
Cellular phone companies must accept the responsibility that they have
failed in keeping proper records of their subscribers due to which govern-
ment and various law-enforcement agencies are facing a lot of problems in
tracing the culprits.
Cellular phone companies should issue SIM cards only to such users
who possess computerized national identity cards. Moreover, users of
SIMs issued on old identity cards should be asked to submit a copy of
NADRA CNIC so that proper data should be maintained in NADRA's
records.
The policy of issuing 10 SIM cards in the name of one person is not
appropriate. To give leverage to a family who would like to be connected on
the same network, the application forms should clearly mention the names
of actual users and relationship with the person in whose name a SIM card
is issued. The service providers should also take a copy of CNIC of the
actual user.
As stolen and snatched cellphone sets are openly sold in the mobile
market, the government should devise a policy of "lost mobile tracking"
system to enable law-enforcement agencies to trace a lost, stolen or
snatched mobile phone set through satellite system and reach the culprits
within the shortest possible time.
Syed A. Mateen, Karachi
Always Neglected
This is to all HR managers of national and multinational companies.
They always claim in their ads, "We are equal opportunity owners", but the
opportunities are given to few who have degrees from the well-known uni-
versities. Candidates from interior districts are always neglected.
Pakistan's 75 per cent population belongs to middle class and lower class.
A majority of students get education from local universities and col-
leges, and they are very hard-working, talented and faithful and they will
certainly prove to be good employees if given a chance. They are, howev-
er, rejected, probably because they have domiciles of interior districts, as I
am in my own district.
I have applied twice in an oil and gas company but the company is not
ready to employ me even as a trainee technical. As a graduate, I still have
been looking for a job in my town. It is my earnest request to government
authorities, as well as to private companies, that we should be given equal
opportunities in every department.
Faheem Ahmed Ghaloo, Dadu
7
 F r e e D o w n l o a d | w w w. f l a r e . c o m . p k
Telecom Flare Report

Through the years, the Group has demonstrated great passion

by bringing billions of foreign investment which was
acknowledged by Pakistan

A
cknowledging the passion, that the Abu
Dhabi Group has demonstrated
through the years in bringing billions of
foreign investment in Pakistan; that not
only played pivotal role in maximizing
the living standards but also boosted the eco-
nomic scenario in country, the government of
Pakistan has officially declared the Abu Dhabi
Group as the "Largest Foreign Investor Group of
Pakistan", in an investment forum, Middle East
Pakistan Agriculture and Dairy Investment H.H. Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahayan, Chairman Abu Dhabi H.H. Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahayan, Chairman Abu Dhabi
Forum in Dubai. Group, addressing the forum. Group, receiving award from Mr. Naveed Qamar, Minister for
Privatization, Pakistan.

H.H. Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahayan, Chairman Abu Dhabi Group, responding to a question during the forum.

The Investment Forum was

The award was given by Mr. organized by MAP Services
Naveed Qamar, Federal Group, duly supported by Al
Minister for Privatization to H. Rabi Saudi Arabia, Tetra Pak,
H. Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al Nestle, DeLaval, Millac Foods
Nahayan, Chairman Abu Dhabi and Shakargunj Ltd. Pakistan
Group. Mr. Bashir A. Tahir, was listed as one of the major
CEO, Abu Dhabi Group, Mr. emerging markets in the world
Khursheed Mehmood Kasuri, economy, placing the country on
ex-Foreign Minister, Mr. Hafeez a list of 25 countries displaying
Sheikh, former Minister for continued "moderate to strong
Privatization were also present growth over a sustained period
at the occasion. The Award to of time". Morgan Stanley in its
Abu Dhabi Group is recognition June 2006 Economic Survey
by the Government of Pakistan reported about Pakistan "its
for operating in various eco- economy has been growing
nomic sectors in Pakistan. The quickly in recent periods and
Abu Dhabi Group has been a Dubai: H.H. Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahayan, Chairman Abu Dhabi Group after receiving the award at corporate direct investors have
harbinger of change and "Investment Forum" in Dubai. Mr. Naveed Qamar, Minister for Privatization, Mr. Khursheed Mehmood Kasuri, taken notice". It is important to
enhancement. It has always Ex-Foreign Minister, Mr. Hafeez Sheikh, former Minister for Privatization, and Management of MAPs, the note Meryll Linch stated that
taken initiatives to progress organizer of Investment Forum, also seen in the picture. "Political changes are not likely
unequaled in history and set innovation to new in addition to generous contributions in the to derail economic progress. Key sectors are
heights. Middle East Pakistan Agriculture and health and education sector of Pakistan. either deregulated or straight forward in terms of
Dairy Investment Forum is another step forward The forum's aim was to showcase Pakistan's desired direction".
in line with this vision. dairy and agriculture sector for the Middle East Pakistan's agri-sector's growth of 4.6 per-
Additionally, Pakistan's private sector also or Gulf investors and for compatible Pakistani cent, second only to China's 5 percent.
acknowledged the contributions of Abu Dhabi and Gulf business houses to exchange contacts, India and Malaysia have grown at 3 percent
Group. The group's investments include Bank experiences and network with a view of generat- and 3.1 percent respectively. The ROI in some
Alfalah, Warid Telecom International, Wateen ing interest in investments and JV opportunities of the dairy/agri products is one of the best not
8 Telecom International and United Bank Limited, in the sector. only in the region but also globally.






Telecom Flare Report
A
s mobile users become increasingly
aware of ups and downs of cellular
packages and tariffs, it is evident that
price war through low call rates is no
longer a viable strategy for mobile
operators. During the early days of the telecom
industry, call rates were the major deciding fac-
tor for switching or remaining with one's telecom
provider. However, as mobile telecom compa-
nies battle for supremacy, profit margins are hit-
ting bottom limits, resultantly companies are fast
shifting their focus from customer acquisition to
customer retention.
As telecom giants realign their marketing
strategies in this all out cellular war, they are
pulling out all stops. It is common to see lowest
ever call and SMS rates complimented through
mega-budget advertising campaigns, event
launches and high profile star endorsements,
The rise and demise of mobile
operators within the telecom
industry will now be judged
through Customer Service; no
longer focused solely on tar-
iffs, coverage or VAS
establishing "larger than life" campaign strate-
gies as a norm within the telecom industry.
However, in this cut-throat environment, such
campaigns are no longer the guarantee of suc-
cess and have lead industry players to increas-
ingly look for Value Added Services (VAS)
through which to entice customers.
Paradoxically, it is the phenomenon of falling call
rates and increasing VAS being juxtaposed with
fast rising customer expectations, which is creat-
ing a dilemma for these industry players.
10 If low call rates and VAS are no longer a
Cellular users' increased awareness has left no
room for operators to rely on low pricing strate-
gies or VAS to ensure customer loyalty. In current
scenario Customer Services has become vital that
will drive the fate of cellular companies
guarantee of customer loyalty and cannot pre-
vent churn, then how are the industry leaders to
maintain their advantage? In such an environ-
ment where the customer has become increas-
ingly knowledgeable and the bar is continuously
being raised through competition, the answer
can only be found in one area and that is the
arena of customer services.
The rise and demise of mobile operators
within the telecom industry will now be played on
another field, no longer focused solely on tariffs,
coverage or VAS. This new frontier shall be dis-
tinguished by the simple philosophy of a service
industry focusing on enhancing customer expe-
riences and developing them as the new gener-
ation of brand ambassadors. Simplistic as it may
seem, this philosophy has proven to be a mantra
for success stories the world over. Take for
example, the exceptional success of
McDonalds, which remains one of the most fre-
quented restaurants in the world. It owes its suc-
F r e e D o w n l o a d | w w w. f l a r e . c o m . p k
cess to the fact that they have constantly
exceeded customers' expectations; be it through
exciting new value promotions or the conven-
ience of designated play areas for children, and
consistently proving that they care for their cus-
tomers.
An example that aptly demonstrates perfect
execution of initiatives which enhance the cus-
tomer experience and ultimately exceed cus-
tomer's requirements is Mobilink. It is interesting
to note how the company has risen to the chal-
lenge to not only meet customers' expectations
but, pre-empt its growing customers' needs. The
example here is the introduc-
tion of their call centre
Customer Services in four
different regional and nation-
al languages; Pushto,
Sindhi, Urdu and English.
Once a customer calls they
are connected to an auto-
mated helpline, wherein the
pre-recorded voice prompt
options are offered in these
languages. Moreover, cus-
tomers also have the option
to speak to a customer serv-
ice representative in their
language of choice. With
more than half of the new
connections per year being
from the non-metropolitan
sectors of society, there is a
dire need to ensure that all
linguistic requirements are
met and the digital divide is
bridged.
Mobilink, wisely, has real-
izes the old adage of "customer is king" and is
seen to be channeling its efforts in this direction.
As the telecom war in Pakistan evolves it
remains to be seen who will exceed customers'
expectations and how fast they can achieve
it.





 F r e e D o w n l o a d | w w w. f l a r e . c o m . p k
T
elecom honeymoon era in Pakistan,
which lasted almost five years (2003-
2008), saw tremendous growth while
breaking almost every global record;
ranging from network expansions, num-
ber of subscribers to service pricings. During
these years, Pakistan consumers enjoyed the
benefits of cellular wireless technology for easy,
better and quick access
to their communication.
They warmly welcomed
and embarrassed new
means of inexpensive
communication com-
pared to older landline
based infrastructure.
The investors, tele-
com businesses and
Pakistani treasury - all
made good bucks and
it was a win-win situa-
tion. However, sadly
though, it seems like
that the golden period
for Pakistan telecom is
going to be over soon.
The spike in tele-
density and correspon-
ding load on the new
infrastructure is caus-
ing a number of service
issues. To add fuel to
fire the telecom rates
for calls to Pakistan
and within Pakistan, in
case of PTCL, have started rising, causing a lot
of concerns.
There are number of factors that lie under
this particular discussion, which support the
logic of the topic as well. The Pakistan
Telecommunication Authority (PTA) recently
increased Approved Settlement Rate (ASR) by
100 per cent, which has made calling to
Pakistan more expensive. Immediate reactions
can be categorized in following points.

Grey Traffic likely to get doubled if not multi-
ple fold, despite the equipment and procedures
available to block any illegal traffic through VoIP

LDI may increase origination rates as well

Yet more regulation! PTA stays relevant to
pricing

Market pricing would take a back seat
Operators who are observing serious
declines in their revenues, such as PTCL, have
started finding alternate ways and tricks to grab
the money from customers. Landline call rates
going uphill, is a clear demonstration of opera-
tor's intentions. Forced activation of Pakistan
Package, voice mail, line rent on PTCL wireless,
are other instances found where PTCL tried to
recollect its dropping financial statement's posi-
Like any other business domain that trembled
after some years of sensational gain, such as call-
ing cards, dial-up internet service providers and
others, the symptoms for gradual telecom decay
have started appearing
tion.
Another element that is a direct hit on cus-
tomers' pocket is helpline calls, which are not
free anymore.
Charging help line (call centre) calls was a
unique idea, never ever implemented before
anywhere in the world. Charging helpline calls is
largely considered a wrong step when the serv-
ice providers' websites are
either with in-complete
information or a large
amount of population have
no access to internet.
Almost every cellular com-
pany bears a bunch of
packages, which at times creates good ambigu-
ity, charging calls which are made to their con-
tact centre seems a purposeful step leading
towards some money generating tool.
With very limited population
having access to service
providers' website, thus limit-
ed information about products
and services, charging help
line call is largely considered
as an unethical business move
Beyond these technical ways, telecom com-
panies also tend to rely on deceptive marketing
strategies to leave a physiological impact on
customers' minds. Aggressive marketing cam-
paign and advertisement displaying 50 paisa, 3
paisa, 1 paisa call rates normally does not
include 15 percent CED. These advertising cam-
paigns try to one-up other competitors; the
Ismail Qureshi Telecom
advertisements emphasize the lowest possible
rate to grab attention.
Over the years mobile service packages
have become difficult to understand. It used to
be pre-pay & postpay and in-network & out-of-
network plans few years ago. Now we see the
option of lower price for pre-defined numbers
(usually in-network) such as family and friends,
this offer is available with almost all cellular com-
panies. The rates advertised are usually based
on lowest billing duration (say 30 seconds) or for
friend and family circle. In reality the low rates
being advertised come with many conditions,
such as specific time for any specific rate, on-
net/off-net call rates. To figure it out one has to
read the fine print carefully.
Some people hold the view that given the
tremendous progress made, telecom situation in
Pakistan is not justified. Yes, there have been
great advances made but if we do not fix the
structural issues early on, we will lose much of
that progress. Left unchecked we may even
regress to a point where there's plenty of com-
petition but consumers end up without the serv-
ices they deserve at a fair price. Broadband is
an appropriate example. The public has been
tormented with poor service and caps on the
usage.
Effective regulatory measures, consumer
protection laws and a code of ethics can keep
the telecom sector on the right track, for the bet-
terment of the consumers and the national econ-
omy alike.





11
 F r e e D o w n l o a d | w w w. f l a r e . c o m . p k
Telecom Azhar Javed

New government has already started showing its concern over the issue
of illegal SIMs. Despite repetitive, but, let's term them unserious, efforts
PTA has failed to cap the illegal sale of mobile connections. While
reviewing the situation, Sub-Committee of Senate Standing Committee
on Interior has strictly asked PTA to direct cellular companies to get 35
million unregistered mobile SIMs registered by June 30 and block anoth-
er 7.4 million SIMs, obtained on fake documents by end of May

T
he issue of un-registered mobile phone
connections was first pointed out earlier
last year, when a close connection
between such anonymous SIMs and ter-
rorist activities was unveiled. Current
government has already shown its concern over
the issue, as only in its first month, the new gov-
ernment's Sub-Committee of Senate Standing
Committee on Interior has asked Pakistan
Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to direct cel-
lular companies to get 35 million unregistered
mobile SIMs registered by June 30 and block
another 7.4 million SIMs, obtained on fake doc-
uments by May 22.
Chairman of the Committee, Senator Talha
Mehmood stressed these directives after the
meeting and emphasized that if cellular compa-
nies do not abide by the directions, each of them
would be fined Rs 350 million
The Senate Body on Interior was informed
that there are as many as 35 million unverified
active mobile SIMs out of a total 81 million
issued SIMs.
The Sub-Committee also directed PTA to
ensure issuance of not more than 10 SIMs on
one ID card and take strict action against viola-
tors. The committee also constituted a four-
member body comprising members of PTA,
NADRA, Interior Ministry, cellular companies
and Ministry of IT to work out strategy for online
verification of mobile SIMs.
Additionally, the committee said that it would
also prepare a code of conduct to check the
immoral advertisements on the electronic media
by the mobile companies. The Committee also
asked the mobile companies to give their audit
reports to Senate Standing Committee on
Interior so that it could be determined that how
much investment they have brought in so far.
The meeting was also attended by Senators
Raziq Khan, Gulshan Saeed, Sadia Abbasi and
Dr. Abdul Khaliq Pirzada, Interior Secretary
Syed Kamal Shah, Chairman PTA and NADRA
and representatives of Ministry of IT and mobile
companies also present in the meeting.
The committee asked the PTA and cell-
phone companies to develop software to moni-
tor the issuance of multiple SIMs on same
name, furthermore cellular companies must
make sure that SIMs are being sold through
authorized outlets only.
Pakistan Telecommunication Authority has
failed to combat against the unauthorised sub-
scriber identity module (SIM) business in the
12 country. It was a routine by PTA to issue direc-
tives to cell phone service provider companies to
not to issue unauthorized SIMs to the sub-
scribers but it could never happen so.
The Senate Body on Interior in
its meeting was informed that
there are as many as 35 mil-
lion unverified active mobile
SIMs out of total 81 million
issued SIMs
Many of news item published in the national
media suggests the use of 'illegal mobile SIMs'
in the criminal and terrorist activities, the govern-
ment has given a special task to the police to
stop the sale of SIMs from shops other than only
the registered franchises or sales & service cen-
ters of cellular companies.
These SIMS are easily available at unautho-
rised general stores, medical stores and
other grocery shops, which is illegal. The
instructions were issued in the wake of
reports that some hardened criminals had
used dozens of mobile SIMs at a time in
the criminal activities. The police investiga-
tion officers also took into custody some
mobile SIMs from the possession of the
criminals, which they had used in high pro-
file crimes.
They got these SIMs from the shop-
keepers, mobile phone shops and general
stores that were not authorised to sale the
SIMs. During investigations it was found
that mostly these SIMS were purchased
on fake documents.
The police officials are being directed to
collect information about the Franchised
License Holders of all the cellular compa-
nies in their respective areas. The IGP
Punjab was informed that misuse of
mobile SIMs of the cellular companies
operating in the country, was a major
source in orchestrating crimes. The Punjab
police said that its not an easy task to find
and trace out the criminals who mostly
used the mobile SIMS and later discard it
after completing their targets.
It is learnt that the mobile SIMS busi-
ness is very fruitfull and being carried out
by thousands of shops, general stores,
even at medical stores. The sale of mobile
SIMs from these informal sale points actu-
ally violating the rules of Pakistan
Telecommunication Authority.
A code of conduct was already issued by the
PTA to the license franchise holders of cellular
companies under Section 109 of PTA. The fran-
chise/sales outlet staff are being directed to ask
the customer his original National Identity Card
(NIC) and its copy, particulars of two other per-
sons including copies of their NICs, and land line
numbers as a reference and copy of customer's
utility bill (water or electricity or gas, or tele-
phone).
The police has raided and arrested dozens
people who were found involved in selling unau-
thorized SIMs. However, all these tricks could
not stop the illegal sale of such SIMs.
We have to wait and see if the current
actions and directives by Senate Sub-
Committee can make any difference in the sce-
nario. But there is no doubt that cellular compa-
nies will have to play the key role despite of just
the counting the hits.






Interview Flare Report
Mr. Marwan Zawaydeh
CEO, Warid Telecom
Mr. Marwan Zawaydeh, CEO, Warid
Telecom, is known for actively pro-
moting world-class cutting-edge
technologies in the communication
industry in Pakistan, Middle East
and internationally. He is an elec-
tronic engineer with 25 years of
experience at Etisalat in telecom-
munication including transmission,
switching, access, mobile, internet,
e-commerce and CATV. He held
various senior level positions and
from 1996 onwards, he served as
Senior Executive Vice President,
Engineering Department of Etisalat.
Mr. Zawaydeh significantly con-
tributed towards the successful
launch of Warid GSM network in
Pakistan in addition to rolling out
the network covering 28 cities in a
short span of seven months.
Flare: How do you view the country's telecom
sector?
Marwan Zawaydeh: Abu Dhabi Group felt
the need to diversify their investment portfolio in
Pakistan, primarily because of the huge poten-
14
tial we saw in the telecommunications sector. If
you look at Pakistan's telecom scenario you will
see that the country has an enormous popula-
tion with reasonable tele-density level. We see a
growing economy going through a positive struc-
tural change. According to world surveys,
Pakistan's demographic dividend amounts to
100 million persons are below the age of 25 out
of 160 million.
Despite the efforts made by all the operators
in Pakistan, rural coverage is still lacking and
Warid Telecom is committed to extend its cover-
age to all towns, villages and roads of the coun-
try.
Flare: In your opinion, what is driving this
growth?
Marwan Zawaydeh: Pakistan has been
experiencing a boom in its economy, especially
when compared to other developing nations, in
recent years and this growth can be sensed in
Pakistan's cellular market as well.There are
three factors driving this growth: telecom poli-
cies by the government, increased coverage by
the operator and the launch of new products and
solutions.
The telecom industry has grown tremen-
dously of what it was few years ago, however we
still expect the challenges ahead. We pray and
hope that the good work that has been done in
such a short span of time would continue and all
stakeholders will perform at their best to tape the
potential in the market.
The growth in the telecom sector however,
cannot only be related to economic performance
of the country. A key aspect of this growth has
been the consistency of Government's econom-
F r e e D o w n l o a d | w w w. f l a r e . c o m . p k
ic policies and the role played by Pakistan
Telecommunication Authority (PTA).
Flare: What trends are you seeing in the mar-
ket?
Marwan Zawaydeh: It is the time for reten-
tion of existing customers and network expan-
sion. All operators are trying extremely hard to
keep the customers they have. Currently, the
market situation suggests that ccustomers will
settle for the operator who will provide them with
the quality services at low cost. It must be noted
that it is not just the price game but the experi-
ence of the subscriber as a whole.
Getting more customers on your network is
not really the most difficult part; in fact the real
test is to retain existing customers. You may
observe that subscribers are not loyal anymore,
and that is natural because they would like to
migrate where they can have the best experi-
ence. The operators would put up their best
efforts to improve the customer experience on
their network and provide customers with quali-
ty services through their business centres, call
centres and franchises.
The other important factor is the content
service, you get the news, headlines of the day,
prayer timings, weather updates, finance
updates, religion section, gaming section, multi-
media downloads and a bunch of other services
which are getting more and more popular. We
also foresee more usage of GPRS/Edge data
technology for high speed data applications and
messaging service.
Flare: How is GSM and fixed line coverage in
Pakistan?
Marwan Zawaydeh: GSM is extremely pop-
 F r e e D o w n l o a d | w w w. f l a r e . c o m . p k
ular in Pakistan. The people have clearly
expressed their preference to GSM over other
means of voice communication due to its advan-
tages. The affordability and freedom that GSM
has to offer makes it an extremely attractive
need for the Pakistani people.
Mobile and fixed network convergence can
take place only for operators who are deploying
NGN (Next Generation Network) technology
which will provide IP based Core Network and
different type of wire & wireless access tech-
nologies.
Flare: What is your vision as the leading telecom
player ?
Marwan Zawaydeh: Competition is always
taken as a good element as, ultimately, it is ben-
eficial for the end user. God-willing, we have
now made our commitments to become a credi-
ble challenger to all other operators through
excellent services and rapidly expanding cover-
age commitments. Once we have our expansion
plans in place throughout the country, we see
only the sky as our limit.
Flare: How is competition in the sector? Are
there any moves to increase competition?
Marwan Zawaydeh: In this competitive mar-
ket of five GSM operators, it is important that we
deliver something that is innovative and unique
in experience. Our proposition is offering best
quality at competitive rates. We are building a
base of satisfied customers, which will help us
expand. Warid Telecom has the advantage of
starting from a brand new network from day one
to support our customers. Mobile Number
Portability (MNP) also puts more pressure on
operators as the customers can port in or port
out without any hassle based on their good or
bad experiences.
Warid would create a difference through its
superior service and pioneering approach. We
came with very clear objective to create a quali-
ty network with affordability, ease to use and
transparency for the customer. We are commit-
ted to cover every nook and corner of Pakistan,
not just the major cities and towns.
Flare: What challenges do you see in telecom
sector?
Marwan Zawaydeh: The mobile industry
has been around much longer than the current
surge of the telecommunications boom, it sug-
gests that it has been able to meet the chal-
lenges that have been arising over the time.
Some common characteristics of mobile indus-
try are flexibility, cost savings, and mobility.
Gone are the days when mobile phones were a
novelty or icon of the future, and have become a
potential staple in the communications toolkit. It
is one industry that is developing by days.
Some key challenges for the industry are low
ARPU and low usage of data services due to
lack of exposure and insufficient knowledgeable
customer base. Today's consumers need the
most comprehensive portfolio from value added
products to brand loyalties. On the other hand,
our consumers need to be educated about the
utilisation of new products and services offered.
Another challenge for the mobile industry in
Pakistan is the shortage of commercial power in
many cities and villages. This makes it even
more difficult and challenging for the operators
as it slows down the network rollout and also
increases operational cost.
Flare: How are companies trying to overcome
them?
Marwan Zawaydeh: Warid is all prepared to
face and overcome these challenges for all
future endeavours. There is a need to build a
culture of partnership between the government
and businesses as they provide benefits in
shape of revenue and employment generation.
We also expect government to support in site
acquisitions and provision of commercial power.
The introduction of alternate revenue
streams including mobile internet access,
mobile banking, and other innovative services
will be a major focus for all operators. We are
proud to be amongst the innovation pioneers
from day one of our launch. Our offers have
ranged from zero line-rent on postpaid pack-
ages, friends and family packages, low interna-
tional dialing rates, on-net and off-net free min-
utes, SMS-only international roaming,
International roaming, GPRS roaming, multiple
billing options, customizable voice options, and
other VAS packages. Warid is also known for
providing the best voice quality, unrivaled con-
nectivity and a reliable billing system. Our "e-top
up" facility and USSD balance confirmation
report to our prepaid subscribers have helped to
build our reputation as an honest and trustwor-
thy service-provider.
Warid Telecom Pakistan recently entered into
a strategic alliance with Singapore Telecom
whereby which SingTel has acquired a 30% per-
cent equity stake in Warid Telecom Pakistan.
This strategic partnership was formed to support
Warid Telecom continued growth, enhance its
market position in Pakistan's telecom market
and also to potentially provide Warid Telecom
International with access to territories where
Singapore Telecom has its presence.
Warid Telecom International has become one
of the successful regional GSM operators by
launching three more new GSM networks in
Bangladesh, Uganda and Congo within a short
span of 3 years.
Flare: What do your operations in Pakistan con-
sist of?
Interview
Marwan Zawaydeh: Warid Telecom is
owned by the Abu Dhabi Group, led by His
Highness Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al
Nahayan. Abu Dhabi Group's other successful
investments in Pakistan besides Warid Telecom
includes Bank Alfalah, United Bank Limited,
Taavun, Wateen Telecom and Raseen technolo-
gies.
Flare: What have been the most significant
recent milestones for the company?
Marwan Zawaydeh: Warid Telecom has
achieved the milestone of 15 million subscribers
on our third anniversary in May 2008.
Furthermore, we have achieved highest number
of post paid subscribers with strong reputation
for the best quality network and right on track by
deploying latest technology in the GSM network.
More than 75 indoor building solutions have
been completed, providing a very good signal
strength and high quality of service to airports,
hotels and other commercial buildings.
Despite the fast growth and subscribers base
Warid maintains a very high quality of service
based on the international standards in all cities
and roads where we operate. Currently we have
a nationwide network of 25 state-of-the-art sales
and customer services centres, 271 franchisees
and more than 8400 retain outlets to serve our
subscribers.
Warid Telecom is also providing one of the
largest and continuously growing International
Roaming network in over 128 destinations with
roaming partnerships with 197 global operators.
This results in premium connectivity and the
optimal experience for our loyal users.
Flare: What are your main business objectives
in Pakistan?
Marwan Zawaydeh: Our Chairman, His
Highness Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al
Nahayan, has always placed a very heavy
importance on quality and human resource
development. This means for Warid to increase
investment in expanding our GSM network using
latest technology and on development of our
human resource.
We feel that service and value for money are
the most important factors to compete and
remain at the top of the market. Our market
share goals are simple: to be the leading opera-
tor in Pakistan. With the grace of God, we have
set an astonishing milestone by gaining so many
customers in such a short period of time. We
want to be the number one operator, to achieve
this goal we have to focus on the quality of serv-
ice, customer satisfaction and motivation of our
valued team members.
Flare: How do mobile phone operators in
Pakistan view the possibility of launching 3G serv-
ices in Pakistan?
Marwan Zawaydeh: Currently, the Pakistani
market is not ready for 3G. On the average, 3G
sets cost over 20,000 Rupees. This makes 3G
services a commodity for very few people. The
feasibility of 3G services in Pakistan will depend
very much on the license fee as well as network
rollout cost.
Broadband connectivity and high speed data
services can be offered by Mobile operators
using GPRS/Edge technology which requires
minimum investment and most of the available
handsets in the market to support GPRS/Edge
technology.





15
 F r e e D o w n l o a d | w w w. f l a r e . c o m . p k
Telecom Aamir Attaa

Cellular companies are enjoying the pre-paid flood, thus neglecting

post-paid community. Today, mostly pre-paid packages are more fruit-
ful than of post-paid. While, we also see a shift, where post-paid sub-
scribers are switching to pre-paid plans

O
nly couple of year ago, bearing a post *Rs. 5 per hour, on all
paid connection was considered a on-net calls made after
high profile element, and as a status 11:00 PM and before
symbol. Then people used to judge 7:00AM
other's status by the type of connec- **Different Rates at dif-
tion one had. It was then a highly praised ele- ferent Times
ment, and deservingly so, as post-paid cos- Note: All prices are
tumers used to get lot of attention and exclusive of 15 % CED
care from telecom operators; in *Rs. 1.25/minute is charged in addition to air- Remarks:
terms of services and the advan- time charges for calls to other mobile Healthy, useful packages…with ladies first, the
tages as well. networks, and Rs. 0.52/minute will lovers' package, other wise, jazz budget
Post paid customers, who are be charged in addition to impressed me. And if you are SMS buddy, then
no doubt very small in num- airtime charges for select Jazz Octane.
bers, easily shares the opti- Special Note: You can get Unlimited
mum part of revenues gener- SMS for 1 month for Rs. 100 or 500 SMS for Rs.
ated per head ratio (what 50, or 100 SMS for Rs. 15 as well ; - )
we say it, Average Comparison
Revenue per User, Post-Paid subscribers can easily get jealous
ARPU). of pre-paid folks; the way they are getting treats
World over, it is is incredible. It is to be noted that pre-paid pack-
observed that post- ages keep on changing every 3rd if not 2nd
paid costumers get
least paying pack-
ages, mainly
depending on
the amount of
monthly rent
they pay to
operators.
T h e s e calls to
attractive fixed lines Lowest SMS rate for Mobilink
p o s t Note: A l l
p a i d
tariffs
prices are exclu-
sive of 15 % CED
post-paid plans is 20 paisa and
not Remarks:
Seems, you pay your
that is for 'Freedom Unlimited'
line rent for your free
minutes…other than when you pay 5000 monthly
that, air time seems good,
but off net calls are simply rent, on other hands, you are
expensive, take this
o n l y Freedom Plan 3, with 400 line offered 20 Paisa/SMS on a free
surround the rent, you will have to pay 2.50
voice traffic, but the for your off net calls, 15% CED pre-paid package Jazz Octane
data traffic is also offered will make Rs. 2.88 for your off-net
at inexpensive rates. calls. Freedom unlimited pack-
However, the scenario, in a gradual ages are maybe only used at PCOs month. Or they keep on getting bundle offer
form, started transforming and now the situ- or for top executives, (pardon, I had every month. But what's there for the post-paid
ation is entirely opposite to what it was few years to relate two entirely different classes ones? high line rent? high calling rates? Over
back. Today, offerings are very limited with least under one package) so lets forget them. charging?
benefits for post paid users when compared to Mobilink Pre Paid (as of May 9, 2008) In such a situation, only option left for post
pre-paid ones. paid subscribers is to quit
We can not develop an equation to directly and shift to pre-paid plans,
compare the both type of packages for all cellu- as cellular companies
lar companies, due to line rent and other con- seems enjoying them with
straints, but if we summarize the difference in a pre-paid flood.





tabular form, the picture looks like below for
Mobilink packages.
16 Mobilink Post Paid (As of May 9, 2008)
 F r e e D o w n l o a d | w w w. f l a r e . c o m . p k
Event Flare Report

18
F r e e D o w n l o a d | w w w. f l a r e . c o m . p k
Event

19
 Flare Report F r e e D o w n l o a d | w w w. f l a r e . c o m . p k
Event

Ericsson's technology and thought leadership in Pakistan Telecom Industry continues to thrive
as the 3G - Taking You Forward Roadshow arrives in Lahore and Islamabad. For the first time
in Pakistan, telecom stakeholders have the opportunity to experience virtual 3G applications.
Ericsson is playing host to more than 300 representatives from telecom operators, regulators
and media of Pakistan. The Roadshow aims at showing the business opportunity for 3G and
at creating awareness and simulating richer user experience with mobile broadband

P
akistan's phenomenal mobile experience of today
penetration growth, with mobile with GPRS/EDGE net-
density at 52%, has shown that works with that of
people prefer to be mobile. There HSPA networks.
are over 82.5 million mobile sub- Innovative applications
scribers in Pakistan while total teledensity like Clickable World,
is at 56.70%. Ericsson's recent consumer Me-on-TV, Turner
lab studies show that 50% of the 20,000 Media to name a few
consumers interviewed in Asia Pacific were also shown which
would like their broadband to work every- enable not only faster
where, also on the move. By 2010, more access but richer user
than one billion end-users will have access experience to media
to broadband services, both via fixed and and entertainment to
mobile networks. users through their
This opens a wide market for high mobiles. "The improved
speed communication and converged serv- user experience will
ices between networks. Analysts predict drive increased data
that mobile data will take up rapidly in the usage which in turn will
next few years, fuelled by an increasing Islamabad: Marketing Director Ericsson, Jermy Foster addresses a press conference at help operators increase
Pakistan National Council of Arts.
adoption of open approach to the mobile their revenues" said Mr.
internet, flat-rate data pricing and ongoing HSPA networks across the globe with varying Zibber Mohiuddin
deployment of 3G HSPA networks. The evolu- focus from coverage to capacity and what oper- Ericsson is a strong partner of progress for
tion of HSPA networks to Long Term Evolution ators in Pakistan can learn from the experience.
(LTE) has already been defined by 3GPP (the The roadshow also covered all aspects of tech-
Third-Generation Partnership Project) and is an nology and business that need to be considered
integral part of the full service broadband con- and planned for while rolling out a mobile broad-
cept. Several of the leading global operators band network.
have already committed to LTE and have initiat- 'Mobile broadband offers a wealth of possibil-
ed trials. ities for consumers, from improved health care,

"Mobile broadband offers a

wealth of possibilities for con-
sumers, which will bring us a
step closer towards becoming
an information-rich society" Mr.
Zibber Mohiuddin, President and
Country Manager, Ericsson
Pakistan Director Marketing Middle East Jermy Foster briefs the media
persons about the new product of Ericsson 3G.

