VDSL2 Bonding takes two copper-based VDSL2 lines per subscriber and aggregates them – almost doubling the bandwidths available to existing customers, or expanding high-speed broadband access to areas that are underserved today. Using VDSL2 Bonding, service providers can extend the life of their existing copper infrastructure – supporting the delivery of bandwidth-intensive services such as triple-play voice, data and IPTV.

According to a recent study from market research firm IHS iSuppli, simultaneous access to applications such as peer-to-peer file sharing, online gaming, streaming audio, VoIP and IPTV will soon require bandwidths between 50 and 100Mbps. This fits exactly with VDSL2’s capabilities, especially when combined with innovations such as Bonding and Vectoring.

Commenting on this achievement President and CEO PTCL Walid Irshaid has stated

“PTCL is the first service provider worldwide to deploy a commercial VDSL2 Bonding solution that aims at doubling the bandwidths provided to its existing customers. We are thus setting the trend in international telecoms, and are taking the broadband experience in Pakistan to the next level. Alcatel-Lucent’s VDSL2 Bonding technology and comprehensive services and network integration expertise is helping us to keep pace with the increasing bandwidth requirements of our customers, while capitalizing on the existing copper infrastructure. This will enable us to quickly deliver high-quality, high-speed and high-availability business and residential services – even in areas where it was not possible before.”

Alcatel-Lucent is providing PTCL with its Intelligent Services Access Manager (ISAM) IP access platform – which is the first platform to commercially support VDSL2 Bonding. Alcatel-Lucent will also supply Bonding-ready customer premises equipment (CPE). Alcatel-Lucent serves as the project’s master network integrator, and is providing a range of professional services – including project management, installation and commissioning, integration and technical support.

Aadil Rauf CEO Alcatel-Lucent Pakistan Ltd said:

“We understand that service providers need the right tools to bridge the gap until fiber deployments have become ubiquitous. VDSL2 Bonding is an ideal approach: service providers like PTCL can almost double the speeds supported by their DSL infrastructure or expand their network’s reach. This makes it a fast and cost-effective approach to bridging the digital divide. This commercial VDSL2 Bonding project with PTCL marks the beginning of VDSL2 Bonding deployments outside of the US – where the technology is typically used to expand the reach of the copper network.”

Alcatel-Lucent is the driving force behind the world’s most advanced VDSL2 roll-outs, with customers such as Belgacom, STC, Swisscom and Telekom Austria. Our VDSL2 solution has also been deployed by competitive operators, including M-net (Germany) and South Yorkshire Digital Region (UK).

Package Details:

• Vfone to Vfone: Rs. 1.30 per min
• Vfone to PTCL Landline: Rs. 1.30 per min
• Vfone to Mobile & other LLOs: Rs. 1.30 per min
• Vfone Internet: Rs. 2.00 per 15 min
• SMS to all networks: Rs. 0.30 per SMS

Daily Charges:

• Package has daily charges of Rs 3.50

Terms & Conditions:

• From now onwards, Vfone Smart package will be default package for all new activations
• Existing customers can dial 1015 to change their package
• First package change is free for all customers
• This is a limited time offer and end date will be communicated accordingly
• All rates are exclusive of taxes

ADG LDI (Pvt.) Ltd, a company of the Dollar East Group is a premium provider of telecom services and solutions with expertise in diverse areas and is operating a network of voice and data services with presence in major cities of Pakistan.

PTCL is the largest integrated telecommunication services provider in Pakistan and has been offering voice and data wholesale WLL services to prospective Virtual Network Operators (VNO). These VNOs use the PTCL network infrastructure for end to end service provisioning and use their own retail brand and sales & distribution channels to market these services to their target customer. The resellers can customize their product-line to cater to very distinct segments of the market.

Speaking on the occasion Mr. Hamid Farooq, SEVP Business Development PTCL said,

“Wholesale partnerships like these make a difference to our business. We are pleased to sign this agreement with ADG LDI (Pvt.) Ltd which will strengthen our wholesale product portfolio. PTCL, being a leader in the industry is committed to offer innovative business opportunities for our growth and success via our partners. We believe ADG will be able to capitalize on this opportunity to its fullest potential and will provide its customers value through dedicated services. ”

Mr. Farooq Dar, CEO ADG LDI (Pvt.) Ltd said,

“Keeping in mind the needs & requirements of end users, ADG LDI (Pvt.) Ltd has joined hands with PTCL as a Partner in WLL Operations. I am sure, with the grace of Allah, both companies can jointly make Wireless Local Loop business a success story in terms of penetration & customer retention. Penetration on the ADG side & retention through Quality of Service provided on the established WLL Network & Infrastructure provided by PTCL. Apart from this project, ADG LDI (Pvt.) Ltd has ambitious plans for consumer telephony market with a number of unique & value added telephony services products to be launched in due course. I hope this venture will add valuable impact on both entities reach & visibility, Insha Allah”.

