BlogPost Pk

Mobilink Posts Flat Revenue Growth During Q1 2013

Mobilink posted a steady increase in revenues in first quarter of 2013 to reach Rs. 27.2 billion, up from 25.9 billion during the same duration a year ago.

Revenues were mainly hit by tough regulatory environment, persistent energy shortage and law and order situation that resulted into government forced network outages.

Mobilink, on other hands, took necessary measures to strengthen its position with given circumstances by mitigating the impact of regulatory restrictions on retail channel sales for new SIMs by changing the distribution structure through direct agreements with selected retailers and focusing on reactivation offers.

Company’s ARPU stood at Rs. 243.9, while mobile data revenues increased by 27%.

Mobilink – in the group financial statement – said that its EBITDA grew 5.5 percent to PKR 11.5 billion from PKR 10.9 billion a year earlier.

Mobilink said that average minutes used per month per user stood at 228, up from 215 during same duration last year.

CCP chairperson, 4 member authority questioned in SHC

KARACHI - Appointment of Chairperson Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) Rahat Konain Hasan and other four members of CCP has been challenged in the Sindh High Court )SHC) Karachi bench here on Monday. 

Supreme Court lawyer Rana Azmul Hassan had filed a writ petition CP No D 1942 of 2013 through Zia-ul-Haq advocate and contended that appointments of Rahat Konain Hasan and other members were made under competition commission ordinance which had lapsed on 16-08-2010, adding that the present competition commission act 2010 was promulgated on 13-10-2010.

The petitioner contended that notification of appointment was under defunct ordinance and unfortunately, through another notification dated 15.01.201, the federal government erred in law to give retrospective effect of the appointment of the chairperson.
The petitioner further argued in the writ petition that the said appointments have been made in violation of the provision of the competition Act 2010 and Constitution of Pakistan as the notification for appointment of the chairperson and the four members were not validated under the new Competition Act therefore, the notification dated 15-01-2011 was null and void.

Justice Faisal Arab and Justice Shafi Siddiqui of SHC took up the petition on Monday and issued notices for May 30 and sought comments from the federal government on the legality of the appointment of the chairperson and four members of CCP.
It is pertinent to mention here that recently CCP had passed two significant orders on Fauji Fertilizer, Engro Corporation and LDI’s involving more than Rs 15 billion fine and in case of acceptance of the petition status of those orders by CCP, administration would be questioned.

Nokia Announces Dual-SIM Asha 501 Smartphone

Nokia has announced its Asha 501 smartphone to debut the Asha Platform, claimed by Nokia to offer innovative user interface, a faster and seamless mobile operating system for low-to-mid level smartphones.

Asha 501 comes with solid build and colours at an affordable price. It supports single SIM or easy-swap Dual SIM features.

Design

Nokia says that its Asha 501 offers high-end design and build-quality accessible to more people through this affordable phone. Nokia Asha 501 comes in just two parts: a durable, removable casing and the scratch-resistant glass display, which features a three-inch, capacitive touchscreen and a single ‘back’ button.

Asha weighs only 98 grams and comes in six colours.

User Interface

Asha platform is said to make things easier for people to access anything they like with a simple swipe and a choice of two main screens: Home and Fastlane. Home is a traditional, icon-based view for launching individual apps or accessing a specific feature, like the dialler or phone settings. The new Fastlane view was inspired by how people really use their phone. Recently accessed contacts, social networks and apps, unique to each person, are stored and presented in Fastlane. It provides a record of how the phone is used, giving people a glimpse of their past, present and future activity, and helping them multi-task by providing easy access to their favorite features.

Asha Platform

Nokia has this tendency of introducing various mobile operating platform, but not sticking to anyone. Asha platform is hoped to be more usual for the firm and should become a primary platform for Asha series of phones.

The new Asha platform provides developers with an open, standards-based environment for creating quality apps for consumers. Developers can create apps for the Nokia Asha 501 that will be compatible with future Asha platform-based devices.

Nokia gives developers the chance to make more money through the global reach of Nokia Store and tools like Nokia In-App Payment and Nokia Advertising Exchange (NAX), as well as Nokia’s unparalleled operator billing network.

Nokia said that Asha already offers some popular applications including CNN, eBuddy, ESPN, Facebook, Foursquare, Line, LinkedIn, Nimbuzz, Pictelligent, The Weather Channel, Twitter, WeChat, World of Red Bull and games from Electronic Arts, Gameloft, Indiagames, Namco-Bandai and Reliance Games. WhatsApp and other key partners continue to explore new Asha.

48 Days of Battery

Nokia Asha 501 is claimed to offer whooping 48 days of battery stand-by – when using a single SIM.

Specs of Nokia Asha 501

• Dimensions:  99.2 x 58 x 12.1 mm; 98 grams
• Camera: 3.2 MP
• Single SIM standby time: up to 48 days**
• Dual SIM standby time: up to 26 days**
• Talk time: up to 17 hours
• Additional memory of 4GB (card included in box), expandable up to 32GB
• Forty free EA Games worth €75 downloadable from Nokia Store
• Available colours: Bright Red, Bright Green, Cyan, Yellow, White and Black

Availability and Price

Nokia Asha 501 is expected to start shipping in June 2013 at around Rs. 10,000 or around.

PTCL organizes Talent Show for Employees

Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) organized an exhilarating fun gala entitled “PTCL’s Got Talent” a Talent Show for Employees & their Families. It entailed competitions of on-stage performances and alluring non-performing arts by talented employees and their family members in categories of recitation, Hamd-O-Naat, acting, singing, dancing, painting, flower arrangement and photography. 

