Pakistan Rolling Out 50 Mbps Broadband Service

Pakistan is working on a major roll-out of bonded VDSL2 to deliver 50 Mbps, five times the top speed of the nation's highest level of service today, at a construction cost of just $200-300 per home passed.



Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL), the nation’s state-controlled phone company, is deploying VDSL2 Bonding technology to provide existing digital subscriber line (DSL) customers with speeds up to 50 Mbps. The project leverages Alcatel-Lucent’s VDSL2 Bonding expertise and will be completed by the end of the second quarter of 2011, according to a report in Daily Times.

VDSL2 technology is a good cost-effective option for Pakistan to upgrade existing DSL because it could serve as a platform to deliver broadband, video, and phone service, much like AT&T’s U-verse known as triple-play. VDSL2 Bonding takes two copper-based VDSL2 lines per subscriber and aggregates them—almost doubling the bandwidths available to existing customers, or expanding high-speed broadband access to areas that are underserved today.

PTCL selected VDSL2 over fiber to the home (FTTH) primarily because of cost. With fiber installs twice as expensive as a DSL upgrade, a developing country like Pakistan couldn’t justify the higher price. VDSL is expected to be an important part of broadband expansion in the developing world, particularly in Africa, southeastern Europe, and central Asia. Longer term, Pakistan is building Fiber To The Home (FTTH) network for much higher bandwidths, and several thousand homes have already been wired with fiber as a pilot roll-out in Islamabad by a Pakistani Internet service provider (ISP) called Nayatel.



With just over a million broadband subscribers as of October 2010, Pakistan’s broadband subscriber base is small. But it is in the midst of explosive growth with an increase of 63.5% from the 643,892 in December 2009. While the DSL remains the main technology used to access broadband services in the country, alternative wireless solutions WiMAX and EV-DO are catching up fast. The number of DSL users grew by 96.5% from 262,661 in June 2009, according to Business Monitor International (BMI). By contrast, subscriber figures of WiMAX and EV-DO increased by 246.6% and 708.5% over the same period to reach 306,665 and 181,947 respectively. The popularity of mobile broadband services is likely due to more affordable pricing plans bundled with low-cost mobile devices. Moreover, two-thirds of the population reside in rural areas where fixed-line infrastructure remains poor and wireless broadband service therefore becomes an attractive and relatively cheaper method to bring connectivity to the underserved regions.



At current pricing, PTCL offers a basic broadband service package with a 256kbps connection limited to 1GB of data for Rs. 299 ($3.50) a month. This low-cost package is designed for users interested in email and light browsing, not heavy downloads and uploads.

The next level is the popular 2Mbps unlimited package for around Rs. 1499 ($17.78) a month. And then there is 10Mbps service for an expensive Rs. 8500 ($100) a month. With the upgrades, PTCL can either raise speeds, reduce prices, or a combination of both. Other than the 256kbps service, all other broadband packages from the company offer unlimited use.

Considering all the massive negative propaganda in the Indian and western media about Pakistan, it is interesting to see that some Americans are noticing the high-speed access build-out in the "failed state" of Pakistan by a state-owned telephone company.

In a provocatively titled post "Osama bin Laden Getting Faster Internet Than You Have: Pakistan’s 50Mbps Future", an American blogger Philip Dampier complains as follows: "While America’s heartland is being wired for 3Mbps DSL service, residents in Pakistan are getting ready for speeds up to 50Mbps thanks to a major broadband expansion in the country".

Related Links:

Haq's Musings

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Media and Telecom Sectors Growing in Pakistan

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Pakistan's Telecom Boom

Pakistan Tops Text Message Growth

WiMax Rollout in Pakistan

Mobile Internet in Pakistan

Smartphones in Pakistan

Low Literacy Threatens Pakistan's Future

Gender Gap in South Asia

Mobile Financial Services in Pakistan

ITU Internet Access Data by Countries

Financial Services in Pakistan

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Top 5 ICT4D Trends in 2010

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ITCN Asia 2010 Conference in Karachi

State of Telecom Industry in Pakistan

Comments

sameena Khan said…
i think its a good step of the ptcl to increase the dsl speed, i find a website which is full of mobiles information, mobile phone prices, mobile phone latest news, IT news, nokia,
samsung, motorola, LG, with mobile pictures,just visit to
Blackberry Mobiles
Riaz Haq said…
Here are ITU Internet stats for South Asia:

Pakistan:

20,350,000 Internet users as of Jun/10, 11.5% penetration, per ITU.

