“Pakistan has world’s largest WiMAX network – Will America catch up?”, wonders TMCnet
The under construction Sheikh Zayed complex in Lahore
Doesn’t that headline just put a smile on your face? You’re not the only one. It’s great to see that the significant human effort augmented by billions of dollars invested in Pakistan’s IT infrastructure and skill-development are bearing tangible fruit. There are several areas where Pakistan is leading the pack already, and others where it is threatening to.
- Pakistan is the most connected country in South Asia, with the highest teledensity
- Pakistan’s communications costs are lower than any other country in the region
- Pakistan has the world’s largest biometric database (NADRA); this system (not the data) is now being provided to allied countries
- Pakistan has the world’s largest WiMAX network
- Pakistan has one of the world’s most aggressive Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH) rollouts
- Pakistan has one of the highest rates of cellular connectivity growth in the world (According to PTA 2007’s report the rate of growth in Pakistan’s mobile sector is fourth highest in the world)
- Pakistan was the winner of the 2007 GSM industry association award
- The US is importing UAVs designed and built in Pakistan to protect America’s borders
- With WLL (CDMA), WiMAX, GSM and FTTH, Pakistan is pretty much leading the pack in terms of diversity and breadth of connectivity
- According to Gartner, Pakistan is a “first category” offshoring location; this ranking has grown by leaps and bounds
- Pakistani companies won several awards at Asia’s APICTA startup/innovation conference and were considered the most “interesting” and cutting edge in Asia
- The world’s youngest Microsoft Certified Professional is a Pakistani and so if the world’s youngest Cisco CCNA professional
- Pakistani students excelled in MIT’s global software talent competition
- Citations of Pakistani scientific publications are rising sharply
- Over two dozen Pakistani scientists are working on the Large Hadron Collider; the grandest experiment in the history of Physics
And I tire listing all of these out… there are so many more. The point is that the Pakistani IT industry is rapidly developing and this is most definitely an area where significant progress is being made, damning all the torpedoes and naysayers. Pretty exciting on its own, right? But progress in IT doesn’t just mean progress in IT. It means a vibrant economy, better healthcare through Telemedicine, increased efficiency in government through record automation (e.g. land records project), a more effective defence, increased outreach for higher education and much more.
Technology is a transformational vehicle for our society. And we’re just now starting to see the impact. Many times, progress in specific areas will appear slow, but in part that is explained by the exponential curves normally associated with technology adoption. When you start small, high growth rates aren’t ‘visible on the ground’ for the first few months or years because the overall numbers remain small. But this changes when you hit the knee of the curve, at which point things are fundamentally transformed and are altered for ever.
In Pakistan, these transformations have occurred in many areas already, and will continue to occur in numerous others. Frankly, I just consider myself lucky to be around to watch the awesome progress unfold!
Hi, great infor
Just want to let you i put this on my site, if no objections
asim, i do object!! you have taken my entire article verbatim and placed it on your site.
you are free to link back to techlahore and include an extract. but please do not copy my content in its entirety.
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it does put a smile on my face, but i think we’re still far from an ecosystem that values technological innovation.
i.e. business(or society) demands productivity -> technology provides it – > business funds technological innovation etc.
shez, sure, but it’s all about degrees. a hurricane needs just a small patch of warm water and awesome things start to develop from that humble beginning.
when the first globally oriented $BN IT company is created in Pakistan it will have tremendous implications for us. everything on the list gets us a few steps closer to that…
great post! now how did you get that lovely border around the image is what i want to know
[...] http://techlahore.wordpress.com/2008/12/14/pakistan-has-worlds-largest-wimax-network-will-america-ca... [...]
[...] http://techlahore.wordpress.com/2008/12/14/pakistan-has-worlds-largest-wimax-network-will-america-ca... [...]
biggest wimax network? how about $%#$@%#$@%#$%$@#$%
[mod: I had to edit this comment because manojar, who is from India, exhibited a fit of angry rage and resorted to, shall we say, an uncivil tone. We can understand manojar's anger and frustration and extend him our sympathies]
Dear All,
However much u boast on the techi advancement of Pak .. .
Rest all are slum-dogs .
It is no not long before .. pakistan will be removed from the world map.
Jai Hind.
