Telenor’s Plan of Action for a Digital Pakistan

Telenor has given a report named “Realizing Digital Pakistan” which asks the government

Reduce restrictive legislation or heavy taxation on sector
Reduce or eliminate device and data taxes
Develop data centers to support cloud computing
More mentoring and funding for budding entrepreneurs and technology developers for achieving the dream of digitizing Pakistan effectively.

Digital connectivity indicators can be achieved like Malaysia by 2020 by Pakistan but would have to meet prior actions including:

Use universal services fund (USF) to strengthen fibre backbone
Sign world Trade organization (WTO) information technologies agreement
Reduce all activation and service taxes by 25% every year from 2016 to 2020.

The report explained the potential of the country to adopt digital solutions was prepared by the Telenor Group with consultation and collaboration from TechPolis. It shows a possible roadmap which demonstrates how Pakistan can steer digital enablement throughout the country in the next five years.

According to the report, in the coming five years or less, digital connectivity indicators and be attained similar to Malaysia. Five standing points have been made for bringing a better future for the Pakistani people through more usage of digital technologies.

There were five targets set for arriving at the much desired result which are:

TARGET 1: Connect all schools and hospitals to broadband Internet access, and provide all farmers with mobile access and apps

TARGET 2: Triple the 2015 total value of e-Commerce by 2020

TARGET 3: Increase transparency and access to government budgets, policies and services

TARGET 4: Pakistan to establish next-generation iHub technology incubators to resolve local challenges by leveraging technology

TARGET 5: Pakistan to achieve digital connectivity indicators similar to Malaysia by 2020

Tore Johnsen, SVP Telenor Group & Chairman Telenor said:

Pakistan has an immense potential of piloting a sustainable digital turnaround. As shown in the report, this is achieved by embracing innovative digital solutions in areas such as education, health and governance.

With the ambition of delivering Internet for All, Telenor Group strives to be a long-term partner in realizing a Digital Pakistan, together with the government, the private sector, academia and civil society.

The report also contributes to the vision laid out by the Planning Ministry in their document “Pakistan 2025 – One Nation, One Vision.”

Anusha Rahman, Minister of State for IT & Telecom appreciated the efforts by the Pakistan Telenor in seeing the digital competence in Pakistan and its commitment to development of a digital innovation ecosystem in the country. She said:

The comprehensive report launched by Telenor Pakistan reflects how the country proceeds when it comes to utilizing digital technology in various walks of life, and the immense potential it carries for securing a better future for its people.

Telenor Pakistan’s pioneering initiatives towards expanding the overall internet ecosystem in the country including the launch of Pakistan’s first secure online payment solution Easypay by Easypaisa among others were much appreciated by the Minister.

Dr. Ismail Shah, Chairman PTA, said the country is now embracing digital technology as a powerful tool that is not just a means of communication, but a life-changing catalyst.

Along with other cellular operators, Telenor Pakistan has played an important role in making digital technology accessible to the people of Pakistan.

I hope, that the company continues its pursuit of a digital Pakistan where common people have access to better healthcare, education and governance at their fingertips.

Michael P. Foley, CEO, Telenor Pakistan, said Pakistan has a overabundance of digital opportunities and we, at Telenor, envision a future where those opportunities can be utilized to enable widespread digitalization.

With the launch of this report, we are putting countrywide digital access at the center and attaching utmost priority to offering cutting-edge technological solutions to facilitate digital connectivity.

Going forward, Telenor Pakistan aims to play a pivotal role in government’s efforts to promote e-exclusivity for all to foster socio-economic transformation of Pakistan.

The report was introduced by Ricardo Tavares, CEO TechPolis, said Pakistan can leverage the expansion of broadband access to reform public services and the economy and unleash a new era of job creation, quality-of-life improvement and economic growth.

The country can utilize its ample repertoire of technological talent and innovative solutions to revolutionize public services in the domains of education, healthcare, and agricultural assistance.

This report presents a comprehensive view on how Pakistan can truly usher in an era of innovation and progress that can improve the lives of ordinary people. We are immensely pleased to have collaborated with Telenor Group on this report.

For the achieving of digital Pakistan, tight coordination among the private sector, academia, civil society and government is very much required. All together contribute to supporting Pakistan’s move to the digital economy. Streamlining investments from private sectors, government policies and regulations, academia how to and civil society participation for digitalization for everyone’s advantage is a tall order Pakistan will face in reaching its Vision 2025.