3,145,840 Facebook users on December 31/10, 2.2% penetration

3,992,500 Facebook users on March 31/11, 2.1% penetration

India:

100,000,000 Internet users as of Dec/10, 8.5% penetration, per IWS.

17,289,020 Facebook users on December 31/10, 1.9% penetration rate.

23,042,800 Facebook users on March 31/11, 1.9% penetration rate.

Bangladesh:

1,429,200 Internet users as of Mar/11, 0.9% penetration, per FB.

995,560 Facebook users on August 31/10, 0.6% penetration rate.

1,429,200 Facebook users on March 31/11, 0.9% penetration rate.

Afghanistan:

1,000,000 Internet users as of Jun/10, 3.4% penetration, per ITU.

52,980 Facebook users on August 31/10, 0.2% penetration rate.

165,120 Facebook users on March 31/11, 0.6% penetration rate.
Riaz Haq said…
With the placement of UAE's Yahsat communication satellite by a European Ariane 5 ECA rocket on April 22, satellite broadband service by Yahclick in now expected to be available by the end of this year in Pakistan.

The price of customer premises equipment will be around $700 one time (deep discount on the $2000 cost) and the customer needs to pay $40 per month to enjoy 2Mbps of Unlimited Bandwidth Internet connection.

The satellite broadband internet service in Pakistan will provide Communication services to remote areas where telecom infrastructure does not already exist.

Yahsat 1B uses state of the art Ka band multi spot-beam technology, achieving high bandwidth.
Riaz Haq said…
PTA Chairman says Local manufacturing of smart phones, according a Daily Times report:

KARACHI: The local assembly and manufacturing of low-priced ‘smart phones’ will start soon in the country by Pakistani companies in collaboration with chip designers and Chinese manufacturers.

Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) Chairman Dr Muhammad Yaseen said this while talking to media persons at the interactive session for ICT stakeholders – ‘Connect ICT Forum 2011’, organised by Pegasus Consultancy at Karachi Expo Centre here Wednesday.

He said several memorandums of understanding (MoUs) have been signed recently, between local companies and Chinese manufacturers and chip designer Falcom for producing smart phones in Pakistan.

The event was organised by PTA in an effort to start local assembly and manufacturing of smart phones, which are currently being imported. Responding to a question about the misuse of SIMs, he said that PTA has blocked 16.5 million mobile SIMs and during the ongoing data cleansing under third phase, PTA is receiving 400,000 quests per day on its complaint number 668.

Yaseen hoped that no unidentified SIM will remain in cellular phone network after May 17, which is the last to confirm the validity of your SIM and clean your mobile phone record.

He said the sales of handsets will not be affected due to the ongoing data cleaning campaign.

Replying to a question about smuggled handsets, he said that PTA has submitted its input to the IT Ministry in which it has suggested two-pronged policy. First, to impose ban on these handsets at customs stage where IMEI numbers are not mentioned, and second, impose a ban on the sale of such phones in the country.

He pointed out that millions of mobile phone imports were allowed without type approval of authority after 2005, therefore handsets without IMEI numbers flooded the local markets.

To a question on mobile phone banking, he said that a final meeting will be held between PTA and State Bank of Pakistan to discuss and come out with consensus on modalities and authentication issues on May 11.

Earlier, speaking at the forum, he said that PTA will again arrange meetings between service providers and academia to encourage development in the ICT sector.
Riaz Haq said…
Here's a report in The Nation on PTCL data centers in Pakistan:

ISLAMABAD - PTCL, understanding the rapidly changing business environment and its growing reliance upon automation, has introduced region’s largest Data Centres in Karachi and Lahore. These centers are certified by the internationally recognized certification body, EPI.
This certification by an international body is the first data centre certification in Pakistan’s history and proves PTCL’s commitment to providing state of the art products and services backed by engineering and support for the Government and Enterprise markets of Pakistan, says a press release issued here on Wednesday.
PTCL Data Center services is an ideal choice for companies who want the flexibility to house their Primary, Disaster Recovery and/or Business Continuity sites and choose from a variety of cost reducing services as their business demands.
PTCL Data Centre solution provides customers managed and hosted cloud based services that comprise of computing as a service, processing as a service, storage as a service, software as a service, application hosting, infrastructure hosting, caging, co-location, disaster recovery as a service, backup solutions, hosted business solutions, unified communications and telepresence switching.
President PTCL Walid Irshaid said “PTCL is heavily investing in these ICT assets on behalf of our customers so that they can focus on their core competencies. Getting our Data Centers certified is further evidence that PTCL is committed to provide technology to the Govt and Enterprise markets of Pakistan of international standards.
This certification by an internationally recognized organization ensures that PTCL Data centers provide a reliable, responsive and resilient infrastructure, is designed and built using international standards and provides a secure, managed, climatically controlled environment for the housing and hosting of sensitive, mission-critical data and applications.
Riaz Haq said…
Here's a Dawn story on rapid broadband growth in Pakistan:

WASHINGTON: Pakistan is ranked as one of top countries that registered high growth rates in broadband Internet penetration among their populace, the latest worldwide data report for Q1 2010 to Q1 2011 says.

Serbia leads all countries surveyed with a 68% annual growth rate from Q1 2010 to Q1 2011, according to July 2011 Bandwidth Report with data on worldwide bandwidth penetration.

The figures were cited by Website Optimization, LLC, a leading website optimizing firm, sourced from Point Topic, a global broadband tracker, and reported by PRWeb.

Pakistan, which has seen a boom in its promising telecom sector and information technology services in recent years, recorded around 46.2 percent growth of subscribers and is placed fourth on the ranking list.

The closest South Asian country to Pakistan on the list of top countries is Sri Lanka at the 11th spot with its broadband penetration growing in 30s while India lags at the 14th place in terms of broadband growth.

Globally, only Thailand and Belarus had greater percentage expansion than Pakistan, apart from top-rated Serbia during the period.

Pakistan’s digital growth prospects have begun to look brighter lately.

Besides having a large bilingual (English and Urdu) Internet conversant population, Pakistan’s software companies have carved a niche internationally in recent years.

According to government figures, the country’s information technology exports totaled $1.4 billion in the last financial year.

Experts say the IT industry, which adds thousands of skilled workers every year, has the potential to hit multimillion export target within next five to ten years. Additionally, mobile phone and wireless Internet usage are also expanding rapidly.

The survey data shows that China continues to lead the world in total broadband subscribers. As of the first quarter of 2011, China had over 135 million broadband subscribers, with the US at over 88 million subscribers in second place. Japan, German, and France followed China and the US in total subscribers.


http://www.dawn.com/2011/08/30/pakistan-among-top-countries-registering-high-broadband-growth.html

http://www.websiteoptimization.com/bw/1107/

http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/Business/31-May-2011/Pakistan-earning-US-14-bln-through-IT-exports-PM
Riaz Haq said…
Here's a Business Recorder story on PTCL's wireless broadband network coverage in Pakistan:

Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited's (PTCL) EVO wireless broadband has become Pakistan's widest broadband Internet network covering 90 percent of the nation's population in more than 180 cities and towns.

PTCL has also recently expanded coverage of its fastest Nitro Rev B network to 70 cities.

Customers can now cruise with matchless speeds of up to 9.3Mbps with EVO Nitro's Rev B in more than 70 cities.

PTCL's EVO wireless broadband is the only wireless broadband network providing Rev A and Rev B connectivity in Pakistan, giving unlimited data volume downloads in unlimited usage packages.

Its superior 3G experience comes in a variety of pre-paid and post-paid device and connectivity package options that give customers multiple bill payment and pre-paid recharge options to suit their needs.

"PTCL is leading the mobile Internet revolution in Pakistan by continuing to expand and enhance our wireless broadband services to provide seamless coverage," said PTCL Senior Executive Vice-President, Naveed Saeed


http://www.brecorder.com/it-a-computers/206/1165130/
Riaz Haq said…
IPTV grows by 30% in Pakistan, according to RapidTV:

Pakistan Telecommunications Company (PTCL) has registered a growth rate of 30% in customers of its internet protocol television (IPTV) service called Smart TV.

