PAC Recommends to Put Chairman PTA on ECL: ProPakistani

PAC Recommends to Put Chairman PTA on ECL
Mobilink Customers to Buy Google Play Content Through Mobile Credit
Breaking: wi-tribe Gets Wasim Ahmad as New CEO
PTCL Slams WiMAX Operators in a Mocking TVC
Zong Extends its Support to Shandur Polo Festival

PAC Recommends to Put Chairman PTA on ECL

Posted: 05 Jul 2012 04:57 AM PDT

Public Accounts Committee today recommended the interior ministry to put the names of Chairman PTA, Dr. Muhammad Yasin and members of telecom authority on exit control list, following cases – including non-issuance of 3G licenses – that are under consideration of public accounts committee.

Sources familiar with the development told ProPakistani that Chairman PTA, who is going to serve last day in his office tomorrow due to forced leave before his term as chairman ends on July 24th, was put on exit control list due to increasing differences with government resulting into probe of various cases including non-recovery of PTA funds and delay issuance of 3G licenses.

Public Accounts Committee meeting, headed by Chairman Mr. Nadeem Afzal Chan, was held today in Islamabad. Reportedly there were new cases presented in Public Accounts Committee.

Issues including gray traffic and non-payment of PTA payments from LDI operators were discussed. It was pointed out in the meeting that Chairman PTA is completing his term in less than two weeks. Fearing that Dr. Yasin could fly to Australia, as he is dual national, Chairman PAC recommended ministry interior to put name of Dr. Yasin's and members of telecom authority on exit control list.

In a related news, Chairman PTA is set to step down from his position on July 24th after completing his four year term. His differences with government grew in last few months on 3G issue and his other commitments with president house that were not fulfilled.

Meanwhile, Kamran Ali, member legal at Ministry of Information Technology is said to be hot favorite for chairmanship of PTA, who has backing from the president house. Mr. Kamran is said to be a comfortable choice for the government, keeping in view his diplomatic abilities to run the telecom industry.

Mobilink Customers to Buy Google Play Content Through Mobile Credit

Posted: 05 Jul 2012 04:55 AM PDT

Mobilink today announced that its parent company VimpelCom and Google have signed an agreement to deliver a new, enhanced digital entertainment experience for VimpelCom customers across its markets.

Through this deal, Mobilink customers will be able to use their mobile accounts to easily find, try and buy Google Play content.

The cost of any purchased app will be simply deducted from a customer's prepaid credit or just added to their monthly bill in case of postpaid.

The Google Play store brings together Google digital goods including apps, games, Google Books, Google Music and Google Movies into a single unified offering. Users can access their entire library of music, videos, books, apps, and games in one place, all of which are also stored online, without the need to synchronize devices.

A dedicated "VimpelCom Channel" will make it easy for VimpelCom customers to navigate their way among the 600,000 apps available in the Google Play store.

Available via the local Google Play store, the VimpelCom channel will feature dozens of apps, tailored to offer local content and services. The "VimpelCom Channel" and mobile account payments for the Google Play store will be rolled out in VimpelCom's operations across the globe, starting later on this year.

Mikhail Gerchuk, VimpelCom's Group Chief Commercial Officer, said: “the collaboration with Google will provide our customers around the world with a convenient way to access and pay for millions of apps, games and songs, significantly enhancing the smartphone experience in countries where banking and credit card services are not widely used.

In most of our markets, we will be the first operator to launch mobile account payments for Google Play store and with the "VimpelCom Channel" we will bring tailored content to millions of our customers around the globe using Android smartphones" he said.

This latest agreement is part of VimpelCom's consistent strategy of providing its customers with the best mobile internet experience, complementing its recently announced partnership with Opera Software to deliver better mobile web browsing for customers using a low-cost mobile phone.

Breaking: wi-tribe Gets Wasim Ahmad as New CEO

Posted: 05 Jul 2012 12:17 AM PDT

Read this post in Urdu

wi-tribe, a Qtel Group's wholly owned WiMAX operator in Pakistan, has appointed Wasim Ahmad as its new CEO to replace Mustafa Peracha, we were just told by official sources.

