MORE Magazine

CONTENT{July 2010 | Volume 2 | Issue 12}

tElEcomnsn’s sHow of power09

Spectrum should not be seen as something that the govern-ment must use to squeeze money out of private capital

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tEchnologya Convenient style of freezing food11

With technological evolution, the latest and the most com-mon form of food preservation is freezing. Freezers are nowused by every other household.

EvEnt

saMsUng gives a taste of 3d tvs14

Samsung Electronics, a global leader in digital media, elec-tronics and mobiles organized a Grand Exhibition of a widerange of innovative Samsung products in Karachi.

Ufone fUtsal extravaganza12Youth in Lahore as well as Islamabad enjoyed an extravaganzaof passion for Futsal, blast of music and fun as the craze forUfone’s Uth package and soccer continue to rule the minds of all.

Call free froM laHore18

ZONG has launched Location Based Charging (LBC) ‘LahoreUnlimited’ in Lahore – a special promotion – to maximizebenefits for ZONG subscribers in Lahore.

Mobilink new brand aMbassador, naseeM HaMeed19

Mobilink held an exclusive event to pay tribute to NaseemHameed, the first Pakistani female athlete to win the shortsprint gold in the 26-years history of the South Asian Games.

06

After so many achievements and landmarks,we are yet to see a mature usage pattern inPakistani cellular market. As 3G and 4G ismore concerned about the data and tons ofVAS, our companies are still relying mostly onthe SMS bundle packages, gift offers forthose who activate their forgotten SIMs. Itwould be a wise strategy for all the operatorsto develop a customer base using VAS in theirdaily lives using GPRS/EDGE and get themready for a next speedy ride

MORE Magazine printed at Banquet Printing Press 28-A, Nisbat Road, Lahore and published by Mudassar Jehangir Mufti at 2nd Floor, Ali Mansion, 41-A, Lower Mall, Lahore Tel: 042 2106737 Email: [email protected]

editor-in-Chief Mudassar Jehangir Mufti | group editor Sumaira Mudassar | editor Halima Qureshi | advertising Manager Ahmed Malik (Lahore), Aamir Malik (Karachi) designer Assaad Chughtai | Marketing executive Syed Faisal Ahmed, Zain Zahid | international Correspondent Ireland: Alina Amir |US: Ovais Qureshi |

registration no. PCPB 286

09

19

25 26

14

bankingCall for tax inCentives for lifeinsUranCe/takafUl indUstry40

Pakistan’s income tax regime has introduced tax incentivesfor institutions such as mutual funds and retirement benefitschemes as well as incentives targeted at individuals.

‘vibrant ColoUrs’ HigHlypraised at alHaMra21

The ‘Vibrant Colours of Pakistan’, a solo photographic exhibi-tion by Yasir Nisar was launched at the Alhamra Art Galleryon Tuesday.

in pakistanby Mr. yoo beyl-nam22

Mr. Yoo Beyl-nam, a Korean photographer conducted his soloexhibition “In Pakistan” at Alhamra Art Council which was spon-sored by Samsung Electronics Company and Daewoo Pakistan

latEst in tEch 25-26

latEst in tEch 28-39

mobilE PhonEs42-43

camEras44

gadgEts45

6 | more | July 2010 www.apnatime.com

{covEr story | Mudassar J Mufti}

n Through 3G licensing, we will gener-

ate good revenues for Pakistan, these are

the words of Advisor to Prime Minister on

Information Technology Mr. Latif Khosa.

The government in its 2010/11

Budget proposals has revealed non-tax

revenue target for Pakistan Telecom Au-

thority (PTA) at Rs. 51 billion compared

with just Rs1 billion in FY10. Whether 3G

will change the way we communicate or

not but it certainly has become a tool to

fulfill government’s appetite that is grow-

ing to ease its budget deficit. Govern-

ments, particularly third world countries

around the world are looking forward to

earn something good by awarding these

high tech lucrative licenses.

On the other side, the existing opera-

tors are still reluctant to pay the hefty

price for licensing. A senior official from

the second leading cellular company re-

cently talked about the inability of Pak-

istani operators to run successfully if

government asks for too much money.

Another official from a leading telecom

company told that government should

have introduced 3G much earlier, as we

are too late, government is all set to earn

something extra out of this.

At a telecom event recently held in Is-

lamabad, Mr. Khosa, highlighted the bull-

ish mood of investors in the neighboring

country, India, where 3G and broadband

licensing has fetched multibillion dollars

to the government. In fact, this entire

process has earned government of India

some 22 billion dollars, far more than the

expected revenue.

It appears that the intention of Pak-

istani government is to fill its pockets

with much needed dollars to address the

country's economic challenges following

India’s entire licensing process but the

market in Pakistan shows different statis-

tics than India as Pakistan is currently not

a profitable mobile market. India has

been able to attract large investments

because of the sheer size of its popula-

Spectrum should not be seen as something that the governmentmust use to squeeze money out of private capital

www.apnatime.com July 2010 | more | 7

tion and the potential it represents for

mobile broadband services.

Talking about India, the telecom sec-

tor is on a high surge. According to Gart-

ner, Indian mobile subscriber base will

cross 771 million by 2013. In fact, the total

telecom subscriber base for India has al-

ready reached 638.05 million subscribers

with a tele-density of 54.10 adding 16 to

20 million subscribers every month.

After the launch of 3G services by all

the operators, it is expected that graph will

further rise drastically. The market will defi-

nitely heat up with innovative products

and services which would be beneficial for

the customers as well for the service

providers. And in this rapidly expanding

market, companies with new and unique

solutions will emerge as the leaders.

But it is not at all rosy for the Indian

market itself. Things are getting difficult

there. Companies, MTNL and BSNL, who

had started 3G services months ago, have

already asked for a refund from the govern-

ment that amounts to some 290 billion.

MTNL has once again gone through

another year of loss making. The opera-

tor's revenue dipped 18.7%, totaling at Rs

3.6 billion. The downfall in FY 2009-10 was

more than the previous fiscal's 5% de-

cline. The revenue from wireless services

depleted by 6.3% in 2009-10. The opera-

tor failed to get any mileage from the ad-

vantage of having launched 3G services

before the private players. Till date, MTNL

has about 5 lakh 3G subscribers com-

bined in Delhi and Mumbai. The operator

tried lower-pricing strategies selling its 3G

SIMs for the cost of GSM services. It came

up with a plethora of offers for its brand

3G Jadoo, but they failed to spell any

magic. The operator's endeavors to pull

3G subscribers could hardly be trans-

formed into tangible results. It bundled its

3G wireless solutions with Dell laptops

just like Wateen in Pakistan did to sell its

WiMax connections by offering note-

books for Rs. 2000 per month.

The entire process of 3G licensing has

been criticized by market leader, Bharti.

Company says, the auction format and se-

vere spectrum shortage along with ensu-

ing policy uncertainty drove the prices

beyond reasonable levels.

As a result, we could not achieve our

objective of a pan-India 3G footprint in this

round.

From the hue and cry, it is obvious

that Manmohan Singh’s government

used the 3G auction to tackle India’s bal-

looning budget deficit, it also comes as

his government faces growing criticism

for its regulation of the sector.

Analysts say, “Spectrum should not be

seen as something that the government

must use to squeeze money out of pri-

vate capital.”

After this battle of viability, Airtel’s

chairman has announced that we are not

going to offer anything that doesn’t cover

the cost. In other words, be prepared to

shell out more than 1000 rupees per

month for basic packages for 3G. There

might be no unlimited packages at all if

we are to look at their wired broadband

packages. 3G spectrum has been sold at

obscene prices in India. Companies who

have bid on them would have to recover

all of it in stages before they can even

think about making profits on 3G.

Mittal has been quoted as saying sev-

eral times now that cheap broadband is

going to remain a dream for Indian con-

sumers in the near future.

When the head of world’s fifth largest

company is talking to his countrymen in

such a manner, then why we have to follow

the same dark aspect of the entire process.

There is more to 3G than the faster in-

ternet access and downloads, excess data

limit, and better video and picture quality.

The technology and the capital involved in

providing 3G services to the customers is

complex. In fact, 3G operations require

large scale investment and are highly risky

due to increasingly diversified and seg-

mented requirements. Additionally, the in-

vestment patterns will lead to more

diversification in the market. There would

be more direct investment from stake-

holder and strategic investor, borrowing from

local and international financial market, ven-

dor financing from suppliers and revenue

generation from current asset like tower.

In addition, it would be necessary for

the service providers to have a robust

network to roll out the 3G services where

the scalability of the network would be-

come extremely important. So as to pro-

vide seamless services to its customers, it

would become increasingly more critical

for the service providers to have the cor-

rect infrastructure and network, and the

{covEr story}

It appears that the intention of Pakistani government isto fill its pockets with much needed dollars to addressthe country's economic challenges following India’s en-tire licensing process but the market in Pakistan showsdifferent statistics than India as Pakistan is currently nota profitable mobile market. India has been able to attractlarge investments because of the sheer size of its popu-lation and the potential it represents for mobile broad-band services


{covEr story}

appropriate amount of capital.

Even though 3G offers much higher

bit rates as compared to 2G, there are

other technologies that enable the serv-

ice providers to cater to the ever-increas-

ing demand for fast wireless broadband.

These kinds of technically innovation can

not only improved the ROI but can also

cut down the costs of deploying mobile

broadband networks. All these demands

and economical sense have led the serv-

ice providers to 4G technologies.

The possibility cannot be ruled out as

Mobilink has already confirmed months

ago that it is ready for a 4G operation and

the statement from Mr. Latif Khosa fur-

ther proves the business plan of market

leader. He says, “There is a possibility that

simultaneously with 3G licenses, Pakistan

might also auction the license to operate

the fourth generation mobile phone serv-

ices (4G)”.

Statistic shows that India has some

480 million potential customers for 3G

services whereas; Pakistan’s total popula-

tion is not even half the size which is cur-

rently 180 million approximately. Though,

both the countries have similar kind of

obstacles and challenges to adopt the 3G

services like low GDP per capita, intense

price pressure in a dominant prepaid mar-

ket, high import taxes on handsets and an

often chaotic distribution network.

Operators in Pakistan has been debat-

ing and arguing for years over PTA’s deci-

sion. According to them, Pakistan is not

yet ready for anything like 3G keeping in

view the existing operations and ever de-

creasing ARPU. According to them, by set-

ting high 3G license fee, existing

operators will struggle to cope with high

cost of network deployment, conse-

quently leading to inappropriate services

and pricing in a highly price-sensitive

market.

With a long term vision, Kenyan Gov-

ernment has recently reduced 3G’s licens-

ing fee by 60% from US $25 million to US

$ 10 million.

Pakistan is soon going to have its 100

millionth customer, however, despite a mo-

bile penetration of just 54 percent, the

market is fiercely competitive and operator

ARPUs are among the lowest in the world.

In 2010, Mobilink’s first quarter ARPU

was just US$ 2.8, falling from US$3 a year

ago. Telenor was the best performing op-

erator in the quarter in terms of connec-

tions, just surpassing Mobilink in terms of

quarterly net additions and recording the

highest year-on-year connections growth

(16 percent). However, the unit continued

to make an operating loss for its Norwe-

gian parent, posting a US$1.4 million loss

for the quarter compared to a US$ 14 mil-

lion loss a year ago. Telenor's monthly

ARPU in the quarter was US$2.3.

Ufone saw its connections base drop

4 percent year-on-year in the first quarter.

