June 2007

Interview: 82234-

Gerard DEGA, President, Alcatel Shanghai Bell Mr. Chris Armitage, Area Vice President, UK & Ireland Teradata, a division of NCR General (R) Arshad Mehmood, Vice Chancellor, Punjab University

Cover Story:

Telecom: 10121415161820242628303236384073-

Mobilink Determined to Expand its Network Mr. Parvez Iftikhar, Chief Executive Officer, Universal Service Fund, Pakistan CMPak: Kicking the Paddles Operators at Their Toes We Need to Do More! Broadband in Pakistan ISPs Charge PTCL for "Spoiling the Game" Imitated Mobiles' Sales Going Sky-High Fiber for Computer & Broadcast Networks Mobile Phone Banking Soon in Pakistan Sim Activation Tax Tempering the Growth MNP; A Tale of Passive Public Response Segmentation Engineering Mobile Phone - Potential Threat for Children India Plans to Join Ranks of Chipmakers Network Readiness - Must for Technology Utilization

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We Know How to Deliver

8 15

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Cover Story: 42-

Telecom Update

IT: 414243717578-

Facts and Figures Big Servers Making a Big Comeback Bacteria: Future Medium of Data Storage Software Requirments vs End Product Talented Youth of the Digital World Pakistan's IT Industry - Opportunities & Threats

Informative: 5153586769-

National International Internet

Special Report: 44-

Boeing & Airbus: The 2 Giants in the Skies

Press Release: 904

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Coming Mobiles Current Mobiles Mobile Reviews It's Not One Thing It's many!!! Hot Laptops

Briefs: 838689-

Simplifying Data Collection

Govt to roll out High-Speed Internet in 6 Months; Awais

Higher Education Key to Success

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tandardization brings benefits without hurting competition. It can also be viewed as a mechanism for optimizing economic use of scarce resources. Unlike rest of the world telecommunication in Pakistan has achieved number of landmarks in its very small life; credit goes to the technology boom and the operator's aggression. But point to ponder is why despite of these landmarks, the sector has yet to see a level playing field for operators. This very small history tells various stories of bankruptcies, mergers and takeovers. Many, who took the licenses, never even opted to start operations. Crises on ISPs, LDIs, and GSMs are not a distant past. There has never been a very clear policy and strategy as to what should be adopted as a standard practice to safeguard the interest of an operator. State owned enterprises have always dominated the ISPs and LDIs industry, leaving no room for the private operators to survive. Similarly, Instaphone, Paktel had no option other than to announce their failures. Recently launched MNP has not made an impressive impact on the service provider and the consumer as well. We can not afford to take pride as the first ones in the region to adopt this advanced technique for the justice among players. For sure it will never guarantee any justice nor would it allow the watch dog to see it as last resort to justify its mature decision making. In the absence of any price policy, rate per minute war has forced the operators to secure lesser profit with each passing day. Resultantly they resort themselves to practices, ethical and unethical, in order to stabilize their profit margins, dummy SIMs activation is not new thing which is also a security risk and who likes to pay for a minute which is not of 60 seconds. This journey does promise any long lasting results and one can for-see other set backs soon in the industry. To save player's and the consumer's interest, authorities need to make policies and standards keeping in mind the ground realities otherwise one doesn't have to wait for a long to see another merger and takeover on the basis of unnatural market forces. „

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5

Emergency Number in Mobiles Phonebook

Mobile Phone Ads Mobile phone operators at one end are portraying their selves as good corporate citizens and on the other they are killing the norms and values of our country by motivating youth to talk whole night. Our youngsters spending whole night on phone will lead us towards being a non-productive nation. No one can deny the influence of media these days. Young people follow the trends shown on TV channels. Telecom companies in Pakistan presumably can understand the psychology of their customers but still run ads which encourage subscribers to talk 'sara sara din sari sari raat'. Surely, there can be another way to advertise the product. Advertising is a tool to sell products or services, but advertisers should avoid giving messages that have an adverse impact over society. The regulatory authority is not even taking any notice of this continuous foul practice on TV channels. This is a serious matter of concern for all of us as our future depends upon what we do right now, and no doubt our growth does not lie in talking on the phone. I request all these companies to take an ethical stand and join hands to make this nation stronger adopting a positive approach. M Khayyam Siddiqi, Islamabad

Why Bother with ATMs? SINCE 2002, I have been living in Karachi as a paying guest and am dependent on my family to send me money. The only way I can access that money is using ATMs, and I withdraw cash once a week. Whether it's getting some photocopied notes, shopping, commuting around the city and even eating, every aspect of my everyday life depends on readily available cash. During my five years here, I have been the victim of numerous ATM malfunctions which always prove to be very disruptive and grueling. Each time an ATM-related error occurs, it leaves me in flabbergasted, astray and confused situation. Due to this uninvited brokenness, I have gone through traumatizing events like sleeping hungry, unable to buy books/notes when needed, unable to repay my rent and having to face the music as a result. At certain instances, I have walked miles just to try using my ATM card at another location. Today I have again returned with disappointment, as I needed money to buy a train ticket for the following day but the "Issues link" was down. It is useless to call the 24-hour helpline as most of the personnel are rude and unprofessional, furthermore they cannot do anything even if they tried. I have moved my account to other banks but this problem continues. Why is no one being held responsible for this lack of maintenance of technology? Many articles continue to be written on the plight of ATM users but no action/initiative has been taken. Why? Do customers pay an annual ATM fee just to get deprived of their money when they need it the most? What about people who are in dire emergencies like accidents or urgent need of medication? Will no one be held accountable if a serious loss occurs? What good is a glistening 24-hour banking billboard if one out of every five times the godforsaken-antiquated-ill-maintained machine is not working? Ali Hassan Memon, Karachi

The MNP Extravaganza WHEN mobile number portability (MNP) was announced, people heaved a sigh of relief as it gave frustrated consumers a chance to discontinue their relationship with their pathetic mobile phone operators. I happened to be one of them. However, as is the fate of every Pakistani, the MNP proved to be a false promise. I am a U-fone 'forced customer' and want to switch on to other cellphone company where I hope, I will be treated better. I started using U-fone some four years ago and, for some unknown reasons, the SIM serial number on the back of my SIM card has faded and is now illegible. On contacting the U-fone 'helpline' (a misnomer) a customer representative gives me a new serial number which never matches the data, resulting in a decline to my request for MNP. I was finally told that the information I need is 'classified data' and cannot be supplied. Wasif Farooq, Islamabad 6

We all carry our mobile phones with hundreds of names/numbers stored in its memory but yet nobody, other than ourselves know which of these numbers belong to our near and dear ones. It may happen that we are involved in an accident or have a heart attack and the people attending us, get hold of our mobile phone, but don't know which number to call to inform our family members. Yes, there are many numbers stored but which one is the contact person in case of an emergency? For this reason, we must have one or more telephone numbers stored under the name ICE (In Case of Emergency) in our mobile phones. Recently, the concept of "ICE" is catching up quickly. It is simple, an important method of contact during emergency situations. As cell phones are carried by the majority of the population, just store the number of a contact person or person who should be contacted, during emergency as "ICE" (meaning In Case of Emergency). In an emergency situation, Emergency Service personnel and hospital staff would then be able to quickly contact your next of kin, by simply dialing the number stored as "ICE". It really could save your life, or put a loved one's mind at rest. For more than one contact name simply enter ICE1, ICE2, ICE3 etc. Let's spread the concept of ICE by storing an ICE number in our mobile phones today! Mohammad Ali, Lahore

Karachi and Cell Phone Towers The caretakers of Karachi are forever promoting the city as a hub of Information Technology (IT) and a choice destination for major conferences and exhibitions. How is the government going to achieve this goal if minor issues are made into major ones for no good reason? It was disturbing to read in a section of the press that the Sindh government is trying to remove cell phone towers from the residential areas of Karachi due to threat of radiation and other health problems. While there is some relevance to this subject, this critical assumption has not been proven in any other part of the developing world. Communication is now clearly the road to achieving industrial and economic success and as the advent of fourth generation wireless technology is around the corner, we must be prepared to embrace technology as a means to alleviating poverty. Let us talk of more relevant people-related issues such as clean drinking water, road safety and better health care facilities. Waseem Abbas, Karachi

Misuse of Mobile Phone WITH the expansion of communication network, use of mobile phones has greatly increased. At present this most modern facility has become so pervasive that even the remotest corners of the country are not deprived of the benefits of this hi-tech marvel. In big cities, owing to the mushroom growth of telecom companies almost, every second person tends to have a cellphone. Obviously this development reduced the distances and made life extremely convenient. However, apart from the fact that it has become a life hazard as the cell snatchers do not mind killing the unfortunate owner, it has also become a source of entertainment bordering on vulgarities. I have seen in many gatherings that even people, mature enough to be qualified for the category of grandparents, exchanging offensive jokes, even stripped pictures with friends and acquaintances without realising the degenerating moral impact on the sender, receiver and those with whom such jokes are shared. In the hands of younger generation, however, a cellphone has become more a tool of entertainment than service; increasing number of messages and as a result boosting the revenue of telecom companies. This is merely an abuse of a facility intended for the advantage of society; not acceptable from any moral and ethical perspective. Mansoor Ul Haque Solangi, Islamabad

Billboard Revolution Suddenly there seems to be quite a number of billboards of big Bollywood celebrities all over the city. After looking at these one cannot help but wonder have all the Pakistani models suddenly become unavailable? If not then why are we using big names from India and other countries to endorse our products? We should use our own stars for this. We have our share of big celebrities too. Be it our cricketers, rock stars or TV actors. There is nothing wrong in using foreign famous people, only if this is also reciprocated in those countries. This situation portrays a very disloyal and unpatriotic perception prevailing in our nation. Saleha Abbasi, Karachi

Send us your letters at [email protected] or at our postal addresses. Flare reserves the right to edit letters for clarity and space.