The theme of “PTCL Got Talent” resonated with the aim of building a culture focusing on employee engagement and participation. It brought out the talents of thousands of employees from all the Regions of the company. Top five finalists were selected from each category by eminent judging panels through competitive series of auditions backed by online voting carried out by PTCL employees. 

The Final Competition of Recitation, Hamd-O-Naat held at the PTCL Headquarters was graced by Mr. Junaid Jamshed as the guest of honor and judge. The Grand Finale of PTCL’s Got Talent held at the Pakistan National Council of Arts was attended by Farah Hussain, Agha Nasir, Kanwal Naseer, Abbas Ali Khan, Naheeda Raza, Leyla Zuberi as judges of the categories of acting, singing, dancing, painting, flower arrangement and photography. 

President & CEO PTCL, Mr. Walid Irshaid; Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Arif Nizami; Federal Minister for Information Technology, Dr. Sania Nishtar; PTCL Senior Executive Vice President HR, Syed Mazhar Hussain; other senior officials and honorable dignitaries attended the Grand Finale along with a large gathering of PTCL employees and their families. Syed Mazhar Hussain, PTCL Senior Executive Vice President (SEVP) HR, while speaking at the occasion said, “PTCL is proud of the diversity of its work force and recognizes and rewards their unique contribution to our company”. 

PTCL’s Got Talent has created an exciting and stimulating environment within PTCL, where all employees have actively participated to win prizes like Umrah Package, Cell phones, Home appliances, Cameras, and Cash Prizes. The Grand Finale was concluded by popular musician and singer Fakhir who invigorated and energized all PTCL employees and their families present at the event.

Sony Unveils 2 New Entry Level Fit Laptops

Sony has made a valuable addition to its VAIO series of laptops by adding new notebooks in a new line-up called ‘Fit’, which will replace all the line-ups which came earlier. The two laptops, the Fit and Fit E are two impressive packages which don’t cost an arm and a leg.

Notable improvements have been made in both of these laptops. Both of them offer optical drive, high resolution displays, a simple, striking design, backlit keyboard and also touchscreens.

Sony VAIO Fit

The Fit starts at $649 and is the better of the two. It comes in 14 or 15 inch versions, with resolution of 1600 x 900 and 1920 x 1080 pixels respectively, along with touchscreens for easy navigation around Windows 8. It will come with Intel Core processors (from i3 to i7), optional Nvidia graphics and hard drive, along with SSD which will all vary with the price and model of the laptop. It will also come ClearAudio+ for better sounds.

The Fit 14 starts at a reasonable $649 while the Fit 15 at $699.

Sony VAIO Fit E

The Fit E is the cheaper of the two and is more or less of a similar package. It will be available in either 14 or 15 inch models with displays having resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels and touchscreens. It will also offer Intel Core line-up of processors, optional Nvidia graphics and hard drive, all depending upon the price of the model you’ll choose. The VAIO Fit E will also run on Windows 8.

The Fit E starts at a very attractive $549 for the 14 inch model and $579 for the 15 inch model. Both of these laptops will be available in Steel Black, Steel Silver and Steel Pink flavors.

The laptops will be available later this month.

Ufone’s Nazir Eyes International Glory in Golf

Muhammad Nazir, who won the 42nd Pakistan Open Golf Championship this Sunday, is now looking forward to making his presence felt aboard, especially on the lucrative Asian Tour.

“I know that I have it in me to do well in golf events abroad,” Nazir was quoted as saying. “Having won Pakistan’s biggest golf tournament, I believe I have the game and the confidence to win international laurels for my country,” he stressed.

Nazir has been playing golf for more than a decade but it’s only since last year that he has proved himself as one of the most consistent players on the national circuit.

For the Islamabad golfer, the big change came when Ufone – his long-time sponsors – decided to send him for a training session in the United States last year.

Nazir attended a United States Golf Teachers Federation (USGTF) training session in March 2012 and that experience seems to have changed him as a golfer.

Before March, Nazir was ranked 13th in Pakistan but since then he has climbed up the rankings’ ladder and is now placed at number 4 just behind Pakistan No 1 Shabbir Iqbal, Matlood Ahmed and Muhammad Munir.

In the five tournaments prior to the Pakistan Open, Nazir claimed the Bank Al-Habib title in Karachi, finished second in both the Punjab Open in Gujrat and Crescent Cup in Faisalabad. Since his return from the US, Nazir has finished among the top ten in all the events he has taken part in.

“Having a sponsor who is ready to support you all the way makes a huge difference for a player,” says Nazir. “For me Ufone’s support is vital because without it I was just struggling. I’m sure that with their support I would do even better in the future”

Nazir is not the only golfer being sponsored by Ufone. Since February last year, the company has been backing several golfers including Shabbir Iqbal (Pakistan No.1), Matloob Ahmed (Pakistan No.2), Muhammad Munir (Pakistan No.3) and Muhammad Nazir (Pakistan No.4). It has also signed on six other upcoming players who have the talent to become top class professionals.

Ufone has been supporting Golf for over a decade now. It is certainly a huge initiative in a cricket-mad country where sports like golf seldom attract the attention of commercial organisations.

Salman Wassay, Chief Commercial Officer Ufone, believes his company’s investment in Pakistan golf would pay off.

“Being a Pakistani Telecom company we take pride in supporting and developing sports activities and to nurture the talented youth of the country. Golf is an upcoming sport in Pakistan and we envision that our commitment to the sport will help bring in results that will lead to international acclaim,” Wassay said.