Ericsson is the first to bring a demo of the 3G
concept to Pakistan. A 3G Roadshow held fea-
turing the possibilities that 3G can offer via live
applications. Over the course of three days at
Pakistan National Council of Arts (PNCA)
Islamabad, leading players from operators, reg-
ulator, government bodies, press and media par-
ticipated in the roadshow and were exposed to
real time applications. Ericsson also shared the
industry trends and regional uptake of mobile
broadband. In addition, Ericsson recounted its
20 vast experience of helping its customers roll out
security and better access to education to per-
sonal communication and access, information
and entertainment -all of which will bring us a
step closer towards becoming an information-
rich society' said Mr. Zibber Mohiuddin,
President and Country Manager, Ericsson
Pakistan (Pvt) Ltd.
"Bringing mobile broadband services to the
people of the country will realize our vision of
Communication for All" he continued.
A number of applications were demonstrated
during the roadshow which compared the user
A model shows 3G cellular phones of Sony Ericsson Company
during a ceremony at Pakistan National Council of Arts.
the Pakistan telecommunications industry. For
over forty four years, Ericsson has been active-
ly contributing towards the advancement and
evaluation of telecommunications in the country.
The 3G Roadshow is yet another testimony of
Ericsson's commitment to taking Pakistan for-
ward.





 F r e e D o w n l o a d | w w w. f l a r e . c o m . p k
Event Azhar Javed

TELTECX 2008 successfully provided the private, corporate and

institutional investor with comprehensive information about
investment optometry available and brought together the key
stakeholders with the telecom industry to form new business
alliances, share business practices, form high net worth partner-
ships and interact with individual customers on a personal basis

T
wo-day TELETECX 2008 exhibition held The event also attracted a large number of works; our experienced team of engineers could
in Lahore to discuss and review the tele- trade visitors of IT products and services, prov- implement the projects successfully and in a
com marketplace and potential and ing to be a one-stop shop for internet and timely fashion.
challenges that it has got for upcoming telecommunication technologies and solutions In today's competitive environment, one can-
years mainly focusing Wateen Telecom to empower the Asian economy. not afford to gamble on the quality of business
who organized the exhibition as well. This tech- The Nexlinx people said that the visitors communications, if you still are accessing the
nology and telecom expo was inaugurated by walked on to their stalls as their expertise in Internet through another provider, maybe its
Principal Officer US Consulate Bryan D. Hunt. building networks from the ground up has been time for you to switch over.
Pakistan has got the fastest growing telecom unmatched by any other provider. Company's The event mainly targeted the business driv-
markets, not in cellular domain but also in broad- representative said that they had successfully en, executive level exhibits, which are targeted
band and other communication mediums too. completed various data communications infra- specifically at entrepreneurs, as well as institu-
Wateen has significantly played its role while structure projects ranging from long-range wire- tional investors and is dedicated to providing
witnessing promising growth since its consumer
launch in December 2007.
The event aimed at revolutionizing the use of
technology in today's fast paced world and
focuses on promoting the Pakistani technology
industry to the international-level. Information
technology experts and telecom companies
demonstrated at the conference catering to the
demand of consumer electronics, presents with
a one-stop window to meet with all those seek-
ing answers and solutions in the area.
On the first day, the large number of the peo-
ple visited the exhibition and asked many ques-
tions to the exhibitors and stallholders. The visi-
tors remarked that the event provided a platform
to investors, decision makers and managers
besides other stakeholders to share their ideas
as well as exchange views about current and Yawar Irfan addressing on the occasion of Teletecx exhibition
future trends in the telecommunication sector.

Wateen Telecom stall at TELETECX 2008 exhibition organised by Wateen Telecom Nasran Manullah, Saba, Sara, Amir Rashid and others standing on the stall of Wateen during a two-day TELETECX exhibition

less networks to entire fibre them with comprehensive information on the

Pakistan has got the fastest growing tele- backbones for large campuses.
com markets and Wateen has been expe- They said that the visitors
were told that whether they
riencing promising growth since its con- needed require expertise in
fibre optics, copper transmis-
22 sumer launch in December 2007 sion, infrared or wireless net-
opportunities hidden in the Pakistani industry.
The TELTECX 2007 showcased a wide
range of local and international exhibitors. The
event acted as a forum for IT, Telecom and
Technology developers and marketers to create
new opportunities.
 F r e e D o w n l o a d | w w w. f l a r e . c o m . p k
Event

People visited Zong stall at TELETECX 2008 exhibition organised by Wateen Telecom Kenwood Electronics displayed products at TELETECX 2008 exhibition organised by Wateen Telecom

Ufone stall at TELETECX 2008 exhibition organised by Wateen Telecom LAHORE, A view of HP stall at TELETECX 2008 exhibition organised by Wateen Telecom

According to the organizers, the peripheral devices, Telecom related equipment,

TELTECX 2008 successfully provided
the private, corporate and institutional
investor with comprehensive informa-
tion about investment optometry avail-
able and brought together the key
stakeholders with the telecom industry
to form new business alliances, share
business practices, form high net
worth partnerships and interact with
individual customers on personal
basis.
The exhibitors profile consisted of
consumer electronics, all types of serv-
ice providers in Telecom and IT areas,
all types of Telecom and IT equipment,
software and hardware companies,
mobile companies, software houses,
Raffles Computer officials at TELETECX 2008 exhibition. internet service providers, educational
institutions, calling card companies,
books related to IT and Telecom sectors, solu-
tion providers, engineering technology manufac-
tures, auto-technology manufactures and hard-
ware technology manufactures.
There are good omen that some mega
events that take place annually, one is ITCN
Asia. The three days exhibition of unrivalled
products and technologies - a showcase for the
best the Asian IT community has to offer. ITCN
Asia is destined to be one-stop shop for Internet
technologies and solutions to empower the
Asian economy. Another is Connect Pakistan,
an annual interaction between global IT &
Telecom industry professionals, is being organ-
ized by Pegasus Consultancy, the pioneering
and leading B2B Conferences & Exhibition
(C&E) organiser in Pakistan. The event is
scheduled to take place from May 15 - 17 2008
at Karachi Expo Centre.

Yahoo Shares Sink after Microsoft's exit

Yahoo Inc's shares tumbled as much as 20 per- Microsoft shares rose 2.6 percent on relief that it
cent after Microsoft Corp withdrew its $47.5 billion was not willing to overpay for Yahoo, while Google
take-over offer, wiping about $7.6 billion off the rose 2.2 percent." The terminated Microsoft/Yahoo
Internet company's market capitalization and piling negotiations eliminate the risk for now of a stronger
pressure on its leadership. online advertising competitor to Google,
In the aftermath, Internet search leader Google Yahoo has been testing an advertising partner-
Inc seemed poised to reap the gains of the missed ship that would give arch-rival Google part of its
deal, which would have been one of the biggest search listings. While some on Wall Street see this
mergers in the technology sector and may have is a potential way out for Yahoo, it also represents a
threatened Google's steady expansion on the Web. new fringe benefit to Google.

23

Telecom Flare Report
Now you can get the advantage of your tele-doctor even if you
are in a far flung area of Pakistan; and that too at a very nom-
inal fee of Rs. 8 per minute. Telenor's Tele-Doctor is introduced
to provide Telenor Pakistan subscribers easy and instant access
to medical advice wherever and whenever needed
T
elenor Pakistan, has announced the
commercial launch of its mobile medical
service, "Telenor Tele Doctor 1911" - the
first service of its kind in the industry.
The service aims to provide Telenor
Pakistan subscribers easy and instant access to
medical advice wherever and whenever needed.
The service provides Telenor Pakistan sub-
scribers 24/7 telephonic access to qualified and
experienced General Practitioners. These online
Tele Doctors will be able to provide Telenor
Pakistan subscribers with basic health informa-
tion, medical advice and laboratory report inter-
pretation in local languages of the subscribers'
preference, in addition to Urdu and English.
Female callers wishing to talk to female doctors
will also be facilitated. These preferences will be
provided to callers via a specially designed call
forwarding facility.
Tele Doctor 1911 service is designed to pro-
I
ndustrial Information Network conducted
seminar at Karachi Peshawar, Sialkot
chamber of Commerce, in collaboration with
Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry
on "B2B E-commerce in Pakistan. The pur-
pose of seminar was to create awareness on IIN
new portal http://b2b.iin.com.pk and its services,
and how the chamber members can facilitate
from it. Seminar started with a welcome speech
by President of KCCI Mr. Shamim Ahmed
Shamsi. He appreciated the efforts of IIN and
the Business-to-Business services that are
offered. President of KCCI Mr. Shamim Ahmed
Shamsi presented the awarding shield to
Salman Khalid Project Director of IIN.
Chambers executive body and SMEs attend-
ed the seminar in large number. After the short
welcome speech Mr. Salman Khalid gave the
presentation on IIN. IIN, Awareness session was
quite interactive where awareness was provided
on IIN Business-to-Business trading portal serv-
24 ices, Pakistan's positions in the global cyber
vide callers with an assessment of symptoms
and complete answers to medical health-related
questions based on internationally accepted and
recognized medical decision-making protocols.
The service will also provide online access to
Tele Doctors with medical records of previous
callers to facilitate better follow-up.
Telenor Tele Doctor is all set to establish new
benchmarks for corporate social responsibility in
the industry as it provides valuable expert med-
ical advice to Telenor Pakistan subscribers at
Rs. 8+tax per minute against regular doctor vis-
its at almost Rs.500. The service has been for-
mally endorsed by the Ministry of Health, Sindh.
Chief Marketing Officer Telenor Pakistan
Lars-Christian Iuel describes the service as a
'new concept in Medical Advisory Service':
"Telenor Tele Doctor 1911 service has been
launched to give our valued subscribers all over
Pakistan personalized attention, especially
economy
were pre-
sented; so
the audi-
ence real-
izes the
importance
of cyber
presence
and to moti-
vate them
about the
significance
President of KCCI Mr. Shamim Ahmed
of the use of
Salman Khalid Project Director of IIN
technology
and IIN B2B portal services. IIN B2B portal serv-
ices and, Virtual shops service were discussed
in detail during the question & answer session.
At the end there were a number of partici-
pants approached the IIN team and inquired
about the IIN B2B services in detail. KCCI
F r e e D o w n l o a d | w w w. f l a r e . c o m . p k
those who have difficulty seeking medical infor-
mation because of barriers that may include
education, affordability and language among
others.
"Keeping with our objective of striving to be a
socially responsible organization, we also hope
to reach out to people who refrain from getting
medical advice for privacy. Apart from providing
healthcare and medical advisory services to
callers, this service will also provide information
and awareness about healthcare and health-
related hazards. We hope that the Tele Doctor
project will work as an example to follow for
community initiatives in the telecommunication
industry."
The service has the capacity to accommo-
date 4,000 to 5,000 callers daily. It takes into
account not only cost but attempts to acknowl-
edge gender and language barriers as well, and
provide easy solutions.





Shamsi presenting the awarding shield to
demanded to hold more seminars in KCCI on IIN
B2B. IIN team thanked KCCI staff specially Mr.
Shamim Ahmed Shamsi, (President KCCI) &
Public Relation Officer Shafiq Baig for their
immense cooperation in conducting this suc-
cessful seminar with the IIN team.






Telecom Flare Forum
F
or a number of years, Mobilink and
Ufone were the sole window that
Pakistan had towards telecom, but that
window has recently been further
extended by Warid, Telenor and more
recently by Zong. Whereas Warid came took off
through advertising, Telenor came out with a
bang, and it's marketing has not looked back
since.
Zong bounced out from China mobile, and
has been pretty active as far as TV and print
advertising is concerned with a very impressive
teaser campaign and then after launch series.
The name is quite a curiosity and an eccentrici-
ty, but the marketing campaign has been a
breath of fresh air in a tele-
com cluttered advertising
front. As far as Zong is con-
cerned, two aspects particu-
larly gained the attention. The
first was an amusing TV Ad
which shows a guy walking
and talking about Zong. The
Ad looks to poke fun at com-
petitors and at the same time
establish Zong as a more
affordable and more flexible
service. Talking to con-
sumers, the most popular of
Zong's services so far
remains the one number that
you can call for free for a life-
time, and that resulted in
Zong SIMs being run within a
few weeks of its launch.
The other aspect of their
marketing that people partic-
ularly liked was their use of
print ads, and one in particu-
lar, reproduced below, which shows a wall full of
graffiti. Once again, humorous, and unique in
style and presentation, and that is something
that Zong needs to be lauded for.
Our marketing gurus have discussed the
campaign, in a marketing forum. Flare is pre-
senting their views for our readers, which may
not represent the magazine's view point.
The guy in the new Zong ad talks quite flu-
ently and convincingly about how shallow other
brands are as compared to Zong, while on the
other hand Zong also has an ad which is quite
trendy and based on just a song and some fake
emotions! I just feel if they wanted to position
themselves as very no nonsense, straight for-
ward brand they shouldn't have taken the emo-
26 tional "sing-song-drama" route.
F r e e D o w n l o a d | w w w. f l a r e . c o m . p k
Zahra Rizvi Umair Saeed
zahrarizvi1@yahoo.com justumair@gmail.com
The guy in the ad also says something like The corporate branding of China Mobile was
"Paanch Friends and Family Numbers, Jaisay great and the image of the biggest mobile com-
Chatta (6th) to koi hai hee nahin" And then he pany of the world was loud and clear.
talks about Zong that it offers 10 Friends and Unfortunately the thematic ads have not capital-
Family numbers, so what about the 11th one. ized on it. The marketing mix of hard or soft sell-
It's definitely a better offer than 5, but the ing also seems confused. In my opinion the styl-
statement is not that convincing and gives the ized "o" in the word Zong is not connecting as a
impression to the listener that Zong has No Cap character as well. However, I do appreciate the
on the number of Friends n Family numbers. production, editing and color treatments. This
indicates a clear lack of marketing or commer-
Amer Sarfraz cial aspect hand in hand with a great creative
mer@bramerz. pk team...
This lack of commer-
cial planning usually does
not result in great
sales...what do you
think...?
Zaigham Khan
zakmild@yahoo.com
To me, watever Zong
is doing is pretty logical.
First, they introduced the
parent company. The
china mobile, to tell where
Zong is coming from; we
are not any other cellular
service provider, we are
the largest GSM company
globally...then they tried to
register the name
ZONG...hey we are here
and our name is ZONG
full stop.
Now, they are telling
what they are offering that competition is not. I
He specifically mentions the distortion in the like their red O...O means 360 degrees. Could
singing dancing ads from other telecos and relate to coverage etc!
highlights the frustration caused by confusing
call rates. You have to admit... the zong ad very Abid Nasim Siddiqi
clearly describes the package and the benefits... abidnaseem@hotmail.com
and the packages really are better than any pre-
paid offer from the big guns.
Yeah we can criticize the thematic ad running
alongside this clever straightforward one. But
you can't take the glory away from Zong right
now. Their ad is being highly appreciated by the
consumers and rightfully so. I can see a great
price war following the Zong launch... wait till we
get rates as low as 12 anay from all telecos. :)
And it makes you wonder... what's going to
be the post pay plan...
 F r e e D o w n l o a d | w w w. f l a r e . c o m . p k
Not trying to push into the discussion
here, just read through your last 2 points:
1.) 360 degree O of Zong - That was
some interpretation and related to cover-
age as well! This is probably something
that the community of marketers would
know, but normal people may not know
this! Yes Math's students maybe since
they will look at 360
degree of a circle. Again based on
what we are trying to see...
2.)Red ring and commitment: do you
think the audience even if they knew
about this one would take the O this much
further and link it with something that falls
into a different sphere altogether.
The brand building process is a grad-
ual one, in Pakistan at this point in time
with all the current operators, Zong coming in is
not a mandatory for the consumer. They are
connected, well served (this can be argued) and
struck with brand messages and offers
all over!
Zong is an incremental brand and talk of its
success at this stage are kind of unfounded, or
the other cellular companies are possessing
really bad strategies. I think the former is true!
Zong is not wrong, but not even mildly strong
at this stage!
Zeeshan Khan
zeesh2@yahoo.com
No matter how much I disagree with
Zong I have to give them credit for a
rather straightforward & clutter break-
ing communication. It is simple, to the
point yet standing different than the
crowd.
Regards,
Bushra Khalid Hashmi
bushra.khalid@mindshareworld.com
No matter how much I like the exe-
cution I have to admit that the message
is confusing…there are 10 things to be
remembered….looks as if the manage-
ment couldn't decide on what they
should focus. So maybe one of the offi-
cers said let's put in everything. Something will
click. At the end of the commercial I am trying
hard to remember, was he at the train station,
near the fountain telling me about low call rates
or is he selling free for life or is it 12 Anay…but
wait was it per minute or per sec rate.
Yasir Riaz
yasir.riaz@geo.tv
Despite being someone with a very short
attention span and gifted with a weak short-term
memory, I still remember what they say. Ok may
be I don't remember, but I am left with a feeling
that my current cellco is somehow taking me for
a ride and/or there is something wrong/short and
that I should be getting something more.
That definitely is an excellent example of
repositioning the competitors.
I think it would start a new trend of advertis-
ing and, hopefully, a better one.
Amir Hussain Khadim
ahkhadim@bankalfalah.com
The Zong advertising strikes, yes. But please
keep in mind that this is a cellular product and
composition requires marketing + service + net-
work quality to make up a complete brand.
Everything is good, but endorsements will
come about 3 to 6 months from now which may
be positive or negative results. Right now it
seems to be doing well.
liveunplugged@hotmail.com
Even though I feel, I should tilt towards what
Amir said, I think the trend he talks about can be
very harmful to our industry> Imagine everyone
trying to reposition their competition and that too
in an industry like telecom No one gets anything
out of it... No gain game!!!
Then again, Yasir does seem to be making a
great point! How confusing is this kind of a com-
munication?
However, they may have all of us talking
about it, I still seem to be lingering on the "at
what cost"??
Ali Imran Memon
imran@mediacompk.net
I just watched 2 Zong ads (the song one and
the other one guy explaining Zong package) ...
and also looked at some print ads. Want to jump
in with a few of my observations ...
Telecom
I will have to agree that there is mix-
ture of communication messages ... but, I
would still say that it is effective enough to
communicate ... "Zong offers you supreri-
or value for money" to me the overall
communications platform is purely func-
tional/ rational positioning Zong as
"Telecom operator which give you extra".
But don't want to go into that discussion
"Sub keh do" also takes me back to
"express yourself", but again, to it does
work well with Zong as "gives you extra
so you can say everything" ...
To me the TV execution as well as the
print campaign does connect through an
integrated message delivery as far as ATL
is concerned ... (I don't know if they are
doing any activations) ... it does deliver on
registering message as well as put Zong
high into consideration list ... yes, I may not want
to change my current connection and am sure
that Zong team will also be aware of that ... but
to me, Zong has the potential to become a pre-
ferred alternative connection ... which now is a
routine in Pakistan.
On persuasion and rational/emotional con-
nection with the brand ... before going into
whether it can connect rationally/emotionally ... I
always have one observation ... we have been
hearing about the rational / emotion-
al advertising ... yes, the execution
does makes a difference ... it can
immediately connect with "hearts &
minds" through the way message is
delivered or ... it may strongly con-
nect at only one level and other
could be built with time ... e.g., a
purely rational execution does talk to
your mind, but it may talk to you
heart once you become a con-
sumer/user through promised &
seamless benefit delivery with
usage (by the way, a lot of people
may not agree with my above view,
but this is something that I have
observed) ... looking at Zong, to me
it does very well connect rationally
with all its superior benefits commu-
nication, but the user will have to
see how well it delivers on its prom-
ises to become a loyal or a regular
user ...
I will give it an over "Average to Good" rating
... but I can see this campaign become a very
effective for Zong in near to mid-term future.
How, I would want to see evolving it during
2008 can be edit the overall TV ad into individ-
ual benefit campaigns, e.g., F&F campaign, 12
aanay campaign, lifetime free number cam-
paign, etc. etc. ... segment consumers and indi-
vidually communicate through effective channel
mix strategy ... one may not need a heavy ATL
channel strategy, in the individual campaign
(next) phase, ATL can become a supportive
channel mix with other touch points taking the
lead
Omer Azeem
omer_azeem@yahoo.com





27
 F r e e D o w n l o a d | w w w. f l a r e . c o m . p k
Telecom Flare Report

The Nokia Custumer Care Centre has been deployed to serve customers
to ensure optimal performance of Nokia devices, with 24/7 easy access
to expert maintenance services and purchase enhancements for the sole
purpose of maximizing customer satisfaction

N
okia has announced the launch of by giving them the assurance, confidence and and feedback from our customers. We are con-
NOKIA CARE - Customer Care Centre security they seek whilst purchasing a mobile fident that this initiative will go a long way in
in Pakistan. The briefing which served device. helping us strengthen our bond with our cus-
to introduce Nokia's Customer Care Sharing his insights on the occasion, Imran tomers in the local market."
Centre initiative was addressed by Khalid Mahmood Country General Manager, Designed to ensure convenient face to face
Nokia's key regional officials - Imran Khalid services for customers, the Nokia Care in
Mahmood, Country General Manager Nokia Lahore is a reflection of Nokia's commitment to
Pakistan and Afghanistan, Ian Stewart Care serve the local market and is expected to play
Director Nokia Middle East & North Africa and a key role in enabling ease-of use to customers
Zoff Khan, Managing Director of Global on the usage, features and functionalities of
Customer Care - a Koohiji Group Company. Nokia devices. Moreover, as part of the serv-
Established to facilitate consumers, the ice, Nokia Customer Care specialists will be
Nokia Care is a global initiative which will be available to provide support to customers in
the first of its kind in Pakistan. The Nokia Care presales area, and assist them in identifying
will serve customers with the required help and Nokia devices best suited for their needs whilst
assistance needed to ensure optimal perform- also guiding them to Nokia sales outlets within
ance of their Nokia devices, with 24/7 easy easy reach. The Nokia Care Centre initiative
access to expert maintenance services and will also serve to provide customer feedback,
purchase enhancements for the sole purpose Lahore: Country General Manager Pakistan Nokia, Imran Khalid satisfaction surveys and reports to different
of maximizing customer satisfaction. Mehmood addresses the opening ceremony of Nokia Care Center at Nokia teams hence enabling them to get a bet-
a local hotel.
Additionally it will offer a unique possibili- ter insight to consumer needs and prefer-
ty for consumers in Pakistan to check the
warranty of their Nokia device via SMS, Now consumers in Pakistan can check ences.
Commenting on the initiative, Ian
by simply sending the IMEI number of the the warranty of their Nokia device via Stewart, Care Director Nokia Middle East
device to 66542 (Nokia), shortly after SMS, by simply sending the IMEI number & North Africa added," At Nokia we strive
which a response will be sent back to the
device from which the query originated. of the device to 66542 (Nokia), shortly to adopt new and innovative ways to max-
imize customer satisfaction. We are dedi-
The Performing this warranty check via after which a response will be sent back cated towards the continuous improve-
SMS is the consumer and the cost of with remaining warrenty details ment of the quality and service that we
sending the SMS is PKR 2/-. provide to our customers and it is this
This value added service certifies the fact Nokia Pakistan and Afghanistan stated, "The commitment that has made Nokia a leading
that the device bought is genuine and has a Nokia Care Centre in Pakistan demonstrates our mobility company worldwide today. Pakistan is
Nokia Manufacturers' limited warranty valid in firm commitment to bringing services in the local a big market for us and the Nokia Customer
Pakistan. Nokia officials are hopeful that it will market that will help us meet customer expecta- Care initiative is a reflection of our continued
help reinforce the consumers' purchase decision tions via a constant flow of first hand information focus towards consumers in this region.

USF has managed to serve more than fifty percent of population that
were earlier missing basic telecom services since its inception

T
he Universal Service Fund was estab-
lished by the Federal Government to
meet the Information and
Communication Technology (ICT) needs
of the un-served and under served
areas of the country.
New Federal Minister for Information
Technology and Telecommunications Mr. Qamar
Zaman Kaira was recently briefed on the
Universal Service Fund by Mr. Pervez Iftikhar,
Chief Executive Officer, USF. Mr. Kaira was
briefed on the various aspects of the USF and
the objectives of the company under which it
28 was created to provide telecom services in rural,
less developed and far flung areas of the coun-
try.
Mr. Kaira said that telecom is a very impor-
tant tool for rapid development of the country
and a must have thing for every one - especial-
ly for those living in the far flung and remote
areas. He emphasized the , need of proper
assessment ensure optimal utilization of the
funds. "We need to prioritize and measure what
is actually the need of the people on the
ground," he said, "we must focous the students
living in far- flung areas, for their performances
in their respective fields."
Mr. Pervez Iftikhar informed that 30 percent
of the unserved area has either been auctioned
or contracted where as more than 50 percent of
the unserved population has been catered for
since the inception of USF.He apprised that
basic telecom services will be provided to 95%
of the population by the year 2015.
The minister asked to ensure open, transpar-
ent procedures and proper utilization of funds.
The Minister asked to step up efforts for provid-
ing basic rural telecom, broadband, and for spe-
cial projects of telecentres and ICT for the dis-
abled people so that the digital divide across
could be bridged adequately.





 F r e e D o w n l o a d | w w w. f l a r e . c o m . p k
Telecom Usman Yaqoob

"Reema is loved by millions of fans around the

W
ateen Telecom has tremendous fan following and great-
announced its partner- world. She has a tremendous fan following and is ly admired for her dedication. We
ship with renowned greatly admired for her dedication. We feel that feel that her charisma and commit-
Pakistani film actress ment best represent Wateen.
Reema Khan, as its her charisma and commitment best represent Together, Reema and Wateen will
official Brand Ambassador in a cere-
mony held in Lahore.
Wateen" Said Tariq Malik, CEO Wateen Telecom continue to bring people closer."
Said Tariq Malik, CEO of Wateen.
The announcement ceremony, Wateen Telecom is the Abu
which was well received by the Dhabi Group's latest venture in
press and media, was hosted by Pakistan. Wateen Telecom has
Athar Jamal, GM Marketing, been set up to become the leading
Wateen, Rabiya Riaz, Marketing "Carrier's Carrier" providing servic-
Head Corporate, Wateen and es based on quality, reliability and
Amer Riaz, Marketing Head affordability. Wateen is committed
Consumer, Wateen Telecom along to bring Next Generation services to
with the rest of the marketing team. your doorstep.
Speaking with journalists on the Wateen offers a complete range
occasion, Reema said that her of carrier class telecom and multi-
name is synonymous with quality, media services like fixed wireless
which is why she has agreed to and line telephony, broadband for
represent a brand such as Wateen. data, internet and TV/multimedia
"I am excited to be working with a along with a host of other value-
brand that is so significant for added services and applications to
Pakistan's progress and future. set the standards for a new era of
That is why I have agreed to come communications and entertainment
on board." commented Reema. in Pakistan.





"Reema is loved by millions of Famous actress Reema Khan signing agreement as Brand Ambassador with
30 fans around the world. She has a Wateen, GM Marketing Mr. Athar Jamal also present on the occasion.
 F r e e D o w n l o a d | w w w. f l a r e . c o m . p k
Flare Corner

Samsung Electronics' mobile phones and flat screens are displayed at the company's main
office in Seoul. Samsung Electronics, the world's top maker of memory chips, beat forecasts
with a 37 percent rise in quarterly profit on stellar performances in flat screens and mobile
phones, sending its shares 4 percent higher.

A Taiwanese exhibitor holds a paper made offering in the shape

of a mobile phone, which is burned during funeral ceremonies,
at the Asia Funeral Expo in Macau. The Expoattracted more
than 100 suppliers and 1500 delegates within 23 countries and
regions.

A man looks at a computer made by Japanese electronics maker Toshiba Corp at a store in
Tokyo. Toshiba posted a better-than-expected 95 percent drop in quarterly profit as flash
memory chip prices tumbled.

An employee from Japan's top tyre maker Bridgestone Corp

The Google booth at the RSA convention in San Francisco is shown. Google Inc. reports earn-
ings for the first quarter after the market closes on Thursday, April 17, 2008.
32
shows off its electronic paper-like display called Quick
Response Liquid Powder Display (QR-LPD) at the International
Flat Panel Display Expo in Tokyo. The display, using "Electronic
Liquid Powder" technology, which has the characteristics of
both powder and liquid, can be easily bent and retain images
after electrical power has been turned off.
 F r e e D o w n l o a d | w w w. f l a r e . c o m . p k
Telecom Flare Report

N
okia Siemens Networks and National
Telecommunication Corporation
(NTC) has signed IP Core Network
Roll Out Contract to expand NTC's
current IP Services circle from three to
21 cities across Pakistan.
Internet Protocol (IP) backbone is a pre-req-
uisite for Next Generation Networks, networks
designed to run multimedia and real-time appli-
cations. This project will enable NTC to move to
Next Generation Networking (NGN) Switching
and Transmission Networks to provide state of
the art services, sell IP bandwidth to other oper-
ators and offer Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)
to its customer as well.
"Nokia Siemens Networks demonstrated its
capability as a true solutions provider and we
are looking forward to implementing this land-
mark project with NTC," said Veqar Ul Islam,
Country Director of Pakistan and Afghanistan for
Nokia Siemens Networks. "This system will con-
siderably reduce operational costs for NTC as
well, which can be carried across to customers
as well."
"This step will enable NTC's infrastructure to Islamabad: Head of Nokia/Siemens Africa and Middle East Jane Chrone speaks during a press conference. Country Director
transform from Public Switched Telephone Nokia/Siemens Vaqar-ul-Islam is also seen in the picture.
Network (PSTN) to a fully IP-enabled Next
join them in bringing better telecommunications 95 percent of NTC's networks. The IP Roll Out
Generation Network. Globally, telecom carriers
services to our customers," said Khalid Javed, project is expected to be completed by the mid
are migrating to IP-based architecture which
COO of NTC. of May, 2008 and will be operational by the
reduces service costs considerably. Today, we
Nokia Siemens Networks will be supporting beginning of August, 2008.

