Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has seized network of illegal gateway exchange in Karachi, which was causing huge loss to the national exchequer.

PTA and Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), National Response Center for Cyber Crimes (NR3C), Karachi launched crack down against network of  illegal gateway exchange in Soldier Bazar Karachi and arrested the owner and confiscated system. The raid was conducted based on the information obtained through PTA’s facility which detects grey (illegal) telephone traffic.

National Database Registration Authority (NADRA) Deputy Chairman Tariq Malik is among the five candidates short-listed for the ID Outstanding Achievement Award 2009 that is given to the person who produces the most concrete results in the field of auto ID.

He is in fact the only person outside the United States that has been nominated, as a candidate for the award at ID World International Congress, which is being organized in Milan, Italy from 3-5 November. It is the most comprehensive showcase on the evolving world of RFID, biometrics and smart card technologies.

The other candidates for this award include Roy Braganza who is the Director Airport Services, Remote Check-in — American Airlines, Steve LeBlanc Managing Director — Government Print Office, US, Richard Meyers Principal – Delta Services and Jean-Louis Revol CEO – ID3. All these four are from the United States of America.

Telenor Pakistan has posted strong results for Q3 ’09. The company has taken its subscriber base to 21.7 million by adding 765k subscriptions. This subscriber growth of 17% – compared to same period last year- comes at a time of stiff industry competition and significant market challenges.

In the third quarter of 2009, Telenor Group’s reported worldwide revenues increased by 4 per cent compared to the third quarter of 2008, reaching NOK 24.3 billion. The operating profit increased by 14 per cent to NOK 4.5 billion. Telenor’s mobile operations added 4 million subscriptions during the quarter, reaching a total of 172 million.

Wi-tribe, a Qtel Group Company, has today announced its alliance with a top WiMAX customer premises equipment (CPE) manufacturer to give its customers a top of the line branded device.

Initially, customers in Pakistan will be able to use the customized CPE to access the Wi-tribe network in areas of coverage and plans to launch customized products onto other markets.

This step is in line with Wi-tribe’s commitment to provide the most convenient and simple internet access to emerging markets.

“We promise our customers innovation and fun, and taking this step to design our own CPE to match the standards that they expect, and at a rate which is affordable to everyone, is clear proof of our commitment,”

stated Wi-tribe Group CEO, Sami Hinedi.

The CPE is the device that connects the customer to Wi-tribe’s internet service. The fully branded CPE, developed under the Wi-tribe’s brand, will use the latest WiMAX technologies and would allow Wi-tribe to produce personalized CPEs at a lower cost which means addressing a wider segment of the market in the communities they serve.

“Although standards are still not finalized, WiMAX is emerging as a competitive option to alternatives such as cable or DSL for delivery of broadband services. To be competitive, the total cost per customer must be comparable to these alternatives. That is why wi-tribe has come together to examine all aspects of the technology for these CPEs and the role of all players in the supply chain for their production,” explained Hinedi.

“The Wi-tribe CPE will deploy the latest WiMAX technology chipsets and will use an optimized antenna design to provide better service for our customers,” continued Hinedi.

Wi-tribe recently launched its second operation in Pakistan, Wi-tribe’s largest market to date, in four major regions simultaneously and plans to further expand to other areas. Wi-tribe also has a thriving operation in Jordan and plans to launch in the Philippines in 2010. The newly launched CPEs will be made available preliminarily to customers in Pakistan later this year

Warid has always been on forefront in deploying the latest technology, partnering with the Worlds top class vendors like Oracle, Cisco, Sun Microsystems and Microsoft.

Warid has recently commenced an outstanding project of implementing Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) solution based on Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V. This initiative was taken as part of Microsoft’s early adoption Program for this cutting edge virtualization technology. Warid Telecom was amongst the pioneer customers in the MEA region in implementing VDI solution under this program.

Microsoft held a commercial launch of Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, and Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 in Pakistan. The event was held in Sheraton Hotel Karachi on 22nd October 2009. It is the largest outreach to IT Decision Makers, IT Professionals and Developers in Microsoft’s history. Warid Telecom is awarded with Gold Sponsorship and an honorary shield was given to Warid’s Chief Information Officer. Microsoft has also developed a case study taking a detailed account on Warid Pakistan, and it will be published on Microsoft’s global website.

While speaking on the event Javed Mushtaq, Chief Information Officer, Warid Telecom said , “We expect a 20 percent drop in our capital expenditure and a 62 percent drop in operating expenses by cutting power, support, and hardware costs with the Hyper-V solution.”