[mod: ok, another one we had to edit. We really have no problem in including the right-wing fundamentalist sentiments from india in this discussion, the only issue is that they can't appear on a PG-13 discussion area - such as this one - without heavy editing. Lest you all think we stole the crux of right_wing_indi's argument from him, he was basically threatening that he would destroy Pakistan and kill all 165 million of its inhabitants. Not that I would try and justify his response, I think he probably didn't enjoy reading this post. Oh well. Life is tough.]
Indi, this forum is not against India this forum is not offending your country or anyone then why do you need to paste these harsh comments here? Dont you want peace with us? I would be more then happy if these countries were friends fighting would only get us back to the stone age. Pak is not alone in danger if pak is so is India. Theonly solution to our problems is peace amongst us.
Well, someone is BURNING UP!!…
If ever any fool thought they could take out Pakistan, please know you will come with us..
.. India’s stone age is a button away. Do you really want to go down this route? Your Air Force bases are locked down by Pakistani cruise missiles. You keep deploying soldiers on the border and then get scared and go back to your barracks. So if India wants to live, they should forget about destroying Pakistan.. and stop intervening in Pakistan’s matters… Why did India carry out Islamabad’s Marriot Blast? Why do you have consulates in Afghanistan aiding terror? While India continues its state supported terrorism, in Pakistan we showed responsibility and didn’t put down the efforts of those ppl in both countries who wanted to make peace… Recently, Indian media showed extreme immaturity by pointing fingers at Pakistan before getting to any proof..
Indians should be more concerned about their own country, there is a freedom movement going on the valley of Kashmir, an insurgency going on in Assam, Tamil terrorism that caused Rajiv’s death, Sikh supression that caused Indira Gandhi’s death… The world sees videos daily of how your indian soldiers torture kashmiris and how they stop peaceful rallies organised by Kashmir based political parties.. If you want to surpress their freedom, how can you expect them to stay calm?
Geo Pakistani.
EVERYTHING HAPPENED IN THIS WORLD SPECIALY IN PAK OR IN INDIA BECAUSE OF BUSH ANCLE
I am amazed to see all this whereas the international perception about IT is still about India the biggest IT services provider. How come we are not ‘internationalizing’ this fact and gain international success especially in the Middle East.
I don’t agree that this is about destroying any national. Everyone must be happy that just another nation is coming up which will improve the quality of global IT environment and a healthy competition resulting in better value proposition for the people.
Ashraf, #$%@#$ the international media. We have 160 million voices of our own and plenty of progressive, peaceful avenues to express ourselves. Conventional media is soon going to die its natural death – videos and news sites on the web are where most people get their information. There is no reason why we can’t use this medium to spread our positive message about an innovative, developing, vibrant, spectacular Pakistan to the rest of the world.
INDIA IS A [#$#$#$%@$#$%#$%$] ALSO INDIA WANTS TO BE PART OF [the] NEW WORLD ORDER THER FOR THEY SEE ISLAM AND PAKISTAN AS A PROBLEM FOR [THEMSELVES] THE I.M.F U.N AND OTHER ORAGANISTIONS ARE FULL OF LIES AND INJUSTICE PAKISTAN AND CHINA SHOULD MAKE THEIR OWN ASIAN UNION
yea your right about us being fooled the west use the u.n i.m.f for its own benifits its also un just the west has created groups for itr own intersts the international court of law which used for westrin politacl intersts israel and india broke many internatonal laws but the u.n internaonal law human rights never say any thing to them bush and t.blair killed millions of people did the u.n speak no so pakistan china iran and african nations asian nations latin america should create there own groups which gives justice instead of being fooled by the west
WE ARE STILL NOT FREE
[...] the Quaid-e-Azam more the 61 years ago. Here are a few things I found posted by a fellow blogger on Tech Lahore blog: 1. Pakistan is the most connected country in South Asia, with the highest teledensity. The [...]
We as Pakistani and as Muslim want PEACE all over the world not only in Pakistan.We must be united to defend Pakistan.Indians should not blame Pakistan or any pakistani because they better know that indians are involve in Mumbay attacks.And INSHALLAH Pakistan’ll remain till doomsday.
Love u pakistan.Pakistan hamari jaan.
Pakistan zindabad.
A well-constructed and well-researched post. The last part of the title ‘will america catch up’ was a little misleading (I guess). But may be it is my fault.
Thank you for showing the brighter side of the picture.