Warid Telecom’s connections base shrunk

by 6 percent year-on-year in 1Q10 as it

reined in operating expenditure. Warid

also deactivated 2.7 million subscribers in

the very same quarter.

Zong, the smallest one, launched in 2008

following China Mobile Communications

Corporation's (CMCC) acquisition of Paktel

the previous year, the Chinese firm has in-

vested over US$1.6 billion over the last few

years building-out and marketing the net-

work. However, it has admitted that it faces

a long wait for its return on investment.

After so many achievements and

landmarks, we are yet to see a mature

usage pattern in Pakistani cellular market.

As 3G and 4G is more concerned about

the data and tons of VAS, our companies

are still relying mostly on the SMS bundle

packages, gift offers for those who acti-

vate their forgotten SIMs.

It would be a wise strategy for all the

operators to develop a customer base

using VAS in their daily lives using

GPRS/EDGE and get them ready for a

next speedy ride. For example, a current

TVC of Telenor Djuice only highlights the

side effects of sending too many SMSes.

Hardly, this package convinces the sub-

scriber to use the mobile phone healthily.

Even after this long journey of years,

operators and government have re-

mained unsuccessful to ensure the pri-

vacy of a subscriber. Even today, mobile

phone subscribers are experiencing the

negative results of undocumented SIMs.

The pond hasn’t been cleaned by the reg-

ulator; it’s full of unregistered SIMs.

Like India, mergers and buyouts are

long due. In such an environment, it is the

highest responsibility on Government’s

shoulder, not to think about its budget

deficit and short term revenue benefits

only. Overall situation has to be made

balanced and favorable for all the stake-

holders. n

Airtel’s chairman has announced that we are not goingto offer anything that doesn’t cover the cost. In otherwords, be prepared to shell out more than 1000 rupeesper month for basic packages for 3G. Spectrum has beensold at obscene prices in India. Companies who have bidon them would have to recover all of it in stages beforethey can even think about making profits on 3G. Cheapbroadband is going to remain a dream for Indian con-sumers in the near future.


n Leading global telecommunications

enabler Nokia Siemens Networks is trans-

forming mobile broadband user experi-

ence in the Middle East Africa (MEA)

region with its Long-Term Evolution (LTE)

offering that delivers improved and faster

data speeds to support a suite of multi-

media and rich call applications.

“The timing of our road show could

not be more opportune,” said Saad

Waraich, Pakistan Country Director for

Nokia Siemens Networks. “With Pakistan’s

telecommunication industry witnessing

strong growth, the need for a richer com-

munications services in Pakistan is raising

the demand for 3G and 4G. New services

now and in the future require higher

speeds at an affordable cost.”

It is clear that broadband can change

Pakistan as it connects rural businesses

and consumers to the rest of the world,

enables new ways of doing business and

adds agility to urban enterprises. In fact

as per a Broadband Survey conducted by

Nokia Siemens Networks in 2009, the de-

sire to use mobile and data applications

in Pakistan- surfing the web and applica-

tion downloading – reaches up to 55 per-

cent of the population. Usage of audio

/music mobile downloading alone has

shown an interest rate of 88 percent.

{tElEcom}

NSN’s show of power

Group Picture shows ( L- R ) Philip Schutz, Daniel Gunzel, Saad M. Waraich, Mohamed El Ayyat, Mohamed Abdelrehim & Atifa Asgharat LTE Road Show organized by Nokia Siemens Networks.

“Leading the evolution of broadband technol-ogy means our customers will be the first tobenefit,” added Waraich. “Today, we are rein-forcing our vision of helping operators enrichcustomers experience, via a showcase of thelatest next generation mobile broadband tech-nology to mobile operators in the region.”


{tElEcom}

LTE is the de-facto evolution path of

the 3G mobile standard that is based on

a full flat IP architecture and is optimized

for data and multimedia traffic. Having

demonstrated the world’s first LTE demo

with data speeds up to 160 Mb/s, Nokia

Siemens Networks has been at the fore-

front of developments in this space.

In Middle East Africa specifically, Nokia

Siemens Networks was behind the re-

gion’s first LTE contract with Zain Bahrain.

“Leading the evolution of broadband

technology means our customers will be

the first to benefit,” added Waraich. “Today,

we are reinforcing our vision of helping

operators enrich customers experience,

via a showcase of the latest next genera-

tion mobile broadband technology to

mobile operators in the region.”

LTE will truly revolutionize the region’s

mobile market, changing the way busi-

nesses and individuals communicate. The

technology will unleash a plethora of

new devices such as Internet telephones

and videophones to end user services

such as teleconferencing, telecommut-

ing, to wider benefits in medical services

such as remote diagnosis, interactive dis-

tance education, rich multimedia enter-

tainment, digitally-controlled home ap-

pliances and much more.

“What’s more the Nokia Siemens Net-

works LTE proposition is based on software

upgrades to current 3G networks that are

currently deployed by a majority of re-

gional mobile operators,” added Waraich

At the heart of the Nokia Siemens

Networks’ solution is its Flexi Base Station

that supports multiple technologies from

GSM/EDGE and WCDMA/HSPA to LTE on

a single platform. Being only 20% of the

size and weight of a conventional base

station, it is energy efficient and designed

to minimize the overall cost of network

operation and maintenance. n

Saad M. Waraich answering the media queries at the event

LTE Demo Equipment that NSN displayed to show its strength

Handheld Spectrum Analyzer


{Meeraj Alam | tEchnology}

n With technological evolution, the latest and the most common

form of food preservation is freezing. Freezers are now used by

every other household. While freezing is considered the most ideal

form of food preservation, according to a research conducted by

Dawlance 74% of women find it inconvenient to use deep freezers.

The common problems associated with deep freezers are:

1. The tedious task of placing and taking out required food

essentials

2. Organized food storage and full capacity utilization is a

challenge

3. Cleaning of chest freezer is a major hassle

Today’s Pakistani women have an alternative in terms of vertical

freezer. Introduced by Dawlance in the market, the new vertical

freezer makes up for all the issues that women have had so far with

regular deep freezers. Vertical freezer is the ultimate in storage con-

venience. With its innovative design and various features, storing

food in freezer is now a much simpler and hassle-free task. Dawlance

Vertical Freezer has user-friendly drawers / roll-out baskets that let

the user store food in an organized way and as per the temperature

requirements of each food item. Drawer-like compartments in

Dawlance Vertical Freezer ensure better cooling retention in case of

electricity failure. At the same time, it also allows easy access to all

compartments. Separate drawers also act as a sealing agent between

different types of food products. For example, Meat which has blood

dripping issue can be stored in a separate drawer to avoid its odor

from mixing with other food items. Drawers with a solid front also

make the storage area more enclosed, so less cold air escapes when

you open the freezer. Lower freezing temperatures of less than -18•C

ensure that the food is frozen in the shortest possible time and it

maintains optimum food quality when used for cooking.

Dawlance Vertical Freezer brings quick chilling performance at

your finger tips. As each compartment is equipped with its own

cooling system, it offers these benefits:

• Performs a quick freezing action that in turn keeps the

food structure intact –giving the food its original taste

and texture

• Stops bacterial growth and enzymes action, hence no

odor and no food deterioration takes place.

This feature is not available in chest freezers where you have

no other choice but to store all kinds of food at the same temper-

ature. This practice at times deteriorates the quality of food when

it is thawed.

Dawlance Vertical Freezer takes much less floor space com-

pared to chest freezer. Available in almost the same size as a regular

refrigerator, Dawlance Vertical Freezer can be easily placed in the

kitchen area. This leads to easy access to food items stored in freezer

particularly when you need them for cooking purpose.

Dawlance Vertical Freezers are available in a sleek design which

makes it a high-end product rather than a big, bulky machine that

chest freezer is. Thick insulation that is part and parcel of Dawlance

Vertical Freezer ensures that each section retains cooling for a much

longer period in case of power failure.

Cleaning of freezer couldn’t have been easier! With Dawlance

Vertical Freezer, there is no need to wait for the freezer to defrost.

Instead you can simply slide out each drawer, wash it with water

and put it in place in Vertical Freezer.

Now is the time for Pakistani women to forget backache from

bending over the chest freezer. Using Dawlance Vertical Freezer is al-

most like using a regular refrigerator. Dawlance Vertical Freezer is here

to bring to you the kind of healthy lifestyle you have never imagined

before. The benefits of Dawlance Vertical Freezer combine to offer bet-

ter health through better food quality and organized food storage.

Considering the variety of convenience features that are part

of Dawlance Vertical Freezer, its price is surprisingly affordable.

Adding a new concept to the freezing technology, Dawlance Ver-

tical Freezer has got all the right ingredients to make the lives of

Pakistani housewives easier and more organized. Pakistani women

would now have a new companion that would let them manage

their home in a better way. n


{EvEnt}

n Youth in Lahore as well as Islamabad en-

joyed an extravaganza of passion for Futsal,

blast of music and fun as the craze for

Ufone’s Uth package and soccer continue

to rule the minds of all.

The Lahore final of Futsal was played

between LUMS and Deathrow. After some

very intense and anxious moments

Deathrow snatched a sensational win over

LUMS with four goals to three. The winning

team was awarded with a cash prize of Ru-

pees Fifty thousand and the runner up re-

ceived a prize of Rupees twenty five

thousand. Whereas the final in Islamabad

was played between PJ’s and Red Devils in

which PJ’s snatched a sensational win over

arch rivals Red Devils with two goals to nil.

Before the grand finale, both at Islam-

abad and Lahore, events were made more

participative as some active spectators

from the crowd were also called down into

the ground for 10 very short 3 each penalty

shoot matches in which the maximum

scorer of each match was given a souvenir

in the shape of Ufone Uth shirt. The finals

in Lahore and Islamabad were followed by

a live concert of popular music band “Call

The band” The Crowd sang and danced all

the way with almost all the numbers. The

band performed various numbers however

the ever green 'Sab Bhula kay' received an

electrifying response from the crowd.

One LED TV screen was also displayed

at the venues which projected the concert

as well and in the break time it displayed

Ufone Uth ads and FIFA's official song of the

world cup 2010 which took crowd on to

their toes and they were dancing all the way.

After the concert two lucky young

spectator each from Lahore and Islam-

abad got PS3 through lucky draw con-

ducted on the spot.

In the end the spectators both in La-

hore and Islamabad stayed on as the world

cup first semi final between Netherlands

and Uruguay was presented live for Lahore

football lovers whereas the second thriller

between Spain and Germany played last

night was presented live on the big LED

screen for Islooites as an icing on the cake

for a very lively and fun filled night. n

Ufone recently conducted Futsal matches between local team at Scout Club to celebrate FIFA Worldcup 2010 in itstraditionally vigorous way. Picture shows the winner “PJ” and runner up “Red Devils” at the event.


{saddads | covEr story}


{EvEnt}

n Samsung Electronics, a global leader in

digital media, electronics and mobiles or-

ganized a Grand Exhibition of a wide range

of innovative Samsung products in Karachi.

Thousands of visitors were provided with a

first-hand experience of Samsung’s revolu-

tionary 3D TVs. For the 1st time in Pakistan,

this exciting display of innovative products

showed glimpses of famous 3D movies on

Samsung 3D TV screens at the vast Pak-

istan Air Force Museum in Karachi. This

event held on 3rd and 4th of July 2010.