We Know How to Deliver Gerard DEGA is President of Alcatel Shanghai Bell and member of the company's Board of Directors. Before this appointment, he was Executive Vice President of Alcatel Europe & South, responsible for its telecom operations in France, Africa, Middle East, the Indian Subcontinent, Turkey and Central Asia.

Gerard DEGA

President, Alcatel Shanghai Bell

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Flare: How do you take Alcatel-Lucent projects in Pakistan and the current deal with CMPak? DEGA: We are very proud to have projects in Pakistan. Our company has been investing here for last 15-16 years. During this period, we have shown our dedication by achieving the highest level of wired and wireless infrastructure. We have played our role by training engineers, and building IT team. It shows our commitment to Pakistan and the people of this country. Alcatel-Lucent looks forward to further developments in telecom, to take place in this region. It is matter of fact that Pakistan still has very high potential when it comes to infrastructure and tele-density. About recent agreement with CMPak, our first major goal is to develop a very reliable and flawless mobile network for this company. China Mobile, which is our strategic customer in China, is first time entering any market out of china, so we take this project as extremely important to us. FLARE: How do you see Pakistan's market and opportunities here? DEGA: I am quite familiar to this country since long. The market in Pakistan has matured well. The telecom sector has seen many developments and technological advancement as compared to that of 15 years ago. I see

Pakistan as very impressive in terms of new subscriptions as operators are bringing many customers under their nets. In the recent years, the new operators have received tremendous results, which depicts that there is lot of space here for new comers. This is what made Chinamobile to take keen interest in the market. They had been looking for going beyond China and the selection of Pakistan by China Mobile is another illustration of juicy atmosphere of Pakistan. FLARE: Is Alcatel Shanghai Bell a Chinese or a European company? DEGA: Well it is both, fiftyfifty. To show you the complete picture, I need to go into little details of Chinese telecom history and Alcatel Shanghai Bell; Chinese market was opened to the foreign companies around 25 years ago. Before that, it was

He is a graduate of the Ecole Poly Technique in Paris and a PhD in Telecommunication Engineering He has 30 years of experience in telecommunications. He joined Alcatel in 1985 and took part in setting up the international sales network after the merger with ITT. Later on, he was appointed as leader of the international operations of CIT (the French branch of the Group), Chief Executive of the Public Switching Division, Chairman of Alcatel CIT, President of the Mobile Communications Division, Chairman and CEO of Alcatel France and President of Area 4 of Alcatel Telecom. Before joining Alcatel, he held several international positions at France Telecom.

other vendors are. We have the same cost structure as they have. So, we are quite similar to other vendors. We and ZTE are having more than 95 percent share in fixed networks. We have grasped around 20 percent share in the mobile networks, not only this we are going to play major role in deployment of 3G network in China. So, we have gained a respectable market share, and we will see tremendous Mr. Gerard DEGA, President, Alcatel Shanghai Bell, during an increase in this interview with Flare share with 3G network rollout. At present, we a are quite equivalent closed market with only Chinese manufacturers to other vendors. and state owned enterprises manufacturing all FLARE: How will their telecom equipments. you differentiate The market was opened to the foreign the Chinese and manufacturers in the early 80s to bring in European product European technology into China. It paved the standards? way for two companies, Alcatel and ITT, to DEGA: It is an old enter the market. ITT was, later on, able to feeling and it is true succeed in partnering with the Chinese to some extent Government to develop a joint venture to when it comes to the manufacture digital switching equipment. This quality of some resulted into the creation of Shinghai Bell, with textile products and 60 percent shares of Chinese Government, 30 other goods. But our percent shares by ITT and 10 percent shares telecom products by the Belgium government. are as good as any Soon Shanghai Bell became the champion in others'. In terms of technology, Chinese switching technology in China and they had vendors are quite competitive. As you see, monopoly on switching which was most Chinese people are very active; they can bring advanced technology then. in new technology with in months, by working Alcatel, which purchased ITT in 1987, became

: Alcatel-Lucent looks forward to further developments in telecom, to take place in Pakistan's well matured market, which still has very high potential for infrastructure and tele-density day and night. the minority share holder of the Shanghai Bell. Apart from this, Alcatel invested in as many as FLARE: How do you see the cellular market 217 joint ventures with local partners for here? transmissions, cables, microwaves, mobile DEGA: I think, when I look at my own cell onset, mobile infrastructure and many more like that. In 1999-2000 during a meeting between Chinese Minister for telecommunication and chairman Alcatel it was decided to put all these assets together, which resulted the emergence of Alcatel Shanghai Bell in 2002. So this makes Alcatel Shanghai Bell a very unique and special company which, on one hand has strong support Mr. Gerard DEGA, President, Alcatel Shanghai Bell, during an from the Chinese interview with Flare team Government, while on the other hand it has all sort of access to Alcatel Lucent which gets disconnected again and again, a lot products and technology. has been done and still lot needs to be done in FLARE: How many Chinese people are terms of quality of service, diversification and employed by the company? number of subscribers. DEGA: The 99.99 of work force is from China. FLARE: Would you tell us about your We have 10,000 workers and only about 50 of contract with China-mobile and in which those are non-Chinese. areas you are going to operate in? FLARE: How does Alcatel Shinghai Bell DEGA: It is a complete, turnkey network differ from other Chinese vendors, working contract. We, as in-charge of planning a locally and globally? network, are working to know where to put the DEGA: Well, locally we are as Chinese as the base stations, acquiring the sites, negotiating

with the people and then building the towers, putting the antennas, the equipment, and generators and so on. We have to cover the northern parts of the country including Islamabad, Peshawar, high mountains (which is not an easy task) and many others. In the east, we are going to cover Kashmir as well. FLARE: How do you see the competition

Mr. Gerard DEGA, President, Alcatel Shanghai Bell, during an interview with Flare

among various vendors in Pakistan? DEGA: Competition in Pakistani market is difficult, some of our competitors are struggling and we have the opportunities to replace them in the future. Still some of them are very strong and we will have to compete by showcasing advance technologies and bringing reliability in network, which is beneficial for end customers. The competition always helps you to improve and optimize your own products and technologies, product and also your performance. FLARE: What, in your opinion, is the future of China- Mobile in Pakistan? DEGA: Well, China-mobile is not only state owned but they are very dynamic and very active. They are holding a very good share in China and also they are following their share value. They are following the government policies and at the same time they are winning to make a very good business in China by earning huge profits. Keeping in view the Pak-China friendship and Pakistan's telecom sector, they will have to show results. They have invested 700 million dollars and determined to invest more, so there is no point for them not to get their share. They are putting their best people and equipment to acquire the success. FLARE: Data services are not popular here, so how do you perceive the future of next generation technologies in Pakistan? DEGA: Data service will certainly increase. There is no reason why young people of Pakistan are different from the rest of the world. China-mobile has done extremely well in China and I think more than 20 percent of their revenue is coming from text messaging. While 3G is totally a different idea, as it requires more sophisticated technology. So, in my opinion, still it is the time to expand the existing 2G network. FLARE: Do you expect spamming coming from China to Pakistan after China Mobile is here? DEGA: Spamming is everywhere in the world. It is difficult to say right now that China-mobile will bring spamming in Pakistan. I hope that CMPak we will be able to change the perception about the involvement of Chinese people in the spamming. n

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Telecom

Flare Report

Mr. Zouhair A. Khaliq, President and CEO, Mobilink

Mobilink has so far invested around 2.25 billion dollars and intends to invest further 500 million dollar, this year, out of which 160 million dollar already spent on network expansion. We are presenting here a conversation carried out with Mr. Zouhair A. Khaliq, President and CEO, Mobilink

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800 km optic fiber cable of Mobilink is near completion and would start offering quality broadband and high-speed connectivity to countrywide customers from August this year. So far around 60 million dollars have been invested by the company and more investment would be made in the second phase to establish additional 2500 km fiber optic cable in the country. "The key objective of this project is to provide quality bandwidth to the customers at affordable rates," said Zouhair A Khaliq, Chief Executive Officer of Mobilink. In a recent interview, he said with rapidly growing telecom traffic there was an urgent need for reliable connectivity and the company will meet this need through massive investment. Mobilink, having more than 24 million subscribers, has so far invested around 2.25 billion dollar and intends to invest further 500 million dollar this year, out of which 160 million dollar already spent on network expansion. "We will continue making investments in network infrastructure and distribution network to ensure that the Company maintains its lead in the industry. Our 4000 employees are fueled with a passion to be the best and we manage to stay ahead by being the pioneer in launching state of the art services and products, he said. He said with six operators the competition in the market is stiff, however, the company has maintained a clear leadership through aggressive investment and innovative strategies. Pakistan's telecom sector has taken a lead last year in term of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). Apart from investment, this sector also created huge employment opportunities and contributed to national exchequer in term of taxes. The growth in the industry has been very

strong and it will continue to grow at a steadier pace in future as well. "The government has provided a level playing field to all the operators in Pakistan and the overall environment of liberalization has been positive for the development of the industry in Pakistan," he said. He said quality of service is Mobilink's priority and it is working on a project to add 1800 more cell sites to its network by the end of this year. The company, having more than 5600 operational cell sites and coverage in over 5000 cities, towns and villages, has established additional 500 cell sites during the first four months of this year under a massive expansion plan to ensure quality service to the subscribers, CEO stated. According to Zouhair Khaliq deployment of cellular antennas pose no risk to the health of human beings living in proximity of the towers even in densely populated urban centers. "We follow and keep in mind all international standards while installing tower and other telecom equipment," Zouhair Khaliq maintained. Replying to another question that Mobilink sees any threat from China Mobile, he said competition is good for the customers and has proven to be good for us too, adding that although Mobilink is leader in the industry it is aware of the developing scenario and is cognizant of the fact that market is becoming more aggressive. Zouhair was at the view that new players can enter into the market by buying stake in existing operators and China Mobile's entry into the market recently is an example. On Mobile Number Portability (MNP), Zouhair Khaliq said it was a difficult task but all the operators and PTA managed it very effi-

ciently. He said as per data, MNP Directorate was receiving around 500 subscribers' application for change of operator every day. "It is too early to say that MNP is failure or success, but a freedom of choice is provided to subscribers," he added. Zouhair said Mobilink has introduced PCO

