The GSMA Capacity Building Programme and the Central Asian Cellular Forum (CACF) based in Islamabad-Pakistan, signed a strategic agreement to deliver GSMA course content in several countries across Central Asia including Pakistan, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. The objective of the agreement signed between the two organizations is to help policymakers, regulators and other mobile eco-system stakeholders keep pace with the latest industry developments through training courses that highlight examples of policy and regulatory best practice from around the world. The GSMA is the global association of mobile network operators. In this role, it closely analyses policy and regulation related to mobile telecommunications and ICT, as well as the effects they have worldwide. The Capacity Building programme’s in-house experts have used this knowledge to create high-quality training courses that highlight real-world examples of policy and regulatory best practice. Central Asian Cellular Forum (www.3gca.org) is an industry forum that works with telecom regulators, operators, manufacturers, academia and the developer’s community in the region to create awareness and facilitate promotion and development of mobile broadband technologies. The major focus area of the forum is to support the mobile eco-system in building technological and human resource capacity through mobile broadband technology trainings and support services. GSMA Capacity Building offer courses both face-to-face and online to allow students maximum flexibility in how they learn. The face-to-face courses are delivered globally through a range of strategic partnerships. This agreement with CACF aims to expand the training programme in the region. Both organisations look forward to conducting joint programs and also a train the trainer programme across the region. Courses that will be offered by the GSMA Capacity Building Programme and CACF include: Advance Spectrum Management for Mobile Telecommunications Children and Mobile and Technology Women and Mobile Internet of Things Competition Policy in the Digital Age Disaster Preparedness and Response Leveraging Mobile to Achieve SDG Mobile Money for Financial Inclusion Mobile for Socio-Economic Development Mobile Sector Taxation Principles of Internet Governance Principles of Mobile Privacy Radio Signals and Health Weighing the Benefits of Universal Service Funds To learn more about GSMA Capacity Building programme or to register for an upcoming online course, visit GSMA Capacity Building eLearning portal
PTCL Launches Charji 4G LTE Services in Azad Jammu & Kashmir
PTCL has launched the Charji 4G LTE service in Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK). PTCL is the first operator offering next-generation wireless 4G LTE service in AJK. The service is already available to PTCL customers in Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Rawalpindi and Faisalabad, To formally mark commencement of the service in AJK, a ceremony was held in Muzaffarabad, which was attended by Raja Farooq Haider Khan, Prime Minister Azad Jammu & Kashmir, President & CEO, PTCL, Dr. Daniel Ritz, Mushtaq Minhas, Minister for Information Technology & Tourism, AJK, Dr. Najeeb Naqi, Minister for Planning & Development, AJK, Mansoor Qadir Dar, Secretary IT, AJK, Sikandar Naqi, Chief Business Development Officer, PTCL, Adnan Shahid, Chief Commercial Officer, PTCL, Saad Muzaffar Waraich, Chief Technology & Information Officer, PTCL along with members of business community and other officials representing AJK Government and PTCL. Speaking on the occasion, Raja Farooq Haider Khan, Prime Minister of Azad Jammu & Kashmir said, “Rapid expansion of internet holds substantial promise for the growth and economic prosperity of our region. The region of Azad Jammu & Kashmir, with a young population, offers an ideal place to introduce fast internet services.” “I am happy to note that PTCL has launched high-speed internet in our region and we expect the company to further expand its services to cover the entire AJK. Our people have a large number of their family members living outside the country and provision of internet services shall benefit them largely to connect with their loved ones in a better way. The areas of education, health, commerce and trade, all shall benefit from internet access to information, developing individuals and households alike.” Dr. Daniel Ritz, President & CEO, PTCL, said, “It is a matter of great pleasure for PTCL to launch state-of-the-art Charji 4G LTE services in Azad Jammu & Kashmir. PTCL has a legacy of serving the nation for the last 70 years. We are committed to linking AJK with the rest of the world and this launch of Charji 4G LTE services is another forward step in this direction. We will soon introduce more services here as part of our vision of introducing progressive and advanced telecommunication services throughout the country.” “We aim to work with the vision of the AJK Government of building a progressive and advanced region by meeting its connectivity and digital requirements in both fixed line and wireless services,” he added further. Charji offers ultra-high speed connectivity which allows the customers to enjoy faster web browsing, HD video streaming, instantaneous music and picture downloads, uninterrupted online gaming sessions and much more. CharJi Wingle (USB Powered Hotspot) and CharJi Cloud (battery powered MiFi) are sleek and pocket-friendly devices which connect up to 10 devices over WiFi. The Charji packages start from Rs.1,000 per month with a maximum volume slab of 75 GB and cater to every need and lifestyle. Also, customers purchasing the CharJi device in Ramzan will get double the volume on every recharge for the next 6 months.
