Posted by: Aamir Attaa on September 6, 2008 at 10:15 AM
Yesterday i got this message in an email from one of my reader from Rawalpindi. He requested me to not to publish his name. I am pasting below his email… Wateen Guys are requested to act immediately on this email.
Hello Everybody,
I am a student, and living away from my home town in a private hostel in Rawalpindi. I am using Wateen’s WiMAX services for my internet means. Last month, unfortunately I was short of money and at the same time my Wateen’s connection was going to expire on August 28, 2008. I had no other option but to pay my bill though credit card.
For the purpose, I visited Wateen’s Franchises in Rawalpindi at Satellite Town and Mall Road, but to my surprise both do not accept payments through credit card. I requested them that I do not have cash at the moment, so kindly transact my billing amount from credit card from neighboring shops, but they straight away denied. In fact they started ignoring my pleas, and started looking at me like they were saying “Get out from here…or”
I want to request telecom companies, especially Wateen Telecom to kindly direct your franchise holders to install credit card punch machines at their offices, so that if some one like me or those who do not carry cash with them can pay their bills from their credit cards. This is very ordinary service now a days and almost every other shop is offering this.
Thank You!
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Posted by: Aamir Attaa on September 2, 2008 at 6:39 AM
Thanks to Mr. Mudassar Jehangir, Editor-in-Chief, More Magazine, who did this service Review of “PTCL’s Smart IPTV” and allowed me to post it here.
I received two calls in the third week of August from the sales staff of PTCL confirming from me the order of “Smart IPTV connection”. Before the installation, my telephone line was checked by the staff to confirm the signal strength.
IPTV won’t run properly if data downstream and upstream value is lower than 10 in your phone line. In case it is less than 10, the transmission will be jerky.
The installation was just a process of 1 hour. My old broadband modem was replaced by the new modem of Huawei. From the modem you can get two CAT 5 (network) cables for the out put. One goes to the computer for the internet connection and other goes to the set-top box, a device which makes the transmission possible. Technically, set-top box (STB) is a device that connects to a television and an external source of signal, turning the signal into content which is then displayed on the television screen.
The old PTCL logo was visible on the top left corner of the box which revealed that the smart IPTV project was designed to be launched in the year 2006 and it must have been put on hold due to certain reasons.
To activate the STB, there is a content security IRDETO ZETA smart card which is inserted into the box to unlock the transmission. Basically this is the card that makes possible the desired TV contents and the revenue. For the information, IRDETO is an Amsterdam based company which is into Digital TV content business since 1969.
Once the card is inserted and STB turned on, same old PTCL logo appears on the welcome screen which confirms the project’s roots back in 2006.
At the start, the main menu screen provides options to choose either live transmission or Video on Demand (VOD). The pause and rewind option is available for few of the live channels. Currently PTCL provides a reverse transmission for 2 and half hours which it plans to extend for more hours in the future.
Overall the quality of live transmission is impressive and unlike conventional TV cable the result is High Definition from 1st to over 100th channel. Initially PTCL had announced a free service of IPTV for 15 days which it has extended for one more month just like it did with the broadband services.
The Video on Demand (VOD) section requires more attention as the already saved movies (both Hollywood and Bollywood) on the server are obsolete, it is bearable for a temporary period but very soon PTCL will need to update its database and include new collection because it is a paid section and subscriber is required to pay Rs. 50 every time he/she select and item.
The service also allows parents to lock and unlock any channel, and allows users to search for their movies and TV shows by title and cast listing and then watch them on-demand.
Smart IPTV service is only possible on places where PTCL broadband is already running. Homes or offices where broadband connection is a requirement, Smart IPTV will be a point of attraction. On a 1 MB connection the total monthly fee becomes Rs. 2300 provided you have purchased the Set Top Box for Rs. 9995.
PTCL was smart enough to start selling the broadband connection well before the IPTV launch. According to company’s statistics it has sold more than 50,000 broadband connections so far. The prospects of selling IPTV connections are therefore higher on already installed broadband connections.
Only time will tell how quickly it can become a replacement to the conventional cable which still cost Rs. 100 to 200 and has huge acceptability among masses. The availability of service largely depends on the condition of copper wire that goes to the customer’s premises.
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Posted by: Aamir Attaa on August 19, 2008 at 7:07 PM
As we see internet usage tremendously growing in developing countries, which have normally confined bandwidth to share with its users. Pakistan is one of such countries, which is putting a lot of (traffic) pressure on its international gateways, which at times exceeds the available limits in terms of capacity, consequently slowing the browsing amongst the masses.
Technology Review has published this article which reveals that computer scientists in Pakistan are building a system to boost download speeds in the developing world by letting people effectively share their bandwidth. The basic idea behind the research is develop a system that chops up popular pages and media files, allowing users to grab them from each other, building a grassroots Internet cache.
Here is the selected excerpt from article
In developed countries, Internet service providers (ISPs) create Web caches–machines that copy and store content locally - to boost their customers’ browsing speeds. When a user wants to view a popular website, the information can be pulled from the cache instead of from the computer hosting the website, which may be on the other side of the planet and busy with requests. Similar services are offered by content distribution companies such as Akamai, based in Cambridge, MA. High-traffic sites pay Akamai to host copies of their content in multiple locations, and users are automatically served up a copy of the site from the cache closest to them.
Umar Saif’s team at LUMS is developing DonateBandwidth, a system inspired by the BitTorrent peer-to-peer protocol that is popular for trading large music, film, and program files. With BitTorrent, people’s computers swap small pieces of a file during download, reducing the strain placed on the original source.