“Will America catch up” is actually not my addition – it’s from the TMCnet headline, which I’ve quoted as a reference in #4 above.
[...] Pakistan, Politics and Society by techlahore on December 28th, 2008 Our earlier piece on Pakistan having the world’s largest WiMAX network attracted quite a bit of attention. In addition to other places, it was cited by [...]
Pakistan is my country. Even though I satteled in USA from last 18 years. I love my country. After reading this article I start loving pakistan even more…..
I am in IT field and after reading this article started thinking to do some thing for my country by providing job oppertunities in Pakistan.
Yep internet connection is now getting cheaper and cheaper.
Very good connection are now available in about 10 to 15 Dollar per month with about 40 $ installation charges.
In this depart i thin atleast Bureaucracy and politicians don’t make much of the hurdle.
Indians, Take This:
http://money.cnn.com/2007/02/08/news/international/pluggedin_murphy_india.fortune/index.htm
Beside the last three point which the last one i guess do not relate directly to IT all of the other I feel is not something to be proud of, the growth in telecom here in our country is not a success in technological advancement but investment to earn more…. for sure it is a facility and people are using this willingly.
waah ji waah
I’m proud to be a PAKISTANI.
Azeez, Even if you discount telecom related achievements (and I don’t agree with you, but let’s just go with it for a second…) why are 8,10,11 and 12 not achievements to be proud of?
It is certainly appreciable what Pakistan has achieved in Wifi. Since I read few messages of our neighbours I thought I should also give my point of view as under;
First and foremost I really deeply feel sorry for those who died in Mumbai carnage. They will never come back and their loved ones will have to live their rest of lives without them.
But I fail to understand why would Pakistan do this. We have enough of problems at our hands to handle because of the so called WAR ON TERROR.
I think its part of a big conspiracy. Just look at the timing. A week or ten days before this dreadful event Pakistan and India were getting closer to each other like never before, there were talks on expansion of trade between the two countries, reducing time in visa processing, movies were being exchanged, cricket and other sports were played under a very friendly environment. Pakistani Cricketers playing for ICL and IPL were so much appreciated with love by Indians. Wasim Akram talking loud and clear in favour of the Great Sunil Gavaskar when I think Shane Warn or Gilchrist had written something against the little master. President of Pakistan making a statement that “there is a bit of Indian in every Pakistani and bit of Pakistani in every Indian”, I think the west and the fanatics on both sides did not like this at all. Knowing us well it was very easy for them to sow a seed of hatred killing the newly born plant of peace and love.
Also it is hard to digest that the ever vigilant Indian Security who every now and then (rightly though) catches Innocuous Pakistani Fisherman for breach of water border, failed to catch a boat full of young terrorists and mercenaries with so much of guns and ammunition so as to hold back the forces of Indian police, paratroopers, special army and what not and went on killing for three days in a modern city like Mumbai?
And if all of the above is true then the Indian Army should think twice before attacking Paklistan, where death in a war is nothing but SHAHADAT, the highest and ultimate honour for any Muslim.
These days the terrorists prefer blowing themselves up. How come this one did not. And how about the other 9 or 10 dead accomplice, who were they? and what were their identities?.
I mean if my dear Indians can just think out of box they won’t buy this story. Let us not fall pray to this big conspiracy against masses of the Sub-Continent.
Paki’s rule!!
Rest of the world, BEWARE!!!
It is sad to see such immature responses to a very well written and informative article. Being a part of the IT industry here in Pakistan, I am obviously very pleased to read such a positive and motivating article for a change.
I was getting rather sick of reading about all the gloom and doom in the news these days. If only more people would report on the “good” things happening as much as they do the “bad”. Unfortunately finding good news takes a lot more effort than bad, and people usually don’t want to make the effort.
Thanks for posting this, I will be checking your blog regularly for updates on the matter.
[...] "Pakistan has world’s largest WiMAX network – Will America catch up?", wonders TMCnet http://techlahore.wordpress.com/2008…onders-tmcnet/ Doesn’t that headline just put a smile on your face? You’re not the only one. It’s great to see [...]
[...] by Nabeel Ahmad Khan [...]
Just goes to prove that when we want, we can do it, and, have done it!!
Your research and post is a proof.
We need to get out of the box – start thinking big – concentrate all our efforts towards achieving goals – aim should be for improving ourselves.