Innovation, cutting-edge technology, quality

and reliability standards of DTK compelled
Silicon Technologies to introduce the product
range in Pakistan to add value and comfort
for Pakistani home and business users

D
TK Computer Products will be avail-
able now in Pakistan through Silocon
Technologies. The launching ceremo-
ny held in Karachi where Mr. Issam Al
Nashash, Business Development
Manager for DTK described the DTK computer
products and portfolio of the company.
DTK is a true technology developer that has
its own manufacturing facilities for computers
motherboards, power supplies, and accessories
components. Many of the other brands have
taken the technology and core components from
DTK. Mr. Issam Al Nashash, Business
Development Manager for DTK while briefing
the products termed addition of DTK products to
result value and comfort for Pakistani users.
Later, Mr. Ziad Yassine, Country Sales
Manager for DTK Middle East described the
34
DTK product range.
He said DTK has
such a vast product
range that no other
brand have at the
moment, in addition
to desktops, note- Mr. Mobeen-ul-Haq, Director Silicon Technologies delivering speech at launching ceremony of
books, servers, the DTK Computer.
all-in-one LCD-TV
PC & Rugged Notebooks are the specialty of ting-edge technology, we are confident that DTK
DTK which differentiate it from other Brands like will capture the market, as there is no such com-
HP, Dell, Acer & Lenovo/IBM. petitor in this market. This will give a new oppor-
Mr. Mobeen-ul-Haq, Director of Silicon tunity to customers for having such a high qual-
Technologies was also present at the event and ity brand, world-renowned brand in their offices
said that Silicon Technologies decided to intro- and homes. He added that Silicon Technologies
duce DTK computer products in Pakistani mar- would continue to serve the customers more effi-
ket due to its innovative technology, quality and ciently as the Silicon is known among the corpo-
reliability standards. He also said that due to cut- rate customers now.






Event Flare Report
Telenor Pakistan and Rafi Peer Theatre
Workshop (RPTW) successfully marked
the conclusion of the 5th annual
International Mystic Music Sufi Festival
in Karachi on April 30. This year, the main
part of the festival was held in Multan,
while extensions of the show toured
Islamabad and Karachi with a three day
performance in Lahore
R
afi Peer Theatre Workshop (RPTW) in
collaboration with Telenor Pakistan
launched the annual International
Mystic Music Sufi Festival (IMMSF)
2008. This year, the main part of festi-
val was based in Multan, the City of Saints and
Shrines, while RPTW and Telenor Pakistan
toured with extensions of the show to Islamabad
and Karachi with a three day performance in
Lahore.
The festival brought to Pakistan a rich variety
of Sufi music, both foreign and local. The fea-
tured groups hailed from Iran, Egypt, Algeria,
Afghanistan, Morocco, Spain, France, Syria,
India, the US, and Pakistan. There were special
performances by Pakistani artists, Atta-ullah Esa
Khelvi and Abida Parveen.
The theme of this year's festival was
"Universalism and Islam". The purpose of the
festival was to communicate the spirit of Islam
as a proponent of peace and love to a wide audi-
ence. By bringing together a diverse line-up of
artists from around the globe, the festival has
not only highlighted the universal and tolerant
face of Islam to the West but has also strived to
foster better understanding within the Muslim
World itself.
Commenting on the partnership Chief
Marketing Officer, Telenor Pakistan, Lars
Christian Iuel said, "We at Telenor Pakistan are
38 proud to bring such a wonderful display of
F r e e D o w n l o a d | w w w. f l a r e . c o m . p k
Folk artist performing at International Mystic Music Sufi Festival (IMMSF)
2008, organized by Telenor Pakistan and Rafi Peer Theatre Workshop
(RPTW).
Mystic Music for our audience.
The response from all over
Pakistan has been tremendous.
Telenor Pakistan has been at the
forefront of promoting our her-
itage, culture & arts. We look for-
ward to nurturing new talent and
help preserve indigenous Sufi
music, and also are keen to play
our part as a socially responsible
corporate citizen."
Faizaan Peerzada, Director,
Rafi Peer Theatre Workshop
said, "We are hopeful that such
festivals with devotional prac-
tices and prayers will bless all of
us with tolerance, wisdom and a
light to a new direction."
"The idea for the touring festi-
val is based on Sufism's mes-
sage of peace and unity and the
fact that, in today's world of
increasing division and disparity,
the message of Sufi music
should be heard throughout the
world. Sufi music has the ability
to cross all geographical, nation-
al, religious, and language barri-
ers, and should thus be used as
an instrument of spiritual renew-
al and unity."
 F r e e D o w n l o a d | w w w. f l a r e . c o m . p k
Event

The idea for the Festival was con-

ceived in 2004, when Rafi Peer
Theatre Workshop noticed the dearth
of platforms available for the highly
learned Sufi musicians of the subcon-
tinent and elsewhere. Sufi musicians
had been left to find their way in the
highly commercialized and complex
music industry. RPTW launched the
first three international festivals in
Lahore.

39

IT Khawar Shahzad
Internet Shopping is largely carried out throughout the globe. E-commerce has
become well over 100 billion dollars market with a growth rate of almost seven-
ty percent per year. However, and sadly, this segment is still struggling to kick a
start in Pakistan due to various social problems and technical complexities
O
nline Shopping is very advantageous
and easy to do practice that not only
saves your money but time too.
Organizations around the world keep
looking for evolving ways and tricks to
enhance users' online shopping experience. For
example, Electronics giant, LG developed a
refrigerator which has its own built in computer
assistant to help buying grocery from online
stores.
Estimates predict that more than 75 percent
of American internet users carry online transac-
tions for either buying or selling online prod-
ucts/services. Your online presence equips your
business with reach that extends beyond the
regional boundaries. Hence, allowing more tar-
get audience and resultantly the sales.
There is no doubt in the potential that the e-
commerce has got in it. Few voices also opine
the saturation of online businesses, however,
many of analysts don't agree with this. They
envision the expanding possibilities due to a
remaining huge amount of world population that
is yet to be linked with World Wide Web. Areas
that are largely expected to grow include finan-
cial services, travel, entertainment, retailing and
groceries.
As far as E-commerce in Pakistan is con-
cerned, a research was carried out solely that
found some hard realities. According to the
result of research given in table below, it is obvi-
ous that considerable amount of Pakistani pop-
ulation do not have internet which is a basic
ingredient of e-commerce. It was found that peo-
ple don't feel secure doing online transactions,
they are mainly afraid of the fact that their cred-
it card can be misused. Despite of all this, the
research findings suggests that online stores are
the best options for your shopping.
Research Findings
1) Do you use internet: 65 % people use inter-
net, at least once a week
2) Are you satisfied with downloading speed of
internet: 98% were not satisfied
3) Have you bought Online (if yes then what is
frequency): 2% people have bought online out of
which 99% people bought only once
4) Do you feel Secure Doing Online Transaction:
99% people feel insecure doing Transaction
online
5) Are You satisfied with shipment: 100% were
satisfied with shipment
6) Is it convenient to buy Online: 100 % were
saying that purchasing online buying is conven-
ient
There are very few Pakistani businesses that
maintain or run their online stores. TCS, a
Pakistani based courier and Carriage Company
pioneered e-commerce business in Pakistan by
offering gifts and other gadgets to be purchased
from their online store and then shipped to des-
tined address of purchaser. However, the idea
could not get popular due to lack of awareness
40 regarding the facility and discomfort, which
Pakistani customers feel while giving away their
credit card numbers to websites. This level of
security concern is due to the overall corruption
scenario in Pakistan, which make the website
visitors not to easily trust agreement licenses
provided by webmasters. Other reasons of low
online purchasers include credit card culture, e-
commerce awareness, illiteracy, limited access
to internet, etc.
As seen, customer base is very narrow, due
to which online stores tend to increase the deliv-
ery cost or even the actual product pricings for
those who want to avail it or for those who are
currently using it.
The culture comes with awareness, which
can be developed by internet companies them-
selves through advertising their products and
websites. On the other hands, literacy plays key
role in this regard, along with access to internet,
which is a basic element to use this facility.
Above all, quality costumers' service is what that
reshapes the horizons of any domain.
As seen, customer base is
very narrow, due to which
online stores tend to increase
the delivery cost or even the
actual product pricings for
those who want to avail it or
for those who are currently
using it
Furthermore, a big hurdle in getting an online
store is the inaccessibility of e-commerce sup-
port from Pakistani banks for merchants. None
of Pakistani bank, except Citi Bank Pakistan,
offers merchant accounts for e-commerce. Even
setting up a merchant account for e-commerce
with Citi Bank is virtually impossible for mid-
sized and at times large sized companied due to
their demanding pre-requisites including
account size and security deposits. This situa-
tion leaves no option for Pakistani merchants to
offer their products online through credit card.
Few alternate procedures are available
through variety of options including Standard
Chartered Bank, UBL and others. These banks
offer transactions from and into their inbound
debit accounts' visa cards. That means you can
only buy if you have a debit account with online
stores' supported banks. Obviously a very limit-
ed and odd solution!
Another alternate is to setup an account in
some foreign bank that supports e-commerce.
This way merchant will get the revenues/sales
into a foreign account and then shifted to a local
(Pakistani Bank).
A California based e-commerce solution
provider, eBanyan claims that they have
reached a miraculous solution for Pakistani mer-
chants, through which they can set-up their
online store and the sales will go into any of their
F r e e D o w n l o a d | w w w. f l a r e . c o m . p k
bank accounts in Pakistan. However, the proce-
dure adopted for this is still unknown due to their
privacy policy. eBanyan is headed by Abid Malik,
a Pakistani American who has been successful-
ly offering turnkey e-commerce solutions global-
ly for over a decade now.
For those who are more interested in
eBanyan and their solution, here is a glimpse at
what they can offer you
eBanyan can help you quickly setup and
seamlessly maintain online store quickly using
its programming free ecommerce solution. With
wide rang of matchless features, you may find
eBanyan the best match to dynamic business
needs. eBanyan, a web based solution offers
turnkey e-commerce, e-business applications
for businesses with integrated marketing, sales,
financial and business management tools. It
allows manufacturers and retailers to sell any
range of products or services from which comes
the benefits of e-commerce; efficiencies and
cost-savings.
eBanyan is a bundle solution available in
both ASP (means eBanyan will manage the
hosting and other technical issues) and self-
hosted (customer will host the application on
his/her own shared or dedicated hosting) pack-
ages, including flexible online catalog to cater
almost any cataloging need.
Features:

Fully featured and customizable online shop-
ping cart

Customized look and feel with built-in quick
start templates

Supports unlimited users and products

Bulk product upload

Enhanced local search

Integrated order tracking and history

Phone, fax or email order capturing

Multiple payment options

Real-time payment processing (US & interna-
tional)

Funds can be fetched into any Pakistani Bank
Account

Multi-level secure login and access

Activity/store traffic reports

Valuable business management tools

Helps prevent out-of-stock and overstock situ-
ations

Customer relation management

Online marketing features and search engine-
friendly

Project and Task Manager

Dynamic forms and reports

Integrated with QuickBooks and Outlook

Multi-lingual and currency

Non-profit features

Quick access to technical support team
eBanyan Says that additional, on demand fea-
tures can be deployed as well.
So there is good news for merchants who
have got their solution now. Medium, audience,
products and solution is there…all we have to do
is to kick a start and let's experience the benefits
of e-commerce.






Telecom Flare Report
H
P has announced tech-
nologies that integrate
virtualization capabilities
into the HP ProLiant
server platform, allowing
customers to rapidly and simply vir-
tualize their server environments.
Called HP ProLiant iVirtualization,
these technologies allow business-
es of all sizes to lower costs,
improve productivity and better
allocate resources across their
server infrastructures.
HP has joined with the industry's largest vir-
tualization vendors - VMware, Citrix and
Microsoft - to develop these technologies, which
integrate virtualization with a broad range of HP
ProLiant and BladeSystem platforms.
iVirtualization is integrated directly into the
P
akistan follows International
Telecommunication Union (ITU) -T
standards E.164 for geographical
national numbering plan that includes
local loop & cellular mobile operators.
The cellular mobile numbers are identified by
means of 4-digit separate access code which is
known as NDC (National Destination code) i.e.
03xx (x=0-9). The first 50 codes are reserved for
Cellular mobile operators. Each access code
has the capacity to accommodate 8-million sub-
scribers excluding level "0" & "1". This means
that subscriber number consist of 11-digits i.e.
NDC & 7-digit number starting from 2 to 9. In
Pakistan cellular mobile numbering plan is
based on geographical boundaries that limit the
utilization to 50-60% of the numbering space
available against each NDC. In this scenario,
each cellular mobile operator requires multiple
NDCs to accommodate their growing sub-
scribers.
To provide more numbering space, a public
consultation process for 7 to 8 mobile number
migration was started in 2007. The consultation
paper was circulated to all stakeholders and it
was decided that the current mobile numbering
plan i.e. 0300-xxxxxxx will be changed into new
W
ith each passing day, we see the
additions of new devices with
advancements in features that are
mainly focused to fetch the luxury
into our lives. Recently, Mobile
handset market, globally, is observing good
competition given to the gurus from the relative-
ly newcomers. As per a research report that dis-
cussed the market trends and the share for
handset manufacturers for first quarter of 2008
says that Motorola has dropped to number three
in volume terms and number five in value terms.
Report said that LG gained the growth rate of
54 percent when compared with last year, fol-
lowed by Samsung with 33 percent growth.
Market saw the over all growth rate of 14 per-
42 cent in comparison with last year.
ProLiant server using features that leverage
customers' existing server management tools.
As such, when a server is powered on, it is auto-
matically and immediately configured into a fully
capable virtualization environment.
This enables companies to adopt virtualiza-
tion with greater speed and simplicity. Moreover,
mobile numbering plan i.e. 030-0xxxxxxx. The
mobile number migration is planned to alter min-
imum changes in the existing mobile subscriber
numbers, as there is shift of 1-digit from mobile
NDC code to the subscriber number. Except
CMPAK [031], Instaphone [036], & SCOM [035]
the numbering plan of remaining cellular mobile
operators will remain the same from subscriber
point of view. The dialing format of Mobilink,
Ufone, Telenor, & Warid will remain the same but
the changes are implemented in core network.
This will increase the current numbering capaci-
ty by 10 times which is enough for next two
decades in Pakistan.
The implementation of 7-8 digit mobile num-
ber migration will be carried out in four stages as
per the international practices which include
Public awareness campaign [Jan-March 2008],
parallel operation April-June 2008, announce-
ment phase July-Sep 2008, & sterilization
process.
During parallel operation the subscriber shall
be able to dial both old & new codes and the
facility of dialing of both codes (parallel opera-
tion) would be available from all telecom service
providers. During parallel operation new num-
bers of CMPAK, Instaphone, and SCOM shall
Manufacturers who lost their shares include
Motorola, Apple and Sony Ericsson. The report
said that their share is mainly acquired by RIM
and HTC who are gaining the smartphone
share.
The handset market grew at YoY rate of 14%
and again grew slightly less concentrated, with
the top-five vendors taking 83.5% of global vol-
ume. This compares to 84.5% during the same
period a year ago and 83.6% during Q4 2007.
This is a reflection of both Motorola's share loss
and specialty vendors such as RIM, HTC and
Apple taking higher-end share and smaller ven-
dors taking some at the low-end (for example,
the success of operator-branded handsets in
Europe and some emerging markets).
The Korean vendors have been hedging their
F r e e D o w n l o a d | w w w. f l a r e . c o m . p k
by taking advantage of HP Insight
Control, iVirtualization increases
business agility, improves quality of
service and streamlines infrastruc-
ture management.
"iVirtualization combines our
industry-leading ProLiant servers
with multiple virtualization technolo-
gies, then adds a high level of inte-
gration and management capabili-
ties to deliver an unrivaled user
experience," said Aman Dokania,
Director and General Manager, HP
Infrastructure Software, HP Asia Pacific and
Japan. "By better managing their technology
infrastructures and resources using virtualiza-
tion, customers will have more time to focus on
initiatives that impact their bottom line."





appear on called party's CLI and this will enable
the subscriber to memorize and store the new
numbers. The old numbers of CMPAK [0304],
Instaphone [0320], & SCOM [0335] will be inac-
cessible from 1st July 2008 and the standard
announcement shall be run by all operators
when the old code is dialed.
Only new numbers of CMPAK and
Instaphone will be ported out from 1st April
2008. The modification of existing databases
inline with new mobile numbering plan was car-
ried out in all Fixed line, wireless local loop,
Long distance International, and Mobile net-
works for the successful implementation of 7-8
digit mobile number migration plan.
The 7 to 8 Mobile Number Migration Plan has
number of advantages. Each single NDC (one
per operator) has a capacity of 100 million num-
bers. The NDCs of only three mobile operators
i.e. CMPAK, Instaphone, and SCOM (AJK and
NAs) have changed effecting only 2 million sub-
scribers out of an existing more than 80 million.
The four digit codes of all mobile operators have
been reduced to three digits. Dialing format
remains the same 11 digit dialing as before. The
capacity expansion in mobile numbering plan is
sufficient for next two decades.





bets, using every form factor and platform
known to man while working hand-in-hand with
operators in key markets. In addition, Samsung
and LG have been helped by the South Korean
win's weakness, which is at a two-year low
against the U.S. dollar and even lower against
the Euro.
Nokia's market share for Q1, at around 41%
according to Strategy Analytics, is up almost four
points year-on-year and steady from the previ-
ous quarter. The combined share of Samsung,
Motorola, LG, and Sony Ericsson was around
42.6%, meaning Nokia is close to matching the
combined volumes of the two, three, four, and
five vendors.





 F r e e D o w n l o a d | w w w. f l a r e . c o m . p k
"I as a citizen of Pakistan would like to petition against this ruling, and would like the
Pakistan Telecom Authority to abolish the entire APC structure and de-regulate it, and let
the market forces decide the prices, and make sure that it does not go higher than 2.5 cent
current rate" an excerpt from thepetitionsite.com
P
akistan Telecom Authority has
announced that effective 1 May 2008
the Approved Settlement Rate (ASR) to
Pakistan will increase from current 2.5
cent to 10 cents a minute in wholesale.
What it means is that the callers out side
Pakistan will probably have to pay around 12 to
15 cents a min to call Pakistan in retail, which
previously was 3 to 5 cents a min.
This increment by 100 per cent would make
calling to Pakistan more expensive. The move is
believed to address rising demand of the local
operators. However, it is largely believed that the
move may also encourage voice trafficking
through illegal means to the country, which cur-
rently causes more than $50 million losses to the
exchequer every year.
"The authority, after due deliberation and
hearing the arguments of different stakeholders,
has decided to revise the ASR for long distance
and international (LDI) operators at $0.10 from
$0.05 per minute with effect from May 1, 2008,"
said a source quoting a PTA notification.
"The PTA, in fact, has addressed the demand
of local operators, who have been pleading for
increase in such rates, as it would not affect the
local consumers of the facility," said the source.
"But it would naturally increase the cost of call-
ing to Pakistan from outside".
D
oes it make business sense to intro-
duce 3G in Pakistan at this time? This
question is creating little chill in tele-
comers' minds. PTA has been deliber-
ating on this question for a while.
Recently, PTA asked major technology stake-
holders (equipment makers, mobile companies)
to share their view points on 3G licensing and
roll-out.
"We understand the government's ambition
of introducing 3G in the market, but growth and
investment in the basic mobile infrastructure
should not be sacrificed, as there are too many
people still without basic access to mobile
telephony. We demand that the government
should consider 3G not as a licensing opportuni-
ty, but rather as allocation of additional spectrum
linked with roll out obligations and not hefty
upfront fee. PTA and FAB should also make
additional UMTS spectrum available in order to
have equitable spectrum allocation" said a CEO
of a cellular company while expressing his views
before press.
On similar side, another CEO of a leading
cellular company presented the argument that
conditions are not suitable for 3G in Pakistan
and the data revenue potential does not justify
investments needed for 3G. He recommended
either deferring spectrum allotment or giving par-
Telecom experts have raised serious con-
cerns over the telecom watchdog's decision,
who termed it contradictory to the measures it
had earlier taken to curb the illegal voice traffick-
ing.
The PTA in 2006 cut ASR by 38.61 per cent
in an effort to reduce financial incentives in 'grey
telephony'. "If the ASR is increased it will cause
Pros:
1. LDIs get a higher rate, higher margin
2. APC contribution increases
3. Origination increases
4. Balance of trade in PK's favor
Cons:
1. Grey market increases
2. LDI may increase origination rates as
well
3. Yet more regulation! PTA stays relevant
to pricing
4. Market pricing takes a back seat
illegal international call rerouting by LDI opera-
tors and some other illegal operators may also
increase rates seeing the opportunity," said
Ansar-ul-Haq, a telecom consultant.
"The increase in ASR will also increase the
tial spectrum at nominal cost.
Let's review following facts that was present-
ed, which may also suggest the actuality of situ-
ation before 3G is brought in Pakistan
3G Situation in Pakistan

Pakistan is a low priced voice dominated mar-
ket. Industry is building voice capacity rather
than enhanced capability

Pakistan Mobile Data Subscriptions
Disappointing

Nominal GPRS subscriptions in the industry

ARPU uplift from these subscriptions is negli-
gible

Multi-mode (GSM/UMTS) handsets are still
costly

GSM market exploded due to economies of
scale in the hand sets

GSM hand set is available as low as $25

Small percentage of 3G capable hand sets in
the market

3G non-voice mobile revenues are expected
to be negligible

Localized content stimulates usage - Low lit-
eracy in Pakistan

No content available in local/regional lan-
guages
Flare Report Telecom
tele-density gap and the private operators would
not launch telecom services in comparatively
lower profit-earning rural areas, he added."
Grey telephony is a term referred to the ille-
gal telecom traffic in which calls from foreign
countries are brought in the country as local
calls, while using illegal means. This is an
offence under Telecom Reorganization Act,
1996.
The sources privy to the PTA, however,
argued the increase in ASR rate was unlikely to
damage the revenue, as the authority had
already deployed technical solutions to check
grey traffic brought into the country through ille-
gal means.
"The main objectives of the technical solution
include automated detection of grey traffic for its
consequent elimination, and revenue assurance
for LDI operators," said the source.
"After successful deployment, the solution
would be able to filter IP traffic of the country for
detection of illegal VoIP on data circuits for con-
sequent legal action against the culprits."
In such situation, he said, the PTA was confi-
dent that a large volume of illegal voice traffic
always remained under check of the authority
and could not damage the legal telecom's busi-
ness.





Spectrum Cost

Spectrum forms part of investment for an
operator to roll out a 3G network

Five operators can be expected to invest over
a billion dollars on initial launch

More cell sites would required to support
higher data rates

Local content development is an uphill task
Solution
Option 1: Defer the allotment of spectrum for
another 1-2 years (as per our recommendation
May 2007)
Option 2: Award 5Mhz of 3G spectrum to all
MNOs at nominal cost (similar to WiMax spec-
trum fee), and this was suggested because;
1. Incentive to build and grow 3G services
2. Justify high capex on roll outs
3. Technology proliferation
4. Affordable 3G services for masses
5. Allocation of additional 3G spectrum at a sub-
sequent date
6. Operators keen to expand on 3G portfolio can
bid
7. Market foundation is laid
8. Business case for further investments
9. Strengthen operator capability to offer better
QoS and advanced services.





43
 F r e e D o w n l o a d | w w w. f l a r e . c o m . p k
Flare Corner

German Chancellor Angela Merkel meets robot "HRP-2 Promet" as she visits the "Hannover
Messe 2008" technology fair at the fairgrounds in Hanover, central Germany. More than
5,100 exhibitors from 60 countries have participated during the annual fair for business,
industry, and technical innovations.

Two Kuwaiti men walk out of Kuwait's Mobile

Telecommunications Co (Zain) headquarters in Kuwait City.
Zain launched the borderless "One Network" service in four
Middle Eastern countries allowing clients to be part of a single
mobile phone network. The new service for 14 million Zain
clients in Sudan, Iraq, Bahrain and Jordan allows them to make
calls across borders and be treated as local customers in
terms of pricing.

A Saudi Arabian man looks at a mobile phone during the opening of the four day Gitex
Saudi Arabia 2008 exhibition at the Riyadh exhibition centre in the Saudi capital. This if the
seventh Gitex international information technology exhibition in Saudi.

Japanese mobile phone operator Willcom President Masaki

Los Angeles Police Capt. Dennis Kato demonstrates a hand-held electronic device that is Kikugawa (R) and Japanese electronics giant Sharp vice pres-
part of an all-wheel-drive buggy that can move through crowds and flash commands in ident masafumi matsumoto display the new smart phone "D4",
Spanish and English, in downtown Los Angeles. The LAPD will deploy sweeping changes it equipped with Intel's Atm processor, 40GB HDD and 5inch LCD
44 has made in its tactics and technology. display on its compact body weighing only 470g in Tokyo.
 Cover Story Zubair Ahmed Kasuri F r e e D o w n l o a d | w w w. f l a r e . c o m . p k

Islamabad March 12 2006, Ex. Prime Minster Shaukat Aziz waves towards journalists while Chairman/Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
Etisalat Muhammad Hassan Imran and others look on after the signing ceremony of transfer of management of the Pakistan
Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) to Etisalat of the UAE at the Prime Minister’s House (File photo).

Deceitful dealing of PTCL has cost the country over 24

billion of Cash and many fold for delayed payments
due to incompetence of Privatization Commission.
Wrong assessments led to buy 1 get 2 free package;
where Ufone and Paknet were packed free under the
bundle offer

46
 F r e e D o w n l o a d | w w w. f l a r e . c o m . p k
N
obody can deny the fact that only eco-
nomic independence can ensure polit-
ical stability of any country. To achieve
the economic strength, there are
largely two in-practice approaches
world over, privatization and the nationalization.
History proves the profits of privatization, for
example General Newin, the iron man of Burma,
nationalized assets in sixties to give his country
a socialist look, however soon, in only ten years,
he realized that nationalization showed negative
impacts on economy. Similarly, Margaret
Thatcher started reversing the origin of some
vital sectors of British industry, such as BT, by
privatizing them which were once nationalized
back in 1940.
Like other countries, Pakistan's privatiza-
tion policy was approved in 1991 with mainly
two objectives in mind:
1. Reduction of financial deficit.
2. Generation of resources for minimizing
debt burden.
It is painful on this account that
Privatization Commission has not only failed
to achieve these objectives for which it was
created but, has pauperized the nation and Islamabad: CEO Etisalat International (UAE), Obaid Saeed Bin Mes’Har granted to only 20,000 employees, with
the country through loot sale of national drops Etisalat’s bid letter for 26 per cent stake PTCL, at a bidding cer- government of Pakistan (mentioned in ele-
assets; one of them is PTCL. This pri- emony.
vatization has worst record and by the
passage of time some eye opening
facts has been disclosed by the
sources involved in privatization. Sale
of 26 percent shares of PTCL has
turned out to be the most ambiguous
financial deal ever carried out in our
history.
Secret documents of this deal,
which includes "Summary for the
Cabinet Committee on Privatization of
PTCL" and the agreed "Agreement of
PTCL's Sale" reveals shocking truths
of this sale. It is wondered why the
agreement documents pertaining con-
clusion and decisions were not made
public, while they were of immense Islamabad: March 12 – Secretary Privatization Commission M. Tahsin Khan Iqbal, right, Negative impact of these conces-
shakes hands with the Board Member of Etisalat of the UAE Tariq Al-Mutawe, left, while
national and public interest. exchanging notes of management agreement of the Pakistan Telecommunication
The process of PTCL privatization Company Limited (PTCL) to Etisalat while Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, center in vest coat fied but, their financial nature
was initiated in November 2004, when back, looks on at the Prime Minister’s House.
Difference between the origi-
nal bid price and the adjusted
bid price stood at Rs. 23.64
billions, which was a big sweet
gift for Etisalat and a direct
loss to the government
exchequer
Privatization Commission invited Expressions of
Interest (EOI) through advertisements in local
and international newspapers. Early in January
2005, 18 companies submitted their EOI
(Expressions of Interest), out of which 3 bidders
qualified for the final bidding which was held on
June 18, 2006.
Consortium of Emirates Telecommunication
Corporation (Etisalat) and Dubai Islamic Bank,
Etisalat International Pakistan (EIP) gave the
highest bid of US $ 1.96 per share, equivalent to
PKR 117.01 per share (then), which translated
into US 2,598,960,000 (2.599 billion) or PKR
155,157,912,000.00 for 26 percent shares of
PTCL and its subsidiaries including Ufone and
Paknet.
Cabinet Committee on Privatization
approved EIP offering the highest bid of US $
1.96 per share, as the successful bidders. It
must be noted that the price offered by China
Mobile was US$1.409 billion and SingTel offered
US$1.167 billion for the said amount of shares.
Thereafter, the first installment of 10% of the bid
price was paid and the SPA
(Share Purchase Agreement)
was signed on June 30, 2005.
The SPA lapsed and legal-
ly terminated in September,
2005 as EIP could not pay the
balance amount within the
prescribed period.
However, the interesting
observation is that the
Government of Pakistan did not forfeit the
earnest money of US 40 million dollars. Instead
series of meetings were held between EIP and
GoP officials in February/March, 2006 and pres-
sure for additional concession and modification
of earlier agreement was exerted on GoP. As a
result, various revisions and changes in first
agreed SPA and SA, in favor of EIP, were signed
between Pakistani Government and the bidder
on March 12, 2006 and the management of
PTCL (including its group companies, i.e., Ufone
and Paknet) were transferred to EIP.
The agreement says that these negotiations
resulted into concessions and other incentives
Cover Story
which are unethical, illegal and non-transpar-
ent.
Signing of SPA and SA was not in
accordance with the terms and condition
of public offering given through adver-
tisement and competitive bidding
process as they were carried out secret-
ly.
After having a close look up of
agreed decision and after the termination
of first SPA, it reveals that government of
Pakistan gave significant direct benefits
to the buyer and the conferred financial
benefit over the period of its operation. Major
concession is that sale price staggered over a
longer period.
Against the accepted bid of US $
2.599 billion, the EIP was allowed to
make delayed upfront payment of US $
1.4 billion including earnest money and
first installment. Balance amount was
agreed to be transacted over nine
semi annual installments in a "pay as
you earn" model.
The impact of other concessions
like sharing the burden of Golden
Handshake Scheme, which would be
ment 3 of Agreed Agreement) and
allowing enhanced rate for payment
of Technical Fee to the Etisalat,
etc., have been worked out by
the relevant authorities.
As per clause 7 of the deci-
sion made by Cabinet reveals
following information.
Difference between the orig-
inal bided price and the adjust-
ed bid price stood at Rs. 23.64
billions, which was a big sweet
gift for Etisalat and a direct loss to
the government exchequer.
Revised agreement involved com-
promises which would cost heavy
harms to the national asset.
sions cannot be easily quanti-
indicates why the buyer negoti-
ated so hard to get them.
Element number 2 in Annex-II of Sale
Agreement says that to acquire 25% of
the "A" shares (reserved shares) on the
discretion of EIP wherein other telecom
companies would not be allowed to par-
ticipate in future bidding of shares of
PTCL"
This concession grants un-competi-
tive advantage to EIP for future purchase
of 25% "A" Shares of PTCL in which no
telecom company would be able to partici-
pate. EIP with its first right of refusal can easily
manipulate the next bidding process to its 47
 Cover Story
advantage resulting in a very low
bid price of additional 25% shares of
PTCL. The transaction is therefore
outcome of a process reflecting seri-
ous violation of rules and regulations
with regard to sale of the highest profit-
earning state-owned company.
Official response of government is that
total amount receivable would still be US $
2.599 billion without disclosing that this
would not be in one go as originally
envisaged but, over a period of 5 years
which reduces the effective price on
the basis of present value analysis.
EIP was given unique advantage for
paying the remaining amount on "pay
as you earn" model.
Permissions granted to EIP, after
the purchase of 26 percent shares, to
fully control the management, which is
against the provisions of Companies
Ordinance, 1984.
PTCL sources have confirmed that no
Comprehensive Value Assessment was car-
ried out before the sale of company's
shares. Sources, who requested
anonymity, told that the value of assets
was calculated from historical book
data instead of current Market Value
of Nation's assets, which obviously
counts the difference in billions of dol-
lars.
The Auditor General of Pakistan,
recently reported that clause 34 of PC
Ordinance 2000 reads that, the valua-
tion of property shall be performed, in the
prescribed manner, by independent evalu-
ators who shall issue a valuation report to the
48
These are the snap shots of secret documents, containing summery that was presented to
Government of Pakistan regarding the details and terms of sale of PTCL.
No Comprehensive Value
Assessment was carried out
before the sale, while the value
was calculated from historical
book data instead of current
Market Value of the company,
which obviously counts the dif-
ference in billions of dollars
Commission.
The audit carried out by AGP is of the opin-
ion that Net Asset Valuation (NAV) methods
should have been employed in the case of PTCL
in order to ensure that GoP gets full value out of
underlying assets.
But, it was observed that no attempt was
made to ascertain the NAV of PTCL probably
due to the weaknesses in accounting records
and systems. The audit report said that value
assessment was basically relied on the assump-
tion and parameters provided by the PTCL's his-
toric data records without carrying out technical
evaluation. It said that rescheduling of payments
contrary to provisions of terms and conditions of
bidding document, having substantial financial
implications, have raised questions on trans-
parency and fairness of the whole process.
A former Senior Executive Vice President of
PTCL told 'Flare' that the sale of most expensive
national assets involved deceitful practices. He
termed the sale as the biggest ever financial
scandal of national history. He said that the sale
F r e e D o w n l o a d | w w w. f l a r e . c o m . p k
out involved the corruption from many senior
government officials who gifted this heavy val-
ued asset to Etisalat.
A CEO of cellular company while talking to
'Flare' said that the deal involved massive mis-
judgment of asset valuation; he further said that
26 percent shares of PTCL were handed over in
only 2.6 billion dollars, which included Ufone
and Paknet as well. He was of the view that a
very careful estimate suggests that Ufone's
worth was more than 6 billion US dollars then.
This incident was a misfortune for our national
company which provides the backbone for the
voice and data communication infrastructure. He
added that current market analysis clearly
shows the deal was a misdeed.
Post-sale policies and strategies, adopted by
PTCL management have further worsened the
PTCL's position financially and as a corporate
entity.
On numerous occasions PTCL engaged
itself in battles with new competitors and regula-
tory body (PTA) on one hand and faces internal
organizational and management issues on the
other. Their profit has been sliding, notwith-
standing the grand claims by its executives.
After the first year of its acquisition, overall,
PTCL's sales revenue for the first quarter
were.16.9 billion as compared to Rs.17.7 billion
during the corresponding period of previous
year.
The company announced net profit of Rs 8.4
billion translating into an EPS of Rs 1.64 for the
first half of 2007, a decline of 23 percent over
the corresponding period's net earnings and
 F r e e D o w n l o a d | w w w. f l a r e . c o m . p k
EPS
of Rs 10.8 billion
and Rs 2.12 respectively.
PTCL management has left no stone un-
turned in spoiling the company. Their policies
have led numerous strikes by PTCL employees
who served the company for years; but now they
are being betrayed as their jobs are on high risk.
On parallel side, highly paid executives are hired
by showing favoritism that is a clear wastage of
resources.
Currently, more than eleven thousands con-
tract employees of PTCL are on strike who are
continuously demon-
strating in front of
PTCL headquarters to
secure their jobs.
Protestors have
warned PTCL manage-
ment that they will go on
countrywide strike,
which will virtually jam
the communication
means. While speaking
with Flare Mr. Malik
Maqbool, Secretary
General, PTCL Staff
Alliance, told that these
Dismissed employees of Pakistan Telecommunication Limited (PTCL) chant slogans demanding
government for reinstatement them on their jobs and in favor of their demands during a protest
demonstration outside PTCL Sub Office in Islamabad, (May 07, 2008).
thousands of employees are
struggling for their jobs. He told
that we were employed by the
company, however, we are still not
granted the permanent
employment. Mr. Malik said
that the all these employ-
ees have been waiting for
their permanent status for
years now, and despite of
promises from higher
authorities including Ch.
Shujaat Hussain, then
Prime Minister of
Pakistan, PTCL man-
agement did nothing
to secure their
employment.
Mr. Maqbool con-
firmed that PTCL
management is fir-
ing thousands of
lower staff and in
contrary very high
paying officers are
hired. These dual
standard of PTCL
management are very undue and a
curb on the devoted employees who have
served the company for years. While, another
protestor who has been serving PTCL for 18
years told that he will commit suicide in one
week in front of PTCL headquarter if his
demands are not fulfilled.
Not only the miserable employees, who are
the victims of PTCL management's ruthless atti-
tude, but the customers are also fraudulently
looted to help loosing revenues. PTCL, few
months ago, automatically activated Pakistan
Package on all landline phones. The default acti-
vation of the package by PTCL was not only
unfair but unethical, harsh and a direct attack to
Cover Story
customers. First the voice mail and then
this Pakistan Package, was a brazen
way to rip off customers! PTCL forced
these packages down the throat of
consumers, many of whom even didn't
realize or may not have time or knowl-
edge to deactivate it, specifically with
customer centre representatives that
never turn up. Seems PTCL is on a
money-making streak at the expense
of its helpless customers.
After Pakistan package and the local
call package with increased rates, PTCL
introduced line rent packages for Vfone wire-
less phone users, where all Vfone
customers were forcefully shifted to a
package with a line rent. It merits men-
tioning here that PTCL sold these con-
nections on the basis that users would
not have to pay any line rent
Sadly, PTA has done nothing to
stop PTCL from doing these acts. The
role of PTA is that of a watchdog, but it
has so far remained silent vis-à-vis
PTCL. All the NGOs for consumer protec-
tion are also silent on this issue.
Government should look into the matter
now, before it gets too late to save this
national asset. There should be a cap on
Privatization Commission management,
to counter check their decisions and
policies. It should be noted that a
Privatization of PTCL has already
been challenged in Supreme Court of
Pakistan and is waiting for hearing.
Mr. Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui, the petition-
er, accused the sale as illegal,
unprecedented, unlawful and of no
legal effect.
The PTCL's sale can be closely related
with Pakistan Steel Mills of Pakistan case. It
merits mentioning here that sale of Pakistan
Steel Mills was declared void because
numerous concessions had been granted
after the selection of bidder. In response
to Presidential Reference against Chief
Justice, Justice Mr. Iftekhar Chaudary,
he had said that he was facing pres-
sure over the PTCL's privatization case
as well.
Now, as a democratic government
has taken the charge, which has whole
nation behind it, should take serious
notice with immediate action to enquire
the whole process by setting up a special
committee. And the culprits should be made to
pay for what they did.