The company, having more than 5600 operational cell sites and coverage in over 5000 cities, towns, and villages, has established additional 500 cell sites during the first four months of this year services to facilitate people especially living in remote areas. The CEO also highlighted role of the company in supporting the community and social development and added that each year, Mobilink and its staff contribute significantly to community projects, including local arts, education, health and sports. Mobilink has been actively giving regular support to hospitals and other organisations for medical equipment. It has also provided computers to the Federal Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education and Rs. 100,000 to Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences to set up a computer lab. As part of the post-earthquake reconstruction effort, Mobilink is assisting in rebuilding same villages in AJK. Mobilink also became the first cellular company to start its operations in AJK and Northern Areas. „

Telecom

Flare Report

Mr. Parvez Iftikhar Chief Executive Officer, Universal Service Fund, Pakistan

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arvez Iftikhar, a graduate engineer from University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore, is the Chief Executive Officer, Universal Service Fund Company (USFC), Pakistan. USFC, recently established as a Private Company, under Companies Act of Pakistan, is responsible for spreading telecommunication services to those un-served/under-served parts of the country which the Telecom Operators do find lucrative enough to invest in. Besides USFC, he is also responsible for spreading Broadband Communications and Special Projects of e-Services in the country. Parvez Iftikhar - till recently head of Telecom Division of Siemens in Pakistan - has undergone extensive training in the disciplines of Telecom Engineering and Business Management, both in Pakistan and abroad, including management courses at the prestigious Siemens Leadership School, Feldafing, Germany. He has also been on a sabbatical to Carnegie Melon University, Pittsburg, USA. Parvez Iftikhar has read several Technical Papers in various seminars. He has traveled extensively all across the globe attending seminars, workshops,

expos and training courses. He has several large projects delivered on time and within budgets worth hundreds of Million Dollars to his credit. He has been instrumental in transferring numerous technology pro-

The Universal Service Fund (USF) was created by the Federal Communications Commission in 1997 to meet the goals of Universal Service as mandated by the Telecommunications Act of 1996 grams from Europe to Pakistan. Parvez Iftikhar has worked with the Government of Pakistan, on voluntary basis, in several bodies, like IT Advisory Board, committee to formulate Telecom

Country Manager, Microsoft Pakistan, Said Kamal Ahmed briefs the media persons about the Microsoft’s 5th Pakistan Developer Conference 2007 during a press conference.

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Parvez Iftikhar - till recently head of Telecom Division of Siemens in Pakistan - has undergone extensive training in the disciplines of Telecom Engineering and Business Management, both in Pakistan and abroad. As a telecom professional with nearly 30 years of experience, Parvez Iftikhar has a knack of not only keeping himself physically fit but also keeping up to date on technology Policy and committee for R&D Fund distribution etc. As a telecom professional with nearly 30 years of experience, Parvez Iftikhar has a knack of not only keeping himself physically fit but also keeping up to date on technology. Being an avid reader he keeps himself fully conversant with cutting edge disciplines. The Universal Service Fund was established by the Federal Government to meet the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) needs of the unserved and under served areas of the country. A structured policy formulation approach is being followed so that the existing digital divide between urban and rural communities is gradually bridged. The main strategic objectives for this fund are to ensure the availability of telecom infrastructure, provision of basic telecom services, shared access and broadband penetration acceleration and addressing the digital divide through uplift of rural tele-density in the country. Services of international consultants were hired to help the Ministry of IT formulate a robust and forward looking framework for the Universal Service Fund. „

Two youngsters taking snaps through their cell phones of their friends while sitting in the replica of a traditional boat during the last week of Waahdi Mela organized by Punjab Institute of Language, Art and Culture held at Al-Hamra Cultural Complex.

CMPak: Kicking the Paddles Ericsson and AlcatelLucent will be the major technology partner of CMPak (China Mobile Pak) along with ZTE and Huawei

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eeling the tremendous competition of network expansion from its rivals CMPak choose four vendors including Ericsson, Alcatel-Lucent, ZTE and Huawei. While for most network expansion Ericsson and Alcatel-Lucent will be responsible and others will provide the core networks. The contract of network expansion in south region is given to Ericsson. Under the contract Ericsson will provide a complete GSM radio network including MINI-LINK to extend coverage to 312 cities in the densely-populated Sindh and Balochistan regions. Once implemented, the network expansion

CEO CMPak, Geuo Yonghong shakes hand with President Ericsson Pakistan, Zibber Mohiuddin during the signing ceremony regarding CMPak $500 million contract.

will enable CMPak to bring mobile service to a greater number of people in the region, helping to improve their economic prospects. These new contracts with Alcatel-Lucent and Ericsson show the complete confidence of operator on them and further strengthen their position, as a vendor in Pakistan. Alcatel-Lucent's turnkey contract covers the expansion of the CMPak GSM network in northern Pakistan. The equipment for this expansion will be provided by Alcatel-Lucent's Chinese flagship company Alcatel Shanghai Bell, a longterm partner to China Mobile. Under the terms of this contract, Alcatel-Lucent will deliver its

4B Group Pakistan;

CEO CMPak, Geuo Yonghong shakes hand with Mr.Gerard DEGA, President, Alcatel Shanghai Bell Co., Ltd. during the signing ceremony.

GSM/GPRS/EDGE solutions, including Base Station Sub-systems hardware and software. This includes the high-power radio module, TWIN TRX, a recent addition to the AlcatelLucent portfolio that doubles base-station capacity in urban environments with high subscriber density and offers wider coverage in rural environments while at the same time reducing power consumption by up to 30%. In addition Alcatel-Lucent will supply CMPak with a comprehensive suite of network integration services such as network optimization, system support and general project management. n

Producing Quality

The 4B group initiated formation of its activities with the vast exposure of its management team with a humble beginning by setting up 4B Industries in 2001 to complement its existing distribution business which was started in the late 70's

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he 4B group initiated formation of its activities with the vast exposure of its management team with a humble beginning by setting up 4B Industries in 2001 to complement its existing distribution business which started in the late 70's. The group believes in synergy and its limitless power of unifying. Its philosophy is not limited to the group alone but extends to the realms of customer/collaborator relations, investor interactions and into market trends, analyses and technological advances. It is the only way to ensure that when an endeavor is made by several different elements, the result is of a far higher quality than what could have been achieved by each element acting alone. The group activities found its impetus with the acquisition of FALETTI's Hotel property from the Privatization Commission Government of Pakistan in July 2005. One of the group's major strengths is its strong relationships with Chinese & European manufactures while ensuring sources for the open ended requirements of its customers. Major accomplishments of the group include

the prestigious affiliation with Warid Telecommunication Private Limited along side ARY Group and AL- FALAH as affinity partners. The group has managed to provide technical and erection facilities of international standard to Paktel, Warid and PTCL in technical collaboration with international telecom giants. As a facilitator, the group has ventured into providing the government with the latest Japanese technologies including level surveying equipment among others. In addition, the trading activities are being expanded to providing value for money in providing services and equipments to the telecom companies in the country. There is also a prestigious joint venture with Defense Housing Authority Islamabad in collaboration with internationally acclaimed telecom player Teleste, Finland to organize, construct and operate a state-of-the-art broadband cable (HFC) facility which is currently in the offing. 4B group believes that many opportunities for growth exist in the mobile market, and it intends to continue to focus on this area. In doing so,

the group aims to capitalize on its demonstrated efficiency and skill in execution and demand-supply chain management, and our history of innovation. The market on which the group intends to focus include markets with low mobile subscription rates relative to the size of the population, geographic areas where it is more cost-effective to build wireless infrastructure than fixed-line network, and heavily populated areas, where factors such as poor infrastructure or theft of materials tilt the scales in favor of wireless solution. The company also intends to focus on markets where the need for network capacity is growing as a result of mobile network operators promoting the replacement of fixed networks with wireless. People are living in populated areas have difference by considering their requirements as for money or moving with advance lifestyle, TREND will be providing a wide range of advance models with added advantages and features with in competitive price. That will help in growing existing market of mobile industry. n

Zeeshan Ahmed

Telecom

The operators with best quality services and call rates can only survive in the country while the others continuously losing their market share. The competitive market will not provide enough time to the newly arrived China Mobile to settle down. Market leader Mobilink, lost another 2.1pp of market share and its monthly average growth rate declined to 3.1%. The principal beneficiaries are the two newest operators, Telenor and Warid Telecom