The Festival attracted thousands of

people from all walks of life. The consumers

were thrilled by this fantastic display of

Samsung’s latest products including Digital

Cameras, Mobile phones, Air conditioners

and 3D LED TV products, where the de-

From (L-R) Mr. Zeshan Qureshi, Manager Mobile Phones, Samsung Electronics, Mr. Steve Han, General Manager Samsung Pakistan,Mr. Injae Lee, Senior Manager, Samsung wearing the 3D glasses at the event


{EvEnt}

lighted visitors appreciated Samsung’s cut-

ting-edge products. The enthusiastic re-

sponse to this exhibition reflects the

strength of Samsung’s technology and the

popularity of its brand in Pakistan.

Distinguished professionals and man-

agement of publications and media along

with consumers including Techies and

bloggers were seen curiously exploring the

features and technology of 3D TVs at this

innovative show.

The General Manager Samsung Pak-istan Mr. Steve Han said; “The Samsung“Universe” Exhibition in Karachi has sur-passed our expectations and proved to be

a highly successful Mega Event. Samsungis the first company to offer a complete 3Dproduct line-up including TVs, Blu-rayplayer and home theater. This vast festivalat the PAF Museum Karachi also deliveredthe amazing experience of Samsung’shighly evolved 3D technology to the con-sumers. In future, our global research will

Miss. Rabiya Siddiqui, Manager PR, Samsung Electronics is seen along withher colleagues

Mr. Khurram Farooq, Head of TV Division, Samsung Electronics briefing the mediaabout 3D TV


{EvEnt}

bring more attractive and exciting prod-ucts for the Pakistani consumers, includingthe best-in-class 3D experiences.”

The festival also featured 3 gaming

zones for the consumers with a flair for

gaming technology. Another highlight of

the show was a photo studio where the

participants were getting their pictures

taken and cheerfully walked away with in-

stant print-outs of their photographs. 3D

TV display became the center of attrac-

tion at the Exhibition.

Samsung has its focus on consumer

preferences to lead the way in the devel-

opment and enhancement of such tech-

nologies. Pakistani consumers have

eagerly waited for the 3D Television tech-

nology to enrich their entertainment and

leisure activities. In addition to 3D LED TV

this festival also showcased a wide range

of state-of-the-art Digital cameras, Cellu-

lar and smart phones including Galaxy,

Wave-“Bada” phone and Dual-SIM

phones. Also on display were the fastest

PCs, Thinnest Monitors, high-capability

Printers, Side-by-Side Refrigerators, classy

Microwaves, and Virus-Free Air-condition-

ers from Samsung. This electronics giant

also offers the “Bada mobile platform” and

an integrated store of games, navigation,

social-networking, and other lifestyle ap-

plications called “Samsung Apps”. n

Seen in the picture are Mr. Steve Han, GM Samsung, Pakistan and Mr. Ahmed Fazal, Director Marketing, Orient along with other dignitaries

Picture shows Steve Han General Manager Samsung and Zeshan Qureshi Head of Mobilephone division Pakistan and Afghanistan along with their marketing team at their newSamsung Universe exhibition of innovative products in Karachi.




{EvEnt | More Team}

n ZONG launched Location Based Charg-

ing (LBC) ‘Lahore Unlimited’ in Lahore – a

special promotion – to maximize benefits

for ZONG subscribers in Lahore. The activity

was designed keeping in view ZONG'S keen

interest to provide its subscribers with dy-

namic and cost effective benefits for their

loyal customers with its bench-mark net-

work quality in Lahore the ‘Lahore Unlim-

ited’ , a wonderful solution for Laborites.

The offer says, you can call any ZONG

number in Pakistan while you are in Lahore

and talk unlimited without any charges. The

price of the package is Rs. 199 per month.

Company in this regard is doing road shows

and converting as much people into sub-

scriber as possible. While talking to Zong’s

official, we came to know that an average of

4000 SIMs are being activated on daily basis.

This is the first time that any mobile

phone company has launched such a facil-

ity in Pakistan. ZONG’s LBC in Lahore is de-

signed to effectively utilize ZONG network

and expand its subscriber base. ZONG has

introduced concentric layer technology –

by further strengthening its facilities and al-

ready strong network quality in Lahore.

Salman Wassay, Head of Marketing,

Call free from Lahore


ZONG, while expressing his views said that

ZONG is determined to add value to the lives

of its subscribers by making it possible for

them to remain in touch as often as they like.

“Providing our subscribers with the

best possible rates, simplicity and a wide

range of services is the hallmark of the

ZONG philosophy. ‘Lahore Unlimited’ will

make keeping in touch more affordable

for subscribers in the city with anyone

across the country,” says Salman Wassay.

“We believe the city of Lahore has im-

mense potential due to our existing sub-

scriber base and our superior network

quality.” No one in the cellular industry

has offered this facility so far and we con-

sider it an innovative gift for the sub-

scriber of Lahore from ZONG.

At present this offer is valid for Lahore

city and selected suburbs. Calls have to

be made from within the area covered by

the designated BTS sites while the normal

tariff and other availed packages will be

applied outside of the city. Only the call-

ing subscriber needs to be in the locality

while the recipient need only be a ZONG

subscriber anywhere in Pakistan. n

{EvEnt}

n Mobilink held an exclusive event to

pay tribute to Naseem Hameed, the first

Pakistani female athlete to win the short

sprint gold in the 26-years history of the

South Asian Games.

Mobilink Jazz, Pakistan’s premier prepaid

brand that connects more than 30 million

subscribers has added Naseem to its

panel of brand ambassadors. This move

is aimed to recognize and celebrate

Naseem’s success while also giving the

youth an inspirational icon to look up to.

Unveiled the song capturing Naseem’s

struggle and accomplishments and com-

memorating those who helped herBilal Munir, VP Marketing, Mobilink delivering the shield to South Asian SprinterNaseem Hamid

Mobilink announces new brand ambassador,Naseem Hameed


{EvEnt | More Team}

achieve her goals, Bilal Munir Sheikh, Vice

President Marketing, Mobilink, shared,

“Mobilink Jazz believes strongly in the

bonds we create and the objective of this

tribute is to encourage all those who

dream to reach out their loved ones for

support so they can achieve what they

want to, and much more. Naseem is a

hero we all needed and we hope that

through the Jazz platform she will inspire

many more. We are indeed very proud

and privileged to have her as our Brand

Ambassador.”

Speaking to the guests at the ceremony,

22 year old Naseem, who clocked 11.81

seconds to land the 100m gold and the

title of Fastest Woman of South Asia,

shared, “It is indeed a great honor to be

associated with such a prestigious brand

like Mobilink Jazz. I want to thank my par-

ents, especially my mother who believed

in me and always had faith in me. My

message to the youth is to follow their

dreams and always strive to make their

loved ones proud.”

Notable celebrities, socialites, media

community were also present at the

event along with Jazz Brand team and

senior Mobilink employees.

The Jazz Apna Hai tribute video is slated

to be aired on all leading tv channels

from July second. Download the song

from Mobilink’s official website www.mo-

bilinkgsm.com n

Group of Mobilink Team at the event

something about naseem22-year-old Naseem Hameed from Karachi made headlines when she clocked 11.81 sec-onds at the South Asian Games in Dhaka in February, 2010 to become Pakistan’s first fe-male athlete to win the short sprint gold in the 26-years history of the South Asian Games. Dubbed as the fastest woman in South Asia, Naseem started her career as an athlete whileshe was in school. During her time in college, she was noticed by Army coaches and wasallowed to practice in Army grounds near Korangi. She won various local events duringthis time and was picked by Pakistan Railways as an athlete. Naseem has received trainingfrom former 100m national champion Maqsood Ahmed.Naseem’s consistent performance earned her a place to represent Pakistan at the SouthAsian Games in Dhaka in 2010 where she brought great honor and pride to her parents,team, mentors and her country. President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari has appointed Naseem as Ambassador of Sports inrecognition of her success at the SAF Games. Mobilink Jazz has added Naseem Hameedas a brand ambassador to inspire the nation and youth in particular. Manager PR of Mobilink, Sadia Dada

along with Naseem Hamid

Director Syed Noor and Actor NomanIjaz at the event


{More Team | EvEnt}

Canon supports ‘VibrantColours’ n The exhibition depicted the coun-

try’s rich cultural heritage and beauty

and its cultural diversity from the Indus

Valley to modern-day Karachi, and was

aimed at highlighting the country’s “true

colours”.

The main subject of the photographer

was the beauty and vastness of the

country. The content varied from the

mundane daily aspects of life, to ele-

ments that are purely human, dealing

with the various facets of Pakistani life.

Curator Tanya Sohail said the photogra-

pher had gone to the remote areas of

the country and taken astonishing pic-

tures, adding that the colour balancing

and composition of the pictures were

excellent.

True colours:The theme ‘Vibrant Colours

of Pakistan’ aims to show the true picture

of the country as the international media

has focused on a politically turbulent Pak-

istan, promoting stereotypical images of

a violent country infected by fanaticism.

The exhibition’s aim is to change

people’s perception of Pakistan.

Yasir told Daily Times that Pakistan

is a richly textured country with a

distinguished history and an increasingly

vibrant contemporary cultural scene. He

said his aim was to bring out the best of the

four provinces and present them all to-

gether. He said his interest in photography

stemmed from his student days when he

had started taking pictures of his surround-

ings while on vacation and on class tours.

He has learned since then, and has special-

ized in scenic beauty, cultural heritage,

sports and fashion photography.

Yasir’s work has been printed and dis-

played at a national and an interna-

tional level in various books, calendars,

travel magazines and newspapers. He

is a professional sports photographer

and has photographed various na-

tional and international sports compe-

titions, including the ICC Champions

Trophy 2009 in South Africa. He has ex-

hibited his work in two solo exhibi-

tions in Lahore and South Africa and in

various group exhibitions in Pakistan

and the United States of America. He

has won numerous national awards,

and has launched the first quarterly

online tourism magazine. n

Famous Writer and Columnist Attaul Haq Qasmi inaugurating the exhibition

Visitors reading the photographic material atCanon's stall


{EvEnt | More Team}

In Pakistan

n Mr. Yoo Beyl-nam, a Korean photogra-

pher conducted his solo exhibition “In

Pakistan” at Alhamra Art Council which

was sponsored by Samsung Electronics

Company and Daewoo Pakistan. Inaugu-

rated by the Ambassador of Republic of

Korea, this exhibition aimed to promote

photography and project a more positive

image of Pakistan.

The event was also supported by the Em-

bassy of Republic of Korea, National

Council of Art, and the Ministry of Cul-

ture, Government of Pakistan.

This young photographer and traveler

has assumed Pakistan as his second

home and portrays the land and the peo-

ple of the country beautifully. At the ex-

hibition Mr. Yoo Beyl-nam introduced the

audience to his pictorial experiences

across Pakistan. He refuses the general

perception that Pakistan is dangerous

place, terrorism and poverty-ridden

country. In paradox, he rather discovers

the arrogance and prejudice of the com-

mon people from the pure heartedness

of Pakistani people and particularly the

innocence of children that he could sense




{EvEnt}

through his visits. So he tries to show the

people of Pakistan and its inhabitants as

they are overcoming such prejudice. It is

his belief that if one approaches to an-

other people with open heart, then they

will also treat you in the same way.

The General Manager Samsung Pakistan

Mr. Steve Han expressed his opinion by

saying; “This exhibition will help in pro-

moting the landscape, culture and

warmth of the people of Pakistan. Besides

that, it also reflects the ties between the

people of Korea and Pakistan. Samsung

seeks to further strengthen these rela-

tions by providing the most innovative

high-quality products from Korea”.