49
 F r e e D o w n l o a d | w w w. f l a r e . c o m . p k
Informative C O M I N G M O B I L E S

Nokia 6600 Fold Nokia 6600 Slide

Size
Size
Dimensions 87.7 x 44 x 15.9 mm, 52 cc, Weight 110g
Dimensions 93 x 45 x 14 mm, 52 cc, Weight 110g
Display
Display
Type OLED, 16M colors, Size 240 x 320 pixels, 2.13 inches, Second
Type TFT, 16M colors, Size 240 x 320 pixels, 2.2 inches, Metal and glossy sur-
external, hidden OLED display (128 x 160 pixels), 1.36 inches
faces
Ringtones
Ringtones
Type Polyphonic (64 channels), MP3
Type Polyphonic (64 channels), MP3
Memory
Memory
Card slot microSD (TransFlash), up to 4GB, 18 MB internal memory
Card slot microSD (TransFlash), up to 4GB, 18 MB internal memory
Data
Data
GPRS Class 32, 123 kbps, HSCSD Yes, EDGE Class 32, 296 kbits
GPRS Class 32, 88 kbps, HSCSD Yes, EDGE Class 32, 296 kbits, 3G Yes,
3G Yes, 384 kbps, Bluetooth Yes, v2.0, USB Yes, v2.0 microUSB
384 kbps, Bluetooth Yes, v2.0, USB Yes, v2.0 microUSB
Features
Features
Messaging SMS, MMS, Email Browser WAP 2.0/xHTML, HTML (Opera
Messaging SMS, MMS, Email, Instant Messaging, Browser WAP 2.0/xHTML,
mini), Games Yes, Colors Mysterious black, Sophisticated purple
HTML (Opera mini 4), Games Yes, Colors Black, Camera 3.15 MP, 2048x1536
Camera 2 MP, 1600x1200 pixels, video(VGA@15fps), flash; secondary
pixels, autofocus, video(VGA 15fps), flash; secondary videocall camera
VGA videocall camera, Java MIDP 2.0, Stereo FM radio,
Java MIDP 2.0, Stereo FM radio, MP3/AAC/AAC+/eAAC+/WMA player
MP3/AAC/AAC+/eAAC+/WMA player, Nokia Maps / Nokia Search
Accelerometer, Nokia Maps, T9, Built-in handsfree, Voice memo/commands
T9, Built-in handsfree Voice memo/commands
Battery
Battery
Stand-by Up to 340h, Talk time Up to 4h
Stand-by Up to 300h, Talk time Up to 4h
Design: 7.7
Design: 7.3
Features: 7.2
Features: 6.7
Performance: 7.3
Performance: 6.8

Nokia 3600 Slide

Size
Dimensions 97.8 x 47.2 x 14.5 mm, 60 cc, Weight 97.3g
Display
Type TFT, 16M colors, Size 240 x 320 pixels, 2 inches, Five-way navigation key
Ringtones
Type Polyphonic (64 channels), MP3
Memory
Card slot microSD (TransFlash), up to 4GB, 30 MB internal memory
Data
GPRS Class 32, 100 kbps, HSCSD Yes, 28.8 kbps, EDGE Class 32, 296 kbits
Bluetooth Yes, v2.0, USB Yes, v2.0 microUSB
Features
Messaging SMS, MMS, Email, Instant Messaging, Browser WAP 2.0/xHTML,
HTML (Opera mini 4), Games Yes, Colors Charcoal, Wine, Camera 3.15 MP,
2048x1536 pixels, autofocus, two-step camera key, video(VGA 15fps), flash
Java MIDP 2.0, Stereo FM radio with RDS, MP3/AAC/eAAC+ player, TV out
Nokia Maps, T9, Built-in handsfree, Voice memo/commands
Battery
Stand-by Up to 280h, Talk time Up to 5h 30 min

Design: 7.0
Features: 7.1
Performance: 7.2

Nokia 5220 XpressMusic

Size
Dimensions 108 x 43.5 x 10.5 mm, 53 cc, Weight 78g
Display
Type TFT, 256K colors, Size 240 x 320 pixels, 2 inches, Dedicated music keys
and rhythmic lights flash, Organic wallpaper & Wallpaper creator
Ringtones
Type Polyphonic (64 channels), MP3, AAC, 3D, True & video tones
Memory
Phonebook 2000 entries, Card slot microSD (TransFlash), up to 2 GB supported
30 MB of user memory, Nokia 512 MB microSD card included
Data
GPRS Class 32, HSCSD Yes, EDGE Class 32, Bluetooth Yes, v2.0 with A2DP
USB Yes, microUSB
Features
Messaging SMS, MMS, Email, Push E-Mail, IM, Browser WAP 2.0/xHTML,
HTML, Opera Mini, Games Yes + Downloadable, Colors Blue, Red, Green
Camera 2 MP, 1600x1200 pixels, video (QCIF), Java MIDP 2.1, 3.5 mm audio
output jack, FM stereo radio with RDS, MP3/MPEG4 player, Nokia Xpress Audio
and Flash messaging, Macromedia Adobe Flash, Link to YouTube service
Yahoo! Go and Yahoo! Ready, WidSets, Voice memo, Voice dial, Built-in hands-
free, Calendar, Up to 24 h music time
Battery
Stand-by Up to 406h, Talk time Up to 5h 15 min

Design: 6.0 The new BlackBerry 9000, otherwise known as the BlackBerry Bold, is seen in a hand-
Features: 6.2 out photo from Research in Motion (RIM). The BlackBerry 9000 is a new high-end ver-
Performance: 6.3
sion of the BlackBerry aimed at RIM's core base of business users, but it hopes the
sleek new smartphone will also catch on with the broader retail market.

50
 F r e e D o w n l o a d | w w w. f l a r e . c o m . p k
C O M I N G M O B I L E S Informative

Samsung D780 Samsung M620

Size Size
Dimensions 115 x 49.6 x 15.7 mm, Weight Dimensions 98 x 46.9 x 16.9 mm, Weight 87g
Display Display
Type TFT, 256K colors, Size 240 x 320 pixels, 2.1 inches Type TFT, 65K colors, Size 128 x 160 pixels, 1.9 inches, Dedicated music
Ringtones key
Type Polyphonic (64 channels), MP3 Ringtones
Memory Type Polyphonic (64 channels), MP3
Phonebook 1000 entries, Photocall, Call records 30 received, dialed and missed Memory
calls, Card slot, microSD (TransFlash), up to 2 GB supported Phonebook 1000 entries, Call records 30 dialed, 30 received, 30 missed
Data calls, Card slot microSD (TransFlash), up to 2 GB, 18 MB user memory
GPRS Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps, Bluetooth Yes, v2.0 with A2DP Data
USB Yes, v2.0 GPRS Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps, Bluetooth Yes, v2.0 with
Features A2DP, USB Yes, v2.0
Messaging SMS, EMS, MMS, Email, Browser WAP 2.0/xHTML, Games Yes Features
Colors Dark Silver, Mirror Silver, Camera 2 MP, 1600x1200 pixels, video Messaging SMS, EMS, MMS, Browser WAP 2.0/xHTML, Games Yes +
Dual SIM, Java MIDP 2.0, MP3/AAC+/MPEG4 player, Stereo FM radio downloadable, Colors Silver, Black, Camera VGA, 640x480 pixels, video
Document viewer, Voice memo, Built-in handsfree, Mobile Printing FM Radio/Recorder, MP3/AAC/AAC+/eAAC+/WMA player, Video player
Java MIDP 2.0, T9, Organizer, Built-in handsfree, Voice memo
Battery
Design: 7.1 Stand-by Up to 250h, Talk time Up to 5h
Features: 6.8
Performance: 6.9 Design: 6.6
Features: 5.7
Performance: 6.0

Motorola Z9
Size
Dimensions 114 x 53 x 14 mm, Weight 139g
Display
Type TFT, 256K colors, Size 240 x 320 pixels, 2.4 inches, Screensavers
and wallpapers, Downloadable logos
Ringtones
Type Polyphonic (64 channels)
Memory
Phonebook 2000 entries, Photocall, Call records 20 dialed, 20 received,
20 missed calls, Card slot, microSD (TransFlash), buy memory
Data
GPRS Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps, EDGE Class 10, 236.8
kbps, 3G HSDPA, 3.6 Mbps, Bluetooth Yes, v2.0 with A2DP, USB Yes,
v2.0, miniUSB
Features
Messaging SMS, EMS, MMS, Email, Instant Messaging, Browser WAP
2.0/xHTML, HTML (Opera 8), Games Yes, order now, Colors Burgundy
Red, Camera 2 MP, 1600x1200 pixels, video, Built-in GPS receiver
Java MIDP 2.0, MP3/WMA/eAAC+ player, T9, Organizer, Calculator
Built-in handsfree, Voice dial, Voice memo
Battery
Stand-by Up to 310h, Talk time Up to 4h

Design: 6.5
Features: 6.3
A model displays Japanese mobile phone operator Willcom's smart phone "D4", equipped Performance: 6.4

with Intel's Atm processor, 40GB HDD and 5inch LCD display on its compact body weigh-
ing only 470g at a Tokyo.

Sony Ericsson G502 Sony Ericsson Z780

Size Size
Dimensions 109 x 46 x 13.5 mm, Weight 83.5g Dimensions 92 x 49 x 16 mm, Weight 100g
Display Display
Type TFT, 256K colors, Size 240 x 320 pixels, 2 inches, Wallpapers, screen- Type TFT, 256K colors, Size 240 x 320 pixels, 2.2 inches, Secondary external
savers monochrome display (36 x 128 pixels), Wallpapers, screensavers
Ringtones Ringtones
Type Polyphonic, MP3 Type Polyphonic, MP3, AAC,
Memory Memory
Phonebook 1000 entries, Photocall, Card slot Memory Stick Micro (M2) Phonebook 1000 entries, Photocall, Card slot Memory Stick Micro (M2), 35 MB
32 MB internal memory internal memory
Data Data
GPRS Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps, EDGE Class 10, 236.8 kbps GPRS Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps, EDGE Class 10, 236.8 kbps
3G HSDPA, 3.6 Mbps, Bluetooth Yes, v2.0 with A2DP, USB Yes, v2.0 3G HSDPA, 3.6 Mbps, Bluetooth Yes, v2.0 with A2DP, USB Yes, v2.0
Features Features
Messaging SMS, MMS, Email, Push Email, Browser WAP 2.0/HTML Messaging SMS, MMS, Email, Instant Messaging, Browser WAP 2.0/HTML
(NetFront), RSS reader, Games 3D games + downloadable, Colors (NetFront 3.4), RSS reader, Games 3D games + downloadable, Colors
Champagne Black, Brilliant Hazel, Camera 2 MP, 1600x1200 pixels, video, Grand Onyx, Amethyst Silver, Camera 2 MP, 1600x1200 pixels, video, videocall
Java MIDP 2.0 Built-in GPS receiver, A-GPS support, Java MIDP 2.0, FM radio, MP3/MPEG4
FM radio, MP3/MPEG4 player, Google Maps, TrackID music recognition player, TrackID music recognition, Picture editor/blogging, Organiser, Built-in
Picture editor/blogging, Organiser, Built-in handsfree, Voice memo/dial handsfree, Voice memo/dial
Battery Battery
Stand-by Up to 340h, Talk time Up to 10h Stand-by Up to 350h, Talk time Up to 9h 30 min

Design: 7.0 Design: 7.7

Features: 6.6 Features: 7.7
Performance: 6.7 Performance: 7.8

51
 F r e e D o w n l o a d | w w w. f l a r e . c o m . p k
Informative CURRENT MOBILES

Nokia 2610 LG KG 270

Rs. 3,750 RS. 2,200
Size Size
Dimensions 104 x 43 x 18 mm, Weight 91g Dimensions, 98 x 45 x 12.9 mm, Weight 60g
Display Display
Type CSTN, 65K colors, Size 128 x 128 pixels Type TFT, 65K colors, Size 128 x 128 pixels
4-way navy key, Screensavers, themes and wallpa- Downloadable wallpapers
pers Ringtones
Ringtones Type Polyphonic (16 channels)
Type Polyphonic (24 channels), MP3 Memory
Memory Phonebook 300 entries, Call records 10 dialed, 10
Phonebook 300 entries, Call records, 10 dialed, 10 received, 10 missed calls
received, 10 missed calls, Card slot No, 3 MB Features
shared memory Messaging SMS, Games Yes, order now, Colors
Data Pink, Black, Java, FM radio, T9, Organiser
GPRS Yes Calculator, Built-in handsfree
Features Battery
Messaging SMS, MMS, Email, Instant Messaging Stand-by Up to 250h, Talk time Up to 3
Browser WAP 2.0/xHTML, Games Coin Flipping +
downloadable, order now, Colors Black, Brown A very handy phone for starters and kids, partic-
Languages Major European and Asia-Pacific lan- ularly its FM radio options, despite of its very low
guages, Camera No, Java MIDP 2.0, T9, Voice price is attracting the masses. Other than Radio, poly
memo, Built-in handsfree, Calculator, Currency con- phone tones, calculator and handsfree are other plus
verter, Exchangeable covers things that KG 270 bears in it
Battery
Stand-by Up to 300h, Talk time Up to 3h Design: 7.6
Features: 7.5
The Nokia 2610 is a solid & compact and a user Performance: 7.6
friendly phone. 2610 comes in a choice of three colors
which include silver, black & dusty pink. The phone
weighs 92 grams including the battery. The user can
have up to 5 hours talk time & 380 hours of standby
time on the Nokia 2610. The 2610 is similar to the
Nokia 2310 which are both highly useable mobile
phones but with differing features.

Design: 7.2
Features: 6.6
Performance: 6.8

Samsung B100
Rs. 2,700
Size
Dimensions 104 x 44 x 16.3 mm, Weight 78g
Display
Type CSTN, 65K colors, Size 128 x 128 pixels, 1.52
inches
T-103 Melody GSM Ringtones
Type Polyphonic (64 channels), MP3
Rs. 2,299 Memory
Phonebook Yes, Call records, 30 dialed, 30 received, 30
missed calls, 2 MB embedded memory
Wrong Call Restriction
Data
FM Radio With Speaker Phone
GPRS Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps, USB Yes
Built-in Mp3 & Mp4 Player
Features
Time Synchronization
Messaging SMS, EMS, MMS, Browser WAP 1.2, Games
250 Phone Book Entries
Yes, Colors Black, Camera No, Java MIDP 2.0, Voice
65K CSTN Colour Display
memo
Multiple Languages
Built-in handsfree, Calendar, Calculator, World time,
Alarm (Alarm, Morning call), Mobile Tracker, SOS mes-
sage
T9
Battery
Stand-by Up to 450h, Talk time Up to 9h

The B 100 has "DMB"; through can watch TV in

high quality resolution. It even has TV - out with DMB
broadcasting. The display is 262,000 color OLED and I
feel the SCH B100 too small to be true for TV. Wait for
better design handsets with the same technology if you
really want it.

Design: 8.1
Features: 8.0
Performance: 8.0

52

Above prices are subject to change as per market

F r e e D o w n l o a d | w w w. f l a r e . c o m . p k
CURRENT MOBILES Informative

Nokia 2600 Classic Sony Ericsson W200i

Rs. 5,500 Rs. 5,650
Size Size
Dimensions 109.6 x 46.7 x 12 mm, 63.5 cc, Weight Dimensions 101 x 44 x 18 mm, Weight 85g
73.2g Display
Display Type UBC, 65K colors, Size 128 x 160 pixels, 1.8 inch-
Type TFT, 65K colors, Size 128 x 160 pixels, 5-way es, Wallpapers, screensavers
navigation key Ringtones
Ringtones Type Polyphonic (40 channels), MP3, AAC
Type Polyphonic, MP3 Memory
Memory Phonebook Yes, Photo call, Call records, 30 received,
Phonebook 1000 entries, Call records 20 dialed, 20 dialed and missed calls, Card slot Memory Stick Micro
received, 20 missed calls, 10 MB user memory (M2), 27 MB internal memory
Data Data
GPRS Yes, EDGE Yes, Downlink only, Bluetooth GPRS Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps, HSCSD
Yes, v2.0 Yes, Infrared port Yes, USB Yes
Features Features
Messaging SMS, MMS, Email, Browser WAP Messaging SMS, MMS, Email, Instant Messaging
2.0/xHTML Browser WAP 2.0/xHTML, HTML(NetFront), RSS feeds
Games Yes, order now, Colors Black, Orange, Blue, Colors Rythm Black, Pulse White, Camera VGA,
Beige 640x480 pixels, video, Java MIDP 2.0, FM radio with
Camera VGA, 640x480 pixels, video, Java MIDP 2.0 RDS, Walkman Media Player 1.0, T9, Image viewer
Stereo FM radio, Calendar, Calculator, Voice memo Picture editor, Organiser, Voice memo, Built-in hands-
Expense manager, T9 free
Battery Battery
Stand-by Up to 580h, Talk time Up to 6h Stand-by Up to 300h, Talk time Up to 7h

It comes with useful daily features which allow
the user to communicate with ease. This stylish &
compact handset comes with fun Xpress on™ col-
ored covers which allow the user to express their per-
sonal taste by changing the color of their phones cas-
ing. The four Xpress on™ covers come in a midnight
blue colour, sandy gold colour, sky blue colour & a
snazzy sunset orange coloured casing.
Design: 6.6
Features: 6.2
Performance: 6.3
The W200i Walkman® mobile phone provides the
user with the ultimate music experience on their mobile
handset. The handset comes in two stylish colors
which include rhythm black & pulse white. The handset
is highly useable & comes with a large brightly colored
screen which has a screen resolution of 128 x 160 pix-
els. The Sony Ericsson W200i comes with a set of high
quality stereo earphones, software which allows the
user to copy music from CD's & a 128 Mbytes Micro™
M2™ memory card.
Design: 7.5
Features: 7.2
Performance: 7.4

Motorola W375 LG KG195

Rs. 4,450 Rs. 5,400
Size
Size
Dimensions 100 x 45 x 12.4 mm, Weight 69.9g
Dimensions 99 x 45 x 18.6 mm, 73 cc, Weight 88g
Display
Display
Type TFT, 256K colors, Size 128 x 160 pixels, 1.8 inches
Type TFT, 65K colors, Size 128 x 160 pixels, 28 x 35 mm
Downloadable wallpapers
Second external mono display, Screensavers and wallpa-
Ringtones
pers, Downloadable logos
Type Polyphonic (64 channels), Customization, Download
Ringtones
Vibration Yes
Type Polyphonic, MP3
Memory
Memory
Phonebook 500 entries, Call records 10 dialed, 10 received,
Phonebook 100 entries, Call records, 10 dialed, 10
10 missed calls, Card slot microSD (TransFlash), 64 MB
received, 10 missed calls, 1.5 MB shared memory
shared memory
Data
Data
GPRS Class 8 (4+1 slots), 32 - 40 kbps, USB Yes,
GPRS Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps, Bluetooth
miniUSB
Yes v1.2 with A2DP, USB Yes, v1.1
Features
Features
Messaging SMS, EMS, MMS, Browser WAP 2.0/xHTML
Messaging SMS, EMS, MMS, Browser WAP 2.0/xHTML
Games Football, Crazy and Space, Colors Cannon Gray,
Games Yes, Colors Black, White, Camera VGA, 640x480
Lustrous Silver, Mandarin Orange, Camera, VGA, 40x480
pixels, video, FM radio, Scheduled FM recorder,
pixels, FM radio, iTap (T9), Organizer, Calculator, Built-in
MPEG4/MP3 player, Java MIDP 2.0, T9, Organiser,
handsfree
Voice memo
Battery
Battery
Stand-by Up to 250h, Talk time Up to 7h 30 min
Stand-by Up to 300h, Talk time Up to 2h 30 min
The Motorola W375 is a tactile mobile phone which is
Beautifully crafted device, LG KG 195 equips you
pleasing on the eye. The handset has a sleek form &
with not only basic communication means but also the
comes in a clamshell design. The phone comes with dual
fun features like FM Radio, scheduled FM recorder
screens where external screen is a mono type while the
and MP3 player. 64 MB internal memory along with
large internal screen is full of colors & provides a brilliant
MicroSD card allows you a great room to store and
TFT display with iconic CLI. The phone comes with a shiny
enjoy your audio music. LG KG 195 gives you more
finish which looks amazing in any of the available colors
than 300 hours of stand by and 150 minutes of talk
which include grey, silver & a beautifully eye catching man-
time.
darin orange. The handset is light weight & easy to carry
which only weighs seventy eight grams.
Design: 7.2
Design: 6.7
Features: 7.0
Features: 6.0
Performance: 7.0
Performance: 6.2