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obile industry in Pakistan, the hot cake for foreign investors, is witnessing an exciting battle of snatching number one position among the cellular phone companies now with China Mobile, the world's biggest cellular company, also in the contest. The new entrants, Telenor and Warid are capturing the market share swiftly, moving the telecom boost towards saturation but the entry of China Mobile, which has bought Paktel recently, is likely to add fuel to the current mobile telecommunication battle. According to PTA, the five mobile phone companies operating in the country have more than 58 million customers with Mobilink enjoying 43.2 % of total GSM market. Ufone has 21.39 % , Warid 16.6 % , Telenor 16.5 % and Paktel 1.8 %. Currently Mobilink is covering over 5000 cities and towns with 5500 sites, Ufone is working in over 750 cities and towns with 1108 sites, Telenor is operating in over 1100 cites and towns with 2900 sites, Warid is active in over 210 cities with 1200 sites and Paktel working in 218 cities with 893 sites. These all operators cover 70 % of the population with 35 % geographically. Telenor and Warid are competing hard for the market share with Telenor 16.5% and Warid 16.6% market. Ufone is not doing well as for as the network expansion and quality of service is concerned. Many customers are availing the facility of MNP to change their network, increasing the market share of Warid and Telenor consistently. While Mobilink and Ufone have lost their market share. China Mobile acquisition Paktel remained in a distant fifth place with just 1.8% of the market share. China Mobile promised another US$400m of investment for its fledgling overseas mobile business, to add to the US$460m it claims it has already spent. US$400m is almost exactly the amount of money which Telenor spent on its Pakistani mobile network last year, adding to the US$600m the Norwegian giant had already injected in the previous two years,

bringing its total investment in the market to keting in order to succeed. over US$1bn. The level of investment shows Whilst these are undoubtedly issues which that China Mobile is serious about turning round China Mobile's management must at least give Paktel's fortunes, and injecting the necessary thought to, there are perhaps not concerns capital - of which there is clearly no shortage which have the same gravity as they might if we in order to make the operator competitive. Currently Mobilink is covering over 5000 However, concerns remain for cities and towns with 5600 sites, Ufone is China Mobile. First, is the amount of time it will take to working in over 750 cities and towns with achieve the coverage and network quality necessary to com1108 sites, Telenor is operating in over 1100 pete effectively? The Pakistani mobile market stood at 35% pen- cites and towns with 2900 sites, Warid funcetration - More then one connec- tioning in over 210 cities with 1200 sites tion for every three heads of population - and it is forecast that the and Paktel working in 218 cities with 893 rate to climb to 50% by the end sites. These all operators cover 70 % of the of the year. In such door die situation, if a piece of the action is to population with 35 % geographically be had, it is best had sooner were talking about almost any other internationrather than later. al investor. The China Mobile chairman was The second concern is that even with a reported this week as saying that the company world class network, China Mobile still has to hopes to gain valuable experience from compete against at least three very well funded Pakistani market which it could use to its benefit in other overseas ventures. Not many developing markets in the world where it could gain better experience, but whether the experience will ultimately be a positive one is far from certain. Then again, one could argue that in China Mobile's position, and with the ambition it must undoubtedly have, all experience is good experience. With the kind of resources at its disposal which many international players can only dream of, China Mobile as a multi-national operator is likely to prove a law unto itself. Whilst it is certainly not a sustainable strategy, in the case of Pakistan the potential for valuable experience may well prove much more important than the potential for profitability, or indeed Source Pakistan Telecommunications Authority any other conventional benchmark for success. and well run competitors, in the form of The battle of widest coverage low tariffs and Orascom (Mobilink), Telenor and Warid. As well quality services among mobile phone operators as throwing the necessary funds at the problem is heading towards its fierceness which is likely it must also throw good management and marto give more benefit to the customers. „

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Telecom

Junaid I. Khan

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ith over 52 million mobile and 6 million fixed line subscribers, the growth in Pakistan's telecom sector has been very impressive. Even though the seeds of this growth had been sown much earlier but the real "take off" started in 2004-05 and today, it is hard to imagine life without "personal" telecommunications. However, the internet and broadband growth still lags behind then many developing countries and needs special attention. According to reports almost 1.0 million new mobile subscribers are added every month and the total subscriber number has crossed well over 52 million. This means almost one out of every three Pakistani has a phone. This is impressive! However, we must ask this question if the growth has permeated in all segments of the society and has it helped the country on a sustainable growth path? Today many people around the globe cannot imagine their daily lives without the use of mobile phones, television, radio or Internet and yet for millions of people in Pakistan's urban and rural areas there remains a "digital divide" excluding them from the benefits of ICT. This obviously means that there are still people who need to be "connected" through phone, TV,

internet or broadband and thus are unable to communicate with their loved ones whenever they want or do business with people outside their immediate area. In order to promote broadband access to every citizen of this country, aggressive efforts would be required in the area of education, content development, PC proliferation, bandwidth pricing and quality of service. Currently, we do not see concerted efforts to address the above areas by the government or the private sector. It is true that there has been continous a growth in the metros where the growing working and middle class is using the cell phone as an affordable enabler to help improve their quality of life. However, this growth is still skewed towards urban areas and excludes the important area of internet and broadband connectivity. Ideally the telecom reach should extend to the grass root levels in an segments of community in all areas of ICT. This is where government can play a vital role and ensure that the fruits of technology are distributed evenly to every square kilometer of this country. Government can achieve this by giving specific measurable targets to ISPs and telecom companies to provide basic services to every village of this country. Only then our peo-

Junaid I. Khan CEO, Telecom Services & Consultants (Pvt) Ltd

ple will be truly emancipated and be able to take steps towards their economic prosperity. That's when we will be able to claim "ab baat ban gayee" do some "talk shawk" and ask "ab aur sunao". That is when Pakistan will be truly connected!. „

Bangladesh's mobile phone sector has been growing at a rapid pace, with the number of subscribers reaching nearly 22 million at the end of March 2007 from only 200,000 in 2001. According to the experts the number is expected to cross 50 million mark by 2009

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lthough nearly half of Bangladesh's more than 140 million people still live on less than a dollar a day, the country has been one of Asia's growing cellular markets, with a mobile penetration rate of around 16 percent. Bangladesh's sixth cellphone carrier, Warid Telecom, said it hopes to win 10 million subscribers in two years in one of the world's fastest growing markets. Warid Telecom, a subsidiary of UAE based Abu Dhabi Group, launched its operation in Bangladesh on May 10, 2007. "We hope that we can grab 5 million customers in the first year of operation by offering better value-added services, competitive tariffs and world-class network quality," Naved Saeed, general manager of the company said. "There is a huge potential in Bangladesh and at the moment it is not a very big problem to capture 50 percent of the market. The potential number is 40 million of which 20 million are enjoying the cellphone facility," Naveed maintained. Warid Telecom, which bought a GSM mobile phone licence for $50 million in 2005, has already spent $400 million on building its network and plans to invest more in Bangladesh.

"To have a strong market in Bangladesh we will further invest $300 million in the next two years," Naveed said. Bangladesh's mobile phone sector has been growing at a rapid pace, with the number of subscribers reaching nearly 22 million at the end of March 2007 from only 200,000 in 2001. According to the experts the number is expected to cross 50 million by 2009 as competition in the sector heats up.

Warid Telecom has already invested $400 million on building its network and plans to do more in Bangladesh Other phone operators in Bangladesh are Grameenphone, Aktel, Banglalink, Citycell and state-run Teletalk. While Grameenphone dominates the mobile phone market with more than 50 percent market share followed by Aktel. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) expects the total number of mobile phone users in Bangladesh to double in the next two years as

Naveed Saeed GM Sales & Marketing, Warid Telecom Bangladesh

competition heats up in the fast growing sector. "The number of subscribers doubled in one year - up from 11 million in 2006 to about 22 million in March 2007, and is forecast to increase to 44 million by 2009," the ADB said in a recently released report. According to the report mobile telecommunications had become one of the most vibrant service sectors in Bangladesh with its growing network coverage, which reaches about 97 percent of the country's population and 82 percent of the land area. Healthy competition among six operators has significantly reduced tariff rates in the last couple of years. The availability of phones in rural areas has created new opportunities for income generation through self-employment by providing villagers with access to modern information and communication technologies. „

Telecom

Anayat Ullah M. Hasni

The Bandwidth advantage of land line over mobile phone is exploited all over the world to overcome the mobile phone extravaganza but the land line operator in Pakistan is once again late in using the trick. PTCL with international connectivity via SMW3 , SMW4 , TransWorld as well as by satellite has advantage but kept all these options so sacred yet and not using them to give real tough time to its so called rivals

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he primary reason for the success of mobile phones in Pakistan was the gap between the demand and supply in voice telephony in Pakistan. Landline has a clear advantage over mobile connections i.e. Bandwidth. Every where else in the world Telco Operators used this advantage to their benefit and started to provide higher data rates for internet and other bandwidth hungry applications to the customers like Cable TV and VOD (Video On Demand). But unfortunately in Pakistan that's not the case. Mobile phones are being considered as the direct competitors to landline operator. This is because of the lack of broadband penetration in Pakistan. This only advantage of landline over mobile was never brought into the competition by the Land line operator (LLO). The use of broadband was never promoted by the LLO due to which use of broadband connections is only limited to large organizations in Pakistan including banks and govt. sector organizations. Even many of our universities lack quality broadband connections. Should this advantage have been promoted in the right way, it would have been a lot easier for landline operator in Pakistan to give a tough time to their mobile competitors. High speed internet connections, VOD, Cable TV and Online gaming are some of the potential uses of broadband which, if promoted rightfully among the masses, could have been money makers for the landline operator, whose profit is shrinking day by day. Landline operators of course can't increase their voice call charges due to tough competition from mobile operators. It would have been wise to increase the volume of traffic through their networks via broadband. The LLO operator after wasting lot of time letting mobile technology to catch up the broadband bandwagon in the form of EDGE and WiMAX, are finally now concentrating towards broadband to the masses and PTCL is still planning for Triple Play services i.e. Voice, Internet and Cable TV on the same connection. This course of action should have been taken at least 5 years ago. Some of the operators like World Call did start providing Triple Play services over their HFC Network in limited areas of Lahore and Karachi. But wide scale adoption of broadband in Pakistan could only happen if the biggest player in the market PTCL

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would jump into the broadband highway. PTCL had a clear advantage of their existing network infrastructure. They already have a network having its maintenance cost and limited use i.e. voice. They charge a fixed amount of line rent from the subscribers, which is basically due to the maintenance cost on these lines. It

This step can also be taken by the government and operators in Pakistan. High Speed NetCafe's can be setup in different cities promoting broadband services. It will be hard to the users to go back home to their narrow band connections after having a taste of speedy services, thus creating a market for broadband

High speed internet connections, VOD, Cable TV and Online gaming are some of the potential uses of broadband which, if promoted rightfully among the masses, could have been money makers for the landline operator, whose profit is shrinking day by day. The LLO after wasting a lot of time letting mobile technology to catch up the broadband bandwagon in the form of EDGE and WiMAX, are finally now concentrating towards broadband to the masses and PTCL is still planning for Triple Play services. This course of action should have been taken 5 years ago would have made a lot more sense if they would have provided more broadband services other than voice on the same infrastructure since the extra maintenance cost would have been zero. PTCL and all other landline operators are primarily interested in small to medium and large organizations as potential customers for their broadband services. But these companies are forgetting the real potential of residential customers. The broadband industry of South Korea is a good example in this case. Although the South Korean market is very different from that of Pakistan in terms of literacy rate and population density, but some of the steps taken by the government and operators in South Korea can apply globally. One such example are high speed Net Cafés called PC Bahngs (Rooms) in the local language.