President and CEO, Daeewo Pakistan,

Chang IL Kim talked to More Magazine

and said, “ The activity today was really

nice. Lahore is the cultural hub of Pak-

istan and I would like to convey this mes-

sage to other people across the world

that how warm hearted Pakistanis are.

Everyone knows that Pakistan is full of

natural resources.

Pakistan is a very good place to invest,

yes, there are problems like terrorism but

most of the times these things are mis-

guided and misunderstood by others.

There are issues but that is all around the

world and I think it is really worthwhile to

invest in Pakistan. I would really like to in-

vite my fellows in Korea and other part of

the world to do investment in Pakistan.

To a question he said, “Government is

doing a good job for the promotion of

tourism in Pakistan, on our end, we are

expanding our routes to the north. In the

last few years we could not expand in

Swat area but now after the successful

military operation everything has been

cleared and we have started to expand

again. We are also expanding our routes

to the other parts of the country.

The photographer Yoo-Beyl-nam came to

Pakistan in the year 2000 and the trip

changed his course of life from being a

sculptor to a professional photographer.

Yoo has also published a book, titled “In-

shaAllah” in 2006 in which he introduced

the people and the natural scenery of

Pakistan, through the photographs he

captured during his trip through Pak-

istan. He has already held several exhibi-

tions of his photography in Seoul, Korea.

During his several television and Radio

appearances, he says that he is deeply in-

spired by the people, places, culture and

traditions of Pakistan. n

President and CEO,Daeewo Pakistan,Chang IL Kim

Group photo of Daewoo Pakistan Team, Group Editor MORE, Sumaira Mudassar is also seen on right

Samsung Team at the stall


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3d video CameraDxg Technology Corp. recently introduced the world’sfirst 3D digital video camera called 3D View. The DVX-5D7 is a unique digital video camera is able to shootand playback 3D and 2D video images by adoptingparallax barrier auto-stereoscopic technology with-out the need for 3D glasses. But for a user to fully ap-preciate the 3D video experience, a 3D digital photoframe or 3D digital LCD monitor is required.

Cooler Master has launched a hard-ware giveaway in order to promotethe launch of its new Silent ProGold Series Power Supplies offer-ing some cool prizes.The giveawayincludes a flash game lucky drawevery week winning you somegold trinkets along with coolermaster products like the Haf X Goldcase, V6 CPU cooler, a 64GB SSDand a Gold USB drive while theowners of the Silent Pro Gold Seriescan use their serial number toenter in the GTX480 lucky drawalong with every other goodies.

GIGABYTE 14-inch M1405 reflects GIGABYTE’s continuous ef-forts to match the tastes of end user combining great designand looks with powerful computing experience. M1405 in DarkBlue, Wine Red, Bright Gold and Silver, instantly attracts theeye, and what sets it apart is its powerful docking station withNVIDIAR GT220 graphic card, delivering desktop like graphicperformance. The innovative docking station greatly expandsthe connectivity of M1405 up to extra 2 displays, all at once,providing a wide desktop utilizing up to 3 displays. The M1405offers a long lasting computing experience through unique de-sign of the optical disk drive which can be easily exchanged fora second battery, extending the battery life up to 10 hours. GI-GABYTE M1405 combines great looks and design with powerfulcomputing experience, a complete and powerful desktop re-placement solution with great innovation.

Indian actor Aamir Khan poses for a picture with Samsungsmartphones during a product launch Samsung Wave andSamsung Galaxy. The Samsung Wave is the first phone touse Samsung's Bada mobile operating system. It's designedto bring the smartphone experience to everyone, regardlessof cost or geographic location. The Wave's camera can take720p video, and has a wealth of options such as auto-focus,anti-shake, auto-contrast and blink detection. The resultingpictures are sharp and crispy.

Apple is Foxconn's biggest customer.Foxconnis preparing to shift part of its production ofApple gadgets from Shenzhen to north andcentral China, amid a greater willingnessfrom the US company to work with factoriesaway from its long-time Chinese hub.Recentprotestors from SACOM (Students and Schol-ars Against Corporate Misbehaviour) burnedeffigies of Apple products during a demon-stration near the offices of Foxconn in HongKong. The founder of Taiwan's Foxconn Group broke his silence over a string of suicides by its employeesin China, denying the deaths were related to conditions at the technology giant's factories.

Nothing will make your entire familycringe more than you wearing around aHatcam. Sure, it means all the hands-free videos that you could ever desire,but you’ll still look like a dork. Nowthere are certain cases where somethings prove more important than look-ing like a sane human being. Like if noone ever believes you when you sayhow big the fish was that you almostcaught, now you can have proof.These hats come in blaze orange, khaki,camo, forest green and pink. The design was actually created by Randy Peterson who loves huntingand fishing. Although this was made for the outdoorsy types, I’m sure you could find other uses forit. The hat alone is $34.99 and the full kit is priced at $204.99


{latEst in tEch}

Horizon Minipak: first fuel Cell ChargerHorizon Fuel Cell Technologies has launched a pocket-sized fuel cell charger, aimed at the hugeglobal market for portable consumer electronics. Horizon says the MiniPak® is the world’s first fuelcell product to compete on cost with both disposable and rechargeable batteries. And a single re-fillable cartridge supplies as much power over its life as 1000 disposable AA alkaline batteries.The MiniPak ‘personal power center’ delivers 1.5–2 W of continuous power using a standard USBport, and uses refillable fuel cartridges able to store up to 12 Wh of net energy. It is designed tocharge small portable electronic devices, such as cell phones, smart phones, MP3/MP4 players, andGPS devices. It also frees up the many USB applications that can be connected to and powered byPCs, such as flashlights, wireless speaker systems, fans etc.The MiniPak micro fuel cell uses a combination of Horizon’s mass-produced PEM fuel cells and anew low-cost metal hydride storage solution, which is able to store hydrogen safely as a dry, non-

toxic and non-pressurized material. The fuel cartridge contains a metallic sponge that can absorb hydrogen and form a solid hydride.

tough job to marketnintendo 3dsDon’t you just hate it when you haveto wear glasses on top of your nor-mal glasses just to watch a moviethat’s in 3D? With Nintendo's new3DS, you don't need to wear theextra glasses to experience the 3Deffects. With this advanced product,the company is in a fix, how to mar-ket it.3DS boss Hideki Konno admittedthat the company will have to lookbeyond "traditional advertisingmethods.""We are constantly discussing howto market the product," he said."Our internal PR departments aresaying that we should use cinemaadvertising, because cinemas are

capable of showing 3D movies." Seems like a smart idea, but there's a catch. "Our key pointwith 3DS is that you don't need glasses, which you obviously need to use in cinemas," headded. "So we think regular marketing and promotional activities will be very tricky forus. I think that a lot of awareness about 3DS will be spread by word of mouth."

A staff member of high-tech company IDesia displays a gadget that helpscomputer users check their stress and mood levels. The new gadget thathelps computer users check their stress and mood levels was unveiled justrecently at Asia's biggest IT trade fair uses a person's unique heartbeat totell whether they need to take some time out to relax.

eCg Machine Cum smartphoneAre you having chest pains and wondering if you should rush to hospital? The EPI Life, could be what you need.At first glance, the 106-gram (3.7-ounce) touch-screen phone looks like any other fancy smartphone, but its tiny frame alsoholds an electrocardiogram (ECG) machine, which can put your heart reading literally at your fingertips. An ECG, which can detect abnormal heart rhythms, is usually carried out at a hospital or clinic, but Chow U-Jin, medical directorat Ephone International, which developed the EPI Life, said the device is able to condense the whole ECG process onto a mobileplatform, making it a life-saving gadget.And when it's not on medical duty, EPI Life works just like a normal phone.Inside this device there exists an ECG machine, which allows a non-medically trained person to perform an ECG by him or herselfjust by touching their fingers on the sides of the phone, stated AFP.Instead of having to run off to a clinic whenever you have chest pains, you do the ECG immediately and that's where you havethe maximum chance of capturing an abnormal rhythm.The phone, which has been launched in Singapore, is aiming to sell 10,000 to 15,000 units in Malaysia, Indonesia and HongKong by the end of this year.


{latEst in tEch}


{month in focus}

n Standard Chartered and AdvanceTelecom signed an agreement forStraight2Bank, Standard Chartered Bank’selectronic banking platform.

Standard Chartered’s relationship withits clients is a manifestation of its commit-ment to Pakistan. The bank is keen on build-ing long term partnerships with its clientsby offering banking solutions that help addvalue to their businesses. Straight2Bank isone such global product. It is a tool to effi-ciently execute and monitor cash manage-ment, foreign exchange and trade financeactivities. It also offers a wide range of pay-ment solutions on a single platform. This in-cludes transfers, corporate cheques, payorders, payroll and telegraphic transfers.

Commenting on this occasion, Mr.Imran Ahad, Managing Director, Origina-tion and Client Coverage, Standard Char-tered said, “Standard Chartered, consistentwith our brand promise of being here forgood for our clients, offers banking solu-tions and products that greatly enhanceour clients’ operational efficiency. We be-lieve that this product offering to AdvanceTelecom will go a long way in helping Ad-vance Telecom further streamline theirbusiness operations through efficient andsecure cash management solutions.”

Advance Telecom, with approx 40% shareof the USD 360 million cell phone market inPakistan, will move to Straight2Bank from Au-gust 1, 2010. Share of Advance Telecom in theNokia official cell phone market in Pakistan isclose to 60%. It is hoped that for AdvanceTelecom, adopting this product will lead to re-duction in internal costs, facilitate reconcilia-tion and enhance their control levels.

Commenting on the agreement, Mr.Rizwan Majeed, COO Advance Telecom

said” I am impressed with the functionalityof the Straight2bank product. Using theStraight2Bank electronic platform has ledto improved workflow within the company,resulting in considerable time saving in pro-cessing of transactions especially with re-gards to opening of Letters of Credit. I amconfident that this product will contributein helping Advance Telecom further ce-ment its leadership position in the mobilephone market.”

standard Chartered and advance telecom in agreement

n Mobilink Jazz brings for all fast-paced, action loving foosballplayers the ultimate online foosball experience like no other. Mo-bilink Jazz challenges you and your team to beat the Jazz foosballteam and win exclusive Mobilink goody bags by playing your teamto the top of Jazz Foosball League (JFL).

If you think you are a foosball-pro and online gaming is your

battleground then hurry up and give your best shotto beat the Jazz foosball team in the JFL.

Log on to www.mobilinkgsm.com/jfl createyour team by inviting your friends and get yourgame on!how to Play:step 1: register yourselfClick on the Login tab at the top right hand cornerof the page and then click on the “Register now” but-ton. Fill in the required details.step 2: create your teamIn order to play it is mandatory for you to create yourteam. Send out invitations to three friends, by pro-viding their email addresses.step 3: manage your teamOnce you’ve created your team you become the

team manager. You have the option to: • Hire players who are already registered, but are not a part of

any team, only if you have an empty player slot. • Invite someone who is not registered to join your team, only if

you have an empty player slot. • Kick-out players you think are inactive or not doing good.

enjoy Jazz foosball league

Seen in the photograph below are Mr. Imran Ahad, Managing Director, Originationand Client Coverage and Mr. Rizwan Majeed, COO Advance Telecom, along with theirrespective teams.


{month in focus}

n Mobilink Jazz brings yet another exciting offer for its valued customers where free minutesand Free SMS will be awarded immediately on every recharge of Rs. 100 or more. That’s not all.On recharge of Rs. 500 and above, Jazz customers will be entitled to enter into a lucky draw towin three 1800cc Cars and Return air tickets to the destination of their choice anywhere in theworld!