53

Above prices are subject to change as per market


Informative
LG KG 290
Rs, 6,300
Size
Dimensions 92 x 46 x 17.7 mm, Weight 90g
Display
Type TFT, 256K colors, Size 128 x 160 pixels, 1.77 inches
Downloadable wallpapers
Ringtones
Type Polyphonic (40 channels), MP3
Memory
Phonebook Yes, Photocall, Call records 40 dialed, 40
received, 40 missed calls, Card slot, microSD (TransFlash)
5 MB shared memory
Data
GPRS Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps, Bluetooth Yes
USB Yes
Features
Messaging SMS, MMS, Browser WAP 2.0/xHTML, Games
Yes, order now, Colors Black, Gray, Camera 1.3 MP,
1280x960 pixels, video, Java MIDP 2.0, MP3/WMA/???++
player, FM radio, Calculator, Organiser, World time, Voice
memo, Built-in handsfree
Battery
Stand-by Up to 200h, Talk time Up to 2h
A very generous phone that holds quite good features
packed in a very attractive priced device. Other than 1.3
megapixel camera, phone has music player with capacity to
play MP3, ACC and WMA formats. Hands free and FM radio
adds the glory along with a stand by time of more than 200
hours. LG KG 290 makes it easy for you to share music and
videos with your friends through its Bluetooth option.
Design: 7.8
Features: 7.7
Performance: 7.8
Motorola KRAZR K1
Rs. 11,500
Size
Dimensions 103 x 42 x 16 mm, Weight 102g
Display
Type TFT, 256K colors, Size 176 x 220 pixels, 30 x 37
mm, Second external CSTN, 256K colors display (96 x
80 pixels), Screensavers and wallpapers,
Downloadable logos
Ringtones
Type Polyphonic, MP3, Customization Download
Vibration Yes
Memory
Phonebook 1000 x 20 fields, Photo call, Call records
40 dialed, 40 received, 40 missed calls, Card slot
microSD (TransFlash), 20 MB internal memory
Data
GPRS, Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps, EDGE
Class 12, Bluetooth Yes,v1.2 with A2DP, USB Yes
Features
Messaging SMS, EMS, MMS, Email, Instant Messaging
Browser WAP 2.0/xHTML, Games Yes, order now
Colors Cosmic Blue, Silver Sail, Camera 2 MP,
1600x1200 pixels, video(CIF), Java MIDP 2.0
MP3/AAC/AAC+ player, T9, Organizer, Calculator
Built-in handsfree, Voice memo
Battery
Stand-by Up to 300h, Talk time Up to 6h
Motorola dictates the design direction in mobile
phones for years, and their most apparent examples
are the RAZR-phones, that became the most popular
device and the ones the other manufacturers regulate
their models with. After a few models from the RAZR
and SLVR families achieved their missions as best-sell-
ers, Motorola decided to use another style that was
sure to become a hit - shiny reflective surface. We first
saw it in pre-production units of the PEBL U6 (called V6
at that time) but it didn't hit the stores due to the easy-
to-catch fingerprints thing, and was available in ordinary
black, and various "sweet" colors later. After a while, the
same glass-finish appeared on the H5 Miniblue
Headset, which is still not commercially available.
Design: 8.0
Features: 7.7
Performance: 7.7
54
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F r e e D o w n l o a d | w w w. f l a r e . c o m . p k
Samsung J700
Rs. 7,900
Size
Dimensions 99.5 x 48 x 14.8 mm, Weight 92g
Display
Type TFT, 65K colors, Size 128 x 160 pixels, 2 inches
Ringtones
Type Polyphonic, MP3
Memory
Phonebook 1000 entries, Photocall, Call records
20 dialed, 20 received, 20 missed calls, Card slot
microSD (TransFlash), 10 MB user memory
Data
GPRS Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps, EDGE
Class 10, 236.8 kbps, Bluetooth Yes, v2.0 with A2DP
USB Yes, v2.0
Features
Messaging SMS, EMS, MMS, Browser WAP
2.0/xHTML, HTML, Games Yes, Colors Black, Camera
1.3 MP, 1280x960 pixels, video, Java MIDP 2.0, FM
radio
MPEG4/3GP video player/recorder,
MP3/AAC/AAC+/MIDI player, BT printing, Organizer,
Currency converter
Voice memo, T9
'Style with substance' is the phrase used to
describe the SGH-J700. I'd certainly go with the 'style'
part of the equation as the phone looks rather nice
albeit in a predictable and understated kind of way. I'm
not so sure about the 'substance', though. What is on
offer in terms of specifications is at the lower end of
mid-range.
Design: 7.7
Features: 7.8
Performance: 7.8
Sony Ericsson K610i
Rs. 11,500
Size
Dimensions 102 x 45.2 x 16.9 mm, Weight 89g
Display
Type TFT, 256K colors, Size 176 x 220 pixels, 30 x 37 mm
Wallpapers, screensavers
Ringtones
Type Polyphonic (72 channels), MP3, AAC, Customization
Composer, download, order now, Vibration Yes
Memory
Phonebook Yes, Photo call, Call records 30 received,
dialed and missed calls, Card slot Memory Stick Micro
(M2), 16 MB internal memory
Data
GPRS Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps, HSCSD Yes
EDGE No, 3G Yes, 384 kbps, WLAN No, Bluetooth Yes,
v2.0 with A2DP, Infrared port No, USB Yes, v2.0
Features
Messaging SMS, EMS, MMS, Email, Instant Messaging
Browser WAP 2.0/xHTML, HTML(NetFront), Games Yes +
downloadable, order now, Colors Evening Red, Urban
Silver, Misty White Camera 2 MP, 1600x1200 pixels,
video; secondary video call VGA camera, Java MIDP 2.0
MP3/AAC/MPEG4 player, Video telephony, T9, Image
viewer, Picture editor, Organiser, Voice memo, Built-in
handsfree
Battery
Stand-by Up to 400h, Talk time Up to 7h
The Sony Ericsson K610i is a ultra slim & compact
3G mobile phone which comes in a choice of highly attrac-
tive coloured casing which include urban silver or evening
red. The K610i is one of the smallest 3G mobile phones
on the market & it has a beautifully designed metal keypad
which is very easy to use. The keypad comes with a back
light which illuminates when a incoming call or message
comes in. The navigation button is of an outstanding quali-
ty which makes it very easy & precise to manoeuvre
around the menus. The K610i is an upgraded version of
the Sony Ericsson K508i which is a very popular & well
equipped mobile phone.
Design: 8.0
Features: 8.1
Performance: 8.0
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Nokia E65
Rs. 19,800
Size
Dimensions 105 x 49 x 15.5 mm, 74 cc, Weight 115g
Display
Type TFT, 16M colors, Size 240 x 320 pixels, Five-way
scroll key, Downloadable themes
Ringtones
Type Polyphonic, MP3
Memory
Phonebook Practically unlimited entries and fields, hoto-
call, Call records, Detailed, max 30 days, Card slot
microSD (TransFlash), up to 2GB, hotswap, buy memory
50 MB shared memory, 128 MB SDRAM memory
ARM 9 220 MHz processor
Data
GPRS Class 32, HSCSD Yes, EDGE Class 32, 296 /
177.6 kbits, 3G Yes, 384 kbps, WLAN Wi-Fi 802.11b/g,
VoIP over WLAN, Bluetooth Yes, v1.2, Infrared port
Yes, USB Yes, Pop-Port
Features
OS Symbian OS 9.1, Series 60 UI, Messaging SMS,
MMS, Email, Instant Messaging, Browser WAP
2.0/xHTML, HTML, Games Downloadable, order now
Colors Red, Mocca, Black, Full Black, Bronze Black,
Pink, Plum, White, Camera 2 MP, 1600x1200 pixels,
video(CIF), Java MIDP 2.0, Push to talk,
MP3/AAC/MPEG4 player, Office applications, T9
Voice command/memo, PIM including calendar, to-do list
and printing, Integrated handsfree
Battery
Stand-by Up to 265h, Talk time Up to 6h
The E65 is a fabulous & attractive 3G Smartphone
designed by Nokia. The Nokia E65 comes in a neat & slim
sized casing which is only 15.5mm in thickness. The cas-
ing is 105mm in height & 49mm wide which feels good to
hold in the users' hand. The E65 is lightweight for a 3G
Smartphone which weighs 105 grams including the bat-
tery. The handset is a slide opening phone which allows
the user to view the large screen when the phone is either
opened or closed. The screen is large & provides 16 mil-
lion colors on a high resolution screen.
Design: 8.2
Features: 8.0
Performance: 8.0
Motorola ROKR E6
Rs. 19,200
Size
Dimensions 111 x 51.5 x 14.5 mm, Weight 121g
Display
Type TFT touchscreen, 256K colors, Size 240 x 320 pix-
els, 2.4 inches
Ringtones
Type Polyphonic (64 channels), MP3, AAC, 3.5 mm
headset jack
Memory
Phonebook Advanced, Photo call, Call records 50
dialed, 50 received, 50 missed calls, Card slot
SD, up to 2GB, 8 MB user memory
Data
GPRS Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps, EDGE
Class 10, 236.8 kbps, Bluetooth Yes, v2.0 with A2DP
USB Yes, v2.0
Features
OS Linux-based, Messaging SMS, EMS, MMS, Email,
Instant Messaging, Browser WAP 2.0/xHTML, HTML
Games Yes+ downloadable, Colors Black, Camera
2 MP, 1600x1200 pixels, video(CIF), Java MIDP 2.0
FM radio, Document viewer (MS Word, Excel, PPT,
PDF), MPEG4/MP3 player, Business card scanning
Calculator, Organizer, Built-in handsfree
Battery
Stand-by Up to 235h, Talk time Up to 7h
The Motorola ROKR E6 is a desirable smart phone
which comes with all the business functions & entertain-
ment feature that all users will enjoy. The handset is high-
ly attractive & eye catching with its large touch screen
which displays up to 262k colors for the user to view on
the 2.4 Inch screen. The smartphone comes with naviga-
tion keys complete with backlight, which are situated
under the beautiful color touch screen. The navigation
keys make operating the phone simple for the user. The
Motorola ROKR E6 weighs 121 grams which is ideal for a
handset with smartphone capabilities.
Design: 8.2
Features: 8.1
Performance: 8.1
Informative
Sony Ericsson T650i
Rs. 19,200
Size
Dimensions 104 x 46 x 12.5mm, Weight 95g
Display
Type TFT, 256K colors, Size 240 x 320 pixels, 1.9 inches
Wallpapers, screensavers
Ringtones
Type Polyphonic, MP3, AAC
Memory
Phonebook 1000 contacts, Photo call, Call records
30 received, dialed and missed calls, Card slot
Memory Stick Micro (M2), 256 MB card included
16 MB shared memory
Data
GPRS Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps, HSCSD Yes
EDGE No, 3G Yes, 384 kbps, Bluetooth Yes, v2.0 with
A2DP, USB Yes
Features
Messaging SMS, MMS, Email Browser WAP
2.0/HTML(NetFront), RSS feeds, Games Yes + download-
able , Colors Growing Green, Midnight Blue, Eclipse Black,
Precious Gold, Camera 3.15 MP, 2048x1536 pixels, autofo-
cus, video(QCIF ), flash; secondary VGA videocall camera
Java MIDP 2.0, MP3/AAC music player, FM radio, T9
Organiser, Voice memo, Built-in handsfree
Battery
Stand-by Up to 300h, Talk time Up to 7h
The Sony Ericsson T650i is a 3G mobile phone which
comes in a solid & stylish designed bar style handset. The
handset weighs 95 grams which gives the handset a solid
feel but at the same the 95 grams is lightweight for a 3G
capable phone. The T650i is only 12.5mm deep which pro-
vides the user with a slim & sleek 3G handset which is easy
to carry & hold when in use. The overall design of the T650i
is inspired by the Nordic lights as the handset will attract the
user's senses. The handset comes with a smooth & subtle
finish & is available in a growing green color or a midnight
blue color. The colors available reflect the look & feel of this
Nordic lights inspired design.
Design: 8.1
Features: 8.0
Performance: 8.0
Samsung i450
Rs. 18,300
Size
Dimensions 101 x 52 x 17.8 mm, Weight 114g
Display
Type TFT, 256K colors, Size 240 x 320 pixels, 2.4 inches
Ringtones
Type Polyphonic, MP3, Customization Download, Vibration Yes
Memory
Phonebook Yes, Photocall Call records, 20 dialed, 20 received, 20
missed calls, Card slot microSD (TransFlash), 40 MB built-in
memory
Data
GPRS Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps, EDGE Class 10,
236.8 kbps, 3G HSDPA, 3.6 Mbps, Bluetooth Yes, v2.0 with A2DP
USB Yes, v2.0
Features
OS Symbian OS 9.2, Series 60 v3.1 UI, Messaging SMS, EMS,
MMS, Email Browser, WAP 2.0/xHTML, HTML, Games Yes
Colors Dark Blue, Camera 2 MP, 1600x1200 pixels, video, flash;
secondary VGA videocall camera, Java MIDP 2.0, Flash player
FM radio with RDS, 3.5 mm audio jack, WMV/3GP/H.263/MPEG4
player, WMA/MP3/AAC/AAC+/OGG/ASF player, Organiser
Document viewer (MS Word, Excel, PPT, PDF), Built-in handsfree
Battery
Stand-by Up to 500h, Talk time Up to 5h
In the range of music-inclined devices, also known as Beatz
or Ultra Music, this is the top-of-the-line offering both quality- and
price-wise. That's where we come across a phenomenon when the
line-up's bottom end is represented by the Samsung F210, a hand-
set styled after an MP3 player-pendant, the mid-range solution,
which the Samsung F330 actually is, comes in the form of a con-
ventional slider, and the Samsung i450 boasts dual-slider action.
Design: 8.1
Features: 8.0
Performance: 8.1
55
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 F r e e D o w n l o a d | w w w. f l a r e . c o m . p k
Informative CURRENT MOBILES

Nokia E90 Sony Ericsson W960i

Rs. 46,300
Size
Dimensions 132 x 57 x 20 mm, 140 cc, Weight 210g
Display
Type TFT, 16M colors, Size 800 x 352 pixels, 4 inches
Second external 16M colors display (240 x 320 pixels), 2 inches
Full QWERTY keyboard, Downloadable themes
Ringtones
Type Polyphonic (64 channels), MP3
Memory
Phonebook Practically unlimited entries and fields, Photocall
Call records, Detailed, max 30 days, Card slot, microSD
(TransFlash), up to 8GB, hotswap, 128 MB shared memory
330 Mhz ARM processor
Data
GPRS Yes, HSCSD Yes, EDGE Yes, 3G HSDPA, 3.6 Mbps
WLAN Wi-Fi 802.11b/g, Bluetooth Yes, v2.0 with A2DP
Infrared port Yes, USB Yes, v2.0, miniUSB
Features
OS Symbian OS v9.2, S60 rel. 3.1, Messaging SMS, MMS,
Email, Instant Messaging, Browser WAP 2.0/xHTML, HTML
Games Yes + Java downloadable, Colors Red, Mocha
Camera 3.15 MP, 2048x1536 pixels, autofocus, video(VGA
30fps), flash; secondary QCIF videocall camera, Built-in GPS
receiver (with preinstalled maps), Push to talk, Video calling
Java MIDP 2.0, MP3/M4A/AAC/eAAC+/WMA player
FM radio, Voice command/dial, PIM including calendar, to-do
list and printing, Document viewer, Photo/video editor,
Integrated handsfree
Battery
Stand-by Up to 330h, Talk time Up to 5h
The Nokia E90 Communicator is a 3G Smartphone which
provides the user with a mobile office in their pocket. The phone
comes with dual screens & dual keypads. The E90 provides the
user with a call friendly handset, when in it's closed position as it
comes with a 16 million color screen & a numeric keypad situat-
ed externally. The phone can be opened to provided the user with
a large 16 million color screen with a high screen resolution & a
full qwerty keyboard. The screens are active matrix type displays
with high screen resolutions to provide the user with the perfect
viewing displays. The E90 3G Smartphone comes with a inte-
grated GPS which allows the user to locate places of interest
easily on their mobile device & supports a map application.
Design: 8.0
Features: 8.1
Performance: 8.2
Rs. 36,500
Size
Dimensions 109 x 55 x 16 mm, Weight 119g
Display
Type TFT touchscreen, 256K colors, Size 240 x 320 pixels,
2.6 inches, Handwriting recognition, Wallpapers, screen-
savers
Ringtones
Type Polyphonic (40 channels), MP3, AAC, Customization
Composer, download, order now, Vibration Yes
Memory
Phonebook Practically unlimited entries and fields, Photocall
Call records, Practically unlimited, Card slot No, 8 GB
shared memory for storage, 128 MB RAM, 256 MB flash
memory (96 MB reserved for OS + 160 MB user memory)
Data
GPRS Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps, HSCSD No
EDGE No, 3G Yes, 384 kbps, WLAN Wi-Fi 802.11b
Bluetooth Yes, v2.0 with A2DP, Infrared port No, USB Yes,
v2.0
Features
OS Symbian OS v9.1, UIQ 3.0, Messaging SMS, EMS,
MMS, Email, Instant Messaging, Browser WAP 2.0/xHTML,
HTML(Opera 8.0), RSS reader, Games Yes + download-
able, order now, Colors Vinyl Black, Camera 3.15 MP,
2048x1536 pixels, autofocus, video(QVGA 15fps), flash;
secondary VGA videocall camera, Java MIDP 2.0
FM radio with RDS, Walkman Touch player, TrackID music
recognition, T9, Image viewer, Picture/document editor
Organiser, Voice memo, Built-in handsfree
Battery
Stand-by Up to 370h, Talk time Up to 9h
The highly capable W960i Walkman® music phone
comes in a super stylish vinyl black coloured casing which
measures 109mm high by 55mm wide by 16mm deep. The
music phone is a 3G capable handset which provides the
user with high speed technology & the highest quality music
features. The Sony Ericsson W range is a popular range
which is adored by all music loving phone users & includes
other 3G Walkman® music focused handsets including the
Sony Ericsson W910i & the Sony Ericsson W950i. The
Walkman® music phone comes with a massive 8 Gbytes of
memory which allows the user to store up to eight thousand
songs on their handset.
Design: 8.3
Features: 8.2
Performance: 8.3

Motorola RAZR2 V8 Luxury LG KU990 Viewty

Edition Rs. 37,000
Dimension 103 x 53 x 11.9 mm, Weight 117g
Battery Talk time Up to 7 h 50 min, Stand-by Up to 330 h
OS Linux
Memory 2 GB internal user memory
Connectivity Bluetooth v2.0 with A2DP, USB, GPRS
Class 10 (48 kbps), EDGE Class 12
Display Size 240 x 320 pixels, 2.2 inches (2nd external 2
inches display (240 x 320 pixels) with contextual touch
interaction Display Colour TFT, 256K colors (2nd exter-
nal 256K colors)
Operating Frequency / Band GSM 850 / GSM 900 /
GSM 1800 / GSM 1900 Browser WAP 2.0/xHTML,
HTML (Opera 8.5) Colors gold-plated body with soft
snake-skin-like back Entertainment MP3/AAC/AAC+
player, Games Camera 2 MP, 1600x1200 pixels,
video(QCIF) Ring Tones Polyphonic, MP3 Messaging
SMS, EMS, MMS, Instant Messaging
RAZR 2 V8 - The semi-touch screen is an interesting
variation on the usual touch screen style, with tactile
buzzing feedback when one of the three touch buttons on
the external screen are pressed. The pre-production model
had a poor shutter button, which is a bit of a disappoint-
ment since this is usually a well used button, and consider-
ing the effort put into the external screen. (Let's hope that
this'll get fixed for production models.) The reviewers found
that the main keypad was great, with a not-too-rubbery
feel, and the UI is an improvement in all the areas that
count -- snappy, clear, and customizable. The refinements
make the RAZR2 V8 sound like a winner to us: a pity it had
to be such a long time coming.
Design: 8.4
Features: 7.8
Performance: 7.9
Rs. 28,000
Size
Dimensions 103.5 x 54.4 x 14.8 mm, Weight 112g
Display
Type TFT touchscreen, 256K colors, Size 240 x 400 pixels, 3 inch-
es, Flash UI, Downloadable wallpapers
Ringtones
Type Polyphonic (40 channels), MP3
Memory
Phonebook 500 entries, Photocall, Call records, 40 dialed, 40
received, 40 missed calls, Card slot, microSD (TransFlash), up to
2GB, 100 MB shared memory
Data
GPRS Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps, EDGE Yes
3G HSDPA, 3.6 Mbps, Bluetooth Yes, v1.2 with A2DP
Infrared port No, USB Yes, v2.0
Features
Messaging SMS, EMS, MMS, Email Browser WAP 2.0/xHTML,
HTML, Games Yes, Colors Black, Dark Silver, Purple, Pink, Camera
5 MP, 2592?1944 pixels, autofocus, video(VGA 30fps, QVGA up to
120fps), strobe flash; secondary VGA videocall camera, Java MIDP
2.0, MP3/MPEG4/WMV/AAC/DivX player, FM radio with RDS
Organiser, Document viewer (DOC, XLS, PDF), Voice memo
Built-in handsfree
Battery
Stand-by Up to 430h, Talk time Up to 4h
The LG KU990 Viewty is a touchscreen 3G mobile phone which
comes with a high quality camera & imaging features. The Viewty is
a member of the LG family. The Viewty is a solid design with no fancy
opening systems which weighs 112 gram & the overall measurements
of the handset make it easy for the user to use & carry whether the
handset is in the users pocket when carrying or in the users hand
when in use. The height of the Viewty is 103.5mm by 54.4mm wide
by 14.8mm deep which is a good size for a 3G touch screen phone.
Design: 8.2
Features: 8.1
Performance: 8.1

56

Above prices are subject to change as per market

 Free Download | w w w. f l a r e . c o m . p k
Informative

"Soul" - By Samsung
Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. announced the launch of 'Soul', Samsung's new flagship
product for 2008. Samsung named 'Soul'' to honor the completion of its exclusive 'Ultra
Edition' series of handsets which offer this perfect balance of design and features.
On the occasion, Sangsuk Roh, Country Manager Samsung Electronics said: "Soul is set
to continue the success of past Ultra Edition handsets, such as D900 and U600, and will fur-
ther enhance Samsung's leadership in the premium phone category."
Soul enhances the usability for the user with features that adapt to the user depending
on the application. With Magical Touch by DaCP™, navigation indicators on the keypad of
the phone change according to the user's needs, making navigation of the menus simple,
intuitive and direct. The navigation panel's icons change according to function.
At only 12.9mm thin, it is equipped with professional photographic functions including a
5 megapixel camera. Soul answers today's customer needs as the perfect digital camera
and multimedia mobile combined into one single device. Features such as face detection,
image stabilizer and Wide Dynamic Range (WDR), which are very up-to-date features even
in today's digital cameras, are also equipped in Soul.
Users can enjoy super-fast Internet access through the 7.2 Mbps High Speed Downlink
Packet Access (HSDPA) browser and share images or video taken with the phone. With 7.2
Mpbs HSDPA, users can also download songs at a faster speed compared to average 3G
networks. Soul is also perfect for music listeners with features such as Music library naviga-
tion, digital power amplifier by ICEpower® technology by Bang & Olufsen ICEpower.

LG Viewty
LG Viewty is a 5.1 megapixel camera phone with a Schneider Kreuznach lens and
advanced imaging capabilities. The front of the LG KU990 has a large touchscreen. The full
technical specifications of the KU990 Viewty include a 5.1 megapixel camera that comes
with a flash, electronic image stabilization, photo editing and single-click uploading to
YouTube.
Video capture on the LG Viewty is up to 120 fps (frames per second) - this is twice the
frame rate of an HDTV. Schneider Kreuznach are the people who make lenses for Kodak,
so that's a promising start when it comes to the KU990's optical credentials. Combine this
with the 5.1 megapixel camera, and the KU990 Viewty looks very good indeed.
The "U" in KU990 should indicate that this is a 3G device, and you can reasonably expect
to see a multimedia player, web browser, email client and all the usual features. You can
safely assume that the KU990 / Viewty will be competing directly against the N95, where the
LG has the advantage of a touchscreen.

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Informative

Samsung D780 DuoS

The Samsung D780 DuoS is one of a very small number of mobile phones that are designed
to accept two SIM cards at the same time. You may have explored DuoS's technology before, but
just to remind, both SIM cards are active at the same time, and the DuoS has two handset profiles
with different settings for each. Users can choose which SIM to use for voice calls and data, and
contacts and SMS messages are stored separately. There is very little functional difference
between a DuoS handset and carrying two phones about. Except with the Samsung D780 DuoS
you will only need the one handset.
Apart from the dual-SIM support, the Samsung D870 DuoS is an utterly conventional GSM
phone. It has a 2.1" 240 x 320 pixel display, a basic 2 megapixel digital camera, microSD expand-
able memory, an FM radio, stereo Bluetooth, a USB connector, plus a multimedia player, web
browser and email client.
Samsung didn't tell how much the D780 weighs, but it does come with a large capacity 1200
mAh battery which will add to the weight slightly. Because there are two distinct GSM/GPRS radios
in the SGH-D780, it will tend to require more power to run. At 115 x 50 x 16mm, the D780 is per-
haps a little larger than a single SIM device too.
The Samsung D780 will be available Europe, Asia and the Middle East from July 2008.

Sony Ericsson G502

The Sony Ericsson G502 is a lightweight 3.5G candy bar phone. What you do get with the
G502 is a lightweight 3.5G phone that can support HSDPA downloads. The 2" 240 x 320 pixel
display and basic 2 megapixel camera are adequate for most users. Media capabilities are pret-
ty good, with support for stereo Bluetooth and an FM radio built in, in addition to the usual Sony
Ericsson media player.
An email client, RSS reader, web browser and a set of PIM functions make up the software,
and the G502 also supports push email from Microsoft Exchange.
On GSM, talktime is up to 9 hours, and on 3G it is a maximum of 4.5 hours. It's a pretty light-
weight device at 83.5 grams and 109 x 46 x 13.5 mm in size. The memory is expandable using
Memory Stick Micro cards.
The "G" series designation is confusing. The only two previous models in this range are
touchscreen smartphones, so presumably "G" is being used for "General". No price was given,
but we expect it to be around PKR 15,000. Sony Ericsson says that the Z780 should be avail-
able during Q2 2008.

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Informative

We have seen Windows Mobile devices for quite some time now. We waited for long for HTC Kaiser,
which has now been released as the HTC TyTN II in Pakistan by Mobile Zone. These days everyone
wants a device that does everything: high speed HSDPA multi-band internet, fast processor, large key-
board, small body, large amount of storage and memory, WiFi, Bluetooth, finger touch screen, GPS
Navigation, MP3 player, quality digital camera, etc. We want it all, and the TyTN II is the first real attempt
at giving it to us. Hence, HTC's tagline in their marketing materials reads "The Ultimate Mobile Companion."
We'll give the TyTNII a very thorough look, and determine whether it should be added to your phone wish
list. Read on!
WHAT'S HOT
You would think it might be enough to masterfully incorporate every type of current mobile device technol-
ogy into one device, which is essentially what the TyTN II does... but the most innovative feature is the flexibil-
ity. The TyTN II actually has four different usage methods. Maybe you like to use it with one hand, maybe you
like to type with two thumbs, maybe you like to write on the screen, maybe you like to set it on the table and
watch YouTube videos.
First, since the TyTN II has TouchFLO, as made popular by the HTC Touch, you can use the device with one
hand and one finger. You can flick your finger across the screen to scroll or pan through anything, and you can
use an on-screen software based keyboard for input. This type of usage has recently
been popularized by the Apple iPhone. Second, you can also use a stylus with
the touch screen for more accurate interaction and handwriting recognition.
The third option is to slide out the keyboard and use two thumbs to
navigate the interface as well as input text.
The 4th way to interact with the TyTN II is to tilt up the screen and set it on a
desk or table. You can use your fingers on the keyboard to navigate and input text
while still being able to see the screen without holding it up or hovering above it.
Now, Apple would have you believe that the finger-touch-screen usage configu-
ration is the best, but obviously (in using the TyTN II) having the flexibility to switch
between usage configuration modes is much more valuable to the user. Of course,
we can't forget the TyTN II's spectacular list of specifications.
It's got Bluetooth 2.0, WiFi b/g, 400MHz Qualcomm MSM7200 CPU, 256MB ROM,
128MB RAM, Windows Mobile 6 Professional, a 2.8" QVGA screen screen, quadband
GSM/EDGE (850/900/1800/1900Mhz), Triband UMTS (850/1900/2100Mhz), HSDPA,
HSUPA, USB 2.0, built-in GPS (NMEA 0183), front-facing VGA camera, and a 3.1MP rear
camera with autofocus. That is an extremely impressive list of specifications. You might
expect some of the features to be unreliable or not so great. On the contrary, the TyTNII, in my
opinion, currently has the best Bluetooth radio, best GPS implementation, best keyboard, and the
fast processor and extra memory makes everything run very smoothly.
WHAT'S IN THE BOX
The HTC TyTN II comes with a USB sync cable, AC adapter, stereo headphones with talk button/mic/volume control, belt pouch case,
screen protector, software CD including ActiveSync and a trial version of Microsoft Outlook 2007, software CD with GPRS Monitor, SPB
Backup, and TomTom 6 Taster Edition, extensive full color manual, Getting Started guide,
and an extra stylus.
THE DEVICE
One of the most innovative features of the TyTN II is it's slide out keyboard
and tilting screen combination. This allows the device to transform from a touch-
screen phone to a table-top mini-computer. Other devices with slide-out key-
boards still need to be held up with two hands so you can see the screen. With
the TyTN II, you can just set it on the table and tilt the screen up to watch a
movie or read through email while poking at the keyboard with your fingers.
OVERALL IMPRESSION
Two words: Very Impressed. I don't even care that I don't have 3G support
here in Pakistan yet. The TyTN II does it all. For me, the improved Bluetooth
and consequently improved Voice Command via Bluetooth recognition capabil-
ities are well worth it alone. Add on top of that a much improved GPS Navigation
implementation, a slide out keyboard/flip-up screen, TouchFLO scrolling, 3MP auto-
focus camera, Windows Mobile 6 features and a ton of memory... and there's no turning back. The TyTN
II truly is the ultimate mobile companion... at least for now.

60
Free Download | w w w. f l a r e . c o m . p k
Informative

Nokia 5320 XpressMusic

It's not a very expensive device, at around PKR 22,000. The QVGA resolution display is 2"
in size, the camera has a flash and talktime is 5 hours. Video capture is 320 x 240 pixels at
15 fps.
Most of the effort has gone into the 5320 XpressMusic's multimedia abilities. In addition to
dedicated media keys and a 3.5mm audio jack, the 5320 also supports voice recognition for
the media player's "Say and Play" feature. There's a dedicated audio chip too, and the Nokia
5320 supports up to 24 hours of music playback. Internal memory is a pretty good 140MB,
and this can be expanded by up to 8GB using microSD cards. The 5320 supports USB 2.0,
and also has HSDPA data for high-speed internet downloads. On top of that, the 5320 Xpress
Music has an FM radio.
As with most recent Nokia smartphones, the 5320 XpressMusic also supports N-Gage
gaming, comes with a web browser and email client. It supports video calling through a sec-
ondary camera and it has Bluetooth 2.0. The 5320 weighs 90 grams, which is fairly lightweight
for a 3G device, talktime is 2.5 hours on 3G, 3.5 hours on GSM and it has a maximum of 10
days standby time.
It's not the most exciting phone that we've ever seen, but it does seem to be well suited to
music lovers who don't want to break the bank. Nokia say that the 5320 should be available
during Q3 2008.

Trend T-786i Dual Sim GSM

Trend mobiles were the first in introducing the dual SIM mecha-
nism that allowed a person to hold two different SIMs in one mobile
phone. It has now come up with the simplest and yet the most loaded
of the mobile phones. It is called the, Trend Perfect Dual Sim, T-786i
is available in Bar shape with keypad and touch screen facility.
The features of T-786i are startling. Its basic edge is that a user
can retain different network operators' SIMs in one cell phone and
can
receive calls in both. It is a complete multimedia cell phone with 2
mega pixel camera, which has an audio and video recorders and
players as well. The USB data cable allows the user a unique facility
of 'Plug N Play'.
Attach the cable with your computer and view what you have
recorded. There is no need of any software or driver installation unlike
other cell phones. Trend T-786i having Bluetooth connectivity, GPRS
and MMS. Trend mobiles offers an unmatched Deluxe Package along
with the set which includes a free-of-cost Bluetooth Device, 256 MB
memory card, hands free, USB port, Desktop charger, 2 extra batter-
ies and In-Car charger and a Trendy pouch to carry your cell phone in
style.
The Trend T-786i is a fashion conscious handset, which has a
good and attractive size of LCD and gives solid and quality feel when
in use. Mobile phone holds another edge to other cell phones in the
market. It has the style, it has the attractive look and it has all that
you require in cell phone to begin with.

61
Foresight Technologies (Pvt.) Limited
Tel : +9221 - 530-4308-9
Fax : +9221 - 520-6780
E-mail : info@4sight.com.pk
URL : www.4sight.com.pk
Free Download | w w w. f l a r e . c o m . p k
Informative

Motorola's new W180 is an entry-level, inexpensive mobile phone basically aimed at the youth. This humble
W180 intends making a place for itself in the teenager pockets in times when the generation now is drooling
over camera-clad-music-thumping hi-tech toys. Nevertheless, different people have different budgets. This
basic mobile phone is not only low in priced but essentially allow making and receiving calls, text messaging,
and includes FM radio, calendar and speaker phone facility as well.
It sounds like a pretty good deal. With its low price, great looks, features, and performance put together, it makes for a
worthwhile purchase in the entry-level mobile phone category. It is the phone which is basically suitable for new
beginner phone users as it is easy-to-use and affordable.

Design:
The W180 itself is really light in weight, coming with only 85 gram. The thin candy bar form factor which measures only
14 mm in size isn't slim but looks quite slick, at least on the face of it as it. The glossy and non-bumpy frontal makes it
seem like a good deal for the price tag it holds. Unlike its glossy face, W180's rear has a matte finish, a clean
uninterrupted back and is quite comfortable to hold. It has a large bright color screen and a keypad with non-protruding
soft keys that seem integrated in the skin of the phone; all except for the 4-way D-pad and the main menu key that it
encircles, are slightly puffed.

Features:
The easy-to-use form factor gives you access to all of the tools you need like phone, data, and music in an intuitive
user interface. I liked the menu of this phone - clean, simple, and fast.

Menu:
On pressing the main menu key, you get an option of 9 menu functions. Here's a chunk of what it includes:

1. Message: I like text messaging in general, but W180 didn't exactly delight me in this aspect. Apart from the
regulars, it allows you to read, write, and save up to 750 messages. The word bank is impressive, but when one has to
press "select" after every word formed in order to add it to the message, it can be a bit irritating, if not just that, tiring for
your thumb as well. All this made me miss T9 so much!
2. Contacts: You can add, delete, edit your contact list, and even add a speed dial numbers. You don't have the option
to "send contact" information. The phone can store up to 500 contacts.
3. Recent Calls: View dialed numbers, as well as missed and received calls.
4.Games: It is preloaded with 3 games; Rebel, Football, and Crazy. It is nice for people who've never played PC games.
5. Extras: W180 houses the calculator, an alarm clock, and a stopwatch. It even has a calendar, which is good to have.
6. Ring Styles: This is where you can select customized ring styles to suit your needs at different time it's like the "profiles". The phone comes
preloaded with 35 polyphonic ring tones as well as 2 different vibration types. You can also compose up to 4 tones on your own.
7. Settings: This features the regulars - call divert, phone status, phone and network setup, et all.
8. FM Radio: Stores up to 9 channel frequencies. You can access this function if your handsfree is connected to the phone.
9. Personalise: Through this function, you can choose what shortcut each key should do. Also, it allows you to change the theme of the phone by
allowing you to choose from some vibrant colors, 5 cool Indian wallpapers, and some screen-savers.

Battery:
Following the Motorola tradition, W180's battery proves to be average as well, although according to the manufacturers, this
phone has an extended battery life. It comes with a 3.7V Lithium-ion battery. After a couple of full battery charge-discharge sessions for the new
phone, on an average, it lasted me for about a day and a little more after moderate use which included calls, radio, and a bit of games.
For energizing itself, this phone uses a USB-based charger which needs to be plugged into an electrical outlet. USB charging via PC is not
supported. An irritant which surfaces while using the phone in "low battery" mode is the recurring beep (like hiccups) alert sound. It won't stop till
you put the phone to charge, with the USB cord acting like a pacifier.

Audio:
One obviously doesn't expect wonders from this phone, since the company's not asking you to pay a premium for anything fancy in the first place.
All I can say about the sound quality is that it is loud and clear, and quite decent. The FM radio function allows you to save up to 9 channel
frequencies automatically or manually. Listening to the radio on this is fun.

Conclusion:
"What more could you ask for in a basic phone? Well, if you don't have too much problem charging
your phone almost everyday, don't mind an additional connector for the handsfree,
and aren't a text messaging fan, this phone is good to go. A bit of tweaking is
required, yes, but for the looks and features, it does fit the bill. With stylish
looks and good features, this mobile phone is all set to become a favorite of
those who want a good mobile phone for a reasonable price.

63
Free Download | w w w. f l a r e . c o m . p k
Informative

Sony Ericsson Z780

The Sony Ericsson Z780 a recently announced phone comes with aGPS (Advanced GPS) and
Google maps. The inside design has been made a little more conventional too, making the Z780
an attractive 3.5G clamshell phone.
A quick trip around the Z780's features show that it is a bit of a mixed bag. There's a largish
2.2" 240 x 320 pixel internal display, a pretty basic 2 megapixel camera, stereo Bluetooth, an FM
radio, multimedia player, RSS reader, email client, web browser and a blogging tool. The Sony
Ericsson Z780 supports tri-band UMTS/HSDPA (850 / 1900 / 2100 MHz) and quad-band GSM with
EDGE support, so the Z780 can be used pretty much anywhere. According to Sony Ericsson, the
Z780 also supports video calling. The Z780 takes Memory Stick Micro cards to expand the inter-
nal 35MB of memory.
Talktime is an impressive 9.5 hours on GSM, although most people will want to use 3G which
is still a pretty decent 4.5 hours talktime with up to 14 days standby time. The Z780 weighs 100
grams and measures 92 x 49 x 16mm. There is also a Z780a variant for North America.
Sony Ericsson say that the Z780 should be available during Q2 2008. No pricing information
was given, but we would expect the Z780 to be around PKR 23,000 at launch.