Its content acquisition strategy is reported to be behind the swift development of the IPTV service's customer care, quality of service and enriched content.

PTV dramas, including Fifty Fifty, Aangan Teraah, Aahat, and Dhoop Kinary, have now been added to PTCL Smart TV's video on demand service, as have a range of Hollywood and Bollywood films and children's entertainment.

The company says the service's greater digital picture quality, video on demand flexibility, parental lock feature, and the ability to use advanced attributes such as rewind live TV have proved popular with consumers.

PTCL says it is now striving to achieve a 9% penetration rate for its IPTV service in Pakistan, in line with the global figure for IPTV distribution in broadband homes.


http://www.rapidtvnews.com/index.php/2012031820672/pakistan-iptv-sees-30-rise-in-subscribers.html
Riaz Haq said…
Here's an Al-Arabiya report on Bannu Jail inmates with cell phones & Internet access to Facebook & blogosphere:

A high profile Pakistani prisoner, who escaped on Sunday along with 383 other inmates, was reportedly contributing to several social networking sites including Facebook and blog sites while he was in prison, a report revealed late Monday.

Adnan Rashid was on death row at Bannu Central Prison in northwestern Pakistan for his alleged attempt to assassinate former military ruler Pervez Musharraf in 2003.

But despite the high profile charges against him, Rashid enjoyed the use of cell phones inside the death cell he was held in, allowing him to keep in touch with several journalists through text messaging, the Pakistan-based Dawn news website reported.

Rashid, a former junior technician of the Pakistan Air Force, was among some 384 prisoners who escaped early Sunday from the jail after an attack by insurgents armed with guns, grenades and rockets, officials said.

The attack, claimed by Pakistan’s Taliban movement, started at around 1:00 a.m. (2000 GMT) and continued for two hours, with militants in cars and pick-up trucks shooting and lobbing grenades to force their way into the prison, a senior security official told AFP news agency.

“We have freed hundreds of our comrades in Bannu in this attack. Several of our people have reached their destinations, others are on their way,” a Taliban spokesman said on Sunday.

Rashid was arrested in early 2004 on charges of the alleged assassination attempt, but had continued to plead his innocence while in prison, claiming “that his only crime was that he had voted ‘No’ in the referendum held by the then military president Gen. Musharraf,” the Dawn reported.

As a prisoner, he was questioned by the media in interviews uploaded on to social networking site Facebook, in which he argued against flaws in laws concerning the Pakistani army, air force and navy, while urging the Supreme Court to intervene in his case and those of others who had been detained with him.

In one letter to the Chief Justice, Rashid claimed that at the time of the assassination attempt, he was on duty in Quetta and was picked up by intelligence personnel.

He had recently sent a text message to a group of recipients, who were not identified by the newspaper, which states: “There are millions of cases pending before high courts and Supreme Court, 99.9 percent of these are actually appeals against verdicts of lower courts. Billions of rupees are being spent on higher civil courts so why not this judicial system is replaced by military courts; these are swift, require no judge, no special courtrooms or bars, and most interesting court martial are unchallengeable so no more need of high and supreme courts. It saves time and money of nation. What do you think? From a court martial convict.”


http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/04/17/208348.html
Riaz Haq said…
Here's a Dawn report on fiber optic plans for Pakistan:

Minister of State for Information Technology Anusha Rehman on Thursday announced to lay optic fiber across Pakistan for spreading telecom facilities to create equal opportunities for masses.

She stated this while making a surprise visit to the fiber optic route of Chirah-Lehtrar-Kotli Sattian.

“An optic fiber cable of about 40 km has been laid and has proved to be an asset for a populace of about 101,000 people and further initiatives will be taken in future by the ministry of IT to spread optic fiber across all the union council's of the country to connect the entire nation,” she said.

So far more than 4,250 km of optic fiber cable has been laid to connect the un-served tehsil's and towns. With these achievements, USFCo and ministry of IT has created a success story for the public-private partnership entities nationally and internationally, she added.

“The ministry of IT, Telecom and USFCo stands committed to the envisioned goal of spreading innovative yet affordable ICT and telecom solutions to the masses across the country and this project has particularly played an important role in facilitation of ICT services and has generated socio-economic benefits for the locals of this area.”