If you are a Jazz customer then here’s what you immediately get on every recharge of:recharge incentiveRs 100-299 30 minutes 30 SMSRs 300-599 100 minutes 100 SMSRs 600-999 300 minutes 300 SMSRs1000 and above 1000 minutes 1000 SMS

zabardast recharge offer

n “We are committed to take all possible measures for thegrowth of telecom sector of the country. All stakeholders of the in-dustry will be taken on board before finalizing the policy for 3Gbroadband technology and after an extensive analysis and discus-sion, this technology will be launched in the country” said MinisterIn charge for IT, Sardar Mohammad Latif Khan Khosa while address-ing a seminar on 3G mobile broadband technology as chief guest,organized by PTA in collaboration with Qualcomm and CentralAsian Cellular Forum (CASF).

On this occasion Secretary IT, Naguibullah Malik was the guestof honour while Chairman Pakistan Telecommunication Authority(PTA), Dr. Mohammed Yaseen moderated the panel discussionsamong the participants of the event. Representatives from the IT& telecom industry and academia also participated in the seminartitled “Connecting Pakistan Through 3G Mobile Broadband”.

Addressing the seminar, Sardar Muhammad Latif Khan Khosasaid that the telecom sector of Pakistan has seen unprecedentedgrowth ever since the deregulation of the industry. He said thatcurrently our teledensity stands at 63.5% and we are well on ourway to cross the 100 million mobile subscribers mark in the nearfuture. The past two years have also seen broadband growth of150%, never before experienced, he added.

The Minister said that the recent auction results of 3G spec-trum, in India, ending at US$ 15 billion is a sign of bullish mood ofinvestors in introducing latest telecom facilities in this region. Heappreciated PTA’s initiative of inviting all stakeholders of the sectorat one platform to have a healthy discussion on challenges beingfaced by the Pakistan’s telecom market for the launch of 3G tech-nology. He said that PTA should arrange such forums in otherprovincial capitals of the country as well to enlarge the scope ofinput being received from the all concerned stakeholders.

On this occasion, Mr. Naguibullah Malik said that telecom sec-tor of Pakistan has seen an admirable growth during the last fiveyears which is clearly reflected by the sharp rise in teledensity froma meager 12% to 63% since 2005. He said that before the deregu-lation we could only guess benefits of telecom for our people buttoday we exactly know how it benefits each segment of societyand age group. Our job is to ensure cheap and easy availability of

modern technology to the people; they will learn how to make bestof the services to their advantage, he added. He said that 3G MobileBroadband will ensure availability of a number of data intensivevalue added services such as real-time access to medical records,on demand TV, e-education, cloud computing, video calls real-timeweather forecasts and advisory for farmers and many more.

While chairing the panel discussions Chairman PTA, Dr. Mo-hammad Yaseen said that 3G can act as catalyst in the proliferationof broadband and it can bring positive growth in all segments ofthe national economy. He asked mobile operators to give seriousconsideration to the early launch of 3G technology in Pakistan sothat the consumers can avail latest telecom and data services.

Senior Director Global Business Development Qualcomm, Ra-heel Kamal also talked on the occasion. During the Seminar, Localand international experts also delivered presentations on 3G mo-bile Broadband service. The objective of this seminar was to delib-erate upon the regulatory, policy and technical challenges inconnecting Pakistan through 3G Mobile Broadband. During theseminar participants gave their recommendations for the introduc-tion of 3G services in Pakistan.

Chairman PTA, Dr. Muhammad Yaseen presenting a momentoto Minister IT, Sardar Muhammad Latif Khan Khosa at seminaron 3G. Secretary IT, Nugaib Ullah Malik is also seen in the photo

3g launch after Consultation fromstakeholders


{month in focus}

n The increases in Approved Settlement Rates (ASR) are made onthe basis that the level of ASR directly affects the contributions towardsUSF for proliferation of telecom services and the same was increased tohelp the Government to expand the USF projects in remote areas. Num-ber of projects has lately been completed by USF Fund in Sindh andBalochistan. Five Optical Fibre projects costing Rs. 4.5 Billion and TwelveBroadband projects costing Rs. 6.35 Billion have already been awarded.Owing to this, the broadband proliferation has increased manifold in Pak-istan showing a growth of 150%, thus putting Pakistan amongst the topten countries in the world in terms of growth. The broadband subscribershave reached approximately 0.8 Million. Therefore as reported in certainsections of the media, government has not suffered a loss of Rs 30 billionon account of collection of Access Promotion Contribution (APC).

On account of APC for USF, PTA was collecting Rs.12 million/monthin January, 2005, Rs.85 million in October, 2007, Rs.86 million in May,2008 while Rs.1083 million/month and Rs.1564 million/month in Feb,2009 and July, 2009 respectively. In fact, as data shows, changes in theAPC and ASR over the period of time have helped in increase of rev-enues to the USF Fund.

Historically, when ASR was at its minimum level from October2007-April 2008, the average monthly minutes were 499 Million permonth. In May 2008, when the ASR was increased to 10 cents/minute,there was no negative impact on the traffic pattern due to the instal-lation of equipment to curb grey traffic. From May 2008 onwards, av-erage incoming traffic remained at 500 plus Million minutes permonth, resulting in an increase in APC for USF contribution of US$ 14Million per month (May 2008-Jan 2009) which further increased to US$22 Million per month from February 2009 to June 2009 when PTA in-creased the ASR to 12.5 cents/minute. Since the reported traffic neverreached to the level of one billion minutes per month even when ASRwas at its minimum level, the assumption that the legal traffic fellbelow 400 Million minutes per month, thereby resulting in a loss of Rs30 Billion, as being projected in the media, is not based on facts.

Another reason for increase in ASR is that the earlier reductions inASR were not passed on to the end users by foreign operators who con-tinued to charge high tariffs from users calling Pakistan from abroadand the same was conveyed to PTA through complaints from Pakistaniexpatriates. The Telecom Act 1996 and APC Regulations empower PTAto revise ASR/APC which PTA carries out after the due consultation withtelecom operators through a fair and transparent method. And the de-cision of PTA is appealable in the courts as well.

PTA conducted 28 successful raids, on grey traffickers, since March2009, which included small and big gateway operators. Number of per-sons including foreigners were also apprehended. In the campaignagainst illegal telephony 20,092 mobile SIMs were blocked. Further-more, licenses of Local Loop operators and LDI operators were sus-pended, while LDI operators were also fined on this account. Thousandsof operators/equipments involved into grey traffic are being blockedevery month. PTA has saved Rs.1.5 billion (US$ 18 Million per month)so far by taking action against the illegal operators and after installationof latest equipment in April 2008 at PTA.

It is pertinent to mention here that PTA has established a dedicated Vig-ilance Cell of experts whose expertise are well recognized in monitoringsuch illegal telecom traffic with the help of state-of-the-art equipment tocurb the grey traffic. International regulators have shown their interest toacquire similar system to curb grey traffic in their respective jurisdictions.

rs. 30 billion loss is not true

n As per the instructions of PTA, Pakistan Telecom-munication Company Ltd (PTCL) shifted its fixed linenumber plan from 7 to 8 digit series in July 2009. Initiallymigration from 7 series to 8 digit series has been imple-mented in Lahore and Karachi only.

Digit “3” was added to all existing 7 digits numbersof Karachi and Lahore except the numbers starting with“9”. Another digit “9” was added in all existing numbersstarting from “9”. It is important to understand thatextra digits have been added to the existing phonenumbers and not the area codes. Army exchanges areexempted from this change and their numbers wouldremain the same.

For customer with awareness and facilitation forPTCL requested PTA that the new series plan should runparallel to old one for a period of one year w.e.f July 01,09 till July 01st, 2010. However at the completion of thisperiod to ensure connectivity and customer conven-ience, customers would now hear an announcement ad-vising them to add digit 3 or 9 to get through on PTCLKarachi and Lahore incase they forget to dial the new re-quired digit.

SEVP Commercial Naveed Saeed said PTCL in this re-gard also plans to run an awareness campaign to save ourcustomers from any inconvenience and connect themwithout any problems.

Aasif Inam EVP Consumer Services said this willapply to all callers calling on PTCL landline in Lahoreand Karachi from PTCL landline, Mobile, NTC, SCO orother LLOs and we are specially focusing upon publiciz-ing the change to save our customers from facing anyinconvenience.

ptCl reinforces Migrationof digits from 7 to 8

Wi-tribe Team during a walk-a-cause and tree planting ac-tivity conducted as part of wi-tribe's WOW CSR initiative


{month in focus}

n ACCA Pakistan recently awardedApproved Employer status to Ufone. Cur-rently, Ufone has 20 ACCA trainees work-ing in the audit and finance departmentto complete their PER (Practical Experi-ence Requirement), which is a mandatorymilestone towards attainment of theACCA membership.

Ufone is a Gold Approved Employer,a prestigious title endowed by ACCA toappreciate the unwavering commitmentof an organization towards developmentof ACCA professionals. This is proof ofUfone’s continuous strife towards estab-lishing best practices and internationalstandards in internal and external opera-tional processes of the organization.

Mr. Arif Masud Mirza, Head of ACCAPakistan presented the Approved Em-ployer certificate to Mr. Nadeem Khan,Chief Financial Officer, Ufone. ‘As theworld of telecommunications advances,Ufone promises its customers to stayahead and to achieve this, an organiza-tion must have the right people with theright set of skills, who can lead with their

innovation and expertise. The partner-ship with ACCA will help us achieve thisgoal to a great extent with finance func-tion being the backbone of the businessstrategy,’ commented Mr. Nadeem Khan.

Mr. Arif Masud Mirza, Head of ACCAPakistan lauded Ufone for their continu-ous support and extended commitmenttowards helping Ufone in tackling key de-velopment issues of finance professionalsand establishing a diligent finance func-

tion. He added, ‘ACCA talent fits very wellwith Ufone’s organizational culture of in-novation.

The ACCA Approved Employerscheme is a 360 degree solution for re-cruitment, retention and development ofAccounting and Finance professionalswho not only come with an in-depthknowledge and skill background but alsodeliver to the standards of professional-ism and ethics’.

re-kindling partnership with Ufone

n Ufone is celebrating Football World Cup 2010 with gusto andgaiety as the company kick started Uth FUTSAL (A shorter or “T20version” of Football) in its traditionally vigorous way in the country.

Uth FUTSAL has been launched with exciting promotions in Is-lamabad, Lahore and Karachi. The idea is unique since it caters wellfor time constraints and paucity of play grounds. FUTSAL is a variantof football that is played on a smaller playing surface. This name isderived from Portuguese and Spanish words which can be trans-lated as "hall football." The game is played on a surface delimited bylines and between two teams of five players, one of whom is thegoalkeeper and is played with a smaller ball with less bounce thana regulation football.

Organized according to international standards of this game,Ufone will host a back-to-back chain of matches in Islamabad, La-

hore and Karachi in the first half ofJuly this year. Out of the two day ac-tivity at each of the three stations,day one will conclude with under-ground bands performing live. Onday two, the final of that city will beplayed followed by a concert of thevery renowned 'Call the Band' forwhich the passes are available in allthree cities with the Uth squad,comprising of the very talented Uthbrand ambassadors. The Uth am-

bassadors shall inform the youth about the recently launched 'UthPackage' which is professionally crafted to cater for the needs of theyouth of Pakistan.

The first match of this series will be held in Lahore on July 5thfollowed by final on 6th. On the same pattern, a two day activity willbe hosted in Islamabad on the 6th & 7th similarly in Karachi on the10th & 11th.

