Telecoms, internet in Pakistan

Here is a Press Release from the PTA. I will attempt to analyse it below. Read on!

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http://www.thenews.com.pk/print1.asp?id=35307

PTA conducts raids on solid evidence

KARACHI: Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) said on Tuesday it has always encouraged both local and foreign investors to invest in the telecom related business and facilitated them in every possible manner.

“Besides, it is evident from the facts and figures of telecom sector that PTA has always encouraged both local and foreign investors to invest in the telecom related business and facilitated them in every possible manner,” said a PTA statement on Tuesday.

It said the PTA always conducted raids against illegal operations on solid evidence and through monitoring of the suspected facility as per law.

“The voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) is a licensed service and not an illegal activity but to run such a facility, a company has to acquire a license from PTA,” it added.

Referring to the latest raid against Cogilent Solutions -an IT firm in Islamabad - the PTA said it was running VoIP without a valid license from PTA.

“The bandwidth provided to the company was for data purposes only as written in the agreement which a DSL customer signs upon taking a connection. In contrast, it was being used for VoIP,” added the statement.

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First of all lets be clear that using VoIP is not illegal, does not need a licence. It is a technology not a service. The legality of using this technology is clear from PTA determination Dir(LE)/45-1/VOIP/Coord/PTA dated 16 November 2002 that clearly and specifically allows use of VoIP.

No where in the Pakistan Telecommunication (Re-Organization) Ordinance 1996 is the term VoIP used or mentioned.

What is illegal, without a licence, is providing a “BASIC TELEPHONE SERVICE”. This usually means termination, which requires setting up of an exchange to route calls to licenced service provider numbers. Cogilent has 4 PTCL lines, no equipment for terminating to GSM or CDMA networks. So no termination in the traditional meaning of the word.

It appears that what Cogilent was doing was using their data link to make VoIP calls between its Islamabad and USA offices. The PTA sometimes thinks that this is illegal.

In any case if a customer signs an agreement with its DSL provider not to use VoIP over that DSL connection then at most this would be grounds for a civil case between the ISP and the customer. For the FIA goons to be involved on the basis of this is ridiculous and illegal.

Finally, evidence of intelligent life in Pakistan Govt.
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By Imran Ayub (undated)

KARACHI: Tremors were running across the telecom industry owing to a tug of war among different institutions as Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) has registered a protest with the federal IT ministry on Pakistan Telecommunication Authority’s (PTA) raid against a call centre running job portal on suspicious illegal operations.

Sources in the industry said the PSEB high-ups appeared annoyed after last week’s incident when plain-clothed officials of the FIA (Federal Investigation Agency) and PTA raided a call centre office in Software Technology Park Islamabad and arrested the professional there seizing telecom equipment on doubts that the set-up was being used for illegal voice termination.

“In fact, the company is one of the first companies in the world to launch an integrated voice resume system based on VoIP (voice over Internet protocol) technologies,” said a senior official who asked not to be named. “And their solution is being used by companies like TRG and others to hire quality talent for their call centres in Pakistan.”

He said the joint FIA-PTA team seized the servers, mobiles and other equipments on the pretext that the company was using it for illegal VoIP termination. The authorities also locked up the company’s CEO.

Telecom sources believe the PSEB’s prompt reaction was noticed in quarters concerned.

The emerging call centres consider it a long-term damage as the raided company was serving mainly the foreign clients.

The call centre operators claim that offices of the raided Cogilent Solutions runs a very successful job portal in the country called BrightSpyre. Among their innovations, the call centre is one of the first companies in the world to launch an integrated Voice Resume system based on VoIP technologies. The situation also rings alarm in industry quarters.

“This step has damaged all efforts we as call centre operators have been doing to promote the Pakistan call centre industry, also all our efforts to attract non-resident Pakistanis to come and work for Pakistani call centre industry,” said a letter to the federal minister from Call Centres Operators Association of Pakistan.

The industry, which is set to meet with the minister on the issue, pinpoints recently privatised Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL). “For the FIA or PTA this might be a routine work, as of today PTA and PTCL have not been able to produce a single piece of equipment or data to proof this company guilty, while there are dozens of proof that PTCL is its self doing termination of grey traffic on behest of their Arab owners,” said the ACCO letter.

Pakistan software industry started testing windfall two years ago on phenomenal jump in the call centres’ operations mainly in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad. More than 140 centres are currently operational in three major cities of the country offering employment to around 5,000 people.

The country’s software exports crossed $70 million during 2005-06 first time ever registering a 50 per cent growth, as western firms started turning more and more to Pakistan for IT-enabled services to cut costs and raise profits.

The authorities, who have set $108 million software export target for 2006-07, however see activities like the previous damaging for the industry and foreign interest in Pakistani industry. “We have to define the policy line, which saves interests of both local and foreign investment,” said the PSEB official. He suggested the PTA and PTCL to approach the board if they notice illegal activity by any call centre or software house.

This is an email from Atif Mumtaz.

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Asalam Alekum,

I wanted to share a recent harrowing experience that my company is going through in Pakistan. First a bit of a background.

I co-founded an internet Startup company, called Cogilent Solutions ( www.cogilent.com), in Islamabad, which runs a very successful job portal in the country called ( BrightSpyre ). Among our innovations, we were one of the first companies in the world to launch an integrated Voice Resume system based on VoIP technologies. And our solution is being used by companies like TRG and others to hire quality talent for their call centers in Pakistan.

On Tuesday Dec 4, Pakistan time, around noon, FIA (Federal Investigation Authority) and PTA (Pak Telecom Authority) walked into our offices, seized all our servers, mobiles and everything on the pretext that we are using it for illegal VoIP termination. They also locked up our current CEO, Faisal Chohan behind bars. Even when we explained to them that we are not doing call terminations, and only develop creative solutions for call centers to use, they would not listen.

Now, we are a small internet startup company based out of Software Technology Park, Islamabad. Nor do we have any connections with any major government or military establishments. We have no interest in call termination or anything of that sort. We are focused on BrightSpyre and bringing software revenue into the country through US based projects. Taking away all our servers means, we cannot deliver on those projects and locking up our CEO without any notices and warnings is also not a good step.

We request PASHA to officially look into the matter and help us resolve this crisis. Especially, the immediate release of our CEO, Faisal Chohan.

Regards,
Atif Mumtaz

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Reuters Digital Vision Fellow
Stanford University
Tele-Healthcare Initiative
www.tele-healthcare.org
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12.12.06, 12:44 AM ET

KUALA LUMPUR (XFN-ASIA) - Telekom Malaysia Bhd said its unit Multinet Pakistan Pte Ltd has entered into capacity supply and service contracts with Telenor Pakistan.

The total value of the two contracts is estimated to be 40 mln usd, it said, adding that the contracts are for 20 years.

Telekom Malaysia controls 78 pct stake in Multinet Pakistan via TM international Sdn Bhd.

In a statement, Telekom Malaysia said the capacity contract will enable Telenor to utilise fibre optic cable pairs and associated co-location facilities along Multinet Pakistan’s national long haul optical fibre transmission network.

Multinet will also provide maintenance and associated services to Telenor under the service contract, it added.