Nokia 6600 Fold

Clamshell users have never been very well served by Nokia, usually having a very limited
range of products. So, a new midrange clamshell handset is of some interest.
The Nokia 6600 Fold is the sibling to the similarly specified Nokia 6600 Slide, and it can be
considered to be the replacement for the current Nokia 6555. It's a dual-band 3G phone with a
QVGA main display and 2 megapixel camera with autofocus and flash, plus microSD expand-
able memory with a 512MB card included in the box. There's a multimedia player plus an FM
radio, with a stereo wired headset in the sales package.
Like the 6555, the 6600 features a smooth back when it is open, along with a concealed dis-
play that can be woken up by tapping the phone twice. Inside the 6600 Fold is a 2.1" 320 x 240
pixel OLED paneland a secondary video calling camera. The keypad is a fairly coventional lay-
out, taking advantage of the increased space available on a clamshell phone.
As with the slide, you can double-tap the 6600 Fold to silence an alarm or reject a call, some-
thing that seems to be practical to have on a clamshell phone.
From the outside, the Nokia 6600 Fold is a strikingly elegant phone. Inside there's a practi-
cal and sensible layout, so overall the combination of usability and style is very appealing.
Talktime is around 2.5 hours with up to 10 days standby time. The 6600 slide weighs 110
grams, which is a little heavier than most of the competition, but in terms of size it is fairly com-
pact at 88 x 44 x 16mm.
Nokia say that the 6600 Fold should be available during Q3 2008 for around PKR 24,000.

65
 Flare Report F r e e D o w n l o a d | w w w. f l a r e . c o m . p k
Event

S
pice Mobiles Limited in collaboration with
Qualcomm announced the first Indian branded 3G
device S-950 and open market CDMA 200 phone,
C-810. These are the first two products launched
by the handset vendor marking the commence-
ment of this technical collaboration. More products such
as cellphones, data cards, etc. are expected to be
launched in the coming days. Bollywood actress and
Spice's brand ambassador Katrina Kaif was also present at
the launch.
Spice Mobile S-950 is based on Qualcomm's Mobile
Station Modem™ (MSM™) MSM6245™ chipset solution,
designed for 3G devices. It supports wideband services like
high-speed Internet, high-resolution video and enhanced quality
image transmission with the same quality as fixed networks. This
slider phone device also offers a superior 2MP camera, 262K colour
screen, music player (mp3/AAC/AAC+), stereo bluetooth, inbuilt
stereo FM radio, video playback, JAVA, expandable
memory support along with backward compatibili-
ty with EDGE / GPRS / GSM. This phone also
comes loaded with value added content
and applications like the Google Search
engine, Opera mini Browser, NGPay
application for banking/ticketing etc,
preloaded with content from the latest
Bollywood blockbuster 'Jannat'. It is
expected to be priced around Rs
8,500.
The other product from Spice
Mobiles, the C-810 is based on the
QSC6020™ chipset from the
Qualcomm Single-Chip™ (QSC™)
family of solutions. This handset
comes with a 2000mAH battery and
is expected to offer a 15-day
standby / 10-hour talk-time and
storage capacity of 500 songs or
1000 images. It has additional
features such as a large 2.2" dis-
play screen, 1.3MP camera,
Music Player (mp3/AAC), inbuilt
FM radio video player,
Bluetooth, BREW and expand-
able memory support. The price
of this phone is expected to be
66 around 6,500 Indian Rupee.



 F r e e D o w n l o a d | w w w. f l a r e . c o m . p k Farooq Malik Event

A
rranged by Lahore Chamber of Canon, in a statement said that it has main-
Commerce and Industry, Digital Photo tained the reputation as each new Canon digital
Mela held in Lahore, where multina- camera arrives for sale to the public. Canon
tional companies like Olympus, Nikon, offers digital cameras to meet everyone's budg-
Sony, Canon, Fuji film, Yashica, et. Like other digital camera manufacturers,
Mitsubishi, NEC, DNP, Konnoc, Camelion, Canon offers a variety of accessories including a
Tetenal, Samsung, Russell, Swiss Safari dis- Canon camera case customized for your digital
played their beautiful smart cameras, photogra- camera.
phy-related products and other electronic prod- At stalls, it was observed that different mod-
ucts. els had other accessories along with Canon
Punjab Minister for Food, Malik Nadeem Cameras, such as additional memory, different
Kamran inaugurated three-day Mela held at types of lenses, and much more. In addition,
Alhamra Art Gallery. The occasion was specifi- some of the Canon models also offered quality
cally organized to boost the private sector and video with sound capabilities, a feature that not
their opportunities in growing economy. Malik all digital cameras offer.
Nadeem, while Speaking on the occasion, said
that maximum facilities would be provided to pri-
vate sector, which is backbone of the economy.
Speaking on the occasion, Malik Nasir
Saeed, chairman organizing committee of
Digital Photo Mela, said that overall duty on the
import of digital cameras comes around 40 per-
cent, which, he said, was too much. He demand-
ed that there should be no custom duty on digi-
tal cameras like that of mobile phones.
LCCI President Mohammad Ali Mian, Senior Lahore: A lady viewing the digital camera exhibition at
Vice President Mian Muzaffar Ali, Vice President Al-Hamra Art Gallery.
Shafqat Saeed Piracha,
Chairman Standing Lahore: A lady keenly viewing the product displayed at Digital
Committee on Event Photo Mela organized by LCCI at Al-Hamra.
Management Sheikh
Mohamad Arshad and Canon said that anyone can also find Canon
Chairman Standing digital camera rebates, and any latest informa-
Committee Digital tion on any current offerings can be found from
Imaging and Photo retailers. With a variety of models from which to
Industry Nasir Saeed choose, Canon is sure to have a digital camera
also spoke on the occa- to meet your needs and give you pleasure for
sion. years to come.
Later Chief Guest The sole objective of holding this photo mela
Malik Nadeem Kamran was to highlight the potential of the country in
along with all the audi- this particular area which is of prime importance
ence went to adjacent but, was never given due attention for the last
Alhamra Art Council Lahore: People keenly viewing the digital camera exhibition at Al-Hamra Art Gallery. many years.
Hall and formally inau- Olympus also offered daily digital cameras
gurated the Mela and took a round of the pavil- ucts and asked their quires, which were satisfied through lucky draws while a local photography
ion. by the Canon representatives. Canon has privi- company shot free family or individual portrait
The Canon stall was very impressive and leged that its products appreciation a lot in the through lucky draw during the 3-day
majority of the people belonging to all walks of Digital Photo Mela. The visitors won daily digital exhibition.





life visited there. The visitors admired its prod- cameras through lucky draws offered by Canon. 67
 3G Comtech(Pvt) Limited
Turnkey Solution Providers
Company History
The company was incorporated as Turkey Solution Provider,
dedicated to communication, Emerged as a reliable Roll
Out manager in competitive market and is registered as
Private Company under the provisions of Companies
Ordinance, 1984. The company has gone through the
major Turnkey projects and has evolved as the major
companies in the market with good skilled and professional
manpower with excellent repute of services.
Turnkey Soulation
Site Acquisition
The Company conducts the Site Acquisition by conducting
survey (SSR,TSSR) for site hunting as required by client, by
Lease Agreement, NOC (local Authorities), and Provision
of Prime Power on site (WAPDA etc). Etc.
CME:
Civil / Mechanical/Electrical works is the specialization of
3G Comtech (pvt) Limited. The company has gone through
the building of dozens of cellular site (GSM/Wimzx/WLL)
sites in favorable and Hard Areas simultaneously in best
possible manner and in the minimum time frame. The
reason of excellence of the work is the best professionals,
engineers and skeptic management. These services are
provided in almost all regions of Pakistan.
Telecom Installations
The company provides the services of the telecom
installation in collaboration with civil work and independently
as well. For the purpose of BTS/MW installation,
commissioning and testing the company has professional
/ experienced TI Engineers and supervisors on its panel.
Out sourcing
3G Comtech (Pvt) Limited has a diverse range of Professional
in its portfolio. Our best performance in the project has
developed enough trust / confidence in our professionalism
that’s why organization are eagerly hiring our professionals
for the conduct of their projects we have HR out sorucing
agreements with companies. Our persons are providing
their excellent services in their respective fields in
different vendors on diverse projects, and sharing our
e x p e r i e n c e w i t h t h e m .
Out sourcing
To render the Turkey services to the International
telecom sector according to the GSM Standard
& Specs. To develop as a best Roll out Manager
Company this should become an alternative /
synonym to Solutions Provider .
To enhance the professionalism to such a
which become a code of conduct to be
followed by the competitors.
3G Comtech(Pvt) Limited
Turnkey Soulation Provider
House # 429, Umer Block, Iqbal Town
Lahore
PROJECT IN HAND
ZONG -Z.T.E, Phase - 1
ZONG Shared sites
LCPK , WATEEN TELECOM
FUTURE IN HAND
ZONG-Z.T.E-Phase-II
Warid Telecom Rollout
South Asia Project-Pricing under
Process.
Middle East Rollout Project-Negotiations
& Pricing under Process
DIFFERENCE FROM COMPITETORS
Our quality of work an best clients relations is the main
point of differentiation over the others. Moreover, we
perform work with quality and in the minimum time
scale. Also our skilled and professional manpower,
our training facilities to our staff and our screening of
the issues is an edge over competitors.
Directors
Mr. Ch. Khurram Mushtaq - C.E.O
Mr. Raja Khurram Hayat - Director Finance
Project Manager
Miss: Asma Saeed
MESSAGE FROM C.E.O
We are currently providing the services in the market
which are in compliance with International Standard
assuring the best services by innovative stye. The
Company as its name suggests, 3G, is looking
forward to When the Major Operators get Licences
in Pakistan for 3G services, we have aligned our
resources for the upcoming major up gradation
projects and hopefully we will be the pioneers in rendering
such services that show the compliance of the Clients’
taste. We believe that Quality is the customer’s satisfaction.
Moreover, we believe in the participative style of
management .Tthe management “ leads from the
front” in work for our staff by setting examples.
Line: 042-5296429
042-5296529
Fax: 042-5296329
Www.comtech.net.pk
F r e e D o w n l o a d | w w w. f l a r e . c o m . p k
A woman walks past a sign set to promote Samsung Electronics'
mobile phones in Seoul.
One of the first personal computers made by American informa-
tion technology giant IBM on exhibition at the Museum of
Information in Paris which opens to the public. Philippe
Nieuwbourg, passionate about information technology, who
sparked the idea for this exhibition.
Flare Corner
A worker poses while fixing a mock of a rotor bearing beside a new 2.5-MW turbine of
German company Fuhrlaender AG during final preparations at the "Hannover Messe"
industrial trade fair in Hanover. The world's leading fair for industrial technology, with
about 5,100 exhibitors from 62 nations.
NTT group showroom NOTE director Shinji Mitsuhashi, right, and attendant Yayoi Toya
demonstrate new technology "t-Room," as part of the firm's next generation network in
Tokyo, Japan. Future Phone "t-Room" offers people in different places to communicate
as though they are in one room through telephone with large screens broadcasting each
other.
A trader at the Philippine Stock Exchange in Manila's financial district in Makati moni-
tors share prices on a computer. Philippine share prices closed 0.5 percent lower in
lacklustre trading, with investors taking their cue from an overnight drop on Wall Street.
69
 F r e e D o w n l o a d | w w w. f l a r e . c o m . p k
Flare Corner

German student Henrik Kretzschmar programs humanoid soccer robots named 'Lothar' and
'Ariane' at the Hanover industrial fair in Hanover, Germany. The 'Robo Cup German Open'
soccer for robots competition will take place at the fair.

A supernumerary makes a phone call during a break during the

shooting for the film "Mein Kampf" (My Struggle) in Vienna.
The film, "Mein Kampf", is based on a play of the same name
by the late Hungarian-Jewish playwright George Tabori and
will premiere in Germany next year.

Will Wright, creator of computer game hits such as SimCity and The Sims, demonstrates
features of his new life simulation game SPORE at Electronic Arts in Emeryville, California.
SPORE, a multi-platform game under development by Wright's company Maxis, allows a
player to control the evolution of a species from its beginnings as a multicellular organism,
through development as a social land-walking creature to levels of interstellar exploration.

Victor A. McKusick, a genetics professor at Johns Hopkins

Ian Sherr, Lifestyle-US-IT-Internet-telecom-media in the internet company's chief executive
Michael Bayer (L) and president Randy Corke pose for a picture at the Internet company’s
headquarters in Boston.
70
University School of medicine, shows his 2008 Japan Prize for
medical genetics and genomics during an award ceremony in
Tokyo, Japan. Japan Prize is awarded to people from all parts
of the world whose original and outstanding achievements in
science and technology are recognized as having advanced
the frontiers of knowledge and served the cause of peace and
prosperity for mankind.
F r e e D o w n l o a d | w w w. f l a r e . c o m . p k
Flare Corner

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Information Technology Qamar Zaman Kaira attends
a briefing at Pakistan Software Export Board.

Islamabad: Students listening the speech of Prime Minister

Syed Yousuf Raza Gillani during the 16th convocation of COM-
SATS Institute of Information Technology at Convention Centre.

Galen Gruman, executive editor of InfoWorld, looks over a computer screen displaying a
Save XP countdown clock at his office in San Francisco, Calif.

Employee Lutz Lippmann presenting a 300 Millimeter silicon

wafer in the clean room of Qimonda Research Development
Center in Dresden, eastern Germany. Shares of computer memo-
ry chip maker Qimonda plunged after the company said it lost
euro482 million (US$766.28 million) in its fiscal second quarter
and planned to trim its work force.
Mobile phone key pads are piled up at Eco-system Recycling Co, a recycling plant, in
Honjo, north of Tokyo. Thinking of throwing out your old cell phone? Think again. Maybe
you should mine it first for gold, silver, copper and a host of other metals embedded in
the electronics -- many of which are enjoying near-record prices.
71
 No Line Rent
Competitive Rates
Crystal Clear Voice
Free VAS
 F r e e D o w n l o a d | w w w. f l a r e . c o m . p k
Flare Corner

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gillani awarding medal to a student dur-
ing the 16th convocation of COMSATS Institute of Information Technology at Convention
Centre.

Cubans compare prices and models of mobile phones in

Havana. Since these days Cubans are allowed to access to
cell phones as part of new president Raul Castro's economic
reforms.

Mohammed Omran, chairman of Emirates Telecommunications Corp (Etisalat) smiles during

a news conference in Abu Dhabi. Etisalat said it could spend as much as $4 billion on an
acquisition or a licence to enter India, the world's second largest mobile phone market.

Rawalpindi: Successful students proudly showing their

degrees during the 14th Undergraduate Convocation of
College of Electrical & Mechanical Engineering (EME).
A worker uses a 'Motoman' dual arm robot by Japanese company Yaskawa Electric during
final preparations at the "Hannover Messe" industrial trade fair in Hanover. The world's
leading fair for industrial technology, with about 5,100 exhibitors from 62 nations, opens
to the public.
73
 F r e e D o w n l o a d | w w w. f l a r e . c o m . p k Ahmed Saeed HR

Regardless of the size of companies and organization, they are being main-
tained by human who efficiently double folds the productivity, scale and
dimensions of the businesses. This performance and efficiency may directly
depend on many human factors, which are considered important and a key to
every successful business model. Writer in this article analyzes the depths of
human factor and how they impact the business and their productivity

H
uman factors play a pivotal part in the these results is a fresh havoc with the sys-
overall efficiency of organizations and and clear mind, finan- The most critical element that tems and have caused
become the sole harbinger for suc- cial stability, health and is human ingenuity, there is no for millions of dollars of
cess both in terms of personal per- passion for change. In a loss. Simple people at
formance as well as increments in the recent interview, GE ex other passionate objective that the wrong time at the
stock price; this fact is also backed by a recent
study published by the UNDP. Millions of dollars
CEO Jack Welch stated
that the passion for
is so lethal in the overall per- wrong place have
become the turn
are spent each year in honing and drafting tech- change means every- formance of teams, corpora- around and win-loss
niques that circulate the warmth of passion, exu- thing. People have to be game differentiators.
berate excellence and create an ambiance of a ignited with the hope tions and even in the largest Irrespective of the
tier one corporation culture. GE, IBM, Dell, and that they are capable to organizations spanning all the notions and the ver-
even Hitachi are known for the quality of the change the very ele- dict, corporations are
people that work in the corporation and ensure ments and infrastruc- continents. Human ingenuity is still hiring consultants
that their employees are taken care of. There
are no exceptions to the rules. People who
ture today. Without
change, trains would
the science that allows people and HR gurus to con-
duct surveys, lectures
achieve are the ones that get the privileges, not be going faster and to think, observe, create and and work shops to pre-
honors and the certifications. Hundreds of peo- every one would have dict the harmony and
ple have retired from these corporations alone been on the horses up improve cultural values and jus-
giving their entire life, ethics, and belongings to till date. tify that human ingenu-
All the research and scientific results commit ity can be sparked. There is ample proof that
that human ingenuity is in built. It can not be training does suffice for the onslaught and pro-
duplicated. Variances of this can be achieved vide the means and the tools to predict better
and a spark can be imbedded. But the truthful outcomes. MBA degrees and specialization cer-
verdict of life delves into this being a built in tifications in leadership and management has
function. Different universities and colleges done wonders for companies like Sony and
around the world have tried to simulate the envi- Motorola. Several of the largest oil companies in
ronment in which mankind has performed the world have been successful in deploying
exceptionally well. One of the standard notions quality training online. Airline corporations need
is that the person and his in built qualities had to ensure that the customer satisfaction trainings
been the centripetal force of excellence. are in line and provide the mentality and drive
Scenarios, advise, probabilities and statistics force that is missing. All stories lead to one
were a common second denominator in this moral objective - better human ingenuity.
create that niche in the market that would not equation. Pakistan has a long distance to walk before it
have been possible otherwise. Corporations that thrive on human ingenuity even comes to terms with human ingenuity. The
The most critical element that is human inge- have to tap into the source to conclude if that basic ingredients of financial stability, fresh and
nuity, there is no other passionate objective that person can truly gauge and take on the respon- clear mindset, health, and passion for change
is so lethal in the overall performance of teams, sibility. Corporations require people that can are drastically missing. Let's anticipate that the
corporations and even in the largest organiza- take on the challenges as well as have a strong international corporations do provide the people
tions spanning all the continents. Human inge- will power to make decisive decisions. A survey with the objectives of the international
nuity is the science that allows people to think, report conducted last year by MIT stated that market.





observe, create and improve. The oil that drives wrong decisions and abrupt analysis has played

Islamabad: Chairman PTA, Maj. Gen. (Retd) Shahzada Alam and Country Director Karachi: City government personnel install computers and other equipment at
Nokia Siemens Networks Veqar-ul-Islam along with other guests attending event sat- Command & Control System in Civil Center. It has to be mentioned that the security
isfaction survey for Pakistan Industry Seminar “Reviving up Revenue” held at a hotel. arrangements in the city will be monitored through close circuit cameras. 75
 F r e e D o w n l o a d | w w w. f l a r e . c o m . p k Flare Report Telecom

S
wisscom is adding a new service to its marks a further step in the Group's multimedia
mobile TV offering. Bluewin TV mobile strategy. With its 100-second news broadcast,
will be available on the new DVB-H net- Napster mobile and the Vodafone live! portal,
work in a quality which customers have Swisscom already boasts a range of successful
so far only experienced on home televi- multimedia applications. Bluewin TV mobile
sion sets. Thanks to an electronic programme using broadcast technology (DVB-H) comple-
guide and navigation key, viewers on the move ments its range of mobile communications
will also be able to experience Bluewin TV. products while adding to the company's TV
DVB-H stands for Digital Video Broadcasting product range: whether at home with
Handheld and enables mobile Bluewin TV Mobile at a Glance
users to access television
channels on their mobile
phone at the touch of a key in
high-definition picture quality
and excellent sound quality.
They have a choice of 20
channels, including SF1,
TSR1 and Eurosport (D).
Zapping between channels is
simple, thanks to a navigation
key. And with an electronic
programme guide, customers
always in touch with what's on. Bluewin TV basic and plus, or on the
Swisscom is one of the first providers world- move with Bluewin TV mobile, customers
wide to offer DVB-H. Rollout of the product have a product to suit their needs.

77
 F r e e D o w n l o a d | w w w. f l a r e . c o m . p k
Over 50 Mainframe Customers Successfully Complete Migration to
HP's latest application transformation tools increase agility and
reduce costs by transforming legacy applications
H
P has announced that in the
past 18 months, more than
50 Asia Pacific and Japan
customers have successful-
ly migrated from legacy
mainframe systems to HP Integrity
systems to support mission critical IT
environments. Companies moving to
next-generation data centers from
diverse industry sectors have replaced
legacy systems, including IBM main-
frames, with HP Integrity to minimize
high hardware maintenance and soft-
ware licensing costs.
Fueled by increased demand for
HP Integrity and Integrity non-stop
servers in Q4 2007, HP's Intel Itanium
(EPIC) processor-based server rev-
enues grew 53.0 percent in Asia
Pacific region excluding Japan.
According to IDC, HP tied for the top position
in the Asia/Pacific Unix server market in revenue
terms, securing 33.0 per cent market share
measured in CYQ4, 2007. HP's RISC & EPIC
Unix server revenues grew 29.3 per cent on a
quarter-on-quarter basis in Q4 2007, under-
pinned by 23.8 per cent growth in EPIC Unix.
RISC Unix server revenues grew by 46.4 per
cent on a quarter-on-quarter basis, outperform-
ing the market growth of 8 percent during the
same period. HP Integrity servers represented
the majority of HP's Business Critical Systems
revenue in Asia Pacific, with 77.0 percent share
in Q4 2007.
HP also introduced a modernization pro-
gramme to leverage its new HP Legacy
Application Transformation© and Visual
Intelligence Tools©. By helping businesses
understand the structure and composition of
legacy applications based on scientific analysis,
these tools significantly improve the transforma-
tion process by minimizing risks, reducing time,
budget and resource requirements.
"Customers are realizing that mainframe sys-
tems are expensive to maintain and vulnerable
to security threats," said Herbert Zwenger, vice
president and general manager, Business
Critical Systems, HP Asia Pacific and Japan.
"HP helps customers to easily move towards
next-generation data centers by modernizing
legacy applications and ensuring better invest-
ment protection through open and modular HP
Integrity server solutions."
Shinhan Bank migrated from existing main-
frame systems to HP Integrity to maintain a large
core banking system following its merger with
Chohung Bank. "There were many cases of
transforming mainframes into open systems, yet
none was comparable with us in terms of scale,"
said Tae-Jun Lee, general manager, IT Planning
Division, IT Group Shinhan Bank. "Our success-
ful transformation paved the way for a new trend
of mainframe downsizing in the Korean banking
industry."
Key customers in Asia Pacific who migrated
from mainframe systems to HP Integrity to lower
power consumption and ease management of
multiple applications include:
Astellas Pharma, Japan
HP helped to consolidate the marketing data
of Astellas Pharma from an old mainframe serv-
"HP helps customers to easily
move towards next-generation
data centers by modernizing
legacy applications and ensur-
ing better investment protec-
tion through open and modular
HP Integrity server solutions."
says Herbert Zwenger, vice
president and general manag-
er, Business Critical Systems,
HP Asia Pacific and Japan
er to a single HP Integrity Superdome on virtual
servers that was divided and split into multiple
hardware systems and partitions. HP Integrity
servers and virtualization tools helped Astellas
Pharma reduce system operating costs by 50
percent.
POSCO, Korea
The mainframes of steelmaker POSCO had
limitations in managing the rapidly evolving new
applications environment. By transitioning to HP
Integrity Superdome from the mainframes, the
company reduced delivery time by more than 60
percent and increased e-commerce volume to
98 percent.
Intel is seeing rapid adoption of Itanium-
based platforms, particularly in Asia Pacific's
Flare Report IT
financial and telecom
sectors, where cus-
tomers with legacy
mainframe environ-
ments are choosing to
move to more flexible
and reliable Itanium-
based solutions that
reduce IT costs and are
highly optimized for
business-critical opera-
tions.
"The Itanium
processor, along with
our robust processor
roadmap, is well posi-
tioned as a mainframe
replacement solution
for missioncritical appli-
cations such as ERP,
CRM and BI," says William Wu, Asia Pacific
Product Marketing Manager for Intel's Server
Platforms Group. "The fast adoption of HP
Integrity servers and migration from legacy
mainframe environments is good validation of
Itanium's ability to meet the rising requirements
of performance-demanding industries in Asia
Pacific. Together with partners like HP, Intel will
continue to develop the Itanium platform with
new innovations and process technology well
into the future."
With a significant number of customer adop-
tions in Asia Pacific and Japan, HP Integrity runs
more than 1,400 leading Independent Software
Vendor (ISV) applications that support unique
customer needs in ERP and SCM environments.
In addition, HP Integrity servers support more
than 14,000 applications globally.
Recent HP Integrity server innovations
include:

New Operating Environments (OEs) for
HP-UX 11i v3 with built-in virtualization software
simplify and speed up customers UNIX deploy-
ments, and help reduce lifetime maintenance
costs.

QuickTransit for Solaris/SPARC-to-
Linux/Itanium on HP Integrity servers helps
users move enterprise applications from
SPARC-based hardware to HP Integrity servers
running Linux.

HP Integrity BL870c - the first four-sock-
et HP Integrity server blade combined with the
modular infrastructure and energy efficiency of
HP BladeSystem. Designed and developed in
Singapore, the server can save up to 25 percent
more power.

HP Insight Dynamics - VSE - brings togeth-
er the best of HP's industry-leading infrastruc-
ture management portfolio to deliver the first
integrated solution that lets customers' visualize,
plan and change their physical and virtual
resources.





79
F r e e D o w n l o a d | w w w. f l a r e . c o m . p k
Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang smiles during his keynote address at the
Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Tech-industry history
shows that the failure of Microsoft and Yahoo to come together
on an acquisition could turn out to be brilliant.
Eckhard Spoerr, CEO of German phone and Internet service
provider freenet AG, and Oliver Steil (R), CEO of German mobile
service provider Debitel, address a news conference in
Hamburg. German telecoms group Freenet has bought Debitel
from private equity owner Permira for 1.63 billion euros ($2.54
billion) despite opposition from major shareholder United
Internet.
Flare Corner
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) chief executive officer S. Ramadorai answers a ques-
tion during a press confrence in Mumbai. India's top software exporter Tata Consultancy
Services said net profit rose 7.1 percent in the fourth quarter, its slowest gain in three
years on rupee strength against the dollar.
Bharti Airtel Limited Chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal, left, and Managing Director of
Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative limited (IFFCO) US Awasthi, right, present a farmer
with an Airtel mobile phone connection at the launch of a joint venture between the two
companies in New Delhi. Airtel and IFFCO, announced the launch of a joint venture com-
pany IFFCO Kisan Sanchar or Farmer Telecommunications Limited (IKSL) to provide a
boost to Indian agriculture and the rural economy.
IKSL will offer affordable mobile handsets with Airtel mobile connection. The value
added services (VAS) platform will be a unique feature of the system, which will offer
free daily voice updates on mandi prices, farming techniques, weather forecasts and fer-
tiliser availability. The farmer will also be able to call a dedicated helpline, manned by
experts from various fields, to get answers to their specific queries.
Announcing this, Bharti Airtel chairman and MD Sunil Bharti Mittal said, “The telecom
revolution has truly transformed the country and we believe that the benefit must reach
the rural population.”
Airtel will offer calling rates at 50 paise per minute for calls between Iffco members.
“We have been constantly endeavoring to enrich the lives of the farmers through creat-
ing and strengthening cooperative institutions and providing them the best quality inputs,
the mobile technology, however, seems to us a golden opportunity for carrying out this
mission, Iffco MD US Awasthi said.
81
F r e e D o w n l o a d | w w w. f l a r e . c o m . p k Aamir Shahzad
HR

The key to retain employees is that one must start before the first
day of the job, when a worker looks for a place to hang a jacket,
or refrigerator to keep his lunch fresh. As the first impression is Writer is Sr. Manager HR &
Administration at Unified Secure
the last impression. This is the work environment a good work- Services (Pvt.) Ltd, Islamabad

er look into

I
being employer believe that our real
assets/customers are our employees. It
means, if our employees are satisfied they
will automatically be loyal to the company,
which ultimately leads to growth and devel-
opment of the company.
Meeting the demands of today's changing
environment requires building and retaining sat-
isfied, loyal, and motivated staff. In this compet-
itive work environment, workers are no longer
inclined to stay at one position or in one compa-
ny for the entire duration of their career. The
most talented professionals are more likely to be
hunted by other organizations, especially by
competitors, and previous company is left with
tears of turn over costs, which include recruit-
ment, rehiring, and orientation/training cost and
the turnover effect on the targets is another big
issue.
With the turnover ratio of 15% in higher man-
agement and 10% in middle and lower manage-
ment, company can't make succession planning
because success does not depend only on
financial and material resources but on satisfied
and loyal employees and good leaders.
The manager whose mood swings, deter-
mine the climate of the office on any given work-
day. Poor interpersonal skills, unfortunate office
practices, some managers by sheer shameful
force of their personalities make working for the
employees rotten. So we can call them toxic
managers. Apparently, their results may look
fine but behind the screens, none is OK even if
you loose one from your workforce. It is
unhealthy, unhappy, and unproductive, and it will
eventually undo HR's efforts to create a healthy,
happy, and progressive work place.
Here the question arises that why managers
are remembered as toxic. The main reason is
that companies don't rate the managers outside
the productivity and business performance. The
reasons are culture and the background.
Another cause for high turnover rate of any
company is unsatisfactory compensation and
benefits plans e.g. Base pay, performance
based pay, equity based compensation and
bonuses, benefits packages and different
allowances and facilities like conveyance, med-
ical, house rent etc, also the lawful benefits like
graduity and provident funds, which varies
across countries. This plan of C&B depends on
the HR of the company as much as the HR is
strong, it will make and implement good policies.
Putting aside some specialized industries, I
believe that there is no labor shortage in this
country, if in case there is any, that is of unem-
ployed people; however, there are millions of
qualified people in labor market. Hiring the peo-
ple from open market is not a big issue but hir-
ing and retaining competent work force is the
biggest concern. Now the question arises, how
to retain them? How to reduce the turnover
costs? What policies make the employees
happy and satisfied?
The key to retain employees is that one must
start before the first day of the job, when a work-
er looks for a place to hang a jacket, or refriger-
ator to keep his lunch fresh. As the first impres-
sion is the last impression. This is the work envi-
ronment a good worker look into.
Company should identify the bad apples
(toxic managers and workers who are responsi-
ble for dissatisfaction of other employees). HR
should take care of these bad apples and should
recreate these into detox. Because we do not
need dictators, we need good leaders, who
could inspire the employees and can motivate
the staff even under the hard circumstance and
work conditions. We need managers who could
manage things instead of complaining and de
motivating the staff so by finding good leaders
and managers, we can prevent future problems,
which can also reduce turnover ratio.
If you cannot offer with good salaries than at
least keep your compensation packages com-
petitive to the market. If, comparatively you are
paying a little lesser, compensate them by other
sources, as money is not every thing for every
body, may be some employees are interested in
big increments and salaries, but for most, it has
no attraction. The good working conditions, envi-
ronment, good communication, leader subordi-
nate relationship, caring management, employ-
ee relationship and career development through
training and development and career manage-
ment plan, all are very important factors to moti-
vate and retain employees.
The awareness also plays an important role
in employee's management. First of all employ-
ees should be well aware of the goals, which are
given to them and of course regarding rewards
and benefits expected after completion. They
should have a vision and a mission before them.
All managers should be communicated about
the turnover cost on priority bases. Managers
should also be held accountable for employee's
turnover and the cost involved. These costs
should be a part of every department's profit and
loss statement, and should be made integral
aspect of each department's budget.
Today employee retention is a big issue, and
can only be handled successfully by team effort
along with a strong communication network, and
feed back mechanism.