Mr. Akbar Khan Chief Marketing Officer Ufone said, "The youthis the future of the country and Ufone’s Uth package has been de-signed to ensure we cater to each of the youths likes. Being a partof the Uth family is sure to bring many surprises for the youth of Pak-istan". "FUTSAL is only the beginning of many of the surprisesplanned for our valued customers. As always Ufone is striving tobring a smile to all segments of the society", he added.

Ufone introduces fUtsal in pakistan


{month in focus}

n Warid Telecom (Pvt.) Ltd. and Mobile Zone signed a con-tract at MZ Lahore office, through which customers will getWarid Golden or Silver number on commitment and 2 line rentsworth money back after 6 months along with Samsung handsetwith MZ warranty. Seen in the picture sitting from right Mr.Akbar Khan Head of strategic Alliance Warid Telecom with Mr.Ifran Aziz, Director Mobile Zone. Standing at back from right MrHassan Awan, Taimoor Kully & Syed Waqar.

n Dell Pakistan has recently launched a jingle competi-tion for its Face book fans named “Jam a Jingle for Dell”. Fansare invited to ignite their creative talents and compose jinglesfor Dell. The winner of the competition will be awarded witha cash prize of Rs.50, 000.

Head of Marketing for CSMB at Dell Pakistan, NublaIftikhar stated, “Dell as a stylish brand is happy to engage theyouth by giving them the opportunity to express their musi-cal talent with respect to the emotive association they havewith Dell”.

This exciting competition will continue till July 10, 2010during which fans will post their musical compositions onDell’s fan page. Later in the competition fans will be able tovote for the best jingle. The top voted compositions will behanded over to popular VJ Dino and VJ Anoushey who will bechoosing the winner of this competition for the cash prize.

n Intel Pakistan recently launched a float activity with the latestIntel technology such as the Atom based computers and the new 2010Core Processor Family showcased for the Pakistani consumers. The floatin partnership with Viper Technology is scheduled to tour across the na-tion targeting all education institutes and general public to createawareness about latest technology and affordability for every man. Thecampaign is a means of promoting computer literacy in Pakistan. Pictureshows the set-up inside the Intel Float where people are observing thelatest Intel products and learning more about information technologyfrom the Intel team.

n Warid Telecom (Pvt.) Ltd. achieves another milestoneby expanding its quality network services to 500 cities of Pak-istan. Connecting all major cities, rural areas, small villagesand towns the network covers a road length area of 12500KMacross Pakistan. Warid’s commitment to excellence and un-paralleled network experience has led it to provide coveragein extremely difficult terrain of South-West Punjab collabora-tion with USFCo for DG Khan Lot. Being acknowledged asmost reliable network service provider the company is alsothe first one to introduce proper In-Building Solution with Dis-tributed Antennae System (DAS) in Pakistan. Currently Waridhas 66 IBS on Air in the network that covers buildings includeall Airports, Major Shopping Malls, Major Hotels and Impor-tant Corporate Buildings. With an ambition to maintain anddeliver unmatched high quality network experience to everynook and corner of the country Warid is pursuing an aggres-sive expansion strategy to spread its network coverage fromcosmopolitan cities to smaller towns and villages of Pakistan.

warid and Mobile zonesigns Contract

Jam-a-Jingle for dell

warid expands 500 Cities

n ZONG, in an extraordinary move, has launched Pak-istan’s lowest call rate of 67 paisa per minute with the samecharge being applicable to calls to any other network at anytime. The package is designed to offer ZONG subscribers withthe greatest value for the least expense.

The new package is part of ZONG’s new array of productsand services with which the company is rewarding its sub-scribers. At 67 paisa per minute ZONG is making keeping intouch extremely economical. The new package, unlike manyother offerings in the market, gives benefit for both no on-net,off-net calls. A ZONG subscriber can call any other network forthe same tariff. In addition to the lowered call charges, thispackage also offers unlimited free SMS with the best rates.

Salman Wassay, Head of Marketing, ZONG, said, “ZONG isrepeatedly taking steps to provide the greatest value to oursubscribers. Reduced call rates across the board is one benefitwe are proud to give our loyal customers.”

He added that price moves are only one way in which weserve our subscribers but it is a key strength of the organization.Acknowledging the need to have economical ways to call off-net numbers is a central part of the philosophy of this package.

zong launches lowestrate, 67 paisa per min


{month in focus}

n iSuppli and DRAMeXchange, the third-party market research organiza-tions, both, recently announced that Kingston Technology is ranked as theworld's number-one memory module manufacturer for the third-party memorymarket in 2009. To share the joy of success and the secret behind it, KingstonTechnology Company, Inc., the independent world leader in memory productsheld “Kingston Insider Premiere” party during Computex 2010 and disclosedcompany’s history and latest product information. The party started with an ex-clusive opening video called “Kingston Insider” which unveiled Kingston’s secretsof success to maintain leadership in memory market for the past 23 years. Thenit was followed by highlight of event, the showcase of “Twin” SSDNow by twobeautiful twin models.

In addition to Kingston SSDNow V-series 30GB twin pack, Kingston alsodemonstrated the latest memory module and flash products, including HyperXH2O, HyperX blu, HyperX LoVo, the fastest RAM in the world, HyperX 2544Mhz(See the video on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6if7jVsZv28), USB3.0 HyperX SSD, SDXC 64GB, Kingston SSDNow product family, and lots ofKingston’s products at the FUN Party.

“In 2009, Kingston not only reached revenue of 4.1 billion USD, but also waspositioned again as the leading independent memory module manufactureraccording to the recent survey from the third-party market research organiza-tions (iSuppli 2010 / DRAMeXchange 2010),” said Scott Chen, Vice President, APACRegion, Kingston Technology. “This contribution comes from the great supportof our loyal customers, vendors, media friends, channel and alliance partners. Tomeet end customers’ expectation, Kingston will continue developing new prod-ucts and providing quality services. In 2010, our main focus is to expand the mar-ket share of both SSD and HyperX product lines and gain a stronger foothold inthis burgeoning area.”

number 1 memory manufacturer, kingston

n Dell recently sponsored Pakistan’sfirst ever blog awards ceremony held at alocal hotel in Karachi. It was a pioneeringevent in which Pakistani blogs wereawarded for their brilliant content and qual-ity. Altogether 207 blogs participated in thecompetition in the 41 defined categories.

The participating blogs were scrutinizedand judged by 14 experts from differentfields. The main categories were technology,politics, education, humor, business, science,health care, Urdu blogs, celebrities, automo-biles, literature, sports, photo blogs, musicblogs, video blogs, food blogs and manyothers.

The competition was hard-hittingamong blogs of different categories; oneblog in each field was chosen among themand awarded as the best blog. More than300 people, including bloggers, technologyexperts and industry specialists participatedin the awards distribution ceremony and en-lightened the evening.

Head of Marketing for CSMB at Dell Pak-istan, Nubla Iftikhar stated, “Dell is happy to

have pioneered the concept of recognizingtalent in Pakistani blogs; there’s a lot of en-thusiasm, skill and the urge to create inter-

esting content.”Nubla Iftikhar was also one of the judges

from the panel of the blog awards.

dell sponsors pakistan’s first ever blog awards

Head of Marketing CSMB at Dell Pakistan, Nubla Iftikhar presenting an award at Pakistan’s First Blog Awards ceremony.


{month in focus}

n Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. aglobal leader in cutting-edge technologyhas unveiled its new range of mobilephones Samsung WAVE and CHAMP forits Pakistan customers. The launch was at-tended by senior media scribes who wit-nessed wide array of the new mobilephone features.

Zeeshan Qureshi, Head of MobilePhones Division, Samsung Pakistan &Afghanistan at this occasion expressinghis views stated, “Samsung’s Wave andSamsung’s Champ mobile phones are ourcommitment to deliver rich, connectedand innovative smart phone experienceto everyone. By launching these twophones we want to strengthen our lead-

ership with the overall touch-screenhandset category.”

Steve Han, General Manager, Sam-sung Pakistan stated, “These phones aredesigned for individuals who seek inno-vative and productive ways of using theirmobile phones. The Samsung’s latestphones offer an unrivalled level of per-formance, customization and choice inhow they connect with their world.”

Samsung Wave offers AMOLED 3.3”display that makes the screen truly comealive, a social Hub to bring closer to con-tacts and connections and TouchWiz foran intuitive customizable user interface.Multi-codec support for DivXXvid, MP4and WMV and supports for virtual 5.1

surround delivery transforms the deviceinto a personal entertainment system.Above all HD video decoding andrecording capabilities make the Sam-sung Wave an outstanding device forcapturing and sharing equipped withBluetooth and Wi-Fi.

The Samsung Champ enables an im-merse experience with a built-in radio, 3Dsound effects and a dual speaker. With itslong battery life consumers won’t have tosacrifice portability and can enjoy hoursof multimedia use. Users can downloadjava applications and enjoy embeddedjava apps. Champ offers Bluetooth; 2.4”touch display, 8 GB memory and ultracompact design.

samsung unleashes wave and Champ

n Women don’t experience timethe way men do. Men cut it up intofractions and sequences in order tovisualize it, while women see it as acircular system, a poetic flow, an eter-nal return. For men, time is linear. Forwomen, it is cyclical.

To please women, then, every ob-ject must be bestowed with the full-ness, softness and emotion itdeserves. Generosity and tendernessare essential. Design, not function,pleasure, not utility — these are para-mount values. A watch doesn’t justtell time; it must be an object of pureseduction.

When TAG Heuer asked tennis su-perstar Maria Sharapova to help de-sign its new TAG Heuer Formula 1ceramic watches, it wasn’t because of

her Grand Slam victories.Nor because she had beenworking closely with TAGHeuer for the last five yearsas part of a close circle ofbrand ambassadors. It wasbecause she is a woman —a TAG Heuer woman — en-dowed with special quali-ties and the systematicapproach that comes withthe territory.

Ceramic is a multisen-sory material, soft and warm

yet unalterable: like a diamond, it can-not be scratched. Strong and exqui-site, it is especially appealing towomen. Combined with stainlesssteel, it creates a sublime braceletwith butterfly clasp — perfect for themost delicate wrist. The bezel on thejewelled version sparkles with 60 dia-monds. The black edition is perfectfor night on the town; the white, foranytime and anyplace.

For total star power, opt for thefully set bezel version with a newbracelet in ceramic and steel — theideal accessory for those seekingsomething different, not overlyshowy or ostentatious, and always inthe best of taste, no matter the cir-cumstance.

tag Heuer f1 lady steel & Ceramic by Maria sharapova

“Mr. Abu Nasar Siddiq, Category Head-IT, Sam-sung Electronics at the roadshow introducingML-1660, world’s smallest laser monochromeprinter”

Mr. Reza Burne Nokia Care Manager Pakistan &Afghanistan along with team at the briefing ses-sion on Nokia Care Center services to journalist.Syed Meraj Alam, Media Manager, Syntax Com-munication is also seen on the right side


{month in focus}

n Dawood Hercules Chemicals Lim-ited, a leading fertilizer manufacturer inPakistan, has appointed DuPont Sustain-able Solutions to help it achieve world-class safety standards at its Sheikhupurafertilizer plant near Lahore, in an ambi-tious three-year timeframe.

The contract consists of a compre-hensive safety management consultingprogramme tackling a number of tasksfrom evaluating the initial safety perform-ance to introducing technological and or-ganizational changes, as well as processsafety procedural improvements. It alsoincludes the training of top and middlemanagement and the development of abehaviour based safety culture.