Shahbaz Azmi
Your research and post proves
wow great man many thanks for this information.
[...] Article courtsy of Tech Lahore continue reading. [...]
You’re welcome, Yasir!
I m not surprised to not watch this on private channel (GEO ARY AAJ EXPRESS) because they only show clashes etc they are funded by india and other anti pakistan people
We have some problems created by Afghan and Indians we will inshAllah overcome all these problem soon and will come up as great nation
To my indian friends pls do not distrub us. If u create problems for us then u guys will also suffer and don’t forget 1947. May be this time some one gets another land
@You are right. My bad.
@techlahore:
You are right. My bad.
I heard lots of comments from typical Indians who talk about war with Pak destruction, killing, etc. I have a humble suggestion for them, try feed and give shelter to your billions of poor peoples and if you have anything left from your super wealth spend it on your weapons and take on the whole world.
BUT:
Pakistanis in the Wimax business should be congratulated; it shows what can be achieved in Pakistan in spite of our dishonest and moneylaundering leaders. There is however a basic problem. Just as Indian technical advance is not transcendent into civility (shown by comments of some Indians in your column), Pakistan’s sporadic advance is not linked to becoming a civilized societal structure. For example , I cannot reserve my seats in PIA or in the railways over the internet or travel on PIA with my dignity intact; I cannot safely get to my home in Pakistan from the airport after dark;Pakistan is the only developing country where poverty and illiteracy have increased in the last decade; moneylaundering is fashion of any day; being a professor I cannot find out what research is being done at our universities in spite of millions spent; 70 percent of our population lives without electricity and potable water in raw housing ( Katchi abadis ); almost the same has no access to a paved road; we virtually have no medical help for the poor etc. etc. We have a Nobel Prize winner in Physics but this does not mean anything to physics in Pakistan. Our chest-beating on wireless advances is a symptom of asymmetric development. This is not to ignore that India has not been doing much better, it having created a two class society, 5% class being the elite one and has a dismal record of providing opportunities and dignity to their major minorities. Pakistan will go nowhere if it does not effectively deal with feudalism and provincialism. It’s tribal culture needs urgent reforms in order to survive a high tech universe..
Dr. Zubairi,
I empathize with your frustration, but please understand that Pakistan doesn’t owe us anything. If you think we have money laundering leaders it is because our people elected them. No complaints allowed in this department. If you still have your Pakistani passport, please come back and join one of the parties in opposition to convince people to vote a different way in the next election.
Frankly, I would have a lot more respect for your comments if you had also shared what you have personally done to make Pakistan a better place to live in.
And as for the specifics of your comments, perhaps some of the shortcomings you see are simply because you haven’t looked hard enough? Could that be a possibility?
Regarding citations of Pakistani research, please see the following:
http://techlahore.wordpress.com/2008/09/24/pakistan-tops-the-list-of-countries-with-fastest-growing-scientific-citations/
Healthcare can be improved greatly, but if you objectively look at any statistics in this area you will see that both the quality and quantity of healthcare facilities in the country has increased. A few years ago, there was no PIMS, no Shaukat Khanum, no Aga Khan… and the bulk of patients these institutions treat are for no charge. Telemedicine is also being implemented in Pakistan. Take a look at:
http://www.telmedpak.com/
What do you mean by Dr. Salam’s award meaning nothing to Physics in Pakistan? Can you list out the hundreds of Pakistanis who have benefited from Dr. Salam’s ICTP institute? Can you name the up and coming physicists from Pakistan – in areas such as string theory – who name Dr. Salam as their inspiration? Do you think Pakistanis would have had access to the ICTP if Dr. Salam, was say a Bulgarian?
If you don’t like PIA, fly Air Blue. It is as much a product of Pakistan as PIA is. You can book your tickets online (now PIA allows this too) and in the 50 or so times I’ve flown with them, I have zero complaints. And, oh, by the way, can you fly on United, American or Continental with your dignity intact? You might try wearing a T-shirt that says ‘Happy New Year’ in Arabic or Urdu, next time and please share your experiences with us. Please see: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/5297822.stm
Pakistan FIRST!
highest regards,
Tech Lahore
Tech Lahore! Great post and great counter-comments by you.
Tech Lahore! Excellent Answer to these Pro-Americans..Wt their own identity is they dont even know this…Living in USA as third rated citizens n hated as Muslims What they think they have achieved
…
I need to know one thing what is TMCNET?