Telecom at home. Some other factors that proved successful in South Korea that apply globally are: „ Price of broadband compared with narrowband Broadband must be priced close to narrowband. This appears to be the key factor in encouraging consumers to adopt broadband. „ Consumer choice - Customers have different needs. Service providers need to provide service packages that fit different market segments. Due to different lifestyle education and industrial culture in Pakistan, broadband has huge potential since there are limited entertainment facilities and people don't go out for recreation much. Online gaming can prove to be a catalyst for the broadband market. Online gaming can have its servers inside Pakistan thus can lower bandwidth cost by eliminating traffic through international fiber optic links. IPTV can play a vital role in this regard. IPTV differs from traditional Cable TV in the sense that channels are not broad-

casted on the cable thus much of the bandwidth in the cable is free for other use. Another advantage is the large number of channels that can be provided using this technology since only a bandwidth equivalent of

one channel i.e. 6MHz for regular TV channels and 16 to 20 MHz for High Definition content is required. When the user switches the channel, a request is sent to the operator's office from where the next channel is sent along the same bandwidth. Thus a delay is introduced which is equivalent to the time delay between the moment you pickup the receiver of your phone and the moment you hear a dial tone. But the advantage being that the number of channels that can be provided using this technology is virtually unlimited. Some operators are providing more than 2000 channels using IPTV. With the increase in the number of channels day by day this could prove to be one of the selling prices to telecom operators. Smaller players have not been successful in providing better packages due to the high bandwidth rates of leased lines provided by PTCL. Most of the content that we request using our internet browsers is hosted on servers abroad. Thus using national as well as international bandwidth. ISPs have to lease circuits from PTCL at high prices, so they cant afford lower packages for the subscribers. International connectivity is provided by PTCL via SMW3 and SMW4 as well as satellite and TransWorld a subsidiary of Orascom Telecom Ltd. TransWorld has a clear disadvantage over PTCL, i.e. they don't have a backup submarine cable to provide protection. Their connectivity right now includes a submarine fiber optic cable that lands at Karachi and Fujera (UAE). From there they have purchased bandwidth from Verizon for further connectivity.

Recently PTCL has announced its plans to provide triple play services but the problem is that wateen is very close to the completion of its WiMAX project which promises wireless broadband services. This will give PTCL a tough time in marketing its project. Although PTCL has the advantage of owning international fiber optic connectivity, while wateen is lagging this connectivity right now and it will have to depend on PTCL for its connectivity. Off course PTCL can provide more competitive rates owing to the fact of its international bandwidth ownership. But WiMAX will give Wateen the advantage of low maintenance cost due to the wireless access network. Plus the advantage of being totally IP based technology right from the users house will give it advantages of bandwidth on demand. One can really hope that with the introduction of two nationwide long haul fibre cables from Wateen Telecom and Multinet, prices will get lower but true broadband penetration can only be achieved by introducing competition in the international connectivity. For this PTA has to play its role. „

Passengers besiege the check-in counters to apply employees for flight information of Japan's second largest airliner All Nippon Airways Co.(ANA) at Haneda Airport in Tokyo.

Exhibitors of the Google company work in front of a illuminated sign at the industrial fair Hannover Messe in Hanover, Germany. The Federal Trade Commission has opened an antitrust investigation into Google Inc.'s proposed $3.1 billion purchase of ad-management technology company DoubleClick Inc.

A man makes a picture with a mobile phone in the headquarters of Russian oil giant Yukos during an auction in Moscow. A little-known Russian company, Paran, bought the last remaining assets of the bankrupt Yukos oil company including its headquarters building on Friday for 110.092 billion rubles.

Chris Fitzhugh holds a concept drawing that shows how the temperature differences in the ocean can be used to generate large amounts of electricity at his home in Peacham, Vt. Fitzhugh plans to spend his spring break pounding out a business plan and building a copper and PVC-pipe model to show how it will work.

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Simplifying Data Collection Mr. Chris Armitage

Area Vice President, UK & Ireland Teradata, a division of NCR

Teradata owns core technology database solutions, where it provides its customers with software and hardware solutions to meet their data warehousing needs. Teradata's database software is focused on particular market area so it is designed and optimised for data warehousing and business intelligence hris Armitage is Area Vice President for Teradata, a division of NCR. He is responsible for the telecommunication and media business in United Kingdom, Ireland, Europe, Middle East and Africa. Armitage, a graduate of Oxford University with a degree in politics, philosophy and economics, has 18 years of experience in IT and more than 10 years’ experience in business intelligence, data warehousing and data management. Armitage began his IT career with IBM, as a technical consultant to the retail industry, and later joined Acuma Solutions as a sales manager, where he built a business intelligence consultancy team serving multiple industries. Armitage joined the Teradata retail team in 1999. He became manager of Teradata's UK telecommunications industry in 2002. Latter on, he was appointed to his current position. He was recently in Pakistan, when Flare got a chance to interview him and collect certain information about the data warehousing industry. Below is the detailed discussion we had with Armitage. Q: Please brief us about the operations and products of your company? Mr. Armitage: Teradata basically owns core

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technology database products so core markets are our target areas, where we provide them with software and hardware solutions to meet their data warehousing needs. Our database software is focused on particular market area so it is designed and optimised for data warehousing and business intelligence. Where as our competitors like Oracle and IBM build databases for online transactions, processing single record, airlines reservation systems and other areas. Teradata builds for complicated scam clearance through data on larger scale. On top of this core technology, which now includes software and hardware, we have a framework of solutions for pulling the data out of production systems and also applications. Over the years we have established a valuable relationship with our customers, every customer we have worked with, it made us build our portfolio of countless applications by developing solutions for innovative and unique scenarios; and this portfolio is further strengthening with time. So Teradata is one of the biggest professional services organisations focused on data warehousing. Q: As a market, how will you compare Pakistan with other global markets?

Mr. Armitage: I think, while comparing, the major contrast between Pakistan and other countries like UK and Ireland is that the industries there are more diverse while here the real focus for us is on telecom and finance industries; as they are the only mature clients of data warehousing. In Europe we have strong presence in travel, transportation, educational systems and others; in short there are more segments to be covered there. Here in Pakistan market is maturing rapidly, I can see the developments taking place in different sectors but still there is lot more to be done. Q: Would you like to address a particular area in Pakistan, which needs improvement regarding data warehousing? Mr. Armitage: Interesting question! When I came here, I thought that we would have lot of insight to bring in many fields, we were doing in UK. Interesting thing is that there is equal scope if we take it other way, for example the telecom industry here has shown a tremendous growth which gives a chance for other nations to learn from Pakistan. On the other side, the financial institutes in UK are with higher penetration and larger number of accounts, but this development is required

rea Vice President, President, Area Mr. Chris Armitage, A Chris Armitage re are terview with Fla with Fl nter ata, durin during an in Teradata, UK eland Terad UK & IIrreland

in banking sector rather than the data warehousing. So data warehousing, alone, can not see growth, rather it is directly connected with the development of related fields. Q: Solutions implemented here are being replicated by Europe and USA, how do you see that?

this open philosophy but we provide our own solutions. At times a great deal of integration is required when it comes to combined solution involving hardware and software. Q: what are your future plans? How do you see the future of Teradata in Pakistan and across the globe? Mr. Armitage: Well, we are going to announce the strategic separation of Teradata and NCR soon; we are going through the process of separation right now. The process will be completed by the end of the September and both the organisations will completely get separated. This is the realisation that both the organisations focus on their own specific areas. As both the organisations are focusing on totally different markets. NCR, over the years, is

In Pakistan, Taradata is recruiting the local talent and providing National and International platform to its employees. Teradata has established a regional “Centre of excellence” in Pakistan, keeping in view the huge potential available in the Telecom and finance sector Mr. Armitage: It shows that how skilled the people of Pakistan are. I must mention that in banking sector, there are many examples of solutions those are being developed here in Pakistan and are replicated in USA and UK. These instances have changed the phenomena; usually solutions which were implemented in Europe or America were brought in emerging markets like Pakistan. Q: Normally the solutions you provide are too expensive what is your opinion about that? Mr. Armitage: As our solutions are basically aimed at bigger customers but this bigger does not necessarily mean larger in numbers or volumes. Actually we have a differentiation for more sophisticated and complex solutions. You do not have to be huge in data volumes but you need to be demanding in what you are doing and how you want to combine to look at that data later. You are right, we are constantly fighting the perception that we are being taken as expensive but one needs to have bigger technology to match the solutions we are providing. If you remember that when we started, the cost of the technology was too high but now the scenario is quite different. So it is a wrong perception that data warehouses are expensive, as the demand for data storage is too big. If you take a tour of a data house, you will see that it is all about the data and (detailed) data storage. At times there are billions of entries at one level of application, and then centralizing all the levels takes enough of storage capacity and data manipulation. Q: Do you rely on other companies for data storage? Mr. Armitage: We welcome this philosophy. We have relationship with various companies, for providing storage solutions. We take their comments and suggestions and we believe in

targeting markets like ATMs and retail point of services while Taradata is focusing on database housing and business intelligence. this separation is a very positive step. We, as Teradata, think to unleash the growing market