Dawood Hercules is a Pakistan-basedcompany which specializes in the pro-duction, purchase, and sale of fertilizer –mainly urea. The company’s overall safetyperformance has improved significantlyover the last eight years and reached

record levels at the end of 2009. HoweverDawood Hercules management wants toimprove its safety management systemfurther to ensure the safety of employees,processes and equipment. The newsafety programme involves all manage-ment and employees, approximately 500people in total. Dawood Hercules is thefirst fertilizer manufacturer in Pakistan toobtain ISO-9001:2000 certification. Thiscompany is also certified against OHSAS-18001 and ISO- 14001 standards byMOODY International. In 2009 it wasawarded the National Environment Excel-lence Award by the National Forum forEnvironment and Health. “DuPont is glob-ally recognized as one of the safest com-panies in the world. Based on itsknow-how, expertise and establishedmethodologies gained from advisinghundreds of manufacturing companiesworldwide, we trust DuPont can provideour company with solutions to help us

achieve world-class safety standards,”Shahzada Dawood, Chief Executive at Da-wood Hercules says.

“This is a challenging project consid-ering the three-year timeframe. The fullcommitment and high level of enthusi-asm across the organization, from topmanagement down to shop-level work-force, are key drivers that will lead Da-wood Hercules to implement the rightchanges in order to achieve best prac-tices,” Asma Kazmi, business develop-ment and project manager for theDuPont team in Pakistan, claims.

As accidents and injuries in the work-place have remained startlingly commonin countries experiencing rapid industri-alization, it is vital that companies im-prove safety performance by embracingsafety as a core value. DuPont SustainableSolutions facilitates progress towards re-ducing incidents in the workplace andthe related societal cost.

n Pakistan State Oil, the largest publicsector organization in the energy sector,celebrated Customer Interaction Programs(CIP) and CNG Customer Care Day at selectPSO outlets in Karachi. The objective of theday was to honor and increase interactionwith the customers while providing themwith an opportunity to interact with PSOmanagement. Senior members of theCompany were present at the venue and

interacted with customers. The initiativewas in line with Company’s vision to en-hance customer experience and portray aproactive customer-centric approach to allstakeholders.

As part of the program, a special con-sumer promotion scheme was alsolaunched to further augment customerexperience. Under the promotion, all cus-tomers who purchased a CNG Plus Oil lu-

bricant received a free CNG refill worth Rs.100. The initiative was well received bycustomers who were forthcoming interms of feedback and greatly appreci-ated the Company’s initiative and envi-ronmentally friendly products. Customersalso enjoyed free giveaways and refresh-ments at the venue and said that PSOshould provide more customer interac-tion platforms like these.

dawood Hercules contracts dupont for safety standards

pso celebrates Customer Care day


{month in focus}

pia management and Cepia to improve airline

salim lauds govt. plan of automating pakistan post

n Managing Director PIA, CaptainMuhammad Aijaz Haroon and the Coun-cil of PIA employees (CEPIA) in a meetingat Head Office unanimously agreed to im-prove the organization by cost cutting andproactive service for making the airline ef-ficient and profitable.

Managing Director PIA, CaptainMuhammad Aijaz Haroon accompaniedby Senior Officers discussed the handicapsbeing faced by the Corporation with CEPIAa representative body of Pilots, Engineers,Technicians, Employees Collective Bar-gaining Agent (CBA) and the Senior StaffAssociation.

Captain Sohail Baluch led the CEPIAteam accompanied by General SecretaryCBA, Mr. Kamran Chaudhry, PresidentSEAP, Mr. Shaukat Jamshaid, General Sec-retary SEAP, Mr. Zakir Farooq, President

FENA, Mr. Aziz Suharwardy, General Secre-tary FENA, Mr. Nadeem Afghan, PresidentATAP, Mr. Najeeb Ur Rehman, General Sec-retary ATAP, Mr. Maqsood Anwar, PresidentPIASSA, Mr. Abid Saleem, General Secre-tary PALPA, Captain TM Rabbani and Gen-eral Secretary PIASSA Mr. Asad Sadiq.

CEPIA expressed their resentment onthe liberal Open Sky Policy which washurting the National Flag Carrier quotingcountries like Germany and France whichdiscourages Open Sky Policy. They de-manded that PIA management shouldalso protest over the Open Sky Policy withthe government for allowing foreign car-riers operate in Pakistan.

MD PIA said that PIA management hasalways and at every forum presented theairline’s point of view. He emphasized onthe CEPIA representatives that at the mo-

ment, it is necessary to make the Corpora-tion profitable for which saving and costcutting in daily operational matters wasone way of improving the financial condi-tion of the airline. Employees Representa-tives wholeheartedly supported the ideaof saving; MD PIA decided to form a Com-mittee comprising three representatives ofPIA Management and three employeesrepresentatives of CEPIA to ensure costcutting on expenses.

On the request of CEPIA another com-mittee was formed comprising two mem-bers of CEPIA and officials of HumanResource Department to solve the pen-sion issues of retired employees.

On the complaint of CEPIA regardingthe quality of food being served to PIAemployees, MD PIA requested the CEPIAmembers to help the management in en-suring the quality of food and clean envi-ronment at the employees cafeteria bymaking the canteen contractor perform asper the contract, the details of whichwould be provided to them by the man-agement. CEPIA agreed to form a commit-tee with General Manager IndustrialRelations and make surprise visits to en-sure good quality food for the employeesas PIA was contributing funds for ensuringquality food at low cost to the employees.

MD PIA assured the CEPIA represen-tatives that the management would al-ways be available for effectivecommunication and discuss any issue forthe improvement of the airline and bet-terment of its employees.

n Salim Ghauri, former Chairman Fed-eral Task Force on Information & Commu-nication Technologies (ICT), hasappreciated government plan of introduc-ing IT in postal service.

In a statement, Mr Ghauri said only avibrant plan of introducing latest informa-tion technology in postal service can bringthis national organization out of abyss ofignorance.

He said an organization like PakistanPost with 48,000 employees and morethan 13,000 post offices besides an exten-sive network with such huge numbers ofpostal employees was a valuable strength

of the organization and no courier com-pany could match the postal organizationwith such a huge infrastructure.

Mr Ghauri, however, lamented that ahesitation from within the organizationslike Pakistan Post is a hurdle in bringingabout radical changes in public sector. Heurged the Pakistan Post should also effec-tively use the information technology andthe quality software to facilitate its cus-tomers.

According to him, IT is now recognizedas an important vehicle for accelerated de-velopment and uplift of the people inmany countries of the world. This, in turn,

is facilitating the worldwide exchange ofinformation and sharing of experience,knowledge and services.

In the recent past, global recessionhas slowed down the economies, but in-formation technology is showing the wayto recovery of the businesses andeconomies through innovative andsmarter solutions.

Mr Ghauri said timely automation ofPakistan Post would make it a vibrant andeffective organization, able to competewith private sector efficiency besidesgoing for further innovation in its specificareas of activity.

MD, PIA, Captain Muhammad Aijaz Haroon and senior officer in a meeting with councilof employees of PIA (CEPIA) discussing the welfare of the airline and ways and meansto turn around the corporation at the head office.


{month in focus}

Mobilink Jazz fueled up fifa world Cup in pakistan

90pc computerized registration of the adult population achieved

n Mobilink Jazz brought FIFA World Cup live to big screensin Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi offering all Jazz customers achance to get a free ticket of the match on every recharge of Rs.200.

Hundreds of football fans enjoyed watching their favoriteteams on the big screens playing the game to enter into the FIFAWorld Cup final. The football fever reached its peak on the night

of the final match between Spain and Netherlands.Mobilink Jazz had arranged different fun activity stalls includ-

ing face painting, trivia quiz and lucky draw for all Jazz customers.Football fans danced to the beats of Waka Waka and Waving Flagand celebrated the FIFA World Cup 2010 will full zest. Here’s acompilation of photos of football fans having a great time atCinepax Rawalpindi.

n Pakistan has emerged as one ofthe very few countries in the Worldwhere 90 per cent of the adult popula-tion is registered through most securebiometric technology introduced byNational Database and RegistrationAuthority (NADRA).

“We are striving to attain 100 percent registration and if we hit 94% weare as good as 100% because on aver-age 6% turns 18 every year” said TariqMalik, Deputy Chairman NADRA. Whilestating the benefits of registration, Heobserved that biometric identificationof every Pakistani citizen of this coun-try would bring transparency in all so-cial political and economic affairsbesides providing the vital health, ed-ucation and social information for ini-tiating targeted developmentprograms.

“We have issued 79.13 million IDcards so far against eligible adult pop-ulation of 87.89 million. Overall regis-tration increase in last two years(2008-2010) is 60% whereas femaleregistration growth is 88.7% whencompared against previous two years(2006-2008)” said Tariq. He said the reg-istration of adult male population hasalready reached 99 per cent but femaleadult registration is still 77 per centdue to cultural inhibitions. We haveovercome many hurdles in this regardas the overall registration in one of themost conservative province of KyberPakhtunkwa has already reached 99per cent. He said the people of thisprovince realized the benefits of regis-tration to avail many social benefits.

Tariq said the registration level atAzad Jammu and Kashmir is also 99

per cent followed by Punjab 91 percent, Gilgit-Baltistan 88 per cent, Sindh84 per cent and Baluchistan 74 percent. “Our focus is now Sindh andBaluchistan and we are moving aheadin FATA despite severe law and ordersituation" he said adding that the taskwould be achieved within this calen-dar year.

He said some important govern-ment initiatives also facilitated in-crease in issuance of ComputerizedNational Identity Cards. "Prime Minis-ters decision to provide free CNICs at-tracted 1.7 million people and BISPattracted poorest of poor to get regis-tered” added Tariq Malik.

He said successful cash disburse-ment using biometric technology andrehabilitation of Internally DisplacedPeople as an after math of SWAT oper-ation was also possible due to accuratedata available about the populationwith NADRA. Banks in Pakistan headded are flourishing because theyknow the identity of all their accountholders. He said crimes have been un-earthed after tracing the identity ofcriminals’ mobile phones that are is-sued after verification of their CNICs. “Itis high time that the elections shouldbe held on CNIC basis. This would defi-nitely bring transparency in elections”said Tariq.

NADRA opened many new regis-tration centers, increased its fleet ofmobile registration vans and estab-lished make shift semi mobile registra-tion centers to cope with the surge infar flung areas. “Our mountaineers aretrekking in mountain searching for un-registered population." Tariq added.

Mobilink fans enjoying FIFA final match


{month in focus}

n “I didn’t come expecting anything

really; I was just open to a new and unique

experience”

Yemi Awosile, a textile designer and re-

searcher from the UK volunteered to come

to Pakistan as part of the New Silk Road De-

sign Residency Program by British Council

Pakistan. The design residency aimed to

showcase the unique traditional skills and

crafts of Pakistani textiles and bring it to-

gether with technical expertise in the UK,

through a cultural exchange between both

countries.

When asked about her decision to come

to Pakistan, Yemi said “I wanted to learn

about Pakistan since I didn’t know much

about it”. She also expressed an interest in

the country’s diverse & colourful textile her-

itage and the traditional natural dyes indige-

nous to the region.

Equipped with what little information

she found about the country and stories

from friends who had visited earlier, Yemi ar-

rived in Lahore in early March looking to ex-

perience the extraordinary and the unusual.

