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Telenor Wins Two PAS Awards in Two Different Categories: ProPakistani |  |
- Telenor Wins Two PAS Awards in Two Different Categories
- Was this Print AD by USF Legal?
- Ufone Announces The Return of Wasim Akram as Brand Ambassador
- Send Free SMS to Any Ufone Number from Gmail Chat
- World Telecom Day Celebrated in Pakistan
- PTA Asks PTCL to Revert Pakistan Package
- Mobilink Super Engineer Contest 2012 Commencing Today
| Telenor Wins Two PAS Awards in Two Different Categories Posted: 18 May 2012 01:25 PM PDT
Wateen and Nokia also bagged PAS Awards in their respective categories tonight. Telenor's Khamoshi Ka Boycott ad by ADCOM won the best ad award for "Telecommunication Service Provider" category. Other shortlisted ads in this category were by Ufone namely "Ufone Mobile Internet" and "49 Paisa Offer" – both by Interflow. Zong and Mobilink's creative advertisement agencies had submitted their entries but failed to make it to final round. There were total of 14 submissions for "Telecommunication Service Provider" category, out of which three ads were shortlisted for final round. Telenor's "Easy Paisa Mobile Account" by ADCOM also won the award for "Banking and Financial Services" category – beating HBL for their ads "Sila Mila" by Think Tank Advertising and "Shanakht Cricketers" by JWT. Nokia's "Nokia dual SIM plus" ad by JWT won PAS award for "Telecommunication Hardware Manufacturer" category. Nokia's ad was only submission in the category and hence had no competition. Wateen's "Jo Chaho" ad by Adetude won the title for "Computer and Internet" Category. Competition for Computer and Internet category was immense, as entries of three well-known broadband operators were shortlisted along with their agencies. Other shortlisted ads were from wi-tribe for "Wi-tribe Pakistan Brand refresh" and "Live in your world connect in ours" ad by Pirana Advertising for Qubee. Related posts:
To read more, click: Telenor Wins Two PAS Awards in Two Different Categories           |
| Was this Print AD by USF Legal? Posted: 18 May 2012 04:54 AM PDT
First thing first. Let's have a look at the print ad that I am going to talk about. (Clicking on ad will open the image in new window in full size) A little background of the advert: this Print ad is by Universal Service Fund, published last month in various national newspapers and magazines. Though there is a scandal already propagating out of this media campaign by USF as reports are claiming that the money spent on this advert (valuing PKR 120 million) was not authorized by the company's board. (You can read more details on it here). I am not going to discuss the alleged embezzlement under the head of marketing spend, rather I will stick to the basics. USF has every right to advertise its achievements, reports or anything they want to. They are private limited company (by virtue – though its non-profit organization and can't use “private limited” word as per section 42 of Companies Ordinance 1984). So the stats or content in above ad are absolutely valid to be advertised and there is nothing questionable about it. The only thing which irked me were the pictures of political personalities from one political party, i.e. PPPP (except of Qaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah). Why would a private limited company (by virtue, as mentioned above) will publish pictures of political leaders. While this company has nothing to do with the government – for policy making, decisions, audit, funding, spending or for anything else. Thinking broadly, one may term that USF wanted to share the proud moments with the leadership of the country. But a critical view may call it an in-direct support by a non-profit organization for a specific political party, which is not allowed by Election Commission of Pakistan. For the records, here is what ECP states:
I asked the same question from a senior official of SECP, who wanted not to be named, and he was satisfied that this advert can be challenged on legal grounds. Though he mentioned that publishing the pictures of political leaders in adverts is an accepted norm, but he had to agree with me that ECP disallows it. SECP official confirmed me that USF was registered under section 42 of Companies Ordinance 1984 and it could not support/assist any political cause/party. Just to mention, this is not the first time that Universal Service Fund published an advert with pictures of political leaders. This has happened before as well. In a telephonic conversation USF's spokesperson told me that board was probably not aware of this rule by ECP. However, she told me, board will be notified of this rule for evaluation. Generally, it is perceived that USF comes under Government's umbrella, for which they take the credit as well – that's because telecom is probably the only sector that they can proud of – but the fact remains that USF is non-profit organization, run by professionals who are paid from company's private money. Moreover, this money doesn't come from government's pocket, instead it is given by telecom operators for the development in un-served and under-served areas of the country. In other words, Prime Minister shouldn't be proud of over 1,000 community centers countrywide, over 500,000 customers who have broadband because of USF, or nation wide fiber optic back-haul covering 7,400 kilometers. Because, by definition, Prime Minister has nothing to do with this development. Instead, Prime Minister should be questioned for not attending the board meetings and eventually delaying this development projects. Related posts:
To read more, click: Was this Print AD by USF Legal?      |
| Ufone Announces The Return of Wasim Akram as Brand Ambassador Posted: 18 May 2012 02:53 AM PDT
Wasim Akram is a world famous celebrity and is one of the greatest heroes of Pakistan. He started his career as a fast bowler; then he went on to become a commentator, a recognized coach at country's premier National Cricket Academy and last but not the least a successful television anchor. To mark the renewal of Wasim's tenure with Ufone, a brilliantly executed television commercial has been aired and it is wonderful to see Wasim Akram exude confidence, class and style coupled with success, the statement noted. Wasim was associated with Ufone when it was at an infancy stage. Majority can easily recall the initial campaigns in which Wasim Akram was seen in an advertisement where the legendary cricketer visits a Ufone office. Akbar Khan Chief Marketing Officer at Ufone said, 'Seeing Wasim Akram return to Ufone is indeed a pleasure and privilege'. 'We are pleased to have a celebrity with such a diverse profile associated with Ufone and we are proud to call Wasim one of our own', he added. Related posts:
To read more, click: Ufone Announces The Return of Wasim Akram as Brand Ambassador      |
| Send Free SMS to Any Ufone Number from Gmail Chat Posted: 18 May 2012 12:22 AM PDT
Put in other words, Through this service, Ufone subscribers can get Gmail chat messages on their handsets and shall be able to communicate & reply to these messages through SMS. Service Details:
As you might know, Gmail offers this facility for limited operators throughout the world, and Ufone has become the second operator they have collaborated with in Pakistan. It merits mentioning here that first message has to be sent by a Gmail user via Gmail chat client. This means that Ufone subscribers cannot initiate chat himself/herself with his Gmail contacts from mobile phone. How to send SMS to Ufone Numbers: Gmail users will have to simply Log into their account. Enter your contact's name or phone number in the 'Search or invite friends' box in Chat, and select Send SMS from the box of options that appears to the right of your contact's name. Or, if you already have a Chat window open for this contact, just click Options, and select Send SMS. Next a window will appear (shown below) where you can check the country code and phone number of the SMS recipient to save this contact to build your address book. Next time you will be able to send SMS to same number by typing his/her name. Next a chat-window will pop on right bottom, simply type the message and hit enter… that's it. Your message will be sent to the phone number you entered. Note: Just to mention, this feature is only launched in selected countries. Click here for the list of supported countries and operators. If you are not located in one of these countries you can still use it, but you won’t see the SMS option in Chat until you enable it manually in the Chat settings page. How Ufone Subscribers Respond to Gmail Chat SMS? When Ufone users receive an SMS message from a Gmail contact, add the incoming number to your phone’s address book (this number is associated with the sender’s Gmail account, so you can use it to send Chat messages to that person in the future). Then, you can reply to the message as you would any other text message, and your reply appears as a Chat message in your friend’s Gmail account. Reply will appear on Gmail interface of Gmail user. Note: Ufone subscriber can reply to the message received from Gmail user within 24 hours. Commands for Ufone Subscribers: Ufone subscriber can use below commands while chatting via Gmail SMS service through his/her mobile phone. Please note that these commands can be sent in response to SMS received from the Gmail user only.
Following commands can be sent at 2434000.
Service Charges
How to Get Google SMS Credits: Gmail offers initial SMS credit for 50 SMS, which decreases each time you send an SMS from Gmail chat client.
Related posts:
To read more, click: Send Free SMS to Any Ufone Number from Gmail Chat      |
| World Telecom Day Celebrated in Pakistan Posted: 17 May 2012 11:59 PM PDT
Theme for this year's WTISD was: "Women and Girls in ICT". Telecom day is commemorated under the banner of ITU – United Nation's body for information and communication technology – and celebrations stretch all over the world. The purpose of World Telecom Day is to help raise awareness of the possibilities that the use of the Internet and other information and communication technologies (ICT) can bring to societies and economies, as well as of ways to bridge the digital divide. There went several events in Pakistan, particularly in capital, to commemorate the day. The most significant of which was organized by Ministry of Information Technology at Pak China Center where Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani was the chief guest. PM on the occasion announced a fund of Rs. 300 million for girls studying Information Technology (IT). He also announced the establishment of an IT center for women in Islamabad. This center will be named in honor of computer prodigy Arfa Karim, who became the youngest Microsoft Certified Professional in 2004 and remained so until 2008. Prime Minister on the occasion also announced the creation of a venture capital of Rs. 1 billion, which he believes will encourage innovation, entrepreneurship research and development in the IT industry. The government, he added, has established more than 1,000 educational and community broadband centers across the country, including some of the remotest areas.