World Web still Only in Infancy

The World Wide Web is still only in its infancy, its British
inventor said on Wednesday, on the 15th anniversary of
the web's effective launch. Tim Berners-Lee told that the
web, which started life in the CERN physics laboratory on
the Franco-Swiss border in the early 1990s, could develop
in unimaginable directions but above all should be a force
for good.
"What's exciting is that people are building new social
systems, new systems of review, new systems of gover-
nance," he said. "My hope is that those will produce... new
ways of working together effectively and fairly which we can use globally
to manage ourselves as a planet." The comments came on the anniver-
sary of the announcement by CERN on April 30, 1993 that the World
Wide Web could be used by everyone, after Berners-Lee
and a colleague persuaded their bosses to provide the pro-
gramme code for free.
The web - network via which information is shared on
the Internet. An estimated 165 million websites now exist.
Competing technologies - such as Gopher developed at
the University of Minnesota in the United States - were also
offering a way of connecting documents on the Internet, he
said. "If we had put a price on it like the University of
Minnesota had done with Gopher then it would not have
expanded into what it is now. "We would have had some sort of market
share alongside services like AOL and CompuServe, but we would not
have flattened the world."
83
IDEAS Workshop
 F r e e D o w n l o a d | w w w. f l a r e . c o m . p k Munawar Iqbal IT

It's believed that for any international call

center operations, the nerve is telecom link
and in Pakistan the weakest support one
has is which is being provided by PTCL.
The cost of utility is so high that the more
you use the more you pay, the process of
import is very cumbersome, and expensive
and visa constraints on international
employees and investors

S
ome experts claim that Pakistan is at
the brink of a technology revolution but
when we analyze the ground realities
thing seems to be totally otherwise.
There is nothing wrong in being an opti-
mist but to have an objective conclusion we
ought to have a pragmatic approach. When we
talk about growth in IT sector, it would not be a
pessimistic view that progress is too little, too
late. Moreover sometime it looks like even dete-
riorating. It's a fact that in the past few years we
have witnessed positive growth in many areas of
the industry. One of the growth phenomena was
of call centers. But now I seriously doubt that call
centers are here to stay.
The people who think the business of call
center should thrive in Pakistan present the
argument that our neighbor India, has been in
this business for last so many of years and is
able to earn more that $ 50 billion every year.
This viewpoint further suggests that by providing
these services Pakistan could also fetch a huge
amount as Pakistan has all the tools required to
catch up India. They further claim that Pakistan
is now an alternate to the west for call centers
and that is the theme, they want to catch on.
While making comparison with India, several
factors should be considered who have con-
tributed and as a result India has emerged as a
major location for IT-enabled services such as
call centers and customer support centers.
Lower input costs, reasonably good infrastruc-
ture, a trained English-speaking workforce and a
favorable time zone differential vis-à-vis the US
that has spurred the growth of the call center
industry in India.
Yes, Pakistan is blessed with almost all of
above mentioned attributes and the folks who
bank on these similarities with India have some
other reasons to be hopeful. According to this
viewpoint Pakistan could grab the opportunity as
government of India is all set to impose a
income tax on all call centers owned by foreign
companies and a proposal is under considera-
tion in New Delhi to tax activities conducted over
International Private Leased Connections
(IPLC) that carry India's voice and data traffic.
I do believe that comparative analysis is a
must to lay solid foundations of success. But
before turning the weaknesses of our competitor
into our strength we must not commit the mis-
take of being selective or wishful in the process
of making comparison. I wonder how we can
overlook the recent report of Springboard
Research, which says that the introduction of
the 15% Sale Tax in the financial year 2006-07
increased the price of computers which
increased the cost of doing business. The aver-
age price of PC reported by local assemblers
and retailers increased up to 20%.
The above mentioned report further elabo-
rate that this is one of the factors which have
negatively impacted the growth of the IT sector
as evident by export figures for the first six
months of the financial year 2007-08. If the
value of exports for the first six months is extrap-
olated to the full year it would be 149.37 Million,
which is a growth of 28.7% over the previous
year. This is well below the growth registered in
previous years. The question is very simple that
if we are dealing with same mind set at the helm
of affairs who can not comprehend the disaster
that our computer industry is facing how and
why they would be any different in regard with
call centers.
WE have mentioned positive attributes of the
call centers industry in Pakistan but in spite if
them the industry is not picking up. It's believed
that for any international call center operations,
the nerve is telecom link and in Pakistan the
weakest support one has is which is being pro-
vided by PTCL. The cost of utility is so high that
the more you use the more you pay, the process
of import is very cumbersome, and expensive
and visa constraints on international employees
and investors.
The list of obstacles not ends here and you
may add so many others in it e.g. lack of mass
awareness of this industry by government /pri-
vate media, which is of course absolutely neces-
sary to motivate our educated youth about the
potential of the industry. There is no training sub-
sidization by the government, we lack IT
enabled infrastructure and there more impor-
tantly there is no support or encouragement
from Pakistani missions abroad. Overseas
Pakistanis also developed a non-cooperative
behavior from business houses towards call
center.
The issue of availability of abundant brokers
is a menace that are out to make money out of
Pakistani call centers, by offering failed
schemes but there is no check on the part of
government on such middlemen. Moreover,
there is no facilitation from investment bankers
and banks on financing the call centers. The
dream of a thriving call centers industry in
Pakistan can be achieved only when the govern-
ment would ensure good IT enabled infrastruc-
ture, good human resource, creating a vibrant
image of call center career among the youth and
enabling financial institutes to understand the
concept of call centers. Last but no least, the
Pakistani missions abroad ought to realize there
primary task and that is creating new economic
opportunities for there country.
The writer is the founding president of Pakistan
Computer Association (PCA), a representative body
of computer industry in Pakistan.





85

IT Sabah-ud-Din Qazi
L
ast year, during the historic lawyers'
movement to restore the Chief Justice of
Pakistan, Mr. Iftikhar Chaudhary, a popu-
lar private news channel of the country,
GEO TV, reported that some unknown people
have hacked their website by posting a vulgar
message on it. A message - our website was
hacked and it was suspended temporarily. We
apologise for the inconvenience - was immedi-
ately displayed as it took around six hours to
completely restore the website.
Similarly, after the imposition of Emergency
in the country on November 3, 2007, the reader-
ship of all national newspapers was shocked
when the online poll of another popular private
TV channel, AAJ TV, disclosed that 60% of
Pakistani people believe that restrictions on the
electronic media are justified. Much has been
discussed in the press about it, even President
Musharraf, as per some reports, also referred
the result in his speech that majority of people
support his actions against the media but next
day the TV revealed that its website was hacked
and the Hackers changed the results as actually
60% condemned the restrictions.
If we take a look on international scenario,
BBC had reported two years ago in its story
under the title of; "Anti-cartoon protests go
online" as almost 1,000 Danish websites (as
86 February 2006) have been defaced by Muslim
Hackers worldwide protesting about controver-
sial cartoons mocking the Prophet Muhammad
(PBUH). Many of the messages that replaced
the home pages on hacked sites simply con-
demned the publication of the cartoons in
Danish newspapers. Some messages called for
boycotts of Danish goods. It was revealed that
Hackers groups in different Islamic nations are
banding together to make the protests more
effective. Attacks were known to have come
from groups in Pakistan, Turkey, India, Saudi
Arabia, Jordon and Indonesia.
The above mentioned examples highlight the
concept of hacktivism, which is hacking for a
political or social cause on the internet. Brian
Still, who is an information technology consultant
and lecturer teaching technical communications
at Texas Tech University, USA describes in his
paper that generally Hackers, even those hack-
ing government-sponsored sites, have been
negatively stereotyped as malicious thrill seek-
ers or, worse yet, Cyber Terrorists. Sometimes
they are labeled as socially unbalanced persons
but increasingly, according to him, there are
more politically motivated Hackers distancing
themselves from cyber terrorism by engaging in
F r e e D o w n l o a d | w w w. f l a r e . c o m . p k
hacktivism that is intended more upon disruption
than disobedience.
Wikipedia, the most popular free encyclope-
dia defines the term "Hacktivism" as combina-
tion of "Hack" and "Activism" with a clear aim to
promote political ideology, free speech, human
rights, or information ethics on the internet. It is
a controversial term as some argue it was
coined to describe how electronic direct action
might work toward social change by combining
programming skills with critical thinking while
others use it as practically synonymous with
malicious, destructive acts that undermine the
security of the Internet as a technical, economic,
and political platform.
The term hacktivism may be new for
Pakistani people but the history of hacktivism is
not new in Pakistan. It is admitted by almost
every cyber security research and the media that
the electronic foundations of Pakistani hackers
have played a vital role to bring the methods of
guerrilla theater and graffiti to cyberspace. The
first Pakistani hacktivist group, Pakistan Hackerz
Club (PHC) was formed in 90s by two 'hack-
tivists' who used the pseudonyms Doctor Nuker
and Mr. Sweet. Doctor Nuker involved in hacking
when he was a Computer Science student at
Karachi University. The group defaced hundreds
of Indian websites to condemn the Indian occu-
pation of Kashmir. According to CNN, their tar-
gets were simple and telling. Not the Indian gov-
ernment itself, nor U.S. government sites, but
any site that was good and regularly-visited to
bring attention to Indian-Occupied Kashmir.
During an interview in 1999, Doctor Nuker
expressed as "Our goal is to bring attention to
violence in Kashmir, but that's just not going to
be our only goal. PHC will hack for all the injus-
tice going in this world, especially the killings
and injustice with Muslims. United Nations and
United States never forget to act urgent on other
small issues but they never give a damn about
 F r e e D o w n l o a d | w w w. f l a r e . c o m . p k
the Kashmir issue. We not only say, but we real-
ly care for Kashmiris and take them as our broth-
ers and sisters…"
In 2000, PHC recorded its protest online by
defacing the website of Zee News, most popular
news channel of India, when it presented a pro-
gram in which two alleged spies of Pakistan's ISI
intelligence were shown as dealing in a Plane
Hijacking Conspiracy during the visit of Mr. Bill
Clinton, US President of that time to Indo-Pak.
Doctor Nuker also quoted President Musharraf
in the defaced web page as "Any Indian
'Adventurism' will be paid in same coin:
Musharraf" to appreciate his bold policies
regarding the Kashmir.
The GForce Pakistan, another Hacktivist
Group which was formed in February 2000 and
was primarily known for web page defacements
of Israeli, Indian, and U.S. government web
sites, earned quickly a reputation as an interna-
tional Hacktivist group and was credited to have
defaced over 200 sites in a year. It also defaced
the website of US based National Oceanic
Atmospheric Administration by replacing the
usual weather-related pabulum with pleas for
Kashmiri independence. "When the people of
Kashmir want to be independent, why not let
them?" the group protested on the defaced web-
site. "US, take some steps." India's most circu-
lated newspaper website, India Today became
their target also. In the year of 2000 alone, more
than 500 Indian web sites were defaced collec-
tively by Pakistani Hactivists.
Following the tragedy of September 11,
2001, American Hackers called for attacks on
Pakistani and Afghan websites. On September
12, the official website of the Government of
Pakistan was defaced. The official website of
Afghanistan's ruling Taleban Militia was also
hacked along with the websites of Afghan News
Network and Afghan Politics. As a reaction,
Pakistan Hackerz Club, under the leadership of
Doctor Nuker, defaced the website of California-
based World Trade Services on September 19
by suggesting the U.S. government may have
orchestrated the terrorist attacks on America to
justify widening its manhunt for Osama bin
Laden. "Who achieved the maximum benefit out
of this mess, Bin Laden? No!!, just USA and CIA
... For America, WTC could be a little cost for a
big target," wrote Doctor Nuker. "The attack is
nothing to do with Muslims or Osama-bin-Laden.
If you want to compare what Israel has done
against the Palestinians, it is 10 times worse
than what they Muslim terrorists, only if they are
behind it, have done to the US now." He further
expressed. He acknowledged Osama bin
Laden, as well as GForce Pakistan for this
defacement.
Shortly, two other major groups of Pakistani
Hactivists, Pakistan Hackerz Club (PHC) and
Anti-India Crew (AIC), joined the alliance.
Proving itself a valuable member of the alliance,
Anti-India Crew, whose past track record was to
deface only Indian websites, turned attacks on
US Systems by breaching the security of five
Internet servers operated by the U.S. General
Accounting Office. AIC posted a message at one
of the defaced web servers that included the
statement: "We will hit the US government
servers until there is peace around us!" In the
first case of cyber crime registered by the India
's Cyber Crime Investigation Cell of the CBI, the
note said during 2002 Anti-India Crew has
hacked into more than 120 Indian sites and out
IT
of which more than 30 sites had been hacked in
only April, 2002.
GForce Pakistan took on a large role in build-
ing a coalition to fight the United States on the
internet as US military operations were expected
to take place against Afghanistan. BBC also
reported that an alliance of anti-Israel, anti-US
and anti-India Hactivist groups are increasingly
defacing the websites to highlight issues such as
the Middle East conflict, the War on Terrorism
and the Kashmir. In October 2001, FBI Special
Agent-in-Charge Lynne Hunt informed the media
that "Doctor Nuker" is identified as Misbah Khan
of Karachi by the FBI Computer Crime Squad
with the assistance of the FBI legal office at the
U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan. The FBI
also issued his arrest warrant by charging him
hacking into the website of the American-Israel
Public Affairs Committee, one of Washington's
most powerful Zionist lobbying organizations, on
November 1, 2000. In the defacement of the
AIPAC site, Doctor Nuker had posted a rant
about Israel's horrific and barbaric treatment of
Palestinians along with the links to anti-Israel
and pro-Palestine websites. "The hack is to
protest against the atrocities in Palestine by the
barbarian Israeli soldiers and their constant sup-
port by the US Government," Posted by him on
the defaced website. Latter on, in an online inter-
view, he said the FBI has issued the warrant for
the wrong person but Doctor Nuker, as per some
unconfirmed reports, was captured in Pakistan
shortly along with his fellows while remaining
group members went underground.
Generally, it is observed that the basic motive
of all Hacktivists is to show the general public
and the media that they are standing up, just like
other civil societies groups, against the estab-
lishment to protect the rights of people around
the world that are endangered but sometimes
they forget that the most effective weapons of
their resistance are words and technology. Many
on-line activists claim to be Hacktivists, but their
tactics, such as in the case of GEO TV website,
are often at odds with what we consider
Hacktivism to be. To become an active part of
civil society, they have yet to prove themselves
anything more than pests and it is also very nec-
essary for us to distinguish between "Evil
Destructive Hackers" and "Politically Motivated
Hackers".





Writer is a cyber security analyst and works for
the media. While pursuing his degree of MBA in
Telecom Management from International
Islamic University, Islamabad, he keeps an eye
on different online security threats, developments
and hacking activities worldwide.
87

IT Flare Report
A
panel discussion focusing on refur-
bished computers causing e-wastage
and technological retardation in third
world countries was organized
recently. The discussion attempted to
highlight the detrimental impact of
refurbished technology on the environment and
the local IT industry from a macro perspective.
Widely attended by representatives from the
corporate sector and the local hardware indus-
try, the discussion stressed on the need to tack-
le the growing issue of import of e-wastage in
the name of refurbished computers, which is not
only stilting the growth of the local hardware
industry but is also wreaking environmental
havoc within the country.
The discussion also served to highlight the
fact that most of the computers being imported
to Pakistan in the name of refurbished comput-
ers are obsolete and malfunctioning; therefore a
major portion of these is sent to Pakistani land-
fills. The country representative of International
Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Mr.
Sohail Malik warned panelists of the environ-
mental aspects of this issue and mentioned that
the import of second hand computers adds to
50,000 tons of solid waste being produced
everyday by our country.
According to Mr. Ashar H. Zaidi, Country
Manger, Intel Pakistan "Despite the decline in
the price of new computers, Pakistan consumes
over 500,000 second hand PCs every year. The
reason for this is lack of awareness. People are
not aware of the benefits offered by new com-
puters". Mr. Khusnood Aftab, CEO, Softwise
Technologies further contributed that "con-
sumers can buy a brand new computer today for
as low as Rs. 11,000 or on monthly installments
of Rs.350. These computers come with a three
year warranty against a second hand Pentium 4
which comes with no warranty and costs up to
Rs. 10,000."
It was also revealed during the discussion
that new computers are environment friendly
and consume lesser electricity. Mr. Mohsin Iqbal
General Manager, Personal Systems Group,
Hewlett Packard Pakistan confirmed this by say-
Lahore: Shopkeepers are seen busy in making UPS at Hall Road Market as they are
88 in high demand in the country due to excessive load shedding.
F r e e D o w n l o a d | w w w. f l a r e . c o m . p k
Moderator, Rabia Garib speaking to the panel, to discuss the elements associated with refurbished computers
and their consumption in Pakistan
ing "We are facing a major energy crisis today CEO, OPTIMUM TECHNOLOGIES
which can be controlled by using the latest tech- 3- Mr. Khushnood Aftab
nology which goes a long way in saving electric- CEO, SOFTWISE TECHNOLOGIES
ity. He also said "A lot of new software and appli- 4- Mr. Ghias Khan
cations which have become the basic need of CEO, INBOX TECHNOLOGY
most PC users cannot be run on the obsolete 5 - Mr. Mohsin Iqbal
machines being offered by the importers of GM PSG, HP PAKISTAN
refurbished computers." 6 - Mr. Zahid Mahmood
Panelists participating in the forum under- Country Sales Manager , ACER PAKISTAN
lined the need for government intervention 7 - Mr. Ashar H. Zaidi
which can play a significant role in discouraging Country Manager, INTEL PAKISTAN COR-
the import of obsolete technology. It was further PORATION
observed that there exists an urgent need to 8 - Ms. Asma Aziz
educate the masses about the adverse impact of Marketing Programs Manager, INTEL PAK-
such computers on the industry, environment ISTAN CORPORATION
and consumers at large. In this regard, the major 9 - Mr. Tahir Ikram
industry players present at the forum which Director Programming , CNBC PAKISTAN
included representatives from HP, Intel Jerrys, 10 - Ms. Zainab Ansari
Optimum technologies, ACER and Softwise CEO, XENITH PUBLIC RELATIONS
pledged to introduce competitively priced com- 11- Mr. Sohail Malik
puters to discourage the use of second hand Country Representative, IUCN
PCs. 12 - Mr. Zia Ul Qadir
General Manager, Sales & Marketing
Name of the Panellist GERRY'S SOFTLOGIC
13 -Ms. Subul Siddiqui
1 - Mr. Hasnain Shaban ACER PAKISTAN.





Producer, GEO TV
2 - Mr. Khawer Mehmood
Islamabad: Policewomen are busy in transmitting SMS through their mobile phone
as the SMS fever has caught the nation with a bang.
 F r e e D o w n l o a d | w w w. f l a r e . c o m . p k
Telenor's Auto Advance
Service Launched
T
elenor Pakistan, the winner of the Most
Innovative Mobile Operator Award 2007,
has launched another value-added serv-
ice (VAS) by the name of 'Telenor Auto
Advance'. This unique service will allow
Telenor prepaid customers to continue the call
even after their balance exhausts. The service
has been activated free of charge for all Telenor
prepaid customers.
Telenor Pakistan has been leading the way
with diversified and innovative Value Added
Services such as Easyload, Mobile TV, Smart
Share, Bubble Message, Tele Kissan, Akhbaar
KACE Earns Gartner's 'Cool
Vendor'
K
ACE has announced that it has been
named a "cool vendor" in Gartner Inc.'s
"Cool Vendors in IT Support, 2008"
report, published April 1, 2008, and
authored by Terrence Cosgrove and
David M. Coyle.
"The Gartner report is great recognition of
KACE and validation of our appliance-based
approach to systems management," said Rob
Meinhardt, co-founder and CEO for KACE.
"Industry analysts have long stated that man-
agement is the most important factor in lowering
total cost of ownership. Our robust management
30 Years of Spamming
T
his week, the world marked an anniver-
sary that has changed the face and
other anatomical regions of email inbox-
es everywhere: the first known spam
email was sent 30 years ago.
But the message sent on May 3, 1978 by a
marketer for the now defunct DEC computer
company to around 400 people on the west
coast of the United States wasn't called spam,
and the sender dispatched it without ill intent.
How things have changed.
Spam got its name from a skit by the televi-
sion show "Monty Python's Flying Circus," in
which a group of Vikings in a restaurant that
serves all of its food with Spam tinned meat sing
a song repeating the word ad nauseum, says
Brad Templeton, who has thoroughly
researched the subject. "Thus, the meaning of
the term at least: something that keeps repeat-
ing and repeating to great annoyance,"
Templeton, who was dabbling in the Internet in
the 1970s when it was still the US government-
run Arpanet says on his website.
These days spamming is a sophisticated
service and several others. Recently, Telenor
also launched Ask Telenor and Tele Doctor
1911.
Telenor Auto Advance Service can be
extremely useful in emergency situations where
one call can make the difference. Subscribers
on the move, far from a recharge location or sim-
ply out of cash can benefit from this service.
Under the service, when a subscriber reaches
the end of his balance, the call will continue with-
out disconnection and the balance will be adjust-
ed in next recharge. Telenor Auto Advance is
only available for voice calls at the moment.
appliances were designed from the start with a
focus on ease-of-use, speed of deployment, and
affordability to maximize our customers' ability to
save time and money."
Organizations have struggled to successfully
implement traditional software-only systems
management tools that have tended to be over-
ly complex and difficult to deploy. According to
the report, "[KACE] automates many areas of
PC life cycle configuration management (includ-
ing the core functions of inventory, software dis-
tribution, patch management, and operating sys-
tem deployment), but are founded on the princi-
operation that affects millions and jams ill-pre-
pared email inboxes. The percentage of spam
sent to account holders on Gmail the email serv-
ice offered by Google quadrupled between 2004
and 2008, climbing from 20 percent to around 80
percent.
"To give you some sense of scale, we have
tens of millions of users worldwide," Gmail's
Jason Freidenfelds told AFP, adding that only
about one percent of spam gets through Gmail's
spam-filtering system, according to user feed-
back. Spam methodology has also changed in
the past 30 years.
Whereas the sender of the first spam had to
type in each recipient's address individually,
today the job is often done remotely using cyber-
monsters called botnets.
Botnets have hijacked around 30 percent of
personal and office computers with inadequate
security features and use them to dispatch thou-
sands of spams each day, Templeton said. "The
recruited computers wait for commands that
come through anonymous channels and tell
them to send spam email to 1,000 people, all
Flare Report
Telecom
At the launch of the new service, Chief
Marketing Officer Telenor Pakistan Lars
Christian Iuel said, "We, at Telenor Pakistan, are
happy to launch yet another service for our val-
ued prepaid customers. The new Auto Advance
service is designed to give Telenor Talkshawk
and Djuice customers even more utility from
their prepaid connections. We are committed to
provide maximum value to our customers
through similar innovative and useful
services."





ples of usability and rapid deployment to appeal
to enterprises."
KACE helps customers save time and
money. Systems managers are often forced to
wear many hats throughout the day to work on a
myriad of IT functions. KACE consolidates these
functions by providing a single appliance for all
projects, while delivering easy-to-use, compre-
hensive systems management that is affordable.
The KBOX family of appliances fulfills all of the
systems management needs of a medium enter-
prise from initial computer deployment to ongo-
ing management and retirement.





unbeknownst to their owners. The people who
do this control millions of computers around the
world," Templeton said.
"Don't look to the guy to your left, don't look
to the guy to your right. It's you," he said omi-
nously. More vicious spammers last year shut
down government and business websites in
European Union member Estonia by bombard-
ing servers with traffic, a technique also used by
a new breed of spammer, the online extortionist.
But the most common form of spam remains
the unsolicited message that tries to sell you a
replica Rolex, a miracle weight loss formula, or
medication to enlarge anatomical parts or
enhance sexual prowess.
Twelve percent of Internet users have bought
something offered to them by spam, Graham
Cluley, senior technology consultant at IT secu-
rity company Sophos, sources said.
"Maybe these people are too embarrassed to
go to their doctor or they want to save some
money, but we have to educate them to report
spam, delete spam, but absolutely never buy off
spam," he said.





89

National
Land for IT Park at Islamabad being Acquired
Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) has announced that land
measuring 33.3 acres for the establishment of International Information
Technology Park at Islamabad is in process of acquisition. In this regard,
a Letter of Intent (LoI) will be send to the short listed developer soon fol-
lowing approval by the PSEB's Board of Directors.
The official said PSEB also plans to build IT Parks in different cities
and currently operates over 750,000 square feet of Software Technology
Parks (STP) in eleven buildings across the country. He said purchase of
land measuring 6 acres each for the establishment of International IT
Parks at Lahore and Karachi Airport has also been approved in the last
meeting of ECNEC.
PSEB, a department of Ministry of Information Technology which pro-
motes the image of the Pakistan's IT industry in key markets abroad, has
sponsored participation of 51 member companies in six international
trade shows to date in the current fiscal year 2007- 08. The official said
NIB Bank Ltd. Chooses Oracle, Ora-Tech Systems and
System Innovations as IT Partners
NIB Bank Ltd. has decided to enhance its core and retail
banking operations with the help of Oracle Technology and
Applications. The implementation, being undertaken by Oracle
PartnerNetwork members Systems Innovation and Ora-Tech
Systems, will provide a robust IT infrastructure to support and
enhance the bank's service capabilities.
Mr. Khawaja Iqbal Hassan, President & CEO, NIB Bank Ltd.
(seated, centre) with Mr. Amer Hashmi, President & CEO,
System Innovations (Pvt.) Ltd. (right), Mr. Aspy Nariman
Fatakia, Chairman and CEO, Ora-Tech Systems (left) and Ms.
Samina Rizwan, Regional Director South Asia Growth
Economies (West), Oracle Corporation (standing) at the signing
ceremony. Other officials of these organizations are also seen
in the picture.

Acer Sees Pakistan as a Key Market
Regional Sales Manager of Acer Computer Middle East, Jacob
Varghese has said that Acer computer has announced a 51.4 per cent
year-on-year growth in last year for sales in the Middle East and Africa
(MEA) region.
"Since Pakistan falls in the same region for us, I do make sure to
come and thank our team and partners for contributing in this success,"
he said in an interview. He said, "Our consolidated revenue previous
year rose 16 per cent to $14 billion." The global IT vendor has attributed
its positive performance to a new strategic direction focused on mobility,
enterprise, and convergence related technologies.
Jacob, who was on his second visit to Pakistan, said in the MEA
region Acer, the world's third largest Information Technology (IT) vendor,
holds the number one position in the supply of Notebooks, fuelled by a
73.1% year-on-year growth. In Saudi Arabia, it holds the number one
Wind or Solar Generators for BTS from Averox
Averox Inc. says that that it has added the provision and installation
of wind and solar powered generators for telecom base stations to its
telecom services portfolio.
"Averox has been providing telecom services on a turn key basis for
some years to mobile operators to enable them to rapidly deploy base
stations," said Mr. Salman Mahmood, Averox's President and CEO.
Many telecom base stations are located in remote areas of emerging
countries, such as in Pakistan, where electricity is either not available, is
not reliable or is very expensive. In the past, this has required the use of
diesel generators to provide power to the base station. This is expensive
and requires regular visits by telecom engineers for maintenance and
refueling. Wind turbines and solar panels can be used to generate ener-
gy independently without the need for diesel generators or expensive
90 maintenance. Additionally, they can generate revenue from the excess
F r e e D o w n l o a d | w w w. f l a r e . c o m . p k
to date in the current fiscal year, nine international promotional cam-
paigns were run and 225 business leads were passed on to member
companies in addition to over a 1000 indirect leads.
He said most potential customers and investors contact PSEB mem-
ber companies directly after getting information from the PSEB website
which receives a million hits each month with 70 per cent of the hits
received from overseas. PSEB participated at the world's largest IT
event CeBIT held in Hannover, Germany along with its member compa-
nies.
A customized country pavilion for the exhibiting companies was
established at the event. One to one business meetings were also held
with the leading IT companies based in Europe. The event was a huge
success in terms of significant leads acquired by the exhibiting compa-
nies.

position with a 26.8% market share in Notebooks.
This is due to excellent work by our team and partners. Acer is very
seriously exploring Pakistani market; we have doubled our work force in
last 6 months and plan to invest more." Said Jacob. "Among the emerg-
ing markets, Pakistan holds a very key position for Acer; we know that
geographically it's also very vital for us to establish ourselves here ASAP.
" he added.
"I am really glad to see the huge opportunities in different market seg-
ments for our award winning products. We have already made inroads
into Education, Government, and Banking sectors, we need to penetrate
more in these sectors plus the consumer area where is our strengths
but honestly the appreciation for quality has to improve among the
different buying authorities for any MNC to come and invest in Pakistan."
Jacob said.

electricity produced which can be sold to the local utility," Mahmood
added.
The power demand of base stations accounts for about 90% of the
energy requirements of a mobile network. Wind generator equipment is
cheaper than diesel generators to buy and install, so the lowered invest-
ment cost and the increased prices of fossil fuels improve the business
case for utilizing renewable energy sources. These factors plus the envi-
ronment friendly benefits of renewable energy, in our view, lead us to
expect that renewable energy will be the first choice for remote base sta-
tion sites as early as 2009. We believe that a base station powered by
renewable energy sources should be able to recover its installation costs
after two to four years, in a good sunny or windy location, as a result of
the combination of lower energy costs and revenue from selling excess
power to the local utility.

 F r e e D o w n l o a d | w w w. f l a r e . c o m . p k
Grand Prizes for Motorola Retailers
Motorola announced grand prize winners for their retailers in an
award distribution ceremony held in Lahore. With a view at engaging and
appreciating the retail channel and thereby motivating them to pass on
benefits to Motorola customers, Motorola once again proved that it cares
for their esteemed retailers.
Various promotions aimed at customers are quite usual, however, this
is a unique scheme that seeks to reward retailers and inspire them to
provide additional benefits for Motorola customers. In this promotion
Motorola gave attractive prizes including a Suzuki Mehran Car, Motor
Bikes, DVD players, TV and many more exciting gifts. These kinds of
gifts were given to the retailers in order to show them that they are part
of the Motorola Mobile Devices team.
Asim Jamil, Head of Sales Mobile Devices said "Being in-tune with
market dynamics, we feel that it is important to appreciate and motivate
our retail channels. We are confident that such small activities will inspire
our retails to do even better and translate into benefits for our customers,
thereby strengthening our commitment across the board."
The retailers were thrilled in the award ceremony and were congratu-
lating their co-workers on their achievements in which Malik Khalid won
the Suzuki Car in the ceremony and the Motorbike was won by Abid Ali.

Warid Offers to Backup Your Phone
As part of Warid Telecom's continuous practice of providing innova-
tion, convenience, personalization & value addition, Warid Phonebook
Backup is an answer to subscribers' ever changing communication
needs in their fast paced lifestyles.
Warid Telecom now offers a facility via which subscribers can store,
edit & manage their handset contacts information permanently & retrieve
them instantaneously from a web account in the event of theft or damage
& replacement of mobile phone. Warid Phonebook Backup eliminates
the hassle of manually transferring your contacts into the new mobile
KalSoft Digitizes Services for the Capital
KalSoft has recently finished deploying a suite of applications to
enable E-Services for Chief & Deputy Commissioner's offices, a project
of Electronic Government Directorate, Ministry of IT.
The project aimed at enhancing the effectiveness and efficiency of
the execution of Citizen.
Services there are essential for government services and district
management. The suite incorporates applications for issuing licenses
and permits and web portals for the local governments.
With this system in place, citizens will be able to submit and track
their applications online, as well as improving their experience of public
sector services. The project implementation is being spearheaded by
Deputy Commissioner Islamabad, Mr. Amer Ali Ahmed, and is crucial for
the automation of vital services facilitating the people.
The solution has been designed around MOSS 2007, Microsoft Live
Communication Server 2005, Microsoft Enterprise Project Management
Pakistan in Top Favorable Economies, Regionally
Pakistan has been ranked as one of the top favorable economies in
the world, states "Doing Business 2008", a recent report released by the
World Bank in 2008. According to the report, Pakistan ranks second
compared to other South Asian countries based on certain economic
indicators such as; ease of doing business, dealing with licenses, and
protecting investors as identified by the analysts. The following countries
include Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal. Pakistan has comparatively
better business environment in terms of paying taxes and registration of
assets, the report adds.
The report evaluates business activities based on regulations affect-
ing the ten stages of a business's life; starting a business, dealing with
licenses, employing workers, registering property, getting credit, protect-
ing investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts
and closing a business. It is pertinent to note that in the overall global
rating of 178 countries, Pakistan is rated at 76th as compared to India
rated at 120th.
National
Asim Jamil Head of Sales, Mobile Devices Motorola Pakistan, presenting Suzuki car key to the
lucky draw winner Mr. Malik Khaled one of the retailers of Motorola Mobiles.
phone.
It is available for both prepaid & postpaid subscribers. There is
absolutely no limit to the number of contacts that can be backed up. To
top it all, a free trial period of one month is being offered to subscriber's
which is valid till Friday, 6th June, 2008. Don't miss!
Subscribers can avail SMS or GPRS version depending on their
handset type & compatibility. Send "REG" to 400. Charges:
Rs.115+tax/year. It merits mentioning here that no charges will be appli-
cable during the free trial period.

