Second Semifinal of PTCL Group’s largest E-Sports gaming competition, GameKey Arena to kick off today

Islamabad: 20 of the best gaming squads will partake in an epic PUBG MOBILE showdown today in the second semifinal of ‘GameKey Arena’ – the largest E-Sports gaming tournament organized by PTCL and Ufone 4G on their newly launched gaming platform ‘GameKey’.

The first semifinal hosted a fierce battle between 20 squads of Group A of GameKey Arena Tournament yesterday. 5 winning squads made it to the Grand finale that is set to take place on 12^th February 2023 in Lahore.

Here are the finalists from Group A.

KOD Esports
The Grounders
SORRYXDARTH
The Finishers
Team Impact

The 2^nd Semifinal will be played between the 20 squads of Group B today, who will be competing for the next five slots in the Grand finale, which will also include a select group of six established PUBG MOBILE teams especially invited to the tournament from across the country.

Here is a list of the 20 squads of Group B that will be competing this evening:

3x Esports
R3G Esports
52 Esports
TEAM ELVATE
MYTHICALS
DXR Esports
GNPxSpetsnaz
UNBxNoFear
Rule breaker
TEAM NIGHTMARE
PTG
7SINSxMyth Esports
PYRO 2.0
Hot Esports
SpinsEsports
141xRPG
War esports
69ESPORTS
Renegades
Redzone Esports

Nearly 700 PUBG MOBILE Squads registered themselves for ‘GameKey Arena’ to put their talent, skills, and agility to test against the best teams in the country. 40 best squads made it through the qualifiers to the semifinals. The best 16 teams will battle it for the crown of the ultimate PUBG MOBILE Kings of the country apart from a PKR 3 Million pool prize.

PTCL and Ufone 4G introduced ‘GameKey’ – a state-of-the-art gaming service to provide convenient access to a curated collection of the most popular online games in Pakistan on a single platform for all data users in Pakistan, regardless of their data networks.

Online gaming and PUBG MOBILE enthusiasts can catch the action live on Ufone 4G’s official YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioBx7MPkgvk

‘GameKey Arena’ is the inaugural E-Sports gaming tournament that is poised to be an annual gaming festival for gaming enthusiasts and skilled professional gamers alike as the platform aims to explore new gaming talent in Pakistan.

Squad registrations for PKR 3 Million PUBG MOBILE tournament under PTCL Group’s ‘GameKey Arena’ close tonight

The registration process for the epic nationwide PUBG MOBILE tournament under PTCL Group’s biggest e-sports gaming tournament, ‘GameKey Arena’ will close tonight.

With an over whelming response, more than 3500 players have entered the contest to battle it out for the coveted crown of PUBG MOBILE Champion. Registrations are open for professional and aspiring players till midnight of 30^th January 2023. So get registered now to avail the chance to compete with Pakistan’s best gaming talent in the country’s biggest gaming arena.

Following the closure of registrations at midnight, the nationwide qualifiers will take place from the 1^st to the 8^th of February, 2023. Squads from all over Pakistan will show their skill of dominance in the online preliminary round. 10 top squads prevailing in the initial round and 6 nations top PUBG MOBILE teams will be invited to Lahore for the Grand Finale, taking place on 12^th February.

PTCL Group’s ‘GameKey Arena’ is being organized under its newly launched gaming platform ‘GameKey’ which provides one-window access to a curated list of the most popular games to all data users in Pakistan. It is the inaugural edition of ‘GameKey Arana’, however, the tournament is poised to be an annual e-sports festival for gaming enthusiasts across Pakistan.