Thanks,
Asim
all what u say is right! but can u tell me how many times the load shedding happens in pakistan. what are we going to do with the machine if we don’t have the power to run it. why dont u create some solar energy or some other strong efficient way to cope this problem? I believe in my brothers that they will! INSHALLAH.
we have to keep our nation building bro, and indeed we are passing through very tough times that doesn’t mean that we keep remembering that this is not here that is not available.. What ever is available we will create new morning new evening with scratch INSHALLAH. we will not think like losers what ever we have we ll use it and make it worthwhile. yeh!. Pakistan PAINDABAAD
Point no 1, 8, 14 and 15 are misleading and simply not true.
Oz, what you are saying is completely untrue and without any evidence. All points have been backed up by cited news items. Your views are worthless.
Pakistan is developing country,world know that Pakistan has potential to grow and strengthen with lot of our people alredy has precious work to show,thats why world is against us, they want us to involve in our core issues such as electricity,gas,water and social unstability so that our nation will get no time to think and act,if we are more relax and independent we can invent much more and could be most powerful nation of the world, i m sure indians will not like this comment.
Oz, you better follow the links given and see it for urself, not only oz but everybody visiting this page should follow the links and confirm it by themselves, stop leaving these loser kinds of ideas, every country is nowadays trying to make both ends meet nowadays and LYING is the best weapons that losers like oz use.
It is highly immature and fundamentalism to post all those bull**sh!ts by ignorant people to a well written article like this one. I am thrilled by the news that Pakistan is heading towards a well reputed nation even in the midst of internal troubles. The fundamentalism will not help you to reach anywhere or hate towards India should not be the base for Pakistan’s growth. Let Pakistan come up as a developed nation for the sake of its people not to challenge India or US.
Thats really awesome …
Most of the time Pakistani do not see these achievements do not promote them, and create bad image of Pakistan. I am impressed the post….
Keep posting
Hi !
I been reading this article and all the remarks and decided to put my views to every one contributing in this blog.
First of all being Pakistani i am the proud person to day that Pakistan have achieved another milestone, specially in very bad circumstances when we have more enemies than friends.
Secondly though there is no need to make any comparisons between Pakistan and India as both countries have entirely different circumstances where most of the countries are boosting and promoting india so that in future they can benefit from it in context to great China, on the other hand Pakistan is standing alone and today what ever Pakistan and its people have achieved is their own efforts and without foriegn push ups.
Today all those young Pakistani’s working hard to make their country proud i pay my saalam
Pakistan is Great Country, and many it professional are returning here for doing great work
Fiber,
I like what you are saying. with more and more people like you saying good things, Pakistan will sound better and better
Hey great research and a great post! Shows the much-needed bright side of the current Pakistan.
As for all the hate-spam going on in the comments, I’d say just delete all of it.
I am here for the first time and i find this blog news the best.
What about the health hazards associated with such a strong electromagnetic field penetrating millions of people 24 hours a day in a dense city like Lahore?
Don’t you think there is a reason why the so called developed nations, in general, have not built a wimax infrastructure?
[...] Calling all Hackers, Makers and Builders in Pakistan 3. TechLahore’s predictions for 2009 4. “Pakistan has the world’s largest WiMAX network – will America catch up?”, wonders… 5. Pakistan’s growing software expertise increasing its defence capabilities 6. Is Linux EVER [...]
Hey There Indians ! …
lol, can’t absorb this article eh ? pretty hard innit ? why dontcha GO FUCK YOURSELFS !!!
and yeah … about slumdogs … its you guys cryin’ out that the world calls you the country filled with slumdogs ! hey look, there is a movie on you guys ! lovin’ being famous eh, you indians ?
how bout makin’ a world record by sitting on the world’s tallest pole ? gonna be fun suckers !
and yeah, i won’t respect those who don’t respect us, whereas i will pray for a better success for those who praise our success …
peace.
Pakistan Zindabad.
Wait until Pakistan escapes all its current misery! Its IT sector will be booming
[...] a country that has seen its stock exchange go up by 30% this year, a country that is significantly increasing development spend and bringing alternate energy projects online, developing new dams, increasing high-technology [...]
[...] “Pakistan has world’s largest WiMAX network – Will America catch up?”, wonders TMCnet [...]