Server 2007, and Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains by the
KalSoft team. The project has entered the final execution phase after the
infrastructure deployment of the solution.
"As telecommunications and information technology is progressing,
the need for better integration and streamlining our government bodies is
increasing exponentially. The key to servicing citizens effectively and effi-
ciently lies in a seamlessly integrated system that links all government
bodies together over a vast network of information that allows them to
communicate with each other and serve citizens without a moments
pause. We are proud to have been a part of this project that allowed us
to contribute towards enhancing Pakistan's infrastructure and facilitating
the government to better serve the citizens", Khurram H. Kalia, President
and CEO, KalSoft.

With its fast paced IT industry, Pakistan is emerging as a powerhouse
in the South Asian region due to the government's friendly policies.
These include 100 percent foreign equity ownership, 100 percent repatri-
ation of profits for foreign investors and tax exemption for the sector till
2013. The availability of a large pool of English-proficient skilled profes-
sionals, affordable connectivity rates and competitive infrastructure and
operational costs are some of the other benefits that Pakistan enjoys.
Due to same, an increasing number of foreign IT companies prefer
Pakistan for their outsourcing operations and setting up development
centers.
Doing Business 2008 is the fifth in a series of annual reports that
evaluates the regulations that directly impact economic growth, provides
objective measures of business regulations and their enforcement. The
data is collected across 178 countries and selected cities at the sub
national and regional level.

91

National
Nokia Assigns Imran Khalid the GMship for Pakistan
Nokia has appointed Imran Khalid Mahmood as the
Country General Manager for Pakistan and Afghanistan. An
announcement by Nokia said that Imran is a global execu-
tive who has more than 20 years of experience in the
telecommunications industry and a sound understanding of
the cellular business within the local and international
arena.
About new responsibilities, Imran Mahmood said: "The
consumers are very knowledgeable and seek monitory and
functional value from every dollar spent. Our strategy of
keeping the consumer in mind whilst developing and intro-
ducing products has led to our global leadership. Pakistan
is the second fastest growing market in Asia after China
and is a very significant region for Nokia. We are committed to enhance
the Pakistani consumer's communication experience with our innovation
through both handsets and services."
HP's New Business Desktop PCs Reach Stores
HP, this month, introduced five business desktops
designed to give businesses of all sizes a professional
edge with entry-level desktop pricing and "zero-footprint"
PCs.
The new products, including the HP Compaq dx2390
Business Desktop PC, the HP Compaq dx2710 Business
Desktop PC, the HP Compaq dx7400 Business Desktop
PC, the HP Compaq dc5800 Business Desktop PC and
the HP Compaq dc7800 Business Desktop PC, pack the power and per-
formance demanded by entry level users to high-end solutions.
"As SMBs grow, they are asking for the right solution and demanding
high performance computing that will suit their business needs," said
Mohsin Iqbal, Country General Manager, Personal Systems Group, HP
Pakistan." The products that we are offering today have been designed to
meet the needs of SMBs in the country and this is why we are introducing
the complete range of business desktop PC."
The HP Compaq dx2000 Business Desktop PC series meet everyday
Ufone Launches UExcel
Ufone launched UExcel - a programme for undergrad
students in collaboration with the School of Leadership
(SoL). The programme consists of a series of sessions
whereby special teams from SoL and Ufone will visit 18
different universities in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad to
impart students the knowledge that helps them excel in today's competi-
tive world.
Ufone is not only a competitive telecom leader in the industry but an
organization that has always been working towards an orderly corporate
responsibility plan including ways of benefiting the young of our country
who will for sure be a part of tomorrow's strong workforce.
UExcel is a creditable step taken by Ufone and SoL with the main
objective of showing students the avenues they can visit for self-develop-
KHL Middle East and UAE signs agreement for Telecom
Mass Transit System
KHL participated for the design, implementation & deployment of Optic
Fiber cable for the Mass Transit System. The ROR & LOS was issued on
February 11, 2008 and KHL has started works from April 5, 2008. The proj-
ect will be completed in October 2009 as KHL role has been defined as
per contract matrix milestones to work with Dubai Mass Transit
Department and with UAE Telecom Operators for the Indoors IBS solution
connectivity as well as providing GIS solution for monitoring. KHL China
office & Rosenberger China design team in coordination with KHL Middle
92 East will lead the engineering & design phase of the project to be complet-
F r e e D o w n l o a d | w w w. f l a r e . c o m . p k
Sharing insights on the local market, Nokia's newly
appointed Country General Manager Imran Khalid
Mahmood further added, "Pakistan is a rapidly evolving
market with great potential and untapped segments, which
Nokia aims to cater to while keeping the needs of the local
consumers in mind, in terms of implementing new ideas
and introducing new products in the Pakistani market.
These products will range from the highly technological
hi-end devices to the latest entry level devices. These
research driven devices are made according to the specifi-
cations of the Pakistani market and are customized to suit
the local man's lifestyle and income."
Imran was previously the General Manager and Head of
Enterprise Solutions Mobile Device Unit (ES MDU) for Nokia APAC based
in Singapore. Additionally, Imran was also a member of the Global ES
MDU Management Board and the APAC Management Team.

business computing needs, coupled with style, affordabil-
ity and reliability. Refreshed with HP's new industrial
design, the dx2000 series offers a professional metal fin-
ish and piano-black high-gloss exterior, fitted with the lat-
est technology for essential computing needs.
"The HP Compaq dx2000 series represents a new
look and feel for commercial products, as design
becomes increasingly important to organizations, while
maintaining performance benefits," said Tommy Chew, Category Manager,
Commercial Systems Unit, Personal Systems Group, HP Asia Emerging
Markets. "Designed to meet basic business computing needs like word
processing, spreadsheets, Internet browsing and email - while maintaining
an affordable price point - the HP dx2000 series offers the optimal price-
performance balance, allowing customers to focus on their core business
versus their technology requirements." The complete range of HP
Business Desktop PC.

ment, positive mindsets, self-confidence, empowerment
and meaningful expression. Also, students through this
programme are given a comprehensive understanding of
the practical tips and tools regarding hiring and recruit-
ment processes - particularly the ones prevailing at
Ufone.
The first phase of the UExcel programme has already been completed
in Karachi. Universities visited include Institute of Business Administration
(IBA), Iqra University, PAF-KIET, University of Karachi, NED University of
Engineering and Technology and Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Institute of
Science and Technology (SZABIST). Ufone is an Etisalat Group Company
with the second largest cellular operator base in Pakistan with more than
16 million customers.

ed by August 2008.
Moreover, KHL is launching WIMAX services in Mauritius by
September 2008. KHL in collaboration with its consortium partners will be
launching WIMAX activities along the clean shores of Mauritius. Earlier
this year, the process of acquisition and deployment of LDI license was ini-
tiated with Government of Mauritius & LOS was issued in March 2008, as
by QTR 3, 2008 WIMAX network implementation are to be aggressively
pursued by KHL.

 F r e e D o w n l o a d | w w w. f l a r e . c o m . p k
Mobilink Reaches Naran
Mobilink announced the expansion of its coverage
and network to include the enchanting valley of Naran
in Pakistan's scenic north, providing a seamless com-
munication experience to the people of Azad Kashmir,
Chitral, Gilgit, Hunza and Swat.
Naran is a distant jewel set in the Northern Areas
of Pakistan and a very popular tourist destination
amongst both local & international tourists, and the
launch of this service coincides with the start of the
new tourist season.
Bilal Munir Sheikh, Vice President Marketing Mobilink said, "Our latest
Eight Franchises Closed on PTA Directions
8mobile phone franchises were permanently banned and then closed
on illegal sale of SIMs. Taking strict action against franchises involved in
violating the procedures on sale of new SIM Cards, PTA directed five GSM
phone operators to immediately seal and cancel registration of their eight
franchises located in different cities across the country.
PTA statement said that the closure has come about as a result of a
recent survey conducted by PTA to check the sale of new SIM cards. PTA
Pakistan Flag Colours Stationed at Beijing Olympics 2008
KHL with its alliance FOTON LOVOL will be the corporate sponsor for
Beijing Olympics 2008 as Pakistan Corporate Sponsors. FOTON LOVOL
is a renowned company with a persistent market share that endorses the
company’s standing in the international and Chinese market. KHL one of
the leading service providers today, holds credentials owing to its impec-
cable performance resultant of its strength and diversity prevalent in the
industry will expedite its sponsorship in the Beijing Olympics 2008 with its
partner FOTON LOVOL.
WorldCall issues shares to Amatis
The WorldCall Telecom Limited has issued 53,738,212 ordinary shares
of Rs 10/- each to Amatis Limited pursuant to the Loan Agreement. In a
notice sent to Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE), the company said that the
paid up capital of the company is increased from 806,833,301 ordinary
shares of Rs 10/- each to 860,571,513 ordinary shares of Rs 10/- each.
The shares have been issued after receipt of the conversion notice
from Amatis opting for converting its balance outstanding loan of Rs
748.550 million (US $12.5 million) along with any accrued interest into
7m SIMs to be Blocked by May-End
Over seven million cellphone SIMs are likely to be blocked by the end
of May for lack of ownership verification. On the instruction of Pakistan
Telecommunication Authority (PTA), cellphone operators have already
blocked 1.36 million SIMs which were issued either on fake or non-verifi-
able documents.
"We cannot give the exact number of unverified SIMs at this stage but
all 'old unverified' connections will be blocked after May 22," said a PTA
official. He added that the authority was strictly adhering to instructions of
the Senate committee. He said that all 'new' mobile phone connections
issued on 'fake documents' would be blocked after June 30.
4767 Million SMS were Exchanged Last year
Pakistan Telecommunication Authority announced that
telecom subscribers in Pakistan sent a total of 4767 million
text messages to their friends, relatives and others, last year.
This huge amount of text messaging has broken all pre-
vious records in nation's history. While contacting with offi-
cials from cellular companies, they told that after voice serv-
ices, data services such as text message are increasingly
gaining popularity amongst the telecom subscribers in coun-
try. They said that due to very economical text message
packages and bundles, mobile phone users are now more
National
expansion in the Northern Areas provides a long
awaited facility for the locals of that area. Making com-
munication a reality for the people of the Naran valley
is further testimony to Mobilink's commitment to help-
ing the nation stay connected at all times."
Mobilink continues to maintain its leadership posi-
tion in the cellular industry of Pakistan, with its ever
increasing network base, infrastructure and range of
services while moving ahead to connect the uncon-
nected across Pakistan.

has issued directions for closing of three franchises of Mobilink; one each
in Sialkot, Pishin and Rawalpindi, one franchise of Ufone in Rawalpindi,
one franchise of CMPak in Sialkot, one franchise of Telenor in Sialkot and
two franchises of Warid in Sialkot and Peshawar. All these franchises were
found violating the Government policy on sale of new SIMs issued to all
mobile phone operators recently.

KHL encompasses sponsoring a corporate box incorporating Pakistani
Flag colors stationed at the stadium for the opening and closing cere-
monies to take place at Beijing Olympics. Representing Pakistan, KHL
truly apprehends and envisages the organizations commitment to strive
towards contributing to the national agenda of self reliance. This accom-
plishment ascertains KHL’s indeterminate footing in the Industry today and
will service it top 10 customers within & outside Pakistan a rare opportuni-
ty to witness this mega event.

ordinary shares of the company as per the terms and condition of the sub-
ject agreement. After the above issuance of shares, the company has no
outstanding amount payable towards Amatis pursuant to the Agreement.
The subject 53,738,212 ordinary shares of Rs 10/- each of the compa-
ny have been issued otherwise than rights to Amatis pursuant to the
Shareholders' approval dated 31 October 2006 and subsequent approval
from Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan ("SECP") vide its
letter dated 05 March 2007.

The PTA official said the authority had directed all cellphone operators
to register all their sale points to ensure that no connection was issued
without maintaining the record of the buyer.
According to an official of a cellphone company, the blocking of over
seven million connections in 'one go' could create widespread resentment
and economic consequences down the sales chain.
"Cellular tele-density has reached 50.4 per cent in the country during
the last couple of years. This has helped bring economic and social ben-
efits to rural population. The industry today employs more than two million
people directly and indirectly.

convenient with text messages.
Market analysts have termed this major increase in text
message traffic due to the political situation that was creat-
ed in last quarter of year 2007. Not only this; imposition of
emergency in November and post emergency incidents
such as death of Benazir Bhutto Shaheed actually fueled the
cellular traffic throughout the country.
There are solid predictions in further increase of text
message traffic as the companies are announcing new low
rates for short text messages.
93
 F r e e D o w n l o a d | w w w. f l a r e . c o m . p k
National

Prized for JAZZ Sales Dhamaka Announced

Mobilink announced the results of the first JAZZ Sales Dhamaka lucky
draw held in Karachi. With a view at engaging and appreciating the retail
channel and thereby motivating them to pass on benefits to Jazz cus-
tomers, Mobilink has proven once again that they are a trend-setter in the
telecommunications industry.
With attractive prizes like motorcycles won by retailers throughout the
country, the Dhamaka buzz is already taking over and incentivising retail-
ers to perform better. Various promotions aimed at customers are quite
usual, however, this is a unique scheme that seeks to reward retailers and
inspire them to provide additional benefits for Jazz customers.
Regional Commercial Director Mobilink Mr. Tipu Sultan said, "Being in-
tune with market dynamics, we feel that it is important to appreciate and
motivate our retail channels. We are confident that such activities will
inspire our retails to do even better and translate into benefits for our cus-
tomers, thereby strengthening our commitment across the board."
The lucky winner of the Bumper prize, Suzuki Mehran Car was Mr.
Shahid Mahmood. The duration of this scheme is 3 months and will be
held in Sukkur.

Islamabad: Aamir Ibrahim, Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer Mobilink presenting the
motorcycle keys to the winner of Jazz Sales promotion.

Worlds First Diamond Bluetooth Headset

Motorola has teamed up with luxury custom mobile
phone creator Alexander Amosu, to produce the world's first
real gold and diamond Bluetooth headset - the Diamond
MOTOPURE H12 Alexander Amosu - a renowned young
entrepreneur heads a luxury customization company and
has carved his own niche in the world of design. Amosu
uses diamonds and gold to customize accessories and
phones to create the ultimate luxury experience.
This extremely limited edition headset is the ultimate
statement in luxury, made from 18K gold and featuring over
180 brilliant cut diamonds, a total of 3.47 carats. The head-
set is only available to customer order and comes with the
choice between white or yellow 18k gold and with the
added option to customize with white, pink or even black
diamonds.

Bridge the Digital Divide: Kaira

The Federal Minister for Information Technology Mr.
Qamar Zaman Kaira has stressed on bridging the digital
divide by development of human resource, including IT
skills development of those living in the far-flung, remote
areas and small towns of the country. He said that the
majority of the population to the tune of 70% or more
belongs to the poor segment of the society with little access
to quality educational system incapable of providing quality
education not to talk of IT and computer skills development
and this segment needs to be addressed on priority basis.
Mr. Kaira expressed these remarks during his visit to
the Pakistan Software Export Board, a subsidiary of the
Ministry of Information Technology and
Telecommunications. Federal Minister for Information
Mr. Kaira pointed out that all targets and deadlines must Technology Mr. Qamar Zaman Kaira
be met as there is no room for procrastination in this indus-
try. He acknowledged the need for specialized IT training institutes to
enhance the quality of products and services. He urged to
build a positive image of Pakistan's IT services and prod-
ucts to bolster the industry.
Mr. Talib Baloch, the acting Managing Director apprised
the Minister that PSEB's aims to enable fast track sustain-
able growth of IT industry through providing quality IT -ori-
ented office space with high-tech facilities under one roof,
strengthening of industry through quality certifications ,
migration to open source software for automation of
domestic industry and various human resource develop-
ment initiatives of internship and apprenticeship pro-
grammes currently benefiting over 3000 students.
The meeting informed the Minister that the industry has
U.S. $1.05 Billion of IT exports and U.S. $1.15 Billion of rev-
enues from the local IT industry, making a total industry size
of U.S.$2.2 Billion.

Withdrawal of 15 % GST on ICT Industry Demanded

Imposition of 15 percent GST on information and communication tech-
nology industry (ICT) has severely hampered the industry's growth as
annual growth rate of PC/server market in Pakistan declined to 9.6 percent
in 2007 against 16.4 percent in 2006.
According to a research, the implementation of 15 percent GST had a
very negative effect on Pakistan's ICT industry compared to India where
information technology industry grew its overall revenues 10-fold in the
past decade to $47.8 billion in 2006-07 from just $4.8 billion in 1997-98.
Industry analysts said that constant economic growth, which reflects
the progress of any country, depends upon several factors and one of very
significant factors is its information & communication technology (ICT)
sector.
94 Imports of PCs/servers also dropped to 149,000 units in July-
December 2007 from 630,000 units recorded in 2006-07, showing a
decline of 40 percent. This sector is not only influential in cutting down
cost, but also in enhancing productivity and efficiency of other sectors.
Since the implementation of 15 percent GST on imported and local
parts of computer hardware in the federal budget for fiscal year 2006-07,
the IT sector has suffered severely and it is also hitting end-users and
businesses across the country.
Recently, the Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB), Pakistan
Software House Association (PASHA), Pakistan Computer Association
(PCA), and other IT-based organisations also expressed their concern and
sought removal of sales tax on PCs and its networking parts, describing it
as a chief factor in encouraging illegal import of PCs.

 F r e e D o w n l o a d | w w w. f l a r e . c o m . p k
Asia's Largest Academic Fibre Optic Network Sets
up at Karachi University Rashid Ahmed Mughal
The Department of Main Communication Network,
Karachi University (KU) has formally established a fibre
optic based LAN with wireless computing support at the
campus. The project is sponsored by Higher Education
Commission (HEC). The fibre optic network established
at the campus is said to be the largest academic fibre
optic network in Pakistan and in Asia. With over 90,000
feet fibre optic cable laid to connect 57 teaching depart-
ments and 18 research institutes of KU, this network pro-
vides services such as video conferencing, VoIP, file shar-
ing and communication with the Pakistan Educational
Research Network.
Speaking at the ceremony, Karachi University Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr
Minister for Excise and Taxation, Mian Mujtaba Shuja-ur-Rehman is giving award to National
Sales Manager, Canon, Mr Tuseef Ahmed Khan for best performance at Digital Photo Mela held
in Lahore.
Scratch and Win Campaign Launched
Warid Telecom (Pvt) Ltd launched the
most exciting reward scheme for its loyal
Zem users. Zem Prepaid subscribers were
offered extra balance upon loading their
scratch cards and enormous cash prizes. Since launch, Warid Telecom
has been rewarding patronage for being a part of the fastest growing GSM
network in Pakistan.
Under this promotion all prepaid subscribers loading scratch cards
were eligible for extra balance based on the scratch card denomination
value up to 20%. The extra balance amount was transferred to the sub-
scribers account immediately after the subscriber reloads his account.
The most exciting part of this scheme were the prizes offered for the
scratch and win campaign. The subscribers that uploaded new cards were
automatically eligible for lucky draws. The end of the campaign included a
large lucky draw valued at Rs. 1.0 million and three weekly draws valued
at Rs. 0.5 million.
PTCL Decision to Cut Call Duration flayed
The Telecommunication Sub-committee of Karachi Chamber of
Commerce and Industry (KCCI) has flayed the decision of Pakistan
Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) to reduce the duration of a
minimum unit call from five minutes to two minutes.
The committee demanded that local calls must be made free.
Chairman of the sub committee Khurram Shahzad, presiding over the first
meeting of the sub committee said that with the reduction of duration of
call time, the cost of doing business increased by 2.5 percent.
National
Pirzada Qasim said it was one of the brightest moments
in the history of KU. The establishment of this project had
been completed and was functioning at full potential.
The completion of this project is indeed a landmark for
the KU, he added and congratulated the Project Director
Prof Dr SM Aqil Burney and the entire project team who
worked tirelessly to complete this project in an efficient
manner. He also thanked the HEC Chairman Prof Dr
Attaur Rehman for his unconditional support in develop-
ing Pakistan's largest academic fibre optic network at KU.
The project has shifted the KU paradigm and has taken
us more closer to the digital and electronic learning para-
digm, he said.

National Sales Manager, Canon, Mr Tauseef Ahmed Khan is giving a prize for face of the day
winner to Nabeeha Rizvi at Digital Photo Mela held in Lahore.
Winners of the campaign were Awais Javed from Faisalabad (Rs. 1.0
million), Salah ud din Haider from Okara (Rs. 0.5 million), Muhammad
Qaiser from Karachi (Rs. 0.5 million) and Faheem Ahmed from Karachi
(Rs. 0.5 million).
Marwan Zawaydeh - Chief Executive Officer, Warid Telecom said,
"Growth is the process of becoming larger. As we grow, we fully realize
that it is because of our biggest asset - our customers. The scratch and
win campaign is our way of sharing our success with the people that have
chosen Warid as their first mode of communication."
On the occasion, Chief Commercial Officer - Warid Telecom, Thomas
Yeo said, "To get supreme value in any product that one invests in is a very
satisfying experience for any person. To win money for your loyalty is
pleasant experience for our customers besides our supreme service. At
Warid Telecom, we believe in treating our customers with the best service,
incentives and rewards, because at Warid…We Care."

He said that there were around 1.1 million PTCL subscribers in the city,
out of them more then 24,000 phones were out of order. He demanded of
the PTCL to take KCCI and other trade bodies into confidence before intro-
ducing any new package for its customers. Expressing concern over
removing 35,000 employees under the VSS, and said that this had
adversely affected working of the PTCL.

95
 F r e e D o w n l o a d | w w w. f l a r e . c o m . p k
International

WiMAX users to reach 133 mn by 2012

There will be more than 133 million WiMAX users
globally by 2012, according to the latest figures from
the WiMAX Forum. Moreover, approximately 70 per
cent of these WiMAX users will use mobile and
portable WiMAX devices to access broadband internet
services.
The forecasts are based on the results of an inde-
pendently commissioned research study, which will be
published fully by the end of May 2008.
"WiMAX is here now and is the catalyst in the global
marketplace to grow demand for mobile broadband
internet access," said Ron Resnick, president of the
WiMAX Forum. "This new subscriber and user forecast
is a solid proof point of the future growth of the thriving
mobile internet ecosystem and presents reasonable
predictions of the positive progress our industry is
working to achieve."
According to the study, a key driver of WiMAX sub-
scriber and user growth will be the ambitious adoption
of WiMAX technology in specific regions, including Asia
Pacific and the Americas, where WiMAX technology is
anticipated to be the leading technology selected to
deliver broadband internet access to a greater geogra-
phy of these regional populations.
The Forum further estimates that by 2011 there will
be more than 1,000 mobile WiMAX Forum certified
products in the marketplace.

Nokia and T-Mobile sign Internet Services Deal

Nokia has signed a deal with Germany's T-Mobile for
Internet services for European customers, Nokia said in
a statement. "T-Mobile and Nokia will be able to offer
their European customers faster and easier access to all
of T-Mobile's web'n'walk Internet services as well as to
Nokia's Ovi Internet services," read the statement.
It said the firms will try to make social networking
sites more mobile and added Nokia's Ovi services will
be available on a wide range of Nokia phones for T-
Mobile users.
Nokia, which made about 40 percent of all cellphones sold in the first
quarter, is the first handset maker to move strongly into the content
space. Millions of users have downloaded songs, video
clips, programmes and documents since the company
launched the Nokia music store and Mosh, a file-sharing
site, last year.
The handset maker has also struck deals with top
record label Universal and Sony BMG to distribute their
music with deals allowing users unlimited downloads in
a 12-month period.
Nokia has previously signed Internet services deals
with Spain's Telefonica, France Telecom's mobile arm
Orange, Telecom Italia and Vodafone.

Future Computers to Talk and Feel

A computer that can interact with humans and react to their non-verbal gestures is being developed by a European team. Known as SEMAINE,
the project will build a sensitive artificial listener (SAL) system, which will perceive user's facial expression, gaze, and voice and then engage with the
user, BBC radio reported. When engaging with a human, the sensitive artificial listener will be able to adapt its own performance and pursue different
actions, depending on the non-verbal behaviour of the user.
The German centre for research on artificial intelligence is partnered by Imperial College London, Universities of Paris, Holland and Technical
University of Munich. Roddy Cowie, of Queen's University Belfast, said: "A basic feature of human communication is that it is coloured by emotion.
When we talk to another person, the words are carried on an undercurrent of signs that
show them what attracts us, what bores us and so on."
"The fact that computers do not currently do this is one of the main reasons why com-
municating with them is so unlike interacting with a human. It is also one of the reasons
we can find them so frustrating," he added.
"SEMAINE, and projects like it, will change the way people interact with technology.
They mean that you will be talking to your computer in 20 years time. When you do,
pause for a minute, and remember that the human sciences at Queen's helped to lay the
groundwork," he added.

IBM Unleashes Fastest UNIX System

The IBM has announced two high-end Power Systems models - the world's fastest
UNIX server and a unique water-cooled supercomputer. An announcement to this effect
was made in a statement.
It said the new systems offer sophisticated IBM virtualization technology and energy-
saving capabilities to help dramatically reduce bottom-line operating costs, such as those
for energy, floor space and systems management, while improving system performance,
helping customers transition to a new enterprise data centre. The statement maintained
that the new UNIX enterprise server designed to extend IBM's leadership in the UNIX
market and will be attractive to existing IBM clients as well as Sun Solaris and HP UNIX
users.
For example, it added, IBM's Power enterprise 64-core server delivers twice the per-
formance at a comparable price as a similarly configured HP Superdome Itanium system.
IBM's new POWER6 "Hydro-Cluster" supercomputer is built to help users tackle some of
the world's most challenging problems in fields such as energy, aerospace and weather
modelling.
The new super-dense system, representing a breakthrough in green IT, uses a
unique, in-rack, water-cooling system and with 448 processor cores per rack offers users
nearly five times the performance and more than three times the energy efficiency of its
predecessor, IBM's POWER5 processor-based p575 supercomputer.
97

International
Free Satellite TV Service Begins
A free-to-view satellite television and radio service
from the BBC and ITV is being launched across the
UK. Freesat is available to 98% of homes, including
those that are unable to receive Freeview through a TV
aerial.
Freesat will carry 80 digital TV and radio channels,
including free high definition programmes, with that
number due to rise to 200 by the end of 2008.
Users will make a one-off payment for a dish, set-
top box and installation, but will not pay a monthly sub-
scription. But unlike Freeview, you can receive Freesat across UK, which
means that in those areas that at the moment can't get access to free
digital television this is the first time that they can get free digital TV.
Hutchison Telecom Posts Ist Profit
Hutchison Telecommunications International Ltd., the emerging mar-
kets mobile-phone carrier controlled by billionaire Li Ka-shing, posted a
first-quarter profit after adding users in Israel and Indonesia.
Net income was HK$310 million ($39.8 million), compared with a loss
of HK$236 million a year earlier, Hutchison Telecom said in a statement.
The Hong Kong-based company revised the HK$220 million profit it
reported for the first quarter last year, without providing a reason.
Higher earnings from Israel, Hutchison Telecom's biggest market, are
helping bolster investments in Indonesia and Vietnam, the focus of
almost 80 percent of its capital spending this year. The phone carrier
Zune Eases Sharing To Close iPod Gap
Microsoft Corp., trailing Apple Inc. badly in the mar-
ket for portable music and video players, is introducing
a new technology that will let users of its Zune portable
devices legally share portions of their song libraries
with other Zune users.
Microsoft also plans to announce it has started sell-
ing downloads of television shows that will play on
Zunes, including "South Park" and "Heroes," through
relationships with Comedy Central, NBC, MTV and
other broadcasters. The company says it will have
about 800 episodes available for purchase at $1.99
each on its Zune online store, compared with thou-
sands of episodes from 600 different shows on Apple's iTunes Store.
The music-sharing function for Zunes underscores how Microsoft is
seeking to set itself apart from Apple, which dominates the portable-
music and movie-player market. Microsoft has failed to take any mean-
Alcatel-Lucent to build Libya's first WiMAX
Alcatel-Lucent has said that it has been awarded a
contract by LTT (Libya Telecom and Technology), the
national Internet Service Provider in Libya, to deploy
the first commercial WIMAX network based on the
802.16e-2005 WiMAX standard, in Libya. LTT plans to
launch the commercial service on the network in
September 2008.
The new network will support voice over IP (VoIP)
and high-speed internet access, enabling the delivery
of advanced broadband multimedia services, such as
video streaming, through a variety of end-user includ-
ing modems and WiMAX terminals. It will also accom-
modate stationary, nomadic and mobile applications
and complement the carrier's existing fixed-based broadband services.
Under the agreement, Alcatel-Lucent will provide a complete WiMAX
infrastructure solution, including the radio access network, microwave
98 backhaul and IP routers and will deploy around 120 sites in a first phase.
F r e e D o w n l o a d | w w w. f l a r e . c o m . p k
The BBC's media correspondent Torin Douglas said
the BBC and ITV were hoping the new service would
also increase interest in high definition (HD) television.
It is thought that around 10 million homes in the UK
now have a television set capable of carrying HD, but
most do not have a receiver or subscription.
The BBC Trust has said Freesat is guaranteed to
remain subscription-free. Set-top boxes will be avail-
able from high street retailers, who will also arrange
installation. Sky already offers a service that is also
free to view once the equipment has been bought.

sold a stake in India's third-biggest mobile- phone company last year and
may use as much as HK$35 billion to buy other emerging-market assets.
Hutchison Telecom's management thinks that the current market con-
ditions have become favorable for companies looking for acquisitions.
Hutchison Telecom has said it plans to more than double capital
spending in Indonesia to HK$4 billion this year, and increase investment
in Vietnam to HK$1.5 billion from HK$800 million last year. The two mar-
kets account for 79 percent of the company's projected capital spending
of HK$7 billion this year.

ingful share from Apple since it entered the business
with Zune in late 2006. According to market-research
firm NPD Group Inc., Apple had 71% of the U.S.
portable-music-player market in the first quarter, com-
pared with 4% for Microsoft. Microsoft believes it can
differentiate its products by introducing a social dimen-
sion to Zune players, in which users can share their
musical tastes with each other.
Microsoft has for some time allowed users to view
the titles of the latest songs that friends are listening to
and to hear clips through the Zune website. A new fea-
ture will allow users access their friends nine most
recently played songs, as well as nine other songs flagged as favorites,
and copy them onto their own Zunes. To play back the tracks, users will
need a $14.99-a-month subscription to Microsoft's Zune Pass service,
which offers unlimited access to a library of millions of tracks.

LTT has an aggressive schedule for additional deploy-
ments.
"We want to provide our residential and business
customers a wide range of beneficial, easy-to-use wire-
less broadband services," said Abdul Majeed Husain
the Planning and Projects department Manager of LTT.
"Alcatel-Lucent's WiMAX solution will enable us to bet-
ter serve customers in major urban centers such as
Tripoli. Alcatel-Lucent's unique expertise and ability to
set up a wireless broadband network quickly and eco-
nomically will enable us to begin offering these new
services to our customers in just a few months."
Alcatel-Lucent's solution offers a cost-effective way
to augment wireline deployments in emerging market countries.
With 24 commercial contracts and more than 70 trials around the
world, Alcatel-Lucent is the undisputed leader in the WiMAX market.