Professional PUBG MOBILE players and gaming enthusiasts may register their squads before the cut-off time by following this link. https://www.ufone.com/gamekey-registration/

PTCL Group set to launch the third cohort of ‘Justuju’ to upskill persons with disabilities

Islamabad – Pakistan’s largest telecommunication and ICT services provider, PTCL Group signed an agreement with the Network of Organizations Working for People with Disabilities Pakistan (NOWPDP) and Deaftawk to launch the third cohort of its flagship skill training program, Justuju for professional development of persons with disabilities (PWDs). For the 3^rd cohort, the program duration has been extended from six weeks to six months with two months of soft skills training and four months of on-the-job training to allow extended mentorship and learning for professional success.

Justuju internship program is one of the most sought-after internship programs, designed to bridge the gaps in the society through social and economic inclusion of persons with disabilities. Talented individuals are prepared for career through robust training and hands-on experience under expert mentorship at PTCL and Ufone offices.

The program will be implemented in collaboration with NOWPDP, which works to promote socioeconomic inclusion of persons with disabilities, and Deaftawk that bridges the communication gap between individuals with speaking and hearing impairment and the rest of society through qualified interpreters and digital tools. Group Chief People Officer, PTCL & Ufone, Shoaib Baig; Chief Operating Officer NOWPDP, Muneeba Haroon and Project Manager, Deaftawk, Tehmina Zafar signed the agreement on behalf of their organizations. Encouraged by the resounding success of the previous cohorts, the partnering institutions decided to restructure the program and extend its duration to allow for enhanced learning and skill development of the interns.

Speaking at the occasion, Group Chief People Officer, PTCL & Ufone, Shoaib Baig said, “Justuju is one of the key business initiatives by PTCL Group to promote diversity and inclusion within our own ranks and across the corporate world. Nearly 6 percent of Pakistan’s population has some form of disability and excluding them from our socioeconomic system can deprive the country of a valuable talent pool. Justuju was conceived to do our humble part by helping include differently abled people in the process. We are grateful to NOWPDP and Deaftawk for their continued support that helped this program see the light of day.”

Chief Operating Officer, NOWPDP, Muneeba Haroon said, “We are excited to collaborate with PTCL and Ufone to enable and empower the persons with disabilities. Justuju is a successful model and the conducive work environment and support system PTCL and Ufone provide to the interns at the workplace have driven its success. As before, NOWPDP will help identify suitable candidates and provide disability sensitization training to PTCL and Ufone teams, so they are able to fully support the initiative.”

“Deaftawk is proud to be a part of this landmark initiative to help change the course of life for special persons in Pakistan,” Project Manager, Deaftawk, Tehmina Zafar said, “We have been working to promote inclusion of special persons through specialized interpretation services to help in their daily lives. As before, we will facilitate all the training session by providing qualified sign language interpreters to help both the interns and trainers communicate. We hope our contribution will ease the process of learning and growth for the interns.”

PTCL signs agreement with evision to launch its video streaming platform in Pakistan

Islamabad – Pakistani telecom company, PTCL has signed an agreement with evision – the media and entertainment wing of global telecom services provider, e& – to launch its own video streaming platform in Pakistan. The new Digital Video Over-The-Top (OTT) platform will host the richest collection of Hollywood and Pakistani entertainment content besides a rich assortment of national and international news and sports channels, thereby catering to the diverse news and entertainment needs of everyone in the family.

Group Chief Commercial Officer, PTCL & Ufone, Adnan Anjum and Chief Executive Officer, evision, Olivier Bramly inked the agreement during GITEX Global 2022 in Dubai, where senior executives including President and Group CEO, PTCL & Ufone, Hatem Bamatraf and Chief Executive Officer, e& life, Khalifa Al Shamsi were also present. evision is the media and entertainment wing of global telecom giant, e& and the leading provider of media and entertainment content in the MENA region.

evision-led consortium has the majority shares in the leading video streaming platform in MENA, StarzPlay that will technically help PTCL with deploying the new Digital Video OTT Platform to host movies and seasons from leading Hollywood studios in addition to Pakistani films and dramas to cater to a wide range of viewership in the country. The new Digital Video OTT platform will also offer access to over one hundred news and sports channels and a lot of educational and fun content for children.

