Category: Technology

G-Five to setup mobile manufacturing plant in Pakistan after obtaining NoC

G-Five requested Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) for a Non-Objection Certificate (NOC) for setting up mobile manufacturing plant in Pakistan.

MoIT’s Efforts to Bring Mobile Phone Manufacturers in Pakistan

The Ministry of Information Technology (MoIT) is consulting with international telephone manufacturing companies for establishment of local manufacturing / assembling units in Pakistan through Public Private Partnership (PPP) or otherwise.

Local manufacturing can increase employment rate and empower communities which would return investors’ confidence in the country and also help bring valuable Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).

The Current State of Pakistan’s FDI and Telecoms Sector

Presently FDI and telecom sector contribution is reducing based on inflexibility and inconsistency of the government’s policies, high cost of business, law and order and the energy crisis.

Telecom contribution to the national exchequer, revenues and investment showed substantial decrease during 2014-15 as compared to the preceding year. Telecom contribution to exchequer reduced from Rs 243.3 billion in 2013-14 to Rs 126.3 billion in 2014-15.

During this period GST collection declined from Rs 60.1 billion to Rs 45.8 billion, PTA deposits declined from Rs 104.6 billion to Rs 7 billion while activation tax remained zero.

Telecom revenues declined from Rs 463.97 billion in 2013-14 to Rs 449.49 billion in 2014-15. Further telecom investment in the country declined from $1.8 billion in 2013-14 to $852 million.

MoIT Announces Incentives for Investors to Shore up Local Economy

In order to support and facilitate local manufacturing, MoIT after consultation with the relevant stakeholders has come up with a special package for manufacturing cellular mobile phones in Pakistan and was approved as a part of Finance Bill 2015-16.

This package brought M/s Haier to set up assembly line for smart phones in Pakistan. Presently, M/s G-Five has also requested PTA for NOC to establish manufacturing units in Pakistan.

According to tax incentive package, given for cellular phone industry for manufacturing of mobile phones in the budget 2015-16:

  • income tax exemption would be available for a period of five years,
  • a 90 % depreciation allowance for plants, machinery and production line equipment used for manufacturing of mobile phones by the local manufacture of mobile phones duly certified by the PTA during the first year,
  • Customs duty and sales tax exemption on the import of plants, assembly line machinery and equipment.

 

It is worth noting the MoIT’s decision to float Expression of Interest (EOI) for manufacture of mobiles and smart meters under the reviving plan of Telephone Industry of Pakistan (TIP). Which has not been functioning due to its downfall of its income from Rs700 million to Rs 20 million recently. IT is a State Owned Enterprise (SOP) now in losses with an average drain annually of Rs 500 million for salary support and it currently is on the privatization plans of the Federal government.

It was termed as a dead organization by a few Chinese companies and considered inaccessible taking into note its performance and location. But after the starting of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), chances for development was visible as the route will be through the area. Companies are considering to review the project on Public Private Partnership (PPP) model. TIP has considerable land holdings of 432 kanal and infrastructure in addition to skilled manpower, which can be assets for investors here.

 

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Localized Version of YouTube for Pakistan

“YouTube PK” is getting displayed as the default logo for users accessing YouTube.com from Pakistan which is hinting of a localized version of YouTube rather than the regular global version that Pakistanis used till recently.

It is reported by ProPakistani users that they see the below logo on YouTube.com:.

YouTube_BG

The change in the logo is not only for Pakistan but for other users in other countries are also being served with their corresponding country’s name.

YouTube_PK

Google.com served Pakistanis with a local version for Pakistan with a Google PK logo but YouTube never served Pakistani users with a YouTubePK logo before today.

This move can result in an unspoken arrangement where the government could lift the ban on the website or may not enforce the ban like before since YouTube is displaying dedicated country code with its logo.

There is no blocking of content by YouTube for its Pakistani version which means availability of all videos in the international version for access in Pakistan also

YouTube is officially banned in Pakistan since September 12, 2012.

However, the website is accessible for most of Pakistani internet users. PTA said that this is by a mistake and will ensure the ban as per the court decree.

Since then, for over a month now, YouTube is accessible in Pakistan and is having good traffic from Pakistan.

Check below the rapid growth of traffic on YouTube:

YouTube

Traffic to YouTube.com from Pakistan

 

Official press release from Google:

YouTube announced that it has just launched localised versions in Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. This launch provides Internet users in those countries with a more tailored YouTube experience to find high quality local content so they can be informed, entertained, educated and inspired by content for their own culture and language, while continuing to access the wide array of content on the world’s largest online video platform. Now, users visiting the YouTube homepage from those countries will be able to see videos and playlists that are popular in their countries in their local languages and domains.