The Mega prizes announced were return tickets for five lucky winners to Colombo with a hotel stay. The jury of the draw comprised Justice (R) Syed Intikhab Hussain Shah, Brig. (R) Syed Ghulam Akbar Bukhari Executive Director National University of Science & Technology, Mr. Syed Asif Kamal GM Technical/Projects and Mr. Sajid Fayyaz Country Head, NEC Corporation Pakistan.

The five winners of the luck draw include:

• Muhammad Hussain Shah (PTCL Smart) – Rawalpindi
• Zaheer ud din Babar (Broadband) – Gujranwala
• Javed Latif (Vfone) – Karachi
• Naveed Sharif (EVO) – Bahawalpur
• Nehal Zafar Siddiq (Landline) – Karachi

Existing customer can also avail this package but they have to pay one time charges of Rs.1500 as downgrade charges.

Though low-priced, but the package seems to be a total crap and i wonder who was behind the idea! 1GB bandwidth limit on 256KBPS broadband! One can easily consume this in less then a week only by browsing.

Below are the total PTCL Broadband packages now available for customer;

• 256Kbps @Rs 299 (Limited download with 1 Gb)
• 1Mb @Rs 1199
• 2Mb @Rs 1499
• 4Mb @Rs 1999
• 6Mb @Rs 4999
• 8Mb @Rs 6999
• 10Mb @Rs 9999

Benefits and key Highlights:

• Range of available Data rates from 256Kbps to 10Mbps to suite customers unique requirements and needs accordingly
• PTCL Broadband service is available in over 1000 cities and towns across the country.
• Increasing the horizon offered to broadband customers through providing broadband service to customers with low spending preferences
• Adding a new dimension of volume based packages in the PTCL services across all regions of the country
• Offering Wifi services over low priced affordable volume based pacakge
• Seamless experience when streaming and downloading movies, TV shows and music files etc
• Access to rich HD multimedia resources over the internet
• Access to PTCL Smart TV
• Access to free movies, music, classical Pakistani plays, famous cricket matches, educational and religious contents exclusively for PTCL broadband customers on ‘Buzz’ broadband web infotainment portal.

PTCL offers following three voice bundle packages:

• Basic Plus
• Pakistan Plus
• International Plus

Basic Plus

Basic Plus is designed to meet the needs of the low usage segment and includes basic services along with voicemail and call waiting.

All customers who were not on Pakistan Package as of 31st March 2008 have been shifted to Basic Plus with effect from 1st April 2008

Note: Value Plus was abolished effective November 1, 2008. All subscribers on Value Plus were automatically shifted to Basic Plus thereon”.

Pakistan Plus

Pakistan Plus Package was first introduced in December 2007 to address the needs of PTCL subscribers who used to make excessive nationwide calls. The package continues to facilitate customers even better by now offering 11,00 free NWD minutes and additional 100 kehdo SMS at a fixed monthly charge of Rs.219.

International Plus

PTCL has introduced “International Plus” that will provide PTCL subscribers with lowest international call rates and more talk time. Subscribers need not unsubscribe from their existing package to be able to benefit from International Plus. In fact subscription to International Plus will enable them to talk with their near and dear ones in UK, US, Canada, Australia and China for a fixed monthly charge.

Note:

• Activation / Deactivation of Package will be applicable from 1st of next month
• For information and activation of Package, customers can call PTCL helpline 1236

All you have to do is buy a new EVO Connection and you get full value of your first month’s usage absolutely FREE the next month. This is a limited time promotion, so make the most of it by getting your New EVO connection Today!