Anusha during her visit to the site was accompanied by the secretary MOITT and the senior management of USFCo.


http://dawn.com/news/1059171/it-ministry-to-lay-optic-fiber-across-pakistan-anusha
Zameer Ahmed said…
Pakistan is progressing but with slow speed
Riaz Haq said…
Zong Fiber – The Latest Technology In Town!
By Usama Muneer

https://www.streetbuzz.pk/zong-fiber-latest-technology/

Zong, one of Pakistan’s most popular telecom companies, has introduced the latest technology in town: High-speed fiber optic internet. By doing this, Zong has become the first and only mobile network operator in the country which is offering this advanced and much-anticipated connectivity service. If you’re frustrated by low internet speeds and poor connections, then you can breathe a sigh of relief because this Zong fiber optic technology is the answer to all your prayers!

Previously, Zong has been the pioneer of 4G technology in Pakistan and has since been a popular choice among customers nationwide as provider of quality internet services. Zong has been reported to be the most preferred 4G network with more than 12 million subscribers. Not only this, but the network has more than 11,000 operational 4G sites and thus, has facilitated its users in enhancing their digital experience with speed, efficiency and style.


Recently, The Consumers Association of Pakistan has selected Zong for the “Best in 4G Services” award. Needless to say, this is living proof that Zong has been leading the Pakistani market and is loved by internet users across the country. Furthermore, Zong is committed to continue investing for the expansion of the 4G ecosystem and promises to deliver state of the art services to offer unparalleled connectivity to its uses.

Taking their mission forward, the telecom company has now come up with direct-to-home fiber optic internet which is a step forward towards reinventing internet services in Pakistan. Through this Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) Broadband technology, Zong 4G has committed to deliver top-of-the-line services and the fastest internet speed to its valued customers across the nation.

To launch Zong Fiber, a two-day event will be held in Karachi. To begin with, the service will only be available to select areas in Karachi. The company has also announced that the first 100 connections will enjoy the added benefit of no installation charges. Introducing these latest services, Wang Hua, Zong 4G Chairman and CEO has said,

“Zong Fiber allows us to directly deliver the fastest internet to our valued customers’ homes. We have always endeavored to bring new digital experiences to the lives of our customers. Our objective of people empowerment only strengthens our commitment to provide sustainable and top-of-the-line internet technology to the people of Pakistan.”

Wang Hua has also called the development of Zong Fiber a “tremendous milestone” for the telecom company. It remains to be seen how well customers respond to Zong’s latest advancement and how successful this service is, but with all this in front of us, it’s hard not to have high expectations from Zong’s latest venture.

If the service is as good as it looks, it’s a no-brainer that this will be the future of technology in Pakistan. The tech junkies are buzzing with excitement, and it’s for a good reason!

We absolutely can NOT wait to hear all the reviews from those who get to experience Zong Fiber firsthand, and hopefully try it ourselves soon! The future of internet sure looks bright, and for that, we’re counting on you, Zong!
Riaz Haq said…
Super Fast Gigabit Fiber Internet is Coming to 11 Cities in Pakistan Soon

https://propakistani.pk/2023/06/07/super-fast-gigabit-fiber-internet-is-coming-to-11-cities-in-pakistan-soon/

Pakistan is about to get ultra-fast gigabit fiber internet in eleven cities soon, as per government documents available with ProPakistani.

This document highlights the Public Sector Development Project (PDSP) budget during the period of 2022-2024. It includes a summary of current ongoing projects, future projects, and more under the Ministry of Planning, Development, and Special Initiatives.

Under the Information Technology and Telecom Division, it highlights a new scheme for a project that will expand Gigabit Passive Optical Network (GPON) Fiber to the Home (FTTH) services to eleven cities.

In simpler words, super fast gigabit internet is coming to more cities soon, as mentioned earlier. The project’s approval status is still “under process”, so it will probably be a while before it sees the light of day.

The government has approved a cost of Rs. 800 million and there is no foreign aid on this particular project. An additional Rs. 50 million will be allocated to this project during the course of 2023-2024.

Other Development Projects
The IT section of the document also highlights dozens of other projects the govt is working on at the moment, such as 4 more knowledge parks, a technology park development project, an online recruitment system for FPSC, smart offices for Federal Ministries and Departments, expansion of broadband services in Kashmir and Gilgit, and much more.

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