Posted by: Aamir Attaa on September 17, 2008 at 10:19 AM
While virtually all Pakistanis fast in Ramadan and feel more pious, hence they are easily found attracted towards Ramadan related services from cellular companies. Almost all cellular companies in Pakistan had come up with services relating to Ramadan that included Namaz Alerts, Special Ring Tunes, caller tunes, Quran Majeed download and so on.
I was browsing though websites of all cellular companies and found that Zong and Telenor did pretty much home work for Ramadan, while Warid also has a section for Ramadan Service
On other hands, Ufone kept beating on their Special Ramadan Package but nothing else… while I was unable to find any Ramadan Services’ Section for Mobilink Customers.
In this post, I am not going to discuss Mobilink for not offering any Ramadan Services for their 32 million customers (it can be part of their policies or preferences); instead I would like to point out Warid Telecom, as they announced Ramadan services on 14th day of Ramadan, little late (in fact too late…). Were they not prepared? Or if they were well prepared than what got them late?
As an ending note, its better late than never, but still Warid’s product managers need to more focous on timely delivery of services.
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Posted by: Aamir Attaa on September 17, 2008 at 9:42 AM
Warid Telecom wants you to keep your Warid Numbers switched on round the clock at any cost, and they say they can even give you prizes for that. So the message is clear, keep your number alive and keep waiting to get a lucky call from Warid…
While I am writing this post, there were no updates available on their website. (They may update it soon). But the print advertisement published today reveals following
- You will get a call from Warid
- Once you receive this call, you will qualify for a lucky draw to win a 70 CC motorbike or even an 800 CC car
Warid says that they will give away 1 motorbike everyday, while 2 cars every week, through a lucky draw.
We don’t know how many calls they are going to make each day. It is likely to be randomly selected numbers that are going to make calls. So the chance is there, keep your number switched on 24 x 7…!
Important Note: We all know that there are many fraudulent activities going on these days, and many spammers may call you and announce that you have won a car or similar prizes. It is supposed that Warid guys will not ask you for any money or processing fee from you. In addition all winners will be announced daily on Express TV. Hence, you need to be careful and don’t believe any spammers!
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Posted by: Aamir Attaa on September 10, 2008 at 11:21 AM
Warid Telecom has introduced Warid’s Pocket PCO (a very similar product like we had Mobilink’s PCO), in order to take the wireless communication to remote, far flung and less developed areas of Pakistan.
One can use Zem Pocket PCO as a standard GSM handset as a mobile Pay Phone. The Pocket PCO SIM Toolkit allows the handset owner, individual or PCO operator, to create a PCO business at very low initial investment by using a single cell phone to sell airtime to other users at reduced rates.
Salient Features
- Pocket PCO SIM is a special 128K SIM card that will be having only one application i.e. Pocket PCO. The factors differentiating Zem Pocket PCO from a fixed line PCO are as follows:
- A SIM based solution which allows a user to charge differently for any call or SMS made from a normal Zem connection
- Can set advance amount for a call thereby terminating the call automatically after the amount has been consumed at the set tariff rate
- Customer and PCO owner have the visibility of called units and charges during and after the call
- PCO owner has real time access to sales done from the SIM by clicking option in menu
- Bonus balance is awarded on usage of SIM in Motorola C123 based on Rs.1000 reload of Warid scratch card
- A SIM based solution for scratch card recharge and balance inquiry option
What Comes with Warid Pocket PCO
- A Motorola C123 handset
- A handset chord & receiver for use by the customer to make calls as on a normal fixed line PCO
- A PKR 1000 scratch card
- SIM Toolkit application in both Urdu & English language on a 128K card
- Log book to record sales
- Starter guide to help you understand the product functionality
- A Zem Pocket PCO cap & jacket to identify the PCO owner in a crowd
Pricing
Where to get?
