Wateen to Deploy Fibre Optic Network in Sindh

Wateen Telecom has been awarded a PKR 449 million project to develop an extensive optical fibre network in Sindh. The USF Sindh project entails the laying of over (1,037) km of an optical fibre network in Southern Telecom Region.

An amount of PKR 449 Million will be provided by USF in the form of a subsidy; the rest of the cost will be borne by Wateen.

The new optical fibre network will connect 17 unserved cities and towns. Wateen has joined hands with the Universal Service Fund Company (USF Co.) to undertake this project of national importance, which will go a long way in bridging the digital divide in the country. The project, funded through a USF subsidy, will provide state of the art digital infrastructure in remote areas of Sindh, and could be further exploited to build IT, telecom, education, health and business services in these areas.

This protect has been inaugurated by Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf on 23 February 2013, in Sanghar – Chak # 11 along with a number of telecommunications and health and education projects.

This new project is in line with Wateen Telecom’s commitment to lead the digital revolution in Pakistan. Wateen is already working with USF on four optical fibre projects in underserved areas of Balochistan and Sindh, with subsidies worth a total of PKR 3.7 billion. These existing projects entail optical fibre networks spanning over 4,563 km (in Sindh and Balochistan)

Commenting on the project, Mr Zamindar said, “Wateen’s vision is to take Pakistan into the digital revolution of the 21st Century by offering complete communications and media solutions, including telephony, internet, data and TV/multimedia to the public at large, and to make Pakistan a regional communications hub, inter-connecting the East with the West and Central Asia with the Middle East, participation in USF regions aligns with Wateen’s vision of taking Pakistan into the digital broadband revolution of the 21st century while promoting education and literacy through these means.”

Warid Brings the BlackBerry Z10 for Post-paid Customers

Warid Telecom has announced the availability of new BlackBerry Z10 handset for its post-paid connections at the price of Rs. 59, 999.

Ufone and Mobilink are also offering the Blackberry Z10 to its customers.

The Blackberry Z10 is set to be the latest phenomena in smart phone technology introduced by BlackBerry previously known as RIM (Research in Motion), whose BlackBerry handsets are used by millions around the world. The BlackBerry Z10 is the first phone based on the brand new BlackBerry 10 Operating System.

The phone comes with an all-touch experience instead of a QWERTY keyboard usually associated with BlackBerry. The latest BlackBerry also comes with a 4.2-inch 1280×768 display and an 8-megapixel rear camera capable of recording full-HD video. With a 1.5 GHz processor, HDMI technology and high-speed USB port, the BlackBerry Z10 is a one-stop solution for all business needs.

Speaking about the new Blackberry Z-10, Warid’s official said: “We are very excited to bring the BlackBerry Z10 Smartphone to Warid customers. The BlackBerry Z10 powered solutions on Warid offers a unique cellular experience – which is great news for our style-savvy post-paid customers who use BlackBerry Smartphones for their business and lifestyle needs. ”

Here are the specs for Blackberry Z10:

• OS: BlackBerry 10 OS
• Chipset: Qualcomm MSM8960 Snapdragon
• CPU: Dual-core 1.5 GHz Krait
• GPU: Adreno 225
• Design:
  • Dimensions: 130 x 65.6 x 9 mm
  • Weight: 135 g
• Display:
  • Type: Capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
  • Size: 768 x 1280 pixels, 4.2 inches (~355 ppi pixel density)
• Memory:
  • Card slot: microSD, up to 32 GB
  • Internal: 16 GB storage, 2 GB RAM
• Connectivity: GPRS, EDGE, HSDPA, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, dual band, Bluetooth v4.0 with A2DP, NFC, USB
• Camera:
  • Primary: 8 MP, 3264 x 2448 pixels, autofocus, LED flash
  • Secondary: 2 MP, 720p@30fps
• Battery: Li-Ion 1800 mAh battery
• Price: Rs. 59,999
• Availability: Blackberry Z10 is available at all Warid service centres (CSC) in Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad.

PTCL Starts Blocking the Torrents

PTCL is said to be blocking torrent trackers in Pakistan for last 3 days, which has resulted into a complete blackout of torrent downloads/uploads in the country for customers who are using PTCL DSL and wireless broadband services.

According to several reports that Shahzebx received from readers, all users are unable to keep track of torrent files and hence downloading torrent isn’t possible for them any further.

PTCL has not announced anything officially on this.

For those who don’t know, torrents are a way of exchanging files (of any type) between computers and devices using internet.

Torrents are largely known for piracy violations as torrent users transfer and exchange copyrighted software/media/movies without paying anything.

It merits mentioning here that PTCL had recently blocked Skype out calls (skype to phone calls) without announcing anything. It appears that the telecom giant is on the spree of blocking all those things which were hurting its revenues. However, customers are likely to get furious with the decision and may change their service provider.