With her residency primarily based in

Lahore, Yemi got to view the city for all it had

to offer; from a bumpy ride in a colourful

and “fascinating” rickshaw to the bustling

cloth markets where she discovered first

hand the “eye opening” art of haggling. “I

was quite horrible at it but I saw some bona

fide experts at work there”, she said good-

naturedly, when spreaking about her expe-

rience bargaining with the Dukaandars in

Liberty Market, Lahore.

Apart from visiting the textile hub of

Pakistan as part of her Design Residency

program by the British Council, Yemi con-

ducted workshops at the NCA, the Pakistan

School of Fashion Design (PIFD), Beacon-

house National University (BNU), Indus Val-

ley College of Art and the Government

Polytechnic Institute for Women. Her work-

shop involved experimental techniques

using paper and fabrics and the exploration

of shape, pattern and light using the mate-

rials. When describing her experience con-

ducting the workshop Yemi said “It was

enlightening, I learned so much from the

students here, a lot that will come out in my

work in the future” and went on further to

say, “the students brought fabrics from

home, since the students came from all over

Pakistan they brought a variety of fabric

with them”. Yemi was very animated about

the various fabrics she had a chance to see

including fabrics from Balouchistan and

NWFP, regions she did not get to visit herself.

It is unfortunate that Yemi didn’t get to visit

many such culturally rich regions in Pakistan

due to the current security situation, but

thanks to the diversity of students at the

NCA, she at least got a taste of what they

had to offer.

Despite Pakistan’s declining position in

the textile export market, Yemi’s remains en-

thusiastic; she sees in technicolour the pas-

sion, talent and practicality present in the

country, and hopes that better utilisation of

the numerous resources available could

save the Industry from stagnation. “The (tex-

tile) industry has a lot to offer to the interna-

tional market and that’s a good

advantage… people have a great under-

standing of textile here”. And verifying her

faith in the industry is her desire to set up a

business in Pakistan sometime in the future,

mostly dealing in accessories. “I think they

will be quite popular here, and in the UK”.

It is hoped that the New Silk Road Cam-

paign is successful not only in strengthening

ties between the UK and Pakistan, but also

in restoring Pakistani textiles and crafts back

to the cultural forefront internationally. n

NEW ROADS, NEW EXPERIENCES

Yemi Awosile


{month in focus}

evo in 100 cities now

ptCl reinforces Migration of digits from 7 to 8

n PTCL has extended its wirelessBroadband EVO service in 100 majorcities & towns across Pakistan. PTCL EVOis a superior 3G wireless technology ex-perience that gives opportunity to roamfreely with an average download speedsfrom 300 kbps to 500 kilo bits per second.

PTCL has made the broadband tech-nology affordable by lowering the barri-ers to entry and now geographically alsoservice is within the reach of a commonperson across Pakistan.

With a true vision and clear objectivesPTCL has now successfully provisionedbroadband EVO service in 100 cities andtowns i.e. Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Pe-shawar, Quetta, Hyderabad, Chakwal, Gu-jranwala, Muzzafarabad, Rawalakot,Mirpur, Okara, Sargodha, Sialkot, Multan,Faisalabad alongside other small townsand cities across Pakistan.

Expansion of PTCL broadband net-

work will continue to ensure that morecustomers get the opportunity to experi-ence the latest wireless broadband andrelated technologies.

Naveed Saeed SEVP Commercial onachieving this important milestone saidEVO launch in 100 cities reflect in PTCL’scommitment to connect its customers tothe world via internet and company’scommitment to provide its customerswith best telecom services at theirdoorsteps. Working in a market wheretechnology changes every minute; PTCLalways strives to introduce products and

services that brings more value to its cus-tomers.

Syed Asim Ali, EVP, Commercial Plan-ning said through superior 3G experiencewe offer to our customers variety of Pre-paid and Postpaid options to suit theirneeds as well as their budget. With na-tionwide roaming, customers can taketheir EVO anywhere and be connected atsuper fast speeds (except Peshawar). Cus-tomers have the freedom to download asmuch data as they want with EVO post-paid and MAX packages, as there are nodownload limits with these packages.

n As per the instructions of PTA, Pakistan Telecommunica-tion Company Ltd (PTCL) shifted its fixed line number plan from7 to 8 digit series in July 2009. Initially migration from 7 series to8 digit series has been implemented in Lahore and Karachi only.

Digit “3” was added to all existing 7 digits numbers ofKarachi and Lahore except the numbers starting with “9”. An-other digit “9” was added in all existing numbers starting from“9”. It is important to understand that extra digits have beenadded to the existing phone numbers and not the area codes.Army exchanges are exempted from this change and their num-bers would remain the same.

For customer with awareness and facilitation for PTCL re-quested PTA that the new series plan should run parallel to oldone for a period of one year w.e.f July 01, 09 till July 01st, 2010.

However at the completion of this period to ensure connectivityand customer convenience, customers would now hear an an-nouncement advising them to add digit 3 or 9 to get throughon PTCL Karachi and Lahore incase they forget to dial the newrequired digit.

SEVP Commercial Naveed Saeed said PTCL in this regardalso plans to run an awareness campaign to save our customersfrom any inconvenience and connect them without any prob-lems.

Aasif Inam EVP Consumer Services said this will apply to allcallers calling on PTCL landline in Lahore and Karachi from PTCLlandline, Mobile, NTC, SCO or other LLOs and we are speciallyfocusing upon publicizing the change to save our customersfrom facing any inconvenience.

EVO launch in 100 cities reflect in PTCL’s commitment toconnect its customers to the world via internet and com-pany’s commitment to provide its customers with besttelecom services at their doorsteps.


{banking | Kamran Saleem }

n Pakistan is ranked third in the list of 11 most developed

or developing economies around the world in terms of low na-

tional savings. National savings, as percent of GDP, declined

from 20.8 percent in FY03 to 14.3 percent in FY 09.

Low household savings further aggravated by unattractive

investment avenues due to certain fiscal policies has con-

tributed to increased preference for low risk and fixed income

financial instruments such as Bank Deposits and National Sav-

ings Schemes (NSS).

Pakistan’s income tax regime has introduced tax incentives

for institutions such as mutual funds and retirement benefit

schemes as well as incentives targeted at individuals. However,

no such incentive has been proposed for investment in life in-

surance/Takaful.

As a result, Pakistan has one of the lowest life insurance pen-

etration rates in the world, that being a mere 0.27% of GDP and

significantly lags behind India (4%) and Bangladesh (0.42%).

Life insurance penetration in other regional countries also

surpasses that of Pakistan: South Korea (7.27%), Singapore (6%),

Malaysia (3.6%), and Thailand (1.99%).

The following is a country-wise summary of tax incentives

with respect to life insurance/family takaful industry. The infor-

mation will help emphasize the need for tax incentive if greater

insurance market penetration is truly desired:

• in india, Individuals with taxable income of under IRs.

500,000 (approximately Pak Rs. 650,000 are allowed a tax rebate

of a proportion of the life insurance premium paid, such rebate

being:

o 30% if the person’s taxable income is below IRs.

100,000 and taxable income constitutes 90% of

total income;

o 20% if the person’s taxable income is below

IRs. 150,000 and the above does not apply;

o 15% if the person’s taxable income is between

IRs. 150,000 and IRs. 500,000.

• in malaysia, life insurance premiums or takaful contri-

butions are allowed to a maximum total tax relief of RM 6,000

(approximately Rs. 105,000). A further tax relief of RM 3,000 (ap-

proximately Rs. 50,000) is given for insurance premiums with re-

spect to medical and educational purposes.

• in korea, Life insurance premiums are tax deductible

up to 1 million Korean won (approximately US$ 1,060) Given the


policy objective of increasing life insurance penetration, it is

proposed to introduce a similar tax incentive in Pakistan. The

design of the proposed incentive should keep in view incentives

given to other savings schemes in Pakistan.

mutual funds: Unit holders of the mutual funds, other than

a company, are entitled to a tax credit under section 62 of the

Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 on purchase of new units. The

amount on which tax credit is allowed is the lower of (a) amount

invested in purchase of new units, (b) 10 percent of the taxable

income of the unit holder, or (c ) Rupees 300,000/-, and is calcu-

lated by applying the average rate of tax of the unit holder for

the tax year. If the units are disposed within twelve months, the

amount of tax payable for the tax year in which the units are dis-

posed is increased by the amount of credit allowed.

there are two specific incentives targeted at individuals, these being as follows:

a) As per Section 62 of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001, an

individual investor can claim tax credit upto Rs. 60,000 (in case

of a salaried person) or Rs. 75,000 (in the case of self employed)

in a tax year on investment upto Rs. 300,000/- or 10% of indi-

vidual’s taxable income (whichever is the lower), subject to that

an investment is held for a period of one year.

b) There is a Tax Credit allowed for investment by individuals

in pension funds approved under the Voluntary Pension System

Rules 2005(VPS Rules) issued by the Securities and Exchange

Commission of Pakistan (SECP) (S63 of the Income Tax Ordi-

nance 2001). The credit is calculated by applying the average

tax rate on taxable income to the contribution/premium paid,

there being an upper limit on the latter of the lower of 20% of

the taxable income (higher proportions for older persons under

transitional arrangements) or Rs. 500,000.

strengthening Pakistan’s life insurance/family takaful industry through a supportivefiscal Policy:

Life Insurance/Family Takaful is of vital importance for eco-

nomic growth of the country and the only industry which gar-

ners long terms savings. Investments of insurance/Takaful

companies are largely in government bonds/Sukuk and equity

of long-term nature. This generates long term funds for country

infrastructure and contributes towards the development and

modernization of capital markets.

Compared to Mutual Funds, which is unable to offer the re-

tail market reach, the life insurance/family Takaful offices are

spread in metropolitan cities as well as in rural areas covering

both the privileged and the socially unprivileged societies at

large. Moreover, there are an approximate 110,000 insurance

agents providing increased market penetration as compared to

those promoting mutual funds industry which is negligible.

It is seen that the tax incentives allowed to Mutual Funds

and VPS has contributed minor success in boosting savings and

economic growth. The regulatory authorities need to revisit

policies governing the life insurance/takaful industry so that it

becomes competitive and attractive for the general public as

better means of investment.

advantages of providing tax incentives to lifeinsurance/takaful industry of Pakistan:

1. Support to the government in the provision of high

quality pensions, healthcare and social security

(financial protection) to the masses

2. Incentive for savings and investment in

life insurance/takaful for the masses

3. Provides long-term source of finance for investment

in the economy of the country, thus contributing to

infrastructural development and sustainable growth

4. Promotion of the concept of self-sustainability

amongst the masses

It is therefore proposed to introduce a tax incentive for life

insurance/takaful as is available for investment in the IPO of

shares or investment in the VPS.

Although the incentive can be designed in many forms it is

proposed that the format used for the VPS (a Tax Credit) is re-

tained for the sake of consistency.

While introducing the incentive, it will be necessary to pro-

tect against life insurance / takaful companies introducing what

are essentially pure savings products in the guise of life insur-

ance / takaful policies. This is best done by ensuring that the

level of life insurance / takaful cover (as opposed to savings) is

of a minimum level.

It is therefore proposed that the incentive be introduced for

premiums / contributions paid into “qualifying life insurance /

takaful policies”, with the definition of a qualifying policy being

that the amount payable on death (not limited to accidental

death) must be at least equal to the greater of :

• 10 times the premiums / contributions paid in the first

year; or

• the total premiums / contributions payable under the

policy over its term

It is also necessary to define limits up to which the incentive

is provided. It is suggested that this should be the same as that

of the VPS (currently Rs. 500,000). n

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