Call 321 for details regarding the availability of Warid Pocket PCO
More Details:http://www.waridtel.com/consumer/product/pocket_pco/faqs.php
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Posted by: Aamir Attaa on September 5, 2008 at 10:02 AM
Warid today announced a new package for its prepaid customers named as “Zem Voice Craze”, which is a
- Weekly subscription based package
- Offers 125 on-net (Warid-Warid) minutes, 25 off-net (landline/ other mobile operators) and 50 voice talky minutes
- Against a weekly fixed price of Rs. 110 + Tax
Apparently, this package is not going to be a big hit. Rs. 100 + Tax: Rs. 133. So in around Rs. 133 you get 125 On-net Minutes and just 25 off-net Minutes. While on other hand you are bound to pay 133 x 4 = Rs. 532 per month. Such a high monthly rental and you get this little when compared to other cellular companies which are offering Rs. 5 per hour even at day hours. About Voice Talky messages, I don’t see subscribers very enthusiastic about the service.
How to subscribe
Dial 100 and follow instructions to subscribe to Voice Craze.
Salient Features
- Weekly Fee would be Rs. 133.1 (Including Taxes)
- Once subscribed, Rs. 133.1 would be deducted from your account automatically, every week.
- As this is a weekly subscription based package, all minutes would have to be consumed within seven days. The remaining minutes would not carry forward to next week
- If you are subscribed to a 30 second package (Zem Lowest Call Rates Package) your free airtime would be deducted accordingly, means you will be able to get same number of free on-net and off-net minutes
- If all of the minutes are consumed in less then a week then normal tariffs of ZEM lowest call rates will apply for the remainder of the week.
- Subscribers would receive an “End of Call Notification” after each call stating the remaining balance of minutes for each category along with the normal Rupee balance. Moreover, subscribers would also be able to check their normal Rupee balance as well as balance of free minutes by dialing *100#
What is this Voice Talky?
As mentioned above, you can use free airtime of Rs. 50 for Voice Talky minutes as well. You must be wondering, what this voice talky is… lets discover it
Warid’s Talky Message is a service through which you can record a message and send it as SMS. So instead of composing a text message you can send voice SMS with Voice Talky.
How to Use Voice Talky?
- Dial * followed by recipient’s phone number (e.g. *032XXXXXXXX)
- Follow the voice prompts and record your message
- Press end button to send the Talky Message.
How do I listen to a Talky message?
To retrieve a Talky message:
- Dial *0* for all new messages (Follow voice prompts & retrieve your Talky messages)
- Dial *1* for old messages (Follow voice prompts & retrieve your Talky messages)
Pricing for Voice Talky Messages
Subscriber would be able to send voice talky messages on both on-net (Warid–Warid) and off-net (other mobile operators) numbers. Under This package (Zem Voice Craze) Minutes would be charged both for sending and retrieving talky messages. Upto 50 minutes of voice talky can be utilized under Zem Voice Package.
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Posted by: Aamir Attaa on September 1, 2008 at 7:59 AM
Warid Telecom in collaboration with GETMO (a worldwide entertainment content provider) has launched its content portal that is compatible for both web and WAP browsing.
A quick look revealed the richness of content on the portal, with plenty of options for ring tones, mobile videos, Games, wallpapers etc…!
Free Content
There is available a layer of FREE content, accessible to everyone (either warid’s customer or off-net subscribers) that has registered on the portal.
Subscription Based Content
Other than free content, that is available to everyone, Subscriptions enable access to the Basic and Premium content, and the subscription is only accessible and possible for a WARID customer.
Premium content is the latest content while basic content is older. Premium content costs a little more than the basic content
Subscription Charges
The subscriptions are valued at Silver PKR 50+tax, Gold PKR100 +tax and Platinum PKR150 +tax. Each of these subscriptions then allocates a certain amount of POINTS to your account.
If you subscriber for any package, the amount will be deducted from Warid prepaid, and will be billed for Warid postpaid customers. So you need to have required balance in your account before you subscribe.