Ufone Supports Rizq to Fight Hunger and Reduce Food Wastage
Ramazan is a time of reflection and kindness. Continuing on its tradition of supporting estimable people and institutions, which in turn help the less fortunate in Pakistan, Ufone is supporting Rizq, a social entrepreneur project, this Ramazan. Rizq was started in April 2015 by a group of friends who met at LUMS while studying for their economics degree after Huzaifa Ahmad shared his desire to channelize excess food to the underprivileged who cannot afford daily meals. Huzaifa’s friends and partners, Musa Amir and Qasim Javed, were instantly on board and the three entrepreneurs came together to build a bridge between surplus food at restaurants, weddings, and households (usually thrown away) and families living in slums of Lahore. Ufone is supporting this worthy cause and will purchase media space on television channels and digital media throughout Ramazan, to be used to promote Rizq, free of cost. This will help secure more support for their endeavors by spreading the message of their cause across Pakistan. Ufone highlighted the partnership at an event held on Wednesday, 7th June 2017 at the Pearl Continental Hotel in Lahore. Attendees included bloggers, and representatives from local print, electronic and digital media. Rizq has two primary objectives, to decrease food wastage that is rampant in our society and to feed under nourished people particularly children. As step one, the Rizq team identifies an area within Lahore, usually slums and villages, and maps the community. Next, food drives are advertised on Rizq’s official Facebook page and website encouraging people to contact them if they have any extra or leftover food items from parties or otherwise to donate. When created, Rizq’s Facebook page generated 5,000 likes overnight. As step two, food is collected from partner restaurants, bakeries, caterers and households. The food usually comes in large containers, which are then taken to a store where it is checked for quality, and sorted into small packages for easy distribution. Lastly, food packages are distributed to mapped communities. On average, Rizq serves 200 to 250 meals every day, and the team aims to bring this up to 2000 meals per day. During Ramazan, Rizq targets arranging 2-3 Iftar dastarkhwans on different locations each day to make food available for deserving people. In order to expand their operations, Rizq needs Rs 1.5 million to buy a cold storage van and a cold storage facility to manage larger quantities of food. The team has been managing with fridges till now, which restricts them to sell/distribute food immediately. This is the first time in Pakistan a food bank has been established to channelize excess food and the project has the potential to reduce poverty and transform people’s lives. Ensuring meal availability means the families can now utilize their money for other facilities like sending children to school, or buying medicines for ill family members. Ufone hopes to create greater awareness of the remarkable work being done by Rizq and hopes this will kindle a spirit of sharing and generosity in others.