Microsoft Country Head Kamal Ahmed said “The launch of such a powerful product portfolio showcases Microsoft’s commitment to our customer’s top priority and seeks to enhance cost savings, IT efficiency and business productivity. Companies in Pakistan can use these products to not only drive costs down but also drive down their risk profile through better security and compliance, while maximizing the productivity of the workforce they support”

With this project, Warid Telecom taken a leap forward in carbon emissions, honoring its part in keeping the planet greener thus takes another initiative for environment friendly green technology. Total Power Consumption is reduced by 180% with annual saving of 215,280 KW/Y from power and Total Air Conditioning Saving per Year: 160,030 KW/Y, also Carbon Emission Saving per Year: of 581730 Pound.

Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) is all set to participate in GITEX DUBAI 2008 from 18th to 22nd October 2009. GITEX Dubai is among the world’s top three IT exhibitions and proves to be the most important gateway to the Middle East market. This flagship event has placed Dubai on the map internationally as an emerging global technology hub and it continues to be the most important gateway to the Middle East ICT market. Last year number of exhibitors increased to 3,361 companies, from 83 participating countries and approximately 129,884 visitors from 157 countries attended the event.

PSEB has been participating in this prestigious exhibition regularly for last several years. As a result valuable business leads have been passed on to the participating member companies. This year PSEB has sponsored the participation of eleven leading ICT companies who will be showcasing their products in this international event, he added.

The participating companies include Excellent Solutions, Trillium Information Security Systems, A2Z Creatorz, Royal Cyber Inc, Sidat Hyder Morshed (Pvt) Ltd, WallSoft, Confiz, SuperNova Solutions, Gillani Software, ClearCube Middle East. These companies are renowned world over in their respective areas particularly in software development, information security, web applications, financial applications, quality management, business process management services, graphics, animation and multimedia etc. The key target groups are users from the wholesale & retail sector, banking and financial services, the services sector, government agencies, industrial manufacturing, educational sector and all other users passionate about technology.

Mr. Sulman Hassan, Director International Marketing, PSEB stated that the biggest challenge faced by the IT companies in the prevailing socio economic situation of the country is access to market. The international marketing efforts of PSEB have provided a platform to the member IT companies to market their products and services in key foreign markets. Benefits generated through international exhibitions and delegations can be evidenced by the consistent increase in the foreign exchange revenues, creation of employment and improving the country image / perception the country”

.

Pakistani IT companies will be looking forward to doing business with their counterparts in Dubai and networking with financial and technology leaders. The exhibitors will enjoy access to the expanding Dubai IT market and other regional IT powerhouses. The participants will also attend a variety of workshops and conferences involving leading IT professionals from around the globe

Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) is a Government agency mandated to promote Pakistan’s IT Industry, including software, IT Enabled Services, hardware and call centers locally and globally. PSEB has been facilitating the IT Industry through its programs in Human Capital, Office Space, Marketing, Company Capability Development, Telecom Bandwidth, Industry Finance, Public Policy, Strategy & Research, and Facilitation. Government has already introduced a package of incentives including tax exemptions for the IT sector until 2016, 100% foreign equity and earnings repatriation and low-rent facilities for IT companies. Pakistan has a large talent pool of English speaking cost competitive and skilled workforce, large number of internationally certified companies and reliable telecom infrastructure.

PSEB works extensively with international trade associations, commerce bodies and media to promote Pakistan’s IT industry There are more than 1200 IT companies registered with PSEB which possess expertise in custom software development, ERP, Financial solutions, Mobile Content, Document Management, Enterprise computing and BPO.

PTCL Corporate Event held on 15 October, 2009 at Pearl Continental Hotel Lahore. The event that witnessed great success attracted around 200 Corporate Customers from all the business segments of Central Zone. Besides the major participation of Lahore Customers, the event attracted the participation of the business customers all across Central Region including Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Sialkot, Multan etc. The event was especially graced by the participation of Chairman PTA.

The main event comprised of the addresses by SEVP Commercial Mr Naveed Saeed, SEVP Business North Mr Tariq Salman, Senior Advisory Team Member (Commercial) Mr Sadik Al Jadir, EVP Corporate Services & Product Development Mr Zaman Gulzar and the presentations delivered by GM Corporate Services Mr Muhammad Basharat, SM Corporate Sales Mr Nadeem Abbasi and SM Product Development Mr Syed Ali Javed.