Sharing his thoughts regarding the agreement, President and Group CEO, PTCL & Ufone, Hatem Bamatraf said, “I am grateful to evision for their support in this initiative that furthers our efforts to diversify our services and positively impact more aspects of our customer’s lives. Technology is the most effective enabler of our age, and we continuously strive to harness its potential for our customers’ benefit. We find news and entertainment a huge part of our people’s lives and it offers us a good opportunity to reinvent television and online streaming experience to bring them more control and choice in their viewing.”

In his comments, Chief Executive Officer, e& life, Khalifa Al Shamsi said, “evision is the leading media and entertainment content aggregator in the MENA region. We are glad to work with PTCL to extend our services to the people of Pakistan to help them enjoy high-quality content with greater ease and access. Pakistan is a huge market that needs a homegrown video streaming platform that can better understand the people’s choices and preferences and caters to them accordingly.”

The new video streaming platform is expected to be launched soon. It will be accessible to all data subscribers in addition to PTCL users at affordable prices.

PTCL Group, Akhuwat deliver food packages to flood-affected communities in Balochistan

Karachi – PTCL Group in collaboration with Akhuwat Foundation has delivered food packages to flood-affected communities in Balochistan that have been facing food shortages in the wake of recent monsoon floods.

The food assistance initiative is part of PTCL Group’s PKR 1.75 billion pledge towards relief and rehabilitation of the devastated communities across the country.

Sharing his thoughts, Head of PR & Corporate Communication, PTCL & Ufone, Amir Pasha, said, “PTCL Group collaborated with Akhuwat to provide food assistance to the people, especially women, children, and the elderly. As nutrition is the most fundamental need at this time, the support will provide relief to the communities. I sincerely believe that relieving the communities of the worry for basic commodities will help them focus their energies on rehabilitation and return to normalcy.”

PTCL Group was one of the first responders to the calamity by opening doors of its medical centers across the country to provide medical assistance to the flood-affected communities. In addition to this, Ufone 4G provided free calls across the flood-hit districts to aid in rescue and relief activities, while the Group has been providing food and clean drinking water to people in Sindh and Balochistan to protect them from malnutrition and waterborne diseases.

Being a Pakistani company, PTCL Group will continue to support with more such initiatives and interventions in the coming weeks.

PTCL Group and Akhuwat collaborate to provide food assistance to affected families in Balochistan

Lahore: PTCL Group and Akhuwat Foundation collaborated to provide food assistance to flood affected families in five districts of Balochistan, including Qilla Saifullah, Loralai, Sibi, Lasbela and Lasbela (Uthal). President and Group CEO, PTCL & Ufone, Hatem Bamatraf presented a cheque to Dr. Amjad Saqib, Founder and Chairman Akhuwat Foundation in Lahore.

Speaking at the ceremony, President and Group CEO PTCL, Hatem Bamatraf said: “PTCL Group appreciates Akhuwat Foundation’s role in bringing relief to the flood affected communities across the country and would like to help the foundation to reach out to more deserving families. The scale of devastation is unprecedented, which is why it is important that everyone contributes to the relief and rebuilding process. Being a Pakistani company, PTCL Group has extended a helping hand during these testing times. The contribution to Akhuwat is part of PTCL Group’s PKR 1.75 billion pledge for relief activities and I hope it will help rehabilitate displaced families.”

Also speaking at the event, Founder & Chairman Akhuwat Foundation, Dr. Amjad Saqib said: “We are grateful to PTCL Group for extending the much-needed support to the flood affected communities of Balochistan. The impact on local communities is extremely overwhelming and the relief and rehabilitation work needs to be paced up. I find it heartening that the corporate sector is stepping up to make a difference in the lives of people, who have lost family members, homes and sources of sustenance. I am positive that our nation will emerge stronger from the crisis due to its resilience and unwavering support from organizations such as PTCL.”