10th TeleCON 2017 forum chaired by the Minister of Telecom
The Minister of State for Information Technology & Telecommunications – Honorable Ms. Anusha Rahman Khan inaugurated the 10th Pakistan Telecommunication, ICT & Telecom Conference (TeleCON 2017) as the Chief Guest. This annual forum was held by SHAMROCK Conferences International (www.shamrockconferences.net) at the Ramada Hotel in Islamabad, with the theme: “Pakistan in the wake of Revolutionary Technologies and Solutions”. The Keynote address was delivered by the Chairman of Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) – Syed Ismail Shah. Addressing the large number of enthusiastic delegates at the forum, the Minister of IT and Telecom stated that: “It is delightful to see that global Telecom & IT giants are undertaking major ventures in Pakistan, while our country’s start-up enterprises are winning great accolades at global technology forums, with the support of incubators and incentives from the government”. She further stated that: “The Next-generation 3G and 4G telecom technologies are already empowering all consumer segments and industries, as we benefit from revolutionary concepts like; ‘Mobile” commerce, E-Governance, Smart-Cities, Mobile-banking, Cloud-Computing, ‘Smart’ Healthcare & Education and much more. The government is now seeking the earliest possible deployment of 5G technology in Pakistan. With the successful orchestration of this 10th annual TeleCON Forum, SHAMROCK has made great contributions in the advancement of this important industry in Pakistan.” Syed Ismail Shah, Chairman of PTA said: “A social and industrial revolution has taken place in our country with the deployment of fascinating new technologies. It is now the primary responsibility of the regulators and experts of telecom and IT industries, to focus on the future, enabling swift and secured consumption of massive volumes of data, whereby we can greatly enhance national productivity to accelerate progress and economic prosperity”. Other distinguished Chairpersons and speakers included; The Chief Executive Officer of PTCL – Daniel Ritz, CEO of ICT R&D Fund – Mr. Yusuf Hussain, the CEO of IBM Cloud – Nadeem A. Malik, the CEO of Bluetech Consulting – Kashif Jadoon, Mr. Pervez Iftikhar, Ex CEO USF, the Head of Conferences at SHAMROCK – Mr. Usman Janjua and others. These learned speakers discussed critical topics like; Expansion of outreach, Fibre-Optics, rural-area connectivity, broadband, wireless-access, connectivity and Cyber-security. An insightful panel discussion on ‘Revolutionary Technologies’ included experts like: the Chief Commercial Officer of PTCL – Adnan Shahid, the CEO of COMSATS – Jamshed Masood and Mr. Naveed Khalid Butt, Chief Corporate & Regulatory Affairs Ufone. Numerous other experts professionals and stakeholders attended this forum, sponsored by Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd. (PTCL) and Wateen Telecom, while being supported by PTA, relevant ministries and the leading enterprises of this robust industry. TeleCON is a prestigious assembly of the; industry specialists, regulators, technologists, speakers, visionaries, experts, academia, emerging media and investors from national and global enterprises and institutions. The key topics of discussion included: challenges & opportunities, fresh ideas for enhancing Foreign-Direct Investments, regulations to control cybercrime, Data Security & safer exchange of information.
Zong CEO Liu Dianfeng Issues Statement on World Telecom Day
Zong CEO, Liu Dianfeng’s statement on World Telecom Day: I would like to congratulate all our telecom partners globally on this important day celebrating global telecommunication day in the world. For China Mobile Pakistan, we are happy and excited to have announced our future plan for 2017 in upgrading all our 2G and 3G sites to 4G within 2017 and have more and more innovative and intelligent solutions for our subscribers here in Pakistan, and continue to invest in our network to expand our 4G coverage throughout the country and connect Pakistan with the rest of the world from the most remotest areas possible. This will enhance our Pakistani people’s ability to lead a better, quicker, faster and more connected “4G life”, which will be the most innovative way of education, healthcare, social reform and creativity. We will leverage china mobile communication corporation’s 4G knowledge and research and implement this vision in Pakistan. Other than connectivity, we have also announced our corporate social responsibility program for Pakistan with a strong commitment to use our 4G technology to make the life of our Pakistani people easier, faster and better with the best quality network under the umbrella of one belt one road initiative by China. We are very excited to play a strong role in connecting this project as well as connect all the industries tied with this project to have a 4G ecosystem led by China mobile Pakistan. Zong will continue to invest and lead the 4G telecommunication market in Pakistan through our continued investment, our employee’s hard work and dedication and we will work very closely with the government of Pakistan in order to achieve this goal. This year’s theme, ‘Big Data for Big Impact’ is centered around one of the most important evolutionary leaps in technology that has the potential to dramatically affect the Telecommunications landscape, worldwide. It’s not just about more data, but valuable data leading to valuable insights at operational and individual customer level. A shift is imminent as big data is becoming more and more pervasive. This is n’t just true for social or economic impact, but also in our everyday lives, in areas ranging from Healthcare & workspaces to connectivity in our households. Already, analytics are being embedded in every device and application to enhance functionality or convenience and we being the largest Data Operator of the country, will continue to contribute and capitalize on the trend.