For improving the health sector, the urban hospitals and the rural hospitals and clinics must be connected through Internet broadband. Focus will be given to e-Health, e-Education, and e-Agriculture. Mobile Health will help rural people to connect with the state-of-the-art equipment and services in city hospitals. E-Education will provide quality education where there is a lack of teachers and E-Agriculture will give farmers information that helps them improve the quality of their work.

Aligning government policies and regulations, private investment, academic know-how and civil society activism for digitalization to benefit all, is the biggest challenge Pakistan faces in achieving its Vision 2025

USF funds will be a means to guarantee the Internet connectivity among rural and urban areas. Also public and private sectors coming together will be encouraged to develop initial startups on e-Health, e-Agriculture and e-Education.

The Business to Customer (B2C) e-Commerce in Pakistan shows a mine of potential. The report wants to steer clear of restrictive legislation and taxation for letting eServices grow and creating trust in online services’ security. Success of the freelancers, and the ability of Pakistani IT workers inning international awards and qualified, English-speaking workforce display a latency to increase software exports and outsourcing.

Encouraging mobile operators to influence mobile identity with bio-metric identification for authentication of all e-commerce transactions, an e-procurement platform will be looked into for government acquirement and improved trade diplomacy will be given rise to.

E-governance will be encouraged for the promotion of accountability and transparency of the government. Reducing the gap between public’s demand for government services and availability is the principal aim. A central portal for the government which gives access to all the agencies, apps and facilitation of access to the data to increase app development is looked for. This will give the society to monitor government’s performance at different levels.

Entrepreneurship has seen a good growth in Pakistan in the last years. By setting up technology incubators and supporting entrepreneurs with initial funding this sector’s growth can be increased where the public and private sector partnerships will come into picture.

Facilities can be provided by the government, operators, technology vendors and academia all working together, greenfield funding and general mentoring for budding entrepreneurs and technology developers with government agencies and companies posing challenges.

An iHub is to be set up in Islamabad in the new Technology Park which will see the partnerships between operators and technology suppliers. It is also an aim to spread the “Islamabad Experience” to other cities.

Telenor Internet Easyload gives Separate Internet Balance

Internet Easyload, a new service being offered by Telenor is one where the users will have balance just for internet. It is almost the same as the usual easyload but just that the balance will go to your internet only and cannot be used for calls, SMS or other services.

Recharging your balance using Internet Easyload will be stored separate from the normal balance. This can only be used for internet usage. If recharging more than once using Internet Easyload, all of them will be cumulated and the validity extended according to the top-up amounts as in the regular Easyload.

When users use internet the amount is deducted from this separate Internet Easyload balance unless it runs out or expires its validity. It can be used for 2G or 3G and charged at Rs. 1 per MB. This Internet Easyload balance cannot be transferred to the normal balance and cannot also be used for subscriptions to other internet packages. The charges are always at the default rates and the balance can only be consumed by using the internet.

If the internet balanced is consumed then the amount will be deducted at the usual rated from the normal balance. If there is a subscription to an internet package then the package data is used and then the internet balance when the package data is completed.

This service is available at any Easyload retailer for Telenor and Djuice users. No subscription is needed for getting the new internet balance and the service can be used immediately. The Internet Easyload amounts available (with hours balance and validity) are given below:

One Internet Rupee will get you one MB. So if you have 50 Internet Rupees (worth Rs. 25 of load) then you can use 50 MBs of internet till the balance is expired.

How to Check Remaining Internet Balance:

String to check internet balance is *200#

Terms and Conditions:

Internet Balance charged at Rs. 1 per 1 MB for both, 2G and 3G data.
Dial *200# for internet balance enquiry and *444# for normal balance enquiry.
Loan Amount will not be cut through internet easy load. Customer will have to do a normal recharge to pay the pending loan amount.
Internet packages can only be bought with their main balance but not the internet balance.
Upon recharging more than once, amount will be added to the previous internet balance (If any) and the validity updated.
Reversal of internet easy load is not possible, hence check for the correct phone number the retailer enters.
Customers doing internet easyload get a recharge notification confirming the internet balance.
Internet Balance can only be recharged through internet easy load.
Internet balance is not available after the validity period.
Internet balance is not available for use when the main balance has expired.
Internet Easyload is not mutually exclusive to any other offer.
Main balance and Internet balance will have validities of their own.

