“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.

1. Pakistan is the most connected country in South Asia, with the highest teledensity
2. Pakistan’s communications costs are lower than any other country in the region
3. Pakistan has the world’s largest biometric database (NADRA); this system (not the data)  is now being provided to allied countries
4. Pakistan has the world’s largest WiMAX network
5. Pakistan has one of the world’s most aggressive Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH) rollouts
6. 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)
7. Pakistan was the winner of the 2007 GSM industry association award

Warid Telecom to invest a further $1.5BN in Pakistan by end 2009

Warid Telecom’s cell phone service has been quite a success story. They’ve grown their subscriber base rapidly and are well poised to deliver other services to their customer base. A couple of the big infrastructure efforts they’ve been working on have been through their parent company, Wateen. They’re planning to build their own high-bandwidth Fiber network throughout the country and are also delivering WiMax services to consumers and businesses in Pakistan.

Their investment in Pakistan hasn’t stopped though, because Wateen and Warid see tremendous growth potential over the coming years. Their CEO, Marwan Zawaydeh, and Chief Commercial Officer, Thomas Yeo, recently announced that they would be investing a further $1.5BN in infrastructure development in Pakistan over the next 18 months. Some of this money will be used to double their cell towers to 5,000 sites by end of 2008. Good going Warid! Quotes from a news story and a link to the article after the break.

PTCL launches broadband entertainment portal in Pakistan

PTCL (Pakistan Telecommunications Corporation Ltd.) has an uphill battle ahead of it as the number of its landline subscribers continues to shrink by the day. PTCL’s wireless services, Ufone and VPTCL, have been doing well, but the company still needs to offer value added services and widen its wireless subscriber base if it is to regain the leadership position it once enjoyed in Pakistan’s Telecom market.

After the Etisalat acquisition, we’ve heard at least some noises of the right kind that indicate a move in the value-added direction. One such noise is the launch of PTCL’s broadband entertainment portal. While mobile penetration has grown in leaps and bounds, and by all accounts, about 50% of the country’s population now possesses a cell connection, Broadband penetration remains low. Over the next few years, with services like wired broadband, Fiber to the home (FTTH), DSL, Cable, ISDN and WiMax, a broadband explosion is almost guaranteed. PTCL’s timing with their latest venture, therefore, is not bad… Read the Daily Times story after the break.

Mobilink’s Fiber network in Pakistan to come online by end 2008

Mobilink is currently deploying a very large, 8,500 km fiber optic network in Pakistan which will act as the backbone for its traffic by the end of 2008. An article that just appeared in The Daily Times details the project. Mobilink has already invested about $2.5BN in telecom infrastructure development in Pakistan and is poised to spend another $500M this year. With PTCL’s pioneering fiber network, and Wateen’s Fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) initiative, Mobilink now adds to the list of independent telecom companies investing in significant wired infrastructure. Read on to view extracts from the article and a link.