Point value of package and items
Although each content item has a price, it is the points associated with the item that is important, and will determine the amount of Basic or Premium Items that can be downloaded
Additional Information
- You must be a registered user to download free content
- A registered customer can only download the free content, while the subscribed customer will have access to download free, basic and premium content as per his subscription type
- All content from the website will be pushed to the r handset, while from the WAP site all content will be directly downloaded to the phone. Customer will not be required to send any SMS to any short code for downloading of content
- All subscriptions are for 30 days
Visit: http://wzone.pk
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Posted by: Aamir Attaa on August 10, 2008 at 7:14 AM
Orascom owned, World Online (WOL) has stepped forward by offering internet hours to be purchased by sending an SMS for Mobilink and Warid customers (Both Prepaid and Postpaid customers). WOL says that objective of this service is to provide utmost convenience and instant access to the Internet at any time of the day or night.
Mobilink customers get an edge, as they are offered Internet hours at Rs. 2 per hour, however, Warid customers would be disappointed with the service, rate is Rs. 10 per hour for Warid Customers.
For Mobilink Customers (Prepaid and Postpaid)
To get the Internet hours, you need to send an SMS from your Mobilink number.
For 4 Internet Hours: Type 10 and send an SMS to 965 (Rs. 10 will be charged)
For 8 Internet Hours: Type 20 and send an SMS to 965 (Rs. 20 will be charged)
For 25 Internet Hours: Type 50 and send an SMS to 965 (Rs. 50 will be charged)
You will receive an auto generated SMS for confirmation, reply it with “Yes” and you will get WOL Internet login and password instantly in response.
Kindly ensure to dial WOL UIN 13131313 through your complete login and password.
Note: these Internet hours will be charged from Mobilink monthly bill in case of postpaid subscribers and will be directly deducted from the balance in case of prepaid subscribers.
For Warid Customers (Prepaid and Postpaid)
To get the Internet hours, you need to send an SMS from your Warid number.
For 1 Internet Hour: Type WOL and send an SMS to 1310 (Rs. 10 will be charged)
For 2 Internet Hours: Type WOL and send an SMS to 1320 (Rs. 20 will be charged)
For 5.5 Internet Hours: Type WOL and send an SMS to 1350 (Rs. 50 will be charged)
You will receive an auto generated SMS for confirmation, reply it with “Yes” and you will get WOL Internet login and password instantly in response.
Kindly ensure to dial WOL UIN 13131313 through your complete login and password.
Note: these Internet hours will be charged from Warid monthly bill in case of postpaid subscribers and will be directly deducted from the balance in case of prepaid subscribers.
for More Information call: 042-111-600-111
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Posted by: Aamir Attaa on July 29, 2008 at 3:07 PM
Yesterday, Usman (one of my reader) pointed out that all cellular companies are offering calls for Rs. 1 Per minute with little variations except Warid that is left behind and they didn’t offer any such package to their customers.
Today, there is a news for Warid Customers, that now they can avail 50 minutes and 500 SMS or MMS (between 9 AM to 9 PM) per day at a flat rate of Rs. 19.96 per day.
Warid says that this package, named as Pakistan Package, is to celebrate the month of August and it is a gift of Freedom to their customers.
Features of Zem Pakistan Package
- ZEM Pakistan is a daily subscription based package offering 50 on-net minutes, 500 SMS/MMS between 9am-9pm
- Daily subscription charges are Rs.19.96.
- You can utilize the 50 on-net minutes as you seem fit. You can consume them in one call equaling 50 minutes or multiple calls with combined duration of 50 minutes.
- SMS/MMS can be sent on both on-net (Warid-Warid) & off-net (Other mobile numbers)
- Customers of all Warid Packages can avail this offer
- This is a daily subscription based package, all minutes/SMS/MMS would have to be consumed within 9am-9pm.Unconsumed free on-net minutes and free SMS/MMS will not be carried forward
- After 9pm, normal call and SMS/MMS charges of ZEM lowest call rate package apply
- In case you finish your free Minutes/SMS/MMS, your remaining calls or SMS will be charged as per your normal tariff.
- This is a limited time offer, but no one knows the limit….!
How to Activate?