Mr. Chris Armitage, Area Vice President, UK & Ireland Teradata, during an interview with Flare

just because of falling prices and improving performance. Now data is available in abundance for people to analyse, so we see a lot of growth as new types of data and applications are coming. Previously, data-warehouses used to deliver strategic touch on monthly bases but now we deliver reports every week and even on daily basis. Real time processing of data will be the key in future; there are examples where reports are generated each hour or in even less than an hour time. We see more tasks as transactions are made more quickly and their numbers have also increased tremendously. We consider Pakistan as an important growth area from our sales perspective. We have

established a regional “Centre of excellence” in Pakistan, keeping in view the huge potential available here in the Telecom and finance sector. We will continue investing further too in growing skills of our organisation and also increasing the number of our customers. Q: Are you having any sort of coalition with government of Pakistan to provide solutions for various organisations? Mr. Armitage: We have strong relationship with Pakistani Government through NADRA. We are having a lot of support and sponsorship from the Ministry of Information Technology to grow and establish various projects. So we are working heavily with central government and at the same time, we are getting tremendous response from the provincial governments as well. We have met various government officials who seem to be fully committed to read the whole scenario and we hope to see some positive steps to be taken very soon. Q: How do you see Pakistani people from the technical perspectives? Mr. Armitage: I find the technical skills of the people very high. The people we took are very skilful. Although Taradata takes on its own programmes for technical training and educational skills but generally the people are highly skilled. Another thing is that the people we have taken are younger, more motivated, more eager to learn and more committed than what we had expected. Q: How many people you have recruited from Pakistan? Mr. Armitage: So far almost 300 people are paying their services to our organisation and I am sure that this number will increase in the future. Q: What part NCR and Taradata are playing in terms of social responsibility? Mr. Armitage: We tend to contribute to the societies where we work. We are committed to bring diversity in terms of employment. Generally, we play the role of a responsible employer. In Pakistan, Taradata is recruiting the local talent and also providing National and International platform to its employees. We also give awards every year and Flare's Editor-in-Chief Mr.Zubair kasuri has also won one of our awards for IT media publications in 2006. We are providing scholarships to MIT students. Furthermore we have initiated unique university programmes with some of the leading campuses. As a part of curriculum development of the students, we are providing training to the teachers. The whole idea of the programme is to check how quickly our students can cope with the new technological trends. The results, are very satisfactory and mind blowing. not only going to help Taradata hiring but also provide the students with training opportunity at the same time keeping them aware of the curriculum and the industrial requirements. Q: Do you want to convey any message to the “Flare” readers? Mr. Armitage: Definitely, this is my 2nd tour to Pakistan and before this I had different perceptions. And certainly, being here I have changed my perceptions. I am really enjoying here. If I can help other change their perceptions then, I think, this is the best way we can work together. n 23

Telecom

Flare Report

The copies of popular sets like Nokia "N series" and Sony Ericsson "Walkman series" are high in demand. The customers who cannot afford expensive sets are tending towards the imitated

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ales of low quality imitations of branded mobile phones, especially those from China, are on the rise and badly affecting the sales of the original manufacturers. Imports of top mobile phone brands like Nokia, Sony Ericsson and others, equipped with advanced technology such as digital cameras and MP3 players are on the top. These expensive mobile phones are very popular among the youth and for the last couple of years, their demand is increasing tremendously. Copies of these mobile phones, equipped with same functions and software are openly being sold in the market as they are comparatively much cheaper then the original brands. In addition, shopkeepers are also offering warranties for these imitation mobiles, similar to that of branded set. Pakistan imported mobile phones worth $728,283 during July-April 2006-07 of the current fiscal year as compared with $568,930 during the same period in JulyApril 2005-06. Here is a separate marketplace for Chinese mobiles retailers in the electronic market and the rush of customers at these shops is the same as compared with that at shops selling branded mobiles. The copies of popular sets like Nokia "N series" and Sony Ericsson "Walkman series" are high in demand. The customers who cannot afford expensive sets are buying the imitated sets. In the mobile market, the original price of Nokia N93i is Rs 45,100 while its copy equipped with same style, features and software is being sold at a price between Rs 10,000 to 12,000. Sony Ericsson Walkman series model K810i's market price is Rs 28,000 and its copy is being sold at a price ranging between Rs 8,000 to Rs 10,000. These sets

are affecting brand image of Nokia and Sony Ericsson by damaging their reputation among customers. Another dilemma faced by these original brands is that unauthorized dealers import tampered mobile sets in the form of refurbished handsets - also called software-pirated handsets. This practice is possible because of the fact that there is no implementation of IPR laws in our country. Chinese copies of different expensive international brands are available in the market at a very low price, even though these sets cannot compete with the original sets. But still the consumers are being fleeced by shopkeepers by assurances that the copied cell phone will offer the same quality and features like the original cell phone. After the arrival of Warid and Telenor, an intense competition has been witnessed in the Pakistani cellular phone industry and its business has risen from 1.2 million in 2002 to over 55 million in 2007. At present, there are six mobile phone service companies working in Pakistan in which Mobilink is on the top position followed by Ufone; Warid; Telenor; Paktel and Instaphone. According to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, there were around 58,399,157 subscribers all over Pakistan. According to an estimate, there are more than 1, 75,000 mobile phone shops across Pakistan generating employment for over 6,45,000 people. Mobile phone shops include high-end franchise showrooms to small booths in markets and shopping malls. „

Indian shopkeepers wait for customers in their shops at New Delhi's Nehru Place, the Indian capital's Information Technology hub. Environmentalists, alarmed by surging demand for consumer gadgets in India, are pushing manufacturers to tackle mounting piles of hazardous electronic waste.

Brothers Franco and Lucas Scalabrino, right, show to their mother, Maria Fojo, their new "hundred-dollar" laptop computers given them days earlier by the One Laptop Per Child project in Villa Cardal, Uruguay.

Wearing special glasses, Nobuaki Ohno, research scientist of Earth Simulator Center at Japan Agency for Maritime-Earth Science and Technology displays a 3-D images of liquid metal movement inside the earth at 3 x 3 x 3 meters virtual reality room at their laboratory in Yokohama.

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SK Telecom shows a fisherman and his new device using a float-shaped ultrasonic transmitter (red objects). With most South Koreans already hooked on mobile phones, the mobile phone operator has introduced the service to help fishermen locate their catches.

IT

Shahid Zahid

Building your first fiber network, whether for computer applications or broadcast networks, can be a bit daunting; however, there is no reason for the task to make you apprehensive. A few simple guidelines, discussed in this article, will make the task enjoyable and a true learning experience

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here are several options open to you as you build your new fiber network. While decisions about connector type and fiber mode may already have been made for you by the equipment manufacturer, you can still select the type of cable you will use, number of strands, brand of connector and whether you will use ducting or other protective cable raceways. All of these decisions will contribute to the quality and maintainability of your fiber installation. Choosing a Fiber-optic Cable If you are a product engineer, there are several choices you need to make regarding fiber diameter, mode, and laser frequency and so on. If you are an end user, the equipment designer will have made these choices for you. Matching the cable to its intended use is the next step. Generally, cable is divided into two groups: Multi-fiber cable, which is optimized for outdoor use between buildings or other exterior applications, and cable designed for indoor distribution. There are other cables available for intercity and long-haul applications, but the computer network operators and broadcasters typically does not install and maintain this type of fiberoptic network. Comparing cross sections of indoor and outdoor cables can tell you a lot about their construction and intended use.

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Figure 1 shows a single-fiber cable suitable

for indoor use. Note that it contains a singlefiber strand with a tight buffer surrounding it. The result is a robust cable that can be terminated directly without any special considerations. A computer network operator and broadcaster may choose to employ a cable like this as a jumper cable between a desktop graphics device and a wall plate.

Figure 2 illustrates a multi-fiber indoor use cable. This design contains two or more tight buffer cables surrounded by a common outer jacket. An important difference between this cable and a cable intended for outdoor use is that the outer jacket can be stripped away to reveal two fiber cables that are ready to be terminated. A cable such as this one may be larger in a multi-fiber configuration than its outdoor counterpart, but it will not require a breakout kit for termination.

Figure 3 is a cross section of a cable designed for outdoor use. Note that there are several significant differences between this

cable and one in figure 2. The first difference is that the cable contains several fibers separated by a loose buffer tube. The tube slides over the fibers, lubricated by a gel. Several fibers are contained in each buffer tube. Second, note that the individual fiber strands are not surrounded by a protective jacket. This saves space in the cable but means that you must use a breakout kit to terminate the cable. Third, the cable incorporates a water-blocking agent. Finally, note that the jacket on the cable is much thicker than the jacket used on indoor cable. It is treated to resist water and ultraviolet radiation. Usually when going from outdoors to indoors, a transition of some sort is required. This involves breaking out the loose-tube individual fiber strands and connecting them to a panel. The other side of the panel is connected using indoor cable. Figure 4 shows a typical breakout kit. The kit

converts the loose-tube multi-fiber cable to several tight buffer individual fiber cables that can be terminated with the appropriate connector. The tight buffer cables are much more rugged and will withstand the environment of a computer network and broadcast facilities much better than the individual strands of a loose tube cable. Connector Selection If you are concerned about terminating fiber cables yourself, there is good news: Terminating cables is much easier than it used to be. If you ever tried terminating fiber cables in the past, you probably still have nightmares about epoxy ovens and sanding little figure-eights while

IT repeating some magic incarnation. Well, all that has changed. Manufacturers now make crimp connectors and splices for fiber that allow you to terminate fiber easily and at a low cost as shown in figure 5.