National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) has achieved ISO 9001:2008 Certificate for quality management by world recognized UK Accreditation Services (UKAS) and certified by DAS Pakistan, says a press release issued here on Wednesday.

This certificate was presented to Tariq Malik, Deputy Chairman NADRA, by DAS Director at NADRA Headquarters to assess Quality Management functions of all Solutions, Processes, Products and Services of NADRA, operating at International Standards with qualified professional teams.

Tariq Malik said that NADRA has retained this certification for last three consecutive years and has been re-certified with the last audit, while the Production Facility of NADRA is also ISO certified for the last eight consecutive years, being re-certified last year, he added. He said that NADRA plans to extend the certification to further improve the quality and efficiency of its Swift Centers (NSRCs), consequently facilitating the citizens all across Pakistan for Identity Cards and related services.

Amalgamating telephony with unique banking solutions Ufone and HBL are entering into Mobile Commerce Partnership to extend next generation of Mobile Technology. With the help of this amazing offer Ufone customers having their bank accounts in HBL through Mobile phone will have distinct alternative to conventional branch-based banking to conduct range of activities through their mobile phones instead of bank branches or through bank employees.

Through SSL based secured WAP Technology Ufone UPayments offers Prepaid Top-up and Postpaid Mobile Bill Payments, Utility Bill Payment and Statements & Balances to Ufone and HBL’s common valued customers.

Mr. Abdul Aziz President & CEO Ufone elaborated that all transactions will be settled online from HBL account in real time. ‘In near future the service will allow subscribers to perform Interbank Fund Transfer (IBFT) from an account to any other account of HBL.’ he added.’ Our quest for technology will not end here as we will explore further new combinations’, the official; contended

Telenor Pakistan and Tameer Microfinance Bank together have announced the launch of easypaisa, a uniquely convenient and safe way for everyone to carry out financial transactions. easypaisa users will have the freedom to make bill payments and send and receive money at thousands of outlets and in addition manage their bank accounts over their mobile phones. easypaisa combines the best from the financial and mobile sectors, offering the first branchless banking solution of its kind in Pakistan and neighboring countries.

Presiding over the easypaisa launch event, Governor State Bank of Pakistan, Syed Salim Raza in his address emphasized government’s focus on promoting financial access in the country. He said, “Helping people to get access to financial services is central to improving their livelihood. Branchless banking has been used internationally as a successful tool to reach customers who cannot be served by conventional branch-based financial services. That is why State Bank has been very supportive of innovative synergies in this field, a prime example of which is easypaisa by Tameer Bank and Telenor Pakistan.”

Director Telecom, Ministry of Information Technology & Telecommunications, Mudassar Hussain highlighted the critical role mobile industry has to play in providing financial access to the un-banked. He said, “The total life of mobile industry in Pakistan is less than 20 years while formal banking channels have been around for some 60 years. However, interestingly, in comparison to more than 90 million mobile subscriptions, the number of bank accounts is less than 30 million. The Ministry is of the view that this presents an immense opportunity for the mobile industry to add value to the financial sector and serve the un-banked. We have been actively supporting the consultation process and hope that easypaisa becomes a resounding success story for the industry and country.”
Chief Executive Officer, Telenor Pakistan, Jon Eddy Abdullah called easypaisa a revolutionary solution. He said, “easypaisa will allow users across the board to access convenient and secure financial services. In an environment where only 12% of adult population is formally served with financial services, easypaisa will promise tremendous financial empowerment. It will provide opportunity for everyone to utilize well-priced, secure, and efficient financial services at the corner store without opening a bank account, or through ones own handset with a Tameer Bank account depending on the transaction type. The inclusion into the general economy will create opportunities to save, pay for services more efficiently without the loss of productivity, and to utilize more advanced financial instruments in the future.

Chief Executive Officer, Tameer Microfinance Bank, Nadeem Hussain talked about how branchless banking can help the low-income customer segment currently served by Tameer Bank. “Tameer has been a pioneer in scalable retail micro finance operations with initial focus on lending. Tameer has always embraced new technologies to lower operating costs. Mobile phones – along with other technologies and banking agents are beginning to offer the opportunity of giving financial services to the many millions of people and low cost who have never had a bank account.”

Telenor Pakistan & Tameer Bank’s easypaisa portfolio, initially launched with Bill Payment solution, is scheduled to come up with services such as money transfer, mobile wallet accounts, cash deposits and withdrawal facilities in near future. The services are for everyone offering innovation, freedom, security and convenience.