PTCL Group has taken multiple initiatives to provide relief to the flood affected communities. Earlier, PTCL opened the doors of its medical centers nationwide to provide emergency health and care to the affected communities. In addition, despite power outages, Ufone 4G worked round the clock to ensure that its mobile network remained operational to aid relief activities, besides offering free calls to help people stay in touch with their friends and family.

PTCL Group opens doors of its Medical Centers for flood affected people

Islamabad: Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) Group has opened the doors of its medical centers for flood affected people in Swat, Dera Ismail Khan, Sukkur, Mirpur Khas, Larkana, Hyderabad, Malir-Karachi and Quetta. The centers will operate to facilitate and treat people injured in flood related accidents or fallen ill due to water-borne diseases.

Heavy rains and flooding have caused irreparable losses to life and property across the length and breadth of the country, laying waste to large swathes of settlements, bazars, standing crops and urban centers in Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan and Sindh. The government of Pakistan has declared emergency across dozens of districts in all four provinces, prompting emergency response to the floods. Responding to the emergency, PTCL Group in an endeavor to support the disaster struck communities is extending its medical facilities to the communities affected.

Speaking on the initiative, Shoaib Baig, Group Chief People Officer, PTCL & Ufone said: “Being Pakistani companies, PTCL and Ufone feel great responsibility to stand by our people during this hour of great anguish caused by the recent floods. We are taking all possible measures within our reach to bring some comfort and solace to our distressed brethren.”

Besides, working tirelessly to maintain uninterrupted connectivity for continuation of rescue and relief activities, PTCL Group’s decision to leverage its physical infrastructure will facilitate the people in the affected areas and share some burden of the stressed public health infrastructure of the country.

Ministry of Federal Education & Professional Training signs contract with PTCL to run 04 educational channels on PTCL Smart TV App

Islamabad: Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training (MoFEPT) and Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) signed an agreement for the provision of 04 educational OTT channels in order to deliver educational content to students across the country, at a ceremony in Islamabad on Thursday. The channels will boost accessibility to quality educational content to foster learning and growth amongst students of different age groups.

Minister of Federal Education & Professional Training, Rana Tanveer Hussain was the Chief Guest at the occasion. Federal Secretary-MOFEPT, Aamir Ashraf Khawaja and Federal Secretary IT, Mohsin Mushtaq also attended the event. Contract was signed by Additional Secretary (MOFEPT), Waseem Ajmal Chaudhary and Group Chief Business Solutions Officer (PTCL & Ufone), Zarrar Hasham Khan.

Under the agreement, PTCL will provide 04 channels to the MOFEPT on its OTT Smart TV platform to deliver educational content for live viewing and downloading to students throughout the country. The digital channels will be available free of cost nationwide. The initiative will help MOFEPT in taking a stride toward digitalization of the education system for greater efficiency and improved learning.

During the ceremony, Rana Tanveer Hussain, Federal Ministry of Education and Professional Training said, “The arrangement with PTCL is an important step toward the digitalization of Pakistan’s educational system based on the latest learning and tutoring techniques. We believe the time is ripe for such interventions because there is nationwide penetration of smartphones and speedy internet even across remote regions. We are glad to have found a collaborative partner in PTCL that shares our vision for such a ground-breaking initiative for the advancement of learning in society. Digitalization is the future and we will explore the opportunities for enhancing the scope and reach of this initiative for a sustainable and deeper impact”.

Speaking at the occasion, Waseem Ajmal Chaudhary, Additional Secretary MOFEPT said “The 04 OTT educational channels will be completely free of cost so that the educational material is accessible to students from all socioeconomic backgrounds without any need for a subscription. This step will play a significant role in the socioeconomic development of the country. Moreover, the initiative furthers MOFEPT’s continuous endeavor to foster social good for the people of Pakistan”.