DonateBandwidth works in much the same way but lets people share more than just large files. When users try to access a website or download a file, a DonateBandwidth program running on their machine checks first with the peer-to-peer cache to see if the data is stored there. If so, it starts downloading chunks of the file from peers running the same software, while also getting parts of the file through the usual Internet connection. The software could allow people in countries that have better Internet connections to donate their bandwidth to users in the developing world.
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Posted by: Aamir Attaa on July 21, 2008 at 7:40 AM
At last wateen has come up with an online usage and bill tracking system that will help customers to keep an eye on their bandwidth usage and remaining balance in their account. Wateen’s WiMAX (prepaid) users had been facing their service disconnections when they used to reach their allowed quota.
To Access Wateen’s Self Care Portal Click Here
Don’t worry if you see an IP address in URL instead of Wateen.com, i have confirmed from their support that this is a legitimate service by Wateen Telecom. However, you may find several functions disabled due to early launch (this is what CSR told me)
Wateen’s Self Care Portal will help you to
- Get your current Service Information, that is your current package, tariffs, and other account details
- Save your favorite links
- Check your remaining balance
- Check your Internet Usage in current month, while providing you details about how much data has been used out of the allowed quota
- Information about last 5 Internet sessions –
- Information about your last 5 voice calls that you made
- You can set an Email Notification when your account balance reaches a limit (set by you)
[Via eBloggy]
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Posted by: Aamir Attaa on July 18, 2008 at 2:30 PM
We have started receiving early input on TGP from those who have experienced Mobilink Infinity WiMAX services. Like any other data network, Mobilink is reportedly suffering with the services issues.
It has been told that services are not smooth for both the data and voice. Moreover, disconnections and downtimes in specific are causing real troubles to those customers who are using Mobilink WiMAX as their primary source to internet.
ZyXel’s CPE (Customer premises equipment) are being used and you won’t be given CPE password, so there is no option that you can configure router for port mapping/ port forwarding.
VoIP service that comes in by default with Mobilink’s WiMAX is also in the range of bad remarks from customers. Again VoIP services face disconnections along with opinions about ordinary incoming calls facility.
The only good thing people have told is the customer service, which has been remarkably helping Mobilink Infinity clients to somewhat compensate the bad quality of service.
This input is based on very few experiences, and may not reflect the actual picture; however, we should expect better services as the network gets mature.
On other hands, as we had in our minds at time of Mobilink infinity’s launch, they may not over shine Wateen very easily, which has its existence in over 2 dozen cities of Pakistan.
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Posted by: Aamir Attaa on July 8, 2008 at 9:17 PM
PTCL in an email has notified all Internet Service Providers that PTCL’s ITI International connectivity with SMW-4 is down due to cable cut in Segment 2.2, 18 km from SMW-4 Karachi Cable Station.
Consequently, all International Internet Traffic has been shifted to SMW-3. Due to this shifting internet users will experience some latency or delay in accessing sites via the Internet.
No deadline was told by the authorities for clearing the cut and restoration of SMW-4.
Please visit back for More details
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Posted by: Aamir Attaa on July 7, 2008 at 4:14 AM
Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission has announced that they have reached at point where they are ready to issue Broadband Wireless Access licenses in the country. Initial draft that has guidelines for the upcoming bidding and for WiMAX license details says that two nation wide licenses will be given away in 2.3Ghz band and one in the 2.5Ghz band.
Operators already operating in the country are banned from bidding - and the bidders are limited to having 60% foreign shareholding. Furthermore, the draft says that licensees will be allowed to rollout and operate network to provide nationwide Broadband Wiress services based on IEEE 802.16e (WiMAX) standards. The system can be point-to-multipoint or mesh radio systems consisting of BWA distribution hub stations and their associated subscriber stations (or BWA access devices). The last mile solution may be done in conjunction with WiFi, but that wholly depend on operators.
The good thing, which may be reconsidered after input from operators, is that it is said mandatory for all operators to share the same tower and existing infrastructure if available.
Dhabi Group and Orascom may seek its opportunities in Bangladesh’s emerging broadband market. Along with, we may see rise in equipment orders for Motorola and Huawei.
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Posted by: Aamir Attaa on July 3, 2008 at 11:57 PM
Few days back, Mr. Adnan Saeed, Project Manager, MoITT sent an email to a public forum, in which he put forward a message that read like below
Government of Pakistan has initiated a broad based consultative process to formulate National IT Policy for the next five years. In order to make a realistic and practical policy the Government intends to involve all the stakeholders in this consultative process.
Kindly send your comments to asaeed@moitt.gov.pk latest by 31st of July 2008. You can post your comments as well on virtual group at http://www.nidu.gov.pk/forum
Adnan Saeed
Project Manager (NIDU), MoITT
Ph: 9209269
asaeed@moitt.gov.pk
For Information
Syed Muhammad Anwer
Project Director
National IT Development & Promotion Unit(NIDU)
Director Legal, MoITT
Ph: 051-9218967, Fax: 051-9201012
Email: smanwer@moitt.gov.pk
So now you are not in any position to complain that the Ministry of IT and Telecom hasn’t asked the opinion of private sector while revamping IT policy. They did their job; now Gurus are requested to come forward with your feedback and let’s dictate the fate of Pakistan’s IT industry for at-least coming five years.
To read out current IT policy, please point your browsers to this document (National-IT-Policy-2000) Right Click and Select “Save Target As” - File Size: 1.05 MB
Call Centers, IT industry, investments, taxes on businesses, role of PTCL and broadband in the country are few of many elements which should be addresses in new IT Policy
Read it out, and have your say. I will also come up with another post in few days with suggestions from the people I know.
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