If you were not all that great at making splices in the past, you can probably do better with these. Your losses will be 1/2dB to 1dB per connector. Gone are the days of the old bi-conic fiber connectors where alignment was a real problem. The FC connector always made correctly with little problem (see figure 5).With a little practice you should be able to terminate a fiber in under a minute. Ducting If you ever have the opportunity, take a tour of a large fiber installation. When you look at the equipment racks, one of the first things you notice is a large number of ducts running all over the building. Fiber-optic ducts are specially designed to carry fiber-optic cables and protect them form damage. They have carefully designed curves and openings that protect the cable from stress and excessive bending that could degrade the performance of the cable or possibly break it. Your decision to use ducting will be based on the amount of fiber you are

installing and whether the fiber is concentrated in a central area. Guidelines for building fiber Here are some guidelines to consider as you build your fiber network: „ Use the right cable. Computer and broadcast installations are not typical telco or cable system installations; needs are specific. For

example, using a loose tube cable when a tight buffer cable is required can cause maintenance headaches down the road. „ Use breakout kits and termination panel to avoid cable damage and down time. „ Keep clean. Dirt is a serious problem in fiber installations. If you are building a network, but the termination equipment is not yet installed, be sure to use dust caps to cover the ends of the cables. „ Avoid unnecessary transitions. Each transition introduces from 1/2dB to 1dB of loss per connector. If you are in an indoor/outdoor application, investigate some of the hybrid products available that will keep you from adding a transition at each building entry point. „ Run more fiber than you need. The labor cost of installing fiber is much more expensive than the fiber itself. Figure out how many fibers you need and then multiply the number by three. I used to say multiply by two, but experience has proven that this is inadequate. „ Run multiple fiber types. If your equipment uses multi-mode fiber, pull in some single-mode fiber along with it. Use of multi-mode fiber is on the decline. You may avoid a costly cable pull later if you install cable now. „ Talk to your equipment manufacturer. You can learn a lot about fiber optic technology from these experts. „ Shahid Zahid (TV Broadcast & Satellite Communication Engineer with a National Broadcaster of Pakistan, ATV)

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Telecom

Flare Report

The elimination of activation tax on SIM cards would lead to an increase of 3.6 % to 4.3 % gross domestic product (GDP) generated by Pakistan over the next 10 years. According to GSMA report the total elimination of Rs 500 SIM card activation tax would result 60% growth in revenues. it is important to mention, for Flare readers, this report was presented before the recently presented budget

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he GSM Association, a global association of mobile phone operators, while terming the tax on mobile phone connections or SIM card activation tax as an impediment in the growth of the mobile phone industry, has demanded its total elimination. Based on the findings of the study conducted by leading tax consultancy Deloitte, the GSMA has projected that the total elimination of Rs. 500 SIM card activation tax would result in revenue growth of up to 60 percent, because of expansion of services in remote, and rural areas thus attracting fresh foreign direct investment in the country. However, the findings of the study further indicates that reduction in activation tax from Rs. 500 to Rs. 250 would result in 25 percent growth in revenues and would enable the authorities to generate 32 percent additional revenue from the industry. Ricardo Tavares, Senior Vice-President Public Policy of the GSMA, along with representatives from country's mobile phone operators Mobilink, Telenor, Ufone, Paktel and Warid, speaking at a media briefing said that elimination of activation tax is necessary for the growth of the industry and penetration of mobile phone service in rural areas. He said that the elimination of activation tax on SIM cards would lead to an increase of 3.6 percent to 4.3 percent in gross domestic product (GDP) generated by Pakistan over the next 10 years. This economic growth, combined with a reduction in the activation tax on mobile SIM cards in Pakistan would boost mobile usage and spur economic growth. The study found that greater usage of mobile phones in Pakistan would improve communication between businesses and their customers, fuelling economic development and increasing tax receipts from across the wider economy, he added. We are presenting some of the findings of the research conducted by Deloitte for our reader's interest:

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Economic Impact of Mobile Industry: The mobile sector in Pakistan contributed a total of PKR 312.5 billion to the economy in 2006, representing more than 5% of total GDP, an increase of over 500% of the total contribution of PKR 45 billion in 2003. The mobile sector has created over 210,000 direct jobs to date. The analysis suggests that a 10% increase in mobile penetration can increase the annual growth rate of Pakistan's GDP by 1.2 percent. The mobile sector has encouraged low-income entrepreneurs, connected families at home and abroad. Mobile Penetration - Pakistan Leads in

coverage forecast Scenario 1: Reduction of Tax by Rs 250: Total tax collected from the mobile industry and its spill-over effect on the wider economy in 2007 compared to 2006 would increase by 32% (to PKR 58.3 bn) in the conservative scenario and by 39% (to PKR 61.5 bn) in the upside scenario.

South Asia: Pakistan is leading the South Asia with more than 37% Mobile Penetration, while Sri Lanka is at second position with India far behind with only 10% mobile penetration. Mobile Taxes in Pakistan:

Pakistan consumers pay the highest taxes compared to international benchmarks. A GSMA/Deloitte study found that the average amount mobile consumers pay in tax world wide is 1% whereas in Pakistan it is 31%. The Effect of Lowering the SIM Activation

Tax: Three scenarios have been examined with different reductions on the SIM card tax. 1. A reduction to PKR 250 2. A reduction to PKR 200 3. A reduction to PKR 0 There were also two assumptions sets: i. A Conservative scenario: Churn period of 3 years, a handset replacement period of 2 years and average operator incremental coverage forecasts ii. An upside scenario: Churn period is 5 years, handsets are replaced every year and the most aggressive operator

Scenario 2: Reduction of SIM activation tax to PKR 200 Total tax collected from the mobile industry and its spill-over effect on the wider economy 2007 compared to 2006 may increase by 28% (to PKR 57.9 bn) in the conservative scenario and by 35% (to PKR 59.8 bn) in the upside scenario.

Scenario 3: Reduction of SIM activation tax to PKR 0 Total tax collected from the mobile industry and its spill-over effect on the wider economy in 2007 compared to 2006 may increase by 16% (to PKR 51.2 bn) in the conservative scenario and by 19% (to PKR 52.9 bn) in the upside scenario. „

Telecom

Jameel Ahmed Memon

Only 17,000 cell-phone subscribers, out of over 52 million phone users, have, so far, availed the facility of mobile number portability (MNP) since its launching on March 23, 2007

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NP enables subscriber to retain their existing mobile numbers when changing from one mobile operator to another. Pakistan introduced Mobile Number Portability in March 2007 and become the first country in the region to implement this facility it was introduced on 23 March and was implemented from March 26 2007. A recent survey indicated that up to 90 percent of business customers would not change their service providers if they had to change telephone numbers, because they don't want to lose their contacts. The procedure to port a number is that you have to choose a new Service Provider and fill in a form with your chosen new Service Provider to port your number; Remember, don't cancel your current contract yet. Your new Service Provider will verify your details with your current Service Provider. If they got no any objection, the new Service Provider will arrange for your number to be ported. You'll receive a new SIM card, if appropriate, after certain time period. You can not leave your new subscriber for 60 days. Disconnected numbers can not be ported and ownership of ported number can not be changed and it can not be sold out to. In many countries MNP has failed because of unawareness of subscribers about MNP. In MNP donor (previous) operator has to be agreed for porting the number by other operator after all this porting process starts. New service provider will provide new SIM card to subscriber because of some technical features, which are unique to particular operator, these features are called triples (A3, A8 and Ki) these are used for authentication of subscriber. New operator updates HLR database and keeps entry of mobile number (MSISDN) and IMSI (unique to every SIM card), when all this process is done the subscriber is now having access to new network experience. As subscriber switches on the cell phone IMSI is transmitted to current cell then it is verified by Authentication Centre and access is granted. Today in Pakistan there are 5 GSM and one AMPS service provider, Mobilink is first GSM service provider in Pakistan that's why it is having great number of subscribers but now a days Mobilink is losing its grip on market because of network leakages and high charges, though it is having most network coverage then all others. The poll report shows that 4% users think that Mobilink, 28% Ufone, no one from Insta and Paktel (now known as CMPak), 34% telenor and 32% warid will have more users because of MNP. 32

for shifting their service along with their code from one operator to another. So far, neither the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), the watchdog of the telecom sector, nor the Pakistan MNP Data Base Guarantee Limited (PMD), a body set up by the PTA to look after MNP affairs, have come out with real figures about the gainers or losers under the MNP facility. The PTA had issued the figures of MNP facility (port in and port out) only once since March 23 as its In other poll report 86% people think that mobilink will lose customers, 4% think about Telenor and 3% think about Ufone and 2% think about Warid.

Another interesting voting for MNP was held which shows the interest of users to operators, according to this poll 30% users like to port their number on warid, 17% on Mobilink, 17% on Ufone and 18% on Telenor. Insta and Paktel are not supported by users. Only 15% users are satisfied with their existing service provider.

In all above polling results Warid and Telenor are seem to be big hurdle for other operators, and Mobilink is looking to lose what ever it is having currently. MNP is now going to force all operators to revise their tariff and to provide better quality of service. Apart from this pole, lets look at the actual figures of MNP, which reveals that only 17,000 cell-phone subscribers, out of over 52 million phone users, have, so far, availed the facility of mobile number portability (MNP) since its launching. In the first two months of MNP operations, only 10,000 people have changed the service from one subscriber to another, while 20,000 made the request

When customers can get a prepaid SIM connection for Rs150 only in a few seconds, why they would go for availing the MNP service which will take four days for a prepaid connection and six to eight days for a postpaid connection official had been saying that the PTA was dependent on the arrival of data from the PMD, while, PTA was supposed to issue data every month after the launch. According to market sources a leading player has so far been losing its customers while two new players are gaining customers. Keeping in view the figure of 17,000, it seems that the public response to MNP facility has been very languid. Even cellphone operators came up with half-hearted public awareness campaigns in initial days of the launching, but they soon suspended the publicity after receiving cold response from customers. The PTA had also created public awareness, but it failed. Many consumers are reluctant to use the new facility of mobile number portability (MNP) because of lack of awareness and easy availability of new cellphone connections at Rs150 only. Some companies are charging Rs500 for MNP activation while new players in the market are offering it free of cost. When customers can get a prepaid SIM connection for Rs150 only in a few seconds, why they would go for availing the MNP service which will take four days for a prepaid connection and six to eight days for a postpaid connection. Cell-phone operators invested Rs5 to 6bn to launch the MNP after a thorough testing. PTA thinks that consumers benefiting from the facility would be between 1.5 to two per cent of the total cellular phone users as worldwide ratio of consumers changing operator is three per cent. „

Interview

Mehmood-ul-Hassan Khan

General(R) Arshad Mehmood Vice Chancellor, Punjab University

"Education provides ideal platform to achieve desired socio-economic goals. It is the apex of humanity, civility, modernity, and above all dignity." Arshad Mahmood, Vice Chancellor Punjab University, stresses the importance of technical, scientific and market oriented education 34

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onfucius says that education gives you confidence and same is shared by the Vice Chancellor of the University of Punjab, a charismatic man and beacon of light. It provides ideal platform to achieve desired socio-economic goals. It is the apex of humanity, civility, modernity, and above all dignity. The Vice Chancellor of the Punjab University General (R) Arshad Mehmood shared his views on different subjects/issues. He stressed the need of purposeful, market-oriented and technical education in the country so that the pace of ongoing socio-economic development may be enhanced and strengthened. "We have launched a college of Engineering & Emerging Sciences and School of Biological Sciences to produce engineers and scientists.