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).

Source

Seed Investment Fund and loT were announced by OPEN Islamabad at their Annual Forum

Open Islamabad Annual Forum 2015 was closed by 19-Dec-2015. Event hosted people from all over Pakistan, which was held in the serene location of Shankar Pariyaan. CEOs, entrepreneurs, innovators, policy makers, officials from the Government, development and academia were attended in the event.

This OPEN (Organization of Pakistan Enterpreneurs) which is a non-profit organization diligently dedicated to promote entrepreneurship and leadership in Business among the international Pakistan Community. They have a good active history in certain locations like Boston, Silicon Valley, New York, Washington DC, Houston, Chicago, Atlanta, London, Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad. To the launch time Open Islamabad was their only chapter which is fastest application. Their first Annual Forum held last year was focused on celebrating the entrepreneurs of Islamabad, well this year they escalated to give a platform to graduates at the level of excellence and demonstrable success.

The event was entertained and included with motivational talks, innovation showcases, networking opportunities and announcements too. Successful people from different fields like Medicine, Philosophy, Business & Entrepreneurship, Academia and Media were given their speeches and added more interest as speakers. The best known psychiatrist who owned with an award of Sitara e Imtiaz by the Pakistan Government was first speaker in the event. He shared his journey along with his experiences and key figures who influenced him to adopt the profession of Psychiatry.

Accelerator Program Startup was by Telenor

An inspirational talk from Telenor’s Chief Marketing Officer, Irfan Wahab Khan, was delivered about his passionate learning and his eventual rise to the top. He also announced two official announcements:

Soon Telenor will be launching a startup accelerator and IoT (Internet of Things) solutions.

Mr. Wahab mentioned:

There are numerous startup incubators and accelerators in Pakistan, but all they do is provide you with space and mentorship. We are hoping to change that with Telenor’s Accelerator Program which will be launched some time in the near future. With our program we are aiming to provide our startups with our API’s for payment facilitation, location and distribution. Our enrolled startups will also have access to our customer base for marketing purposes as well. Furthermore, we are also hoping to launch our IoT solutions soon: some of which include a Child Wrist Watch and a Car Monitoring OBD.

Telenor given a chance to the attendees to get a hands-on experience with the devices in the event. One of the interesting among them is Child Wrist Watch which is like other watches but also allowing parents to monitor their child’s movements and give a alarm siren if they moved out of the assigned radius. And a device called OBD which can be installed in cars to keep a track of your car speed, mileage and fuel as well.

OPEN Islamabad Seed Fund & loT Lab:

President of OPEN Islamabad, Mr. Owais Anjum made 3 important announcements in his speech.

OPEN’s very own seed fund to be launched soon.
OPEN’s Super Advisor Group will work in close on the startups,
An loT Lab will be introduced soon.

Mr.Owais did not disclose any further news on these ventures and preferred to keep details in veil presently.

Lastly event also enclosed with the talks of Dr.Anwaar-ul-Hassan Gilani of Pakistan Council for Science and Technology, Dr. Farrukh Hassan, Iqbal Khan of Alachsoft, Asad Umar, President of OPEN Global Dilawar Syed, Anchor Shamoon Hashmi, Narjis Ali of Sure Secure Solutions and Khurram Jamali from Google.

Lets Place Applications for Telenor Youth Forum 2015 Now Open

Good news for youth as they can fill up the third Telenor Youth forum, held in Oslo, Norway in December 2015. Collecting young opinion leaders from 13 countries, the event focus to facilitate an international platform to connect youth and empower a generation of digital natives. This year’s topic is “Knowledge for All”.

While expressing his delight to announce the call for entries for Telenor Youth Forum 2015, Michael Foley, CEO, Telenor Pakistan said:

Pakistani youth has all the potential to change the world with their innovative ideas and we at Telenor Pakistan are providing yet another platform to the youth to enthrall the whole world with their abilities. The competition, which is in its third year, is in line with our ambition to bring Internet for All – encouraging the digital generation to use mobile communication technology to improve lives, drive growth and empower societies.

Last year, Telenor Pakistan selected Maaz Imran and Sadaf Amin to represent Pakistan at the Norway initiative. The last events were popular as the Telenor Youth Summit. From 2015, the forum focuses to change into an ongoing conversation that is both digital and physical, and not limited to the Oslo event alone. Check out the Youth Forum website for more.