Simply Call 100 and follow instructions to activate this package
Once activated, users will be automatically re-subscribed to this package every day if they have a minimum balance of RS. 19.97 (inclusive of taxes)
How to de-activate?
De-activation is via 100 IVR.
Conspiracy
Couple of days ago, Warid published this below given AD in Express News Paper, that could be translated as a totally different package that what we discussed above.
AD said that all calls are 15 Paisa per call and 500 SMS and MMS daily…!
That means:
Per call = 15 paisa, all network (because it was not mentioned regarding on-net or off-net calls). And it could be the case, but someone from the management asked them to be sensible, and dont put undue pressure on the network, so let’s limit the calls to only 50 minutes. Following is the ad that read so…!
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Posted by: Aamir Attaa on July 20, 2008 at 9:47 PM
Thanks to Abdussamad who pointed out this another Location Based Service by Waird, that will enable you to find the real time location of your fiend, family, kids and so on…!
How to find a friend’s Location through SMS?
To Locate a Friend via SMS:
- User-A sends an SMS by writing FIND<space><NUMBER> e.g “Find<space><032XXXXXXXX>” and sends it to 141
- User-B will receive an SMS requesting to permit or deny User-A’s request
- In case User-B accepts the request, then User ! will get the real time location of User-B in an SMS, or in other case the SMS will notify the deniel of service due to User-B
How to locate a friend’s Location through MMS?
To Locate a Friend via MMS:
- User-A sends SMS by writing FIND<space><NUMBER><space>MMS e.g “Find<space>032XXXXXXXX><MMS” and sends it to 141
- User-B will receive an SMS requesting to permit or deny User-A request
- In case of approval from User-B, User-A will get location of User-B through MMS* or a denial message if not
Note: MMS settings and activation is required if you need to find friend’s loaction by MMS
Additional features for Fiend’s Location Finder
| SMS command |
Description |
| Find<space><NUMBER> |
Locate a user with specified number. The default response format is “Location of friend” [nickname/number] is: [place name], distance [distance] km” |
| Find<space><NUMBER><space>MMS |
Locate a user with a specified number through MMS |
| Find<space><NICKNAME><space>MMS |
Locate a user with specified nickname and to request the reply in MMS format |
| ADD<space><NUMBER> |
Adds a friend with specified number |
| ADD<space><NUMBER><space><NICKNAME> |
Adds a friend’s number with a specified nickname |
| Find<space><NICKNAME> |
Locate a user with specified nickname |
| BLK<space><NUMBER> |
Blocks a friend with the specified Number |
| BLK<space><NICKNAME> |
Blocks a friend with the specified nickname |
| DEL<space><NUMBER> |
Deletes a friend with the specified number from friends list |
| DEL<space><NICKNAME> |
Deletes a friend with the specified nickname from friends list |
| HELPF |
Provides user with a Help message for the service |
| HIDE |
Hides the user so that none of his/her friends can locate him/her |
| LIST |
Provides a list of friends |
| LIST<space>BLK |
Provides a list of friends who have blocked this user |
| LIST<space>ALLOW |
Provides a list of friends who have given the user permission to locate themselves |
| LIST<space>ASK |
Provides a list of friends who require asking for permission to be located |
Service Charges for Friend’s Location Finder via SMS
For each request of finding Friend’s Location, Rs.3 + tax will be charged. On successfully receiving the requested location of place, Rs.3 + tax will be deducted from your account.
Total Price: 3 + 3 = Rs. 6 per location (Excluding Taxes)
Service Charges for Place Finder via MMS
For each request of finding Friend’s Location, Rs.3 + tax will be charged. On successful receiving of location of place, MMS retrieval charges, i.e. Rs.3 + tax will be deducted from your account.
Total Charges: 3 + 3 = Rs. 6 (Excluding Taxes)
Can I access Location Based Services through WAP?
Yes, Location Based Services is available on WAP.
To find a Place: http://lbs.waridtel.com/ff
Check Points
- Service will not find you friend’s location if his/her mobile phone is switched off
- MMS, WAP should be activated and configured in order to use this service via MMS, WAP
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