With over 1 billion monthly users worldwide, YouTube is the world’s largest online video sharing community, and is now available in 88 countries locally, as well as in 76 global languages, including in Nepali, Urdu, and Sinhalese. Starting today, visitors to YouTube from each respective country will see their country-specific YouTube site by default: for instance, users from Pakistan will now see the YouTube Pakistan site in Urdu when they visit the YouTube homepage, with playlists of trending and recommended videos popular in Pakistan. Viewers can now more easily find content that is beloved in their own countries, and discover more relevant local content on the world’s largest and most diverse video sharing community. This launch will also provide more people from Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka the chance to share their own stories and videos with the rest of the world.

“We aim to provide an even more tailored YouTube experience by launching versions that are optimised for Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. We also hope that this will pave the way for the work of local creators, personalities, and musicians to shine on the world’s largest and most vibrant video community,” said a Google spokesperson.

With Google’s mission to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful, we are committed to protecting the exchange of ideas on all our platforms, including on YouTube. We continue to engage with industry, governments, and civil society groups globally to ensure the Internet remains open, safe, and secure. Government requests to remove content will continue to be tracked, and included in our Transparency Report.

Want to watch everything on Netflix? Read Below

Netflix, giant in television industry expanded to 190 countries and its Internet TV is being made available in 130 new markets and it came out that to allow users for a full list of genres on Netflix there are codes on the website which are hidden.
There is usually a limited number of genres the users can search through based on the detection of user’s preference the site detects. But people can choose from the full list of the various categories that site offers from the codes shown by the websites.
There is a numerical code associated with a Netflix genre page. The four digits at the end are changed for different IDs when searching for something different. Some websites namely Ogres-Crypt and a Gizmodo provided list supply lists of codes for all the genres and sub-genres and any specific groups the website may offer. To access all the hidden categories o Netflix, just punch in the right codes.

The Netflix Pakistan website provides users to watch TV shows and movies for $7.99 a month, with a free month offer.

Netflix, which is California-based, was started as a mail-order DVD service but now is the producer of award winning original content and its offering of older shows and movies launched in 2007.
Pakistani users can now stream TV shows and movies for just $7.99 per month with a month free trial before subscription.

World’s First Islamic Banking Service TVC Unveiled by Ufone and Meezan Bank

Ufone and Meezan Bank together released the commercial for World’s First Islamic Branchless Banking Service, the former being known for its innovative products and advertisements.

The starting of Meezan-Upaisa will allow for the people in Pakistan to be able to do money transactions like sending and receiving money, paying bills, mobile recharging from Meezan-Upaisa agents located in Pakistan.

The spirit of Halal way of doing money transactions and keeping your hard earned money Halal is captured.

Watch below the TVC:

NED UET inaugurates 3D printing lab MakerStudio

MakerStudio, the first 3D printing lab of NED UET is inaugurated and it will be accessible not only for the University students but outsiders also. This establishment of centers like this helps to encourage students, staff, and others to use the facility for academic or informal projects.

The 3D printers at the lab are not complicated and anyone can use them without having any functional knowledge of them. While talking to Tribune, ORIC commercialization associate Arsalan Waheed said that 3D printing labs can be a good addition to universities with over 10,000 students enrolled. Such labs gives opportunities for collaboration, self-learning and networking.

The printers in MakerStudio are assembled in Pakistan and the students have been encouraged to observe the assembling of these printers by the ORIC

3D printing is picking up in Pakistan and many 3D printing startups have been observed to emerge in the domain.

FIA Instructed to Improve Monetary Cyberspace Regulations in 3 months

Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has been given instructions to make improve its monetary cyberspace regulations by the Ministry of Interior. It is given another ultimatum of 3 months. A new mechanism has to be designed by the agency which integrates with the ministry’s demand of operations against corruption, human smuggling and financial irregularities in this time.

It has been brought into consideration in  meeting of Ministry of Interior  and top FIA officials that a database of smugglers and human traffickers need to be maintained to keep track of their illegal activities and financial activities. Minister Chaudhary Nisar Ali Khan was in the chair for this meeting. It is also stressed by the Ministry that FIA has failed to perform well and could not reduce or stop corruption. FIA’s efforts against human smugglers were appreciated and many of these groups were arrested.

Defending the agency, the officials said that due to the additional duties like cyberspace monitoring and law enforcement it was difficult to reduce human smugglers and corruption.

FIA is important in restoring the confidences of companies in entering various Pakistani markets namely IT, media etc., The agency has to block unwanted traffic channels through the country assisting the security and transparency of Government to assist the international companies.

During 2014, 60 raids were made by FIA against cybercrime out of which 50 belonging to illegal telecom exchanges which are trouble for communication service providers stealing international call revenue that is supposed to reach the service providers through proper tax channels.

It is the duty of  FIA to stem the unauthorized DTH services through the country and was instructed to stop their payments and hardware networks in Pakistan. These DTH licenses are subject to the cooperation from the government.