IT and Telecom Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, also present on the occasion said, "I believe that we can harness the power of information technology by focusing on improving the capacity of women, especially in underdeveloped and rural areas." Secretary IT & Telecom, Farooq Ahmed Awan also shared his thoughts at the event. Mr. Awan briefed the attendees about ongoing projects and said that the sector has shown marvelous achievements during the last four years. He claimed that currently there are 1700 IT companies operating in Pakistan which is a symbol of customer service providers' trust on the policies and services of the ministry and its allied departments. Chairman PTA, Dr. Muhammad Yaseen also issued a statement on Telecom Day saying that almost 92 percent of population in the country has access to telecom services. He said there are still many areas in the country where despite the prevalence of favorable telecom regime the fruits of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) are not accessible to many especially the women. Societies cannot develop without equal contribution by all segments, he said and added this year, 2012, the theme of World Telecom and Information Society Day (WTISD) "Women and Girls in ICT" is prove to the fact how critical it is to empower women to be a progressive nation.
Pak Datacom also organized a event at Marriott Hotel to honor Secretary General ITU. The event highlighted the communal vision of ITU and Pakistan's IT sector i.e. "Committed to Connecting Pakistan". Below is the clipping of print ads of telecom companies for World Telecom Day: Related posts:
To read more, click: World Telecom Day Celebrated in Pakistan      |
| PTA Asks PTCL to Revert Pakistan Package Posted: 17 May 2012 10:48 PM PDT
In an enforcement order sent to PTCL, the authority said that due to the powers it bears (delegated by Telecom Act) to regulate the competition in the market, PTCL was reminded time and again (through various letters dated 6th December, 2007, 18th Jan, 2011 and 1st Feb 2011) to seek prior approval from authority before launching/announcing any promotion or traffic package and submit complete detail of such packages at least ten days in advance. However, despite Authority's direction PTCL introduced and implemented tariff package for Pakistan Package on 17th March, 2011 without authority's approval. Letter said that PTCL was sent a show cause notice for launching Pakistan Package without notifying authority. PTCL was given a chance to reply the Show Cause Notice and then it was heard in meeting too, but PTA was contented to call the introduction of Pakistan Package by PTCL not according to procedures as mentioned in the law. A copy of enforcement letter can be viewed by clicking this link. It is interesting to mention here that PTCL has revised Pakistan Package several times since March 2011 – the above case in point. The latest revision happened on May 3rd, 2012, which we covered here. PTA probably needs to resolve issues lot faster than they do it now. Related posts:
To read more, click: PTA Asks PTCL to Revert Pakistan Package      |
| Mobilink Super Engineer Contest 2012 Commencing Today Posted: 17 May 2012 10:10 PM PDT
The competition is Mobilink's effort to bridge the gap between industry and academia by enabling students from different fields like Electronics, Electrical, Computer sciences and Telecommunication engineering to take their projects towards actual practical implementation. Mobilink team approached universities like NUST, FAST-NUCES, GIKI, UET, NED and LUMS all over Pakistan in their Super Engineer Campus Drives this year. The Campus Drives consisted of information sessions in which participants were told what was expected from the teams during the course of the Competition as well as what they would get out of it. Queries were answered and Technical as well as HR representatives offered suggestions to participants to define their project scopes clearly as well as how the project scopes could be broadened. After the Campus Drives, each university sent their top three proposals to Mobilink where they were evaluated by a panel of senior technical jury. The jury selected one team per university and now the top teams in North area have been invited to the LaunchPad Ceremony in Islamabad. At the Launchpad ceremony the selected teams will be provided with an overview of the upcoming stages of the competition which includes the guidelines, timeline, evaluation criteria etc. The teams will also be formally introduced to their mentors who will guide them through the project development phase. Participants will get the chance to learn and interact with some of the best technical mentors in Pakistan during the course of the competition. Not only that, they'll also get official letters of participation. It gets even better for the winners. They will get guaranteed internships at Mobilink as well as a job interview. Mobilink should be applauded for introducing and maintaining a program for promotion of technical research in Pakistan. Such programs and competitions are necessary on every level to expose our youth to industry and to impart a spark in our youth to turn them into future innovators leading Pakistan to the technical frontier. Related posts:
To read more, click: Mobilink Super Engineer Contest 2012 Commencing Today      |
Telenor
Wasim Akram has once again joined Ufone
After Mobilink
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