Who is the Perfect Candidate?

The ideal candidates for the Oslo event are young suggestion shapers, up to the age of 28 years, with latest perspective and worthy voices. skills within the provided field is not required, but skillfully in English and interesting insights into how digital conversation influence people, learning and society at massive is supposed.

Local and Global Selection Process

Two candidates will be finalizing from each of 13 countries where Telenor Group is present. Local selection procedures will be suggested a shortlist of leading 4 candidates, while selected of the final two candidates traveling to Oslo will be confirmed by an international selection panel containing the representatives from Civil Society, academia and Telenor top management.

How one can approach the knowledge and information influence people, communities and business and in what ways will, societies change when knowledge becomes available to all? What is the significance of technology in introducing knowledge for all and is there any boundary to what technology can obtain?

There are few inquiries Telenor hopes to respond with the support of candidates at the Telenor Youth Forum 2015. The event offers youth international stage, opportunities to meet and share with luminaries and leaders within their fields – and a social and professional experience of a lifetime.

How to Apply

Just click here to learn more and apply now for the Telenor Youth Forum 2015.

image Source

Telenor 3G Declares USB Devices with 30GB Data Limit and Free Trial of 2 Months

Telenor Pakistan has declared its latest USB Dongle and Wingle devices as well with exclusive 3G internet with 30GB data limit every month. The good thing is that these both devices come with free trial of two months so users can utilize 60GB of data limit. Recently Telenor has introduced the market with two devices one is WiFi Wingle and second is Dongle that means it will create a WiFi hotspot and up to 10 devices can be connected with it to share the internet.

Know about the Pricing Plans and Devices, which are following

Telenor 3G Connect
Price: Rs. 2,200
Its price comprise Free 3G SIM (Prepaid) which has the 3G Connect Package
Easy to connect on 3G and 2G
1 year warranty
Enjoy online web portal to activate bundle and balance/usage checks
Free Trial: 2 months of free internet (20 GB/month).
Dial *345*4005# @ Rs.0.1 incl. of tax to activate Free trial
It is easy to check the remaining internet data MB and its validity through dialing *999# (Charges are Rs. 0.24 inclusive of tax)

Telenor 3G Connect Wifi

Price Rs. 3,000
Its price comprises Free 3G SIM (Prepaid) which has the 3G Connect Package
Can connect up to 10 Devices on Wifi
Plug & play installation
Works on 3G and 2G
1 year warranty
You can enjoy Online Web Portal for bundle activations and balance/usage checks
Free Trial: 2 months of free internet (30 GB/month).
Dial *345*4005# @ Rs.0.1 incl. of tax to activate Free trial
You can check your remaining internet data (MB) and its validity by dialing *999# (Charges are Rs. 0.24 inclusive of tax)

Data Packages after Trial Period

It is stated above both the devices have two months free trial with a data limit of 20GB and 30GB per month respectively. As the trial period will come to an end customers can avail below data packages:

Telenor USB connect and Telenor USB connect gadgets are easy to buy from Telenor Service centres, franchises and selective Retailers in cities with 3G coverage is available

One can easily check the remaining data (MB) and its validity through dialing *999#. Charges are Rs. 0.24 inclusive of tax

Customers can use existing Telenor Prepaid SIM with the Connect basic after migrating it to a data package, which you can do so by dialing the USSD code *345*4006#

Once migrated, voice calls will be blocked on that SIM, so it is advisable to do the migration only if you have a spare Telenor SIM

Internet.org Launched in Pakistan Explore 17 Websites for Free on Telenor

As rumors are rotating that Telenor is in collaboration with Facebook today, just launched the internet.org initiative in Pakistan, through which all Telenor customers Prepaid and postpaid have the facility to use selected internet website for free.

Telenor just introduced a program with 17 websites today that are available for free unlimited browsing. Nevertheless, if there external links then it will be charged as per regular tariffs. The leading high-ups of Pakistan has attended this event including Michael Foley, CEO, Telenor, Irfan Wahab, Deputy CEO, Telenor Pakistan and Aslam Hayat Khan, VP, Telenor Pakistan.

Facebook officials, supported by Ime Archibong, Global Head for Strategic Partnerships at Facebook, in top priority of his type representation from Facebook in Pakistan, were also active in the event.

Telenor has said that its internet.org initiative is aimed for first time internet users. Company has said that its currently not looking at any business proposition, instead the whole initiative is targeted to convert more users to internet.