Mr. Ahmad will take over from the outgoing CEO, Mustafa Peracha who has led wi-tribe from a startup operation to a number two broadband service provider in Pakistan and the largest WiMax operator, as claimed by the company.

Prior to joining wi-tribe, Mr. Ahmad was most recently at Telecel Globe, an Orascom Telecom company, as Group Chief Commercial Officer.

Wasim Ahmad brings with him a diversified experience of over 20 years in Telecom and Consumer Goods industries with leading organizations like Millicom, Nestle and Proctor & Gamble.

Mr. Mustafa Peracha, CEO wi-tribe Pakistan, will assume new responsibilities within the Qtel Group in the broadband area. He will be based in Doha at the Qtel Group headquarters.

In a related news, Zohare Haider, PR head for wi-tribe also left for Qtel. Zohare’s replacement is yet to be announced. In yet another news, wi-tribe recently signed Xenith as its PR agency.

PTCL Slams WiMAX Operators in a Mocking TVC

Posted: 04 Jul 2012 09:02 PM PDT

PTCL, in its TVC for recently announced Nitro Cloud Device has apparently crossed the line by openly mocking competition wireless broadband operators, i.e. WiMAX service providers.

PTCL in its TV ad individually called out WiMAX operators by showing their CPEs or devices, with altered names of course (shown below in images and video) to claim that they don't offer enough internet speed. TV ad further showed all CPEs burning into ashes exactly when Nitro cloud makes an entry.

WiMAX operators are of course offended by this practice of PTCL and termed said TVC highly in appropriate and unappreciated.

An official of leading WiMAX company while communicating with ProPakistani said that this attempt by PTCL to challenge WiMAX operators with an EVDO product is unruly and without making much sense.

When asked from an advertising expert, he opined that using competition brand name in your advertisement is legal but only when comparison is honest and ethical. He further maintained that using competition products' name (and even look alike products in case of this TVC in question) requires your product to be extra good or otherwise you will end up advertising competition brand by calling viewers' attention to it.

Commenting particularly about PTCL's TVC, the advertising Guru said that effort should not be replicated again or it will become an industry standard to mock each other in advertisements.

Check below video and stills of PTCL's TVC:

Zong Extends its Support to Shandur Polo Festival

Posted: 04 Jul 2012 09:00 PM PDT

Shandur03 jnojs Zong Extends its Support to Shandur Polo Festival Zong has once again proved itself to be a true friend of the nation by supporting the Shandur Polo Festival which will be held from July 7 to 9. The telecom giant has stepped up to provide support for this one of its kind sports event held on Shandur Pass, the highest polo ground in the world at 3,700 meters.

This is not the first time ZONG is facilitating the festival, the telecom operator had previously extended its support. As part of its plan, ZONG will also be starting a promotional campaign to spread the word about the festival.

A poll will also be created on ZONG's website. Visitors will be asked to answer simple questions such as predicting the winning team and will be rewarded with special prizes in return. Exclusive footage of the event will also be made available online while several other activities will be carried out during the festival.

Mr. Usman Ishaq, Executive Director Commercial of ZONG states, "We believe in Pakistan. We believe in its beauty, its culture and its attractions. Shandur Polo Festival is one of those things which every Pakistani can feel proud about. ZONG wants to reinforce this pride and that's why we have decided to support the festival."

Shandur festival is not just about the equestrian sport of Polo, tourists can also enjoy dance and music performances by local groups, trout fishing, mountaineering, trekking, hiking and of course, horse riding. However, the highlight of the festival is the final match between the Gilgit and Chitral teams. By supporting this festival ZONG is helping in promoting tourism in Pakistan.

ZONG's reach now stretches from the mountain tops of Ishkoman in Gilgit-Baltistan to the rocky plains of Buleda in Balochistan to the midst of mega cities. The telecom Company now has close to 17 million subscribers in the small span of 4 years. ZONG is fast becoming the first choice of mobile users in Pakistan and the ever growing subscribers' numbers is a testimony to this.

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Thursday, July 5, 2012