Commenting on the agreement, Zarrar Hasham Khan, Group Chief Business Solutions Officer, PTCL & Ufone said, “PTCL is the largest ICT services provider having footprint across Pakistan and being a company playing a pivotal role in driving digital transformation revolution in the country, needs partners to boost education sector. This will create synergies to revolutionize the educational system of Pakistan and enable all geographical areas with modern learning mechanisms.”

Senior officials from MOFEPT & PTCL also attended the ceremony.

PTCL, Nokia successfully trial 1-Terabit Live Optical Network

Karachi: Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) has successfully conducted country’s first trial of 1-Terabit transport capacity per wavelength, in collaboration with Nokia.

The trial was conducted in a live network environment, where PTCL Metro Transport Network was upgraded to 1-Terabit per channel, extending its capacity to extreme speeds of 32-Terabit per fiber. The trial was based on Nokia’s Photonic Service Engine Transport Technology, designed to maximize network capacity and provide better customer experience, with faster and higher bandwidth.

This pilot transformation will lead to transport network enablement for future technologies, while creating new opportunities for industries as well as individuals. This is yet another step on PTCL’s roadmap and resolve to prepare its network infrastructure for embracing the growing data traffic demands of high-speed services and bandwidth intensive applications, including Ultra HD Video Streaming, Industrial Automation, Smart Cities and e-learning platforms for its subscribers and enterprise customers.
From a consumer point of view, 1 Terabit-per-second capacity is enough bandwidth to download the entire Game of Thrones video series in HD in less than 2 seconds, and can support 300,000 HD video zoom calls simultaneously.

Jafar Khalid, Chief Technology Officer, PTCL Group, said, “We are committed to digitizing our customer experience by providing state-of-the-art solutions. Keeping this in view, we tested the scalability and evolution of our optical transport network by enhancing the existing capacity to 1-Terabit per channel, to facilitate the ever-growing data traffic demand of our corporate and consumer segments. Nokia’s modern technology and expertise has helped us to test bandwidths up-to 1-Terabit, that will help provide a superior customer experience and enable seamless future expansion of our transport network capacity across Pakistan.”

Imran Durrani, Customer Team Head for PTCL Group at Nokia, said, “This new trial with PTCL is yet another testimony to further strengthening long-term partnership between us. Our industry-leading optical solutions including Photonic Service Switch and Photonic Service Engine are empowering PTCL to cost-effectively enhance network capacity as data consumption continues to rapidly increase.

Our pathbreaking Flexgrid architecture allows PTCL to modernize and upgrade its optical network to provide individuals and enterprises with a fast and reliable network connectivity.”

PTCL endeavors to offer its customers enhanced service quality, faster speeds and enable a simplified network architecture that increases operational efficiencies.

Leading Positions for Consumer Complaints taken by PTCL, Telenor – Review 2015

40,445 complaints against local telecom operators (ISP’s, LDI, WLL, mobile operators) were received by Pakistan Telecommunication Authority in the year 2014-15. PTCL have 15,593 complaints against it while Telenor Pakistan has 6,862.

Note: Below given data and statistics from Pakistan Telecommunication Authority.

PTA data shows that there was a 10% growth in consumer complaints in FY 2014-15 from 36,092 in FY 2013-14 to what it is today.

PTCL has the most complaints against it while complaints against CMOs increased mainly due to biometric verification exercise.

PTA has said that it has successfully resolved about 99% of complaints in the year.

Consumer Complaints During 2014-15

Most of the complaints against PTCL were for fault in telephone lines / services and others included poor customer support, Qos, billing issues and provision of services.

98.7% of complaints out of 24,510 registered against all mobile operators were resolved by PTA.

45.3% complaints were related to service misuse, fraudulent and undesired communication (SPAM) from telcos and blocking SIMs that were involved in SPAM messages. Others were related to SIM verification and non legal practices.

Maximum number of complaints — for mobile phone companies — were received against Telenor (28%), Mobilink (22%), CMPak (22%), Ufone (17%) and Warid (with 11% share).

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