Interview He spoke about the golden traditions (gentleness, softness, striving for truth, upholding of right, industriousness, openness) and prophecies (respect of the teacher, book and believe in right path) attached with education and knowledge. He told that all these basic yet golden qualities have been in Morality and Merit policies of the university. "For the last 7 years recruitments of all categories are on merit, which has facilitated development

"We have launched a college of Engineering & Emerging Sciences and School of Biological Sciences to produce Engineers and Scientists. New Department of Microbiology and Mycology will produce Agriculture Scientists. School of Physical Science is being launched. Collaboration with private sector helps develop technical manpower." New Department of Microbiology and Mycology will produce Agriculture Scientists. School of Physical Science is being launched. Collaboration with private sector helps develop Technical manpower." He said, The Vice Chancellor stated that to produce more professional students, and technical experts to fill the widening gap in the emerging markets/jobs, we have initiated diversified steps and introduced many new disciplines and departments in the Punjab University like the College of Banking and Finance, College of Engineering Emerging & Science, Mycology &Plant Pathology, Microbiology, School of Biological Science, College of Environment Science, Physical

of moral character, personal examples of morality from top to bottom have helped in strengthening of our value systems of Justice, Fairplay and Impartiality." He added.

In order to enhance the overall rating of the university, he has institutionalized the different short & long term policies. Quality Research papers in international journal & by teachers and students, up-gradation of Research Journals to international criteria, research group has been formed under Director Research with Incentive of Rs.25000/- for teachers and Rs.10000/- for students of Research Publication.

Mr. Arshad Mehmood studied at Govt. College Lahore from 1958 to 1961, did MSc in Strategic Studies from Quaid-i-Azam University and MSc in Defence and Strategic Studies also from Quaid-i-Azam University. He was commissioned in Pakistan Army in 1964. He has command, staff and leadership experience at all levels for 37 years. He has been Leader of the Army Advisory Team in Qatar and Managing Director of Overseas Employment Corporation in the Ministry of Manpower in Islamabad, he retired from the Army in 1997. Since 1999 He is serving as VC Punjab University Education and Sports Science, Coal Technology, Quality Management, Seed Centre, Institute of Business IT, Centre for Human Resource Development , Centre for communication skills etc.

The V.C is worried about the commercialization of education which has ruined the holiness associated with the education and the teacher. According to him, improvement in the quality of research and teaching public institu-

tions to discourage commercialization, improving the pay structure of teachers of public institutions compatible with the Private Sector, free structure of public and private institutions should be affordable for the poor masses, and the least private universities should also teach Engineering Science and technology other than Commerce, Business, Computer and Law etc. Their fee structure should be controlled. PU has the lowest fee structure in Pakistan. He showed his concerns about the low enrolments in higher education in the country. He suggested workable measures like more universities in less developed cities and towns, universities should open campus like PU in Gujranwala, On-line distant learning be launched like PU between Lahore and Gujranwala and evening programs for working classes. He has already introduced many policies to enhance the levels of Research in the University. Now, monetary incentives for writing Research Papers are being granted. Promotion criteria has been connected to the genuine research work. He clarified the wrong notion associated with day & night time courses and degrees in the PU and said difference is due to need of the working class studying in the evening to refresh and brush-up their knowledge in management and productivity. He stressed the need to have more educated young people to achieve our macro-economic goals and social betterments in the 21st century. He was worried about the absence of one educational system and syllabus in the country which are supposed to be one of the main reasons of promoting spirits of prejudice, alienation, deprivation and depression. According to him, there should be one system/syllabus in the country. He endorsed the need of distance education mechanism in the country. He shared the different short and long terms measures and policies to increase the levels and working conditions of the employees of the PU. "Living accommodation has improved for the teachers, Air-conditioners in offices/classrooms, sufficient transportation system, ATM system, cafeteria and sports complex for every department in the University is the mantra of my administration." He stated. He was of the opinion that every possible effort is being made to encourage students to do some productive work not confined to classrooms. Freedom of expression is the apex of a civilized society. At the end, he delivered his passionate message to common people and communities of teachers and students by saying, that they should and must get education, knowledge for the sake of their own survival. Tolerance, brotherhood, cooperation, harmony, hardworking and striving for truth, virtue and merit should be their mantra. „

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Telecom

Ahmed Saeed

Segmentation engineering is a recent model that outlines processes and procedures to create a substantial database that incorporates all aspects of a customer ’s life cycle. Age, sex and marital status are all just beginning parameters, information like children, payments to Visa Card versus MasterCard, anticipated purchases like scrolling for Porsche prices all the way to the total number of spoons bought in one given year need to be analyzed to provide more customized solution

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n the world where the markets change with a blink of an eye and the customer retention sojourn ends abruptly, customized solutions are not answering the ongoing model for complete customer loyalty and retention. According to a recent survey conducted by the University of New Hampshire, the service segment is facing another wave pattern regarding customer retention policies. The report concludes that a sophisticated customer relationship pattern is required to clearly identify patterns and user behavior to further improve processes, applications and even products. Segmentation engineering is a recent model that outlines processes and procedures to create a substantial database that incorporates all aspects of a customer life cycle. Age, sex, marital status are all just beginning parameters. Information like children, payments to Visa Card versus MasterCard, anticipated purchases like scrolling for Porsche prices all the way to the total number of spoons bought in one given year need to be at the product and services departments click for evaluation and review. With an extensive influx of new corporations in the market and China becoming a leader in almost all designs and manufacturing units, it is critical to keep a stringent eye on the likes and dislikes of a customer. Due to the new trend in the market, database management and polling specialists are now being quite busy in all parts of the world garnering information from all different sources and expounding on requirements given to them by their customers. Internet has done an immense job in streamlining activity and reporting different statistics. Yet, there are many other avenues that need to be ventured. Issue is the open door policy for information leaking. In order to maintain a substantial amount of data, bank accounts, call detail records, transactions

and even purchases on debit cards need to be pulled and stored. This type of information is private and require to be at the hands of agencies to recruit the central database that becomes the hallmark of decision making and policy enhancements. Secrecy of information is required to improve the spies and activities that

tomers. A recent survey by the automotive industry indicated that approx 65 percent of cars are re-engineered or upgraded by customers within 90 days of new purchase. If only the makers and service markets could clearly comprehend the requirements of the customers, these cars can most certainly become cus-

Not only is the work allocated to this job strenuous and frustrating, the price associated with delivering information to the market is exponentially increasing. Though garnering the type of information required is a tedious task and agencies are now becoming specialized in this field but in countries like Pakistan with massive labour force, applying segmentation engineering will provide a decent learning curve for major students and research scholars

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revolve around passive flow restricted to the departments solely responsible for the data entry and maintenance. Hackers and information marketers are working their way up and utilizing telemarketing and personal surveys that privy them to such information. Not only is the work allocated to this job strenuous and frustrating, the price associated with delivering information to the market is exponentially increasing. The price tag now becomes an agencies worth while agenda to conclude database storage for different types of customers and segments. Garnering the information is indeed one of the most critical components of the segmentation engineering model but to have a conceptual understanding and even a rewiring of the current legacy databases is the fundamental catalyst to ensure a long term relationship with cus-

tomized and the amount of money put forth in this industry can circulate within the automotive industry increasing confidence of customers. By and large, segmentation engineering has evolved to ensure a mechanism in place to substantiate growth and expansion. Segmentation engineering will allow corporations to have a close look at the behavioral patterns of the customer and justify decisions and policies based upon the patterns. Though garnering the type of information required is a tedious task and agencies are now becoming specialized in this field. Pakistan with its labor force can try to accelerate the pace to get onboard with requirements and specifications. Basic survey and privacy acts are not in place. Plush this will provide a decent learning curve for major students and research scholars. „

Telecom

Flare Report

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aving carved a niche in global software development and services outsourcing, India's search for the next big thing in high-tech could see it take on the rest of Asia in the crowded chip manufacturing market. The growth in mobile phones and computers has enhanced the demand for chips in India. Mobile phone subscribers in India rose to 68 percent in the last month from a year earlier to 166 million. Still, only about 15 percent of India's 1.1 billion people own a mobile phone, compared with around 35 percent in China. Semiconductor firms such as Intel Corp, Advanced Micro Devices Inc. and Freescale Semiconductor Inc. have already tapped India for chip design, but not manufacturing. New government incentives to boost chip making, coupled with India's low labour costs and surging demand for electronic goods from a fast-growing middle class, could change that. Hindustan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp, which is backed by a group of Indian investors based in Silicon Valley, has already announced plans to build two chip-making plants in India for up to $4.5 billion using technology from Germany's Infineon Technologies AG. Consumption surge: India spent about $2.8 billion on semiconductors in 2005, and demand is estimated to exceed $36 billion by

Growth in mobile phones and computers has enhanced the demand for chips in India. Mobile phone subscribers in India rose to 68 percent in the last month from a year earlier to 166 million. Still, only about 15 percent of India's 1