FIA’s control has been extended to monetary cyberspace and enforcing a safer environment for international financial organizations investing in the country with the recent cyber crime bill. Director FIA, Usman Anwar had this to say on the matter:

Cyber Crime is not about running illegal exchanges for grey calls only but it also includes credit card swaps, hacking Facebook accounts, robbing any digital data, defrauding using internet and all such criminal activity that falls under the category of electronic crime and theft. In Pakistan, the backbone of this crime is the misuse of voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP).

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:

telenor-internet-easyload

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.

Netflix Launches In Pakistan

In a daring move, Netflix is launching its service in 130 countries, Pakistan being one of them.

Netflix is a monthly subscription service offering a number of TV shows and movies. Netflix has its own critically acclaimed TV series namely House of Cards, Orange Is The New Black, Daredevil and the recent Narcos in addition to the fan favorites from other networks.

Netflix accounts for nearly 38% of all downstream traffic in the North American market.

In a keynote at CES 2016, co-founder and Chief Executive Reed Hastings said:

Today you are witnessing the birth of a new global Internet TV network. With this launch, consumers around the world — from Singapore to St. Petersburg, from San Francisco to Sao Paulo — will be able to enjoy TV shows and movies simultaneously — no more waiting.

With the help of the Internet, we are putting power in consumers’ hands to watch whenever, wherever and on whatever device.

Here’s what Netflix will cost in Pakistan:

  • Basic: $7.99
  • Standard: $9.99
  • Premium: $11.99

Each tier differs mostly in how many people can stream at the same time from an account and whether or not HD & UHD quality is available. For Pakistanis though, ‘just how terrible is my internet?’ will be the determining factor when choosing a package.

netflix-pakistan

If you want to signup for Netflix, just head here. The first month is free so there is no reason at all not to check out what the fuss is all about.

Monet Achieves PCI DSS Version 3.1 Certification

Monet (Private) Limited, Pakistan’s first independent and neutral mobile financial services hub, announced today that it has successfully secured the PCI DSS 3.1 accreditation. Certified by the leading, globally recognized QSA Company, Risk Associates, Monet is now amongst the few, handful of companies worldwide that have achieved this latest security certification.

The PCI DSS certification is a set of comprehensive requirements for enhancing payment account data security developed by the PCI Security Standards Council. The certification focuses on data security measures on payment transaction routing, storing and processing to protect cardholder’s data. Leveraging upon the PCI DSS certification, Monet has the ability to offer its customers – banks and merchants – with the highest level of security available in the market. Monet’s compliance with global certifications provides an opportunity to offer payment services along with value-added features on a global scale and in a secured environment.

Speaking on the occasion Dr. Aftab Rizvi, CEO of Risk Associates said:

Compliance with latest security standards and certification demonstrates the commitment of a company to keep the customers information and data secure at the highest level. Achieving PCI DSS v3.1 certification is a major milestone for Monet and is a critical component of its comprehensive and transparent leadership effort to protect the businesses.

Ali Abbas Sikander, CEO of Monet added:

Securing the PCI DSS certification further strengthens Monet’s position as a payment services provider. This certification gives us the opportunity of providing our customers with cost-effective payment solutions, ranging from terminals to managed payment services, addressing PCI DSS standards with the highest level of security requirements.

Monet is one of the fastest growing payment facilitator and mobile financial services provider in Pakistan with solutions ranging from Card / Mobile Wallet Issuance, Mobile Point of Sale Acceptance, Payment Gateway, Utility Bill Payments, Merchant Payments and Mobile Banking. We have a highly capable team of payment technology experts servicing the electronic and mobile commerce ready segments as well as the unbanked and underserved population in Pakistan by introducing new and innovative product offerings in various industry verticals, such as Banking, Telecommunication, Insurance, Cash-on-Delivery (COD), Transport, Courier services, Health Services and Government Payments (P2G & G2P).

About Risk Associates:

Risk Associates (RA) roots are firmly embedded in Australia’s information technology community and widen globally by strategically located offices around the world. Having accumulated a wealth of experience over the years, RA specialize in Risk Management, Information Governance, Compliance Programs, and Information Security. RA clients consist of government, financial, hospitality, education, telecommunication and sporting /online gaming industry around the world.

Risk Associates is considered to be the pioneer in bringing PCI DSS certification concept for the first time in Pakistan and the company stands as a strong knowledge-base for all aspects of information security.

About Monet Private Limited

Monet (Private) Limited is a Cards and Payment services provider in Mobile, Branchless and Alternate Banking domain, working with a vision to digitize payments in the cash based economies.  We operate from Karachi, Pakistan, as a completely hosted payment processor, having our own systems and infrastructure hosted and operated at our Data Centre(s) to serve the banks, FIs and merchants by furnishing their payment automation and transaction processing needs.

For more information, contact

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