Here we are introducing the list of websites that are available for free browsing:

Facebook
Telenor Mobile Portal
AccuWeather
Babycenter & MAMA
BBC News
Bing
ESPN Cricinfo
Facts for Life
Girl Effect
IlmkiDunya
Malaria No More
Mustakbil.com
OLX
Telenor News
UrduPoint Cooking
Wikipedia
BBC Urdu

How to Approach These Websites

This is useful for all Telenor users; in whatever city or whatever package they are using, they can go to the internet.org from their cell phones to approach these websites. However moving towards the internet.org website, users will highlight a list of websites they can approach free. On the other hand if

you are using a Smartphone, you can easily download internet.org app from the respective app store to use it. Any consumption within internet.org will be free.

Both 3G and 2G users can approach the internet.org free and there is no specifications to subscribe either activate anything. Below is how it will be presented when Telenor users will visit internet.org using their mobile browsers.

Source: Propakistani

Enquire your Balance Online with Telenor web self-service account

Telenor Pakistan has recently introduced a new facility in its self-care portal for the users that permits them to check the mobile balance online. Now they are offering an additional way to check you balance except using USSD string of *444#.

All the telecom operators offer self-service accounts, they also offer a personalize way to handle the number, but the latest offer is quite edge owing to the online mobile balance inquiry facility which is not available in other web self-service accounts currently.

For online balance inquiry of the SIM, just need to register or log in to your account free. By doing this one can get advantage for one click activation and also click for deactivation of services without any number verification for every single transaction. Apart this one can track the orders and receive various offers and personalized recommendations fit your needs.

However if you have craze for balance inquiry and usually avoid it because of charges 24 paisa then no need to be worried this new facility by Telenor is definitely best opt one for you.

Djuice: Get Rs. 100 Balance and 3GB Internet for Rs. 40 Only

Details of the offer:

A new offer has announced by Djuice chiefly on the Web by 3G is aimed at young individuals who need to make use of the â��all in oneâ��. But in addition to a package of three GB 3G, customers can get Djuice Rs. On-net, off-net calls or SMS to 100 balance.

So here are the details in simplified form:

Subscribe â��in the offering djuiceâ�� to get Rs. With 3G Web 3000Mb any network for three days, 100 for calls & SMS balance.

Suitability:
three days

You will receive:
3G information 3000Mb
Rs. Calls & SMS to any network of 100 Results

This is a limited time offer:

Charges:
Rs. 40 â�� including tax
Subscribe:
Customers by dialing * two * twenty # You can subscribe to the offer

Web Volume 3000Mb, all subscriptions will be applied. Which will then be reviewed to 31 December.

Terms & Conditions:

Bonus balance of 100 calls & SMS to any network can be used for, new supply & international dialing activation are excluded.
To check the bonus balance, dial * 200 #.
Maximum balance of Rs. one.50 bonus balance in the account is necessary to make use of.
Re-subscription within the validity period of the bid, respectively, present additional Web & LAN balance & bonus balance will be added bonus.
Free minutes / SMS (other packages), free minutes / SMS before the bonus balance will be consumed.
To check the remaining MBs, dial * 999 #.
Applicable only for Djuice customers, dial * 345 * 33 # for the sake of Djuice (one time charged Rs ten)

CEO Telenor Visits Dunya TV Head Office

In first of its kind move, Michael Patrick Foley, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Telenor Pakistan, Ifran Wahab Khan and Chief Marketing Officer Telenor Pakistan — alongside Telenor group — paid an authority visit to Dunya News Head Office in Lahore not long from now.

A Dunya TV report, without saying an expression on the motivation of the visit, said that Telenor CEO acknowledged Dunya TV for utilization of most recent innovation in TV.

Telenor CEO likewise met with Mian Amir Mehmood, Chairman of Dunya News. Both the heads examined matters of shared investment.

Telenor CEO said that Dunya News has turned into an extremely unmistakable media station in a brief time of time and is presently known as a dependable wellspring of genuine news. He longed for going by Dunya News office once more.

Foley was demonstrated in the report as saying:

“Dunya is a fantastic establishment in Pakistan. Dunya’s authority in news, daily paper and computerized media is simply extraordinary and I have taken in a considerable measure today. I am extremely thankful for the accommodation demonstrated and I want to return soon.”