Terms and Conditions:

• This offer is valid on purchase of all new commercial EVO packages except Day-pass.
• Offer is not valid for Nitro and EVO Wifi cloud customers.
• Customers are not allowed to downgrade their package till they have used free balance
• Additional usage in Go, Lite & Wiz packages will be charged from bonus balance.
• Customer must connect to the internet within first 3 days of the 2^nd month to be eligible to use free balance or it will expire.
• Customer is not allowed to downgrade their package during this offer but customer can upgrade the package, in which case customer has to load the additional balance required to subscribe to the upgraded package.
• In the Advance billing package, customer will be required to pay Rs.2000 advance bill. After first bill payment, the next month will be free.
• In Landline package, customer will be billed for first month; after payment of first bill 2^nd month usage will be free.

The machines are self payment collecting kiosks which accept cash from the customers against the services provided by PTCL and provide receipt/SMS confirmation to their selected mobile numbers against the cash input.

PTCL is launching Public Cash/Card Payment Machines to further strengthen its bond with the Customers. By using the machines, the customers will be able to pay their PTCL invoices while shopping or visiting PTCL business offices. By using the machines, Customers can themselves pay their PTCL bills without involving any PTCL staff.

Key Highlights:

• Customer can pay while shopping at Metro and Malls.
• Payment of PSTN ,BB,EVO, IPTV
• Recharge of WLL and other prepaid services
• It updates the customer account immediately .
• Advance and partial are accepted.
• The machines will generate receipts for customer in confirmation for the payment.
• SMS will be sent to the customer in confirmation for the payment .
• Automatic restoration of suspended lines on payment.
• Machines are customer oriented easy handling touch screen mode feature having the dialect both in Urdu and English.
• No hassle of queues etc.

Device Features:

• Get your own pocket-sized mobile Wi-Fi hotspot
• Wi-FiConnect up to 5 Wi-Fi enabled devices to Evo 3G Wireless Broadband
• Share your internet connection with friends, family, co-workers
• Forget about cords and cables; just push a button
• Connect at 3G speeds; universal Wi-Fi compatibility
• Small enough to fit your pocket yet powerful enough to bring internet to 5 Wifi gadgets simultaneously.
• The sleek design is easy to carry and looks good anywhere, from the board room to the coffee shop
• Secure Password protected connection that lets you choose the people and the devices who access your wifi zone.
• Wifi devices in the range of 30-40 feet from the Wifi Cloud can be connected to 3G speeds via the EVO Wifi cloud.

Tariff/Package Details:

• Device Charges: Rs.6, 999
• EVO Wi-Fi Unlimited: Rs.2,000/month

Billing Options:

• PTCL Landline– monthly charges are included in PTCL Landline bill.
• Advance Line Rent – advance payment at PTCL OSS, Ufone service centers or MCB Bank.

Currently available in Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore & Karachi. The devices would however be functional at EVO 3G speeds throughout the 106 cities currently covered by the EVO 3G wireless broadband network.

First reported on twitter, last night, we just thought it may be a small issue and will be resolved in a while but PTCL never came up.

Please note that it has already been checked, it is not a DNS issue! As confirmed, website is down and is not pingable from any part of the world. Online ping tool can serve the purpose here. http://ping.eu/ping/

Domain records show PTCL’s website to be hosted in Islamabad at IP address 203.99.163.158 which is not pingable either. So that shows the server on which the website is being hosted is down due to some reason.

No official words from PTCL on this matter, as we tried contacting one of the CSR’s to check what is the issue back there and the answer was a simple Don’t Know!

It merits mentioning here that issue may not be a big one but got prolonged due to sunday. But just not to beat about bush, we are in process to get in touch with officials and will update here if some reasonable answer is provided on what happened actually.

Update:

website seems to be up now with 2 changes, as the welcome image is not there now to welcome you. You can directly enter the main website now as compared to the previous one where a click was needed.
Also the new promotion banners seem to be gone, PTCL might be working to bring them back but instead of the latest worldcup challenge offer, main website shows old EVO promotions.

Update 2:

Website is back to normal.

Winners of this competition will qualify for a raffle and could win precious prizes like tickets to Colombo, professional cricket kits, EVO dongles, branded wrist watches and branded hot steel mugs, T-shirts and P-caps and one Bumper prize trip for two to an exotic destination etc.

The winners will be announced through five lucky draws on selected dates. Customers will be approached by CSRs and prizes will be awarded in a ceremony at their nearest One Stop Shop (OSS).

Once the World Cup starts live match commentary will also be available along with World Cup challenge quiz on 1216. You just have to dial 1216 an IVR will guide to live commentary or World Cup Challenge Quiz. The service would be charged Rs 1 / minute (Exclusive of tax) If you are VFONE customer, you can subscribe for Cricket SMS alerts for Rs. 5/Match or Rs. 50 for entire world cup.

Package Tariff:

• Each call will be charged @ Rs 1 / Minute (Exclusive of tax)
• No service subscription required.

EVO World Cup Promotions

You can win exciting prizes when you:

• Buy a new Evo connection on Unlimited Package
• Upgrade your existing package to Unlimited.
• Mega Prize – Tickets to Colombo for Semi Final
• Upgrade your package during the Cricket World Cup Challenge.
• Day Pass =>1GB, 2GB or 5GB
• 1GB =>2GBor 5GB
• 2GB =>5GB

Terms & Conditions:

• This promotion is valid from 8th February till 2nd April 2011.
• Only those customers can qualify for Mega Prize who purchase a new Evo connection on Unlimited or Evo Max package.
• Existing Customers upgrading their package to Unlimited or Evo Max package will also qualify for Mega Prize.
• Existing customers upgrading to all other packages will be entered into a raffle to win other prizes.
• All customers purchasing new Evo connection on Unlimited or Evo Max package or upgrading their packages will qualify for the Bumper Prize.

PTCL Broadband Pakistan Promotions

• Upgrade or get a 2 Mbps or Higher Connection.
• Upgrade or get a student package or 1 Mbps package to qualify for special prizes & qualify for the luck draw.
• Only those customers qualify for Mega and Bumper Prize who upgrade a 2Mbps or higher connection.

PTCL Smart TV Promotions

• Get a Smart TV connection during the World Cup & qualify for the luck draw.Also get 50% discount on the STB.

PRIZES:

• Mega Prize – 5 luck winners will get Tickets to Colombo for Semi Final
• Bumper Prize – Trip for 2 to a surprise exotic destination.
• Other prizes include: 50 professional cricket kits, 50 EVO dongles and much more

Terms & Conditions

• PTCL employees or business partners are not eligible for this promotion.
• Decision of PTCL regarding the announcement of winners shall be final.

Details:

• First 3 minutes: Normal prevailing Tariff
• After 3 minutes: No charging
• This promotion will be applicable for all calls made from PSTN and Vfone on PSTN Network, Vfone Network and Ufone Network (033X Numbers only)
• Promotion will be applicable daily from 8 pm to 8 am
• Launch Date: 1st February, 2011
• End Date: 28th February, 2011
• (Other than Ufone: Charge as aforesaid) calls made around the clock will be charged as per normal existing tariff.
• All taxes will be applicable
• This Promotional package will not be available on FSTC, Payphones, PCOs and PRIs, BRIs.
• This limited offer is applicable to all PTCL and Vfone customers from 1st Feb to 28th Feb, 2011
• Bonanza package is not applicable to all ported numbers

Below are the total PTCL Broadband packages now available for customer:

• 1Mb @Rs 1199
• 2Mb @Rs 1499
• 4Mb @Rs 1999
• 6Mb @Rs 4999
• 8Mb @Rs 6999
• 10Mb @Rs 9999

Terms and Conditions:

• Service will be free for the first three month after upgradation, i.e. no additional charges for 2MBPS.
• Valid only for the customers who are upgrading from 1MPBS to 2MBPS.
• Offer will be available from 1st of february 2011.
• Additional charges of 300 will be applicable after first 3 months.

Offer Details:

• Customers can make On-net Local and NWD calls for only Rs.1 per minute
• Customer can make use of PTCL’s Conference Call feature enabling three people to talk simultaneously (within Pakistan and Internationally)
• Call 16 International destinations for only Rs. 2 per minute

Customers can avail international call offer to call following countries:

• Fixed + Mobile: Canada, China, Hong Kong, USA
• Fixed Only: Australia, Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Malaysia, Netherlands, Norway, South Korea, Spain, UK

PTCL management welcomed back the striking employees and made special arrangements to ensure that all employees who have resumed their duties should get their salaries and bonuses before Eid to ensure that the employees and their families celebrate the Eid in its true spirit.

While at the same time the employees resumed their duties with resolve and commitment to rectify faults and reinstate the telecommunication services to the maximum, a huge number of faults were rectified on Tuesday and most of the faults would be addressed in the next few days.

The management welcomed this positive development and hoped that employees will continue to perform their duty with dedication in the best interest of the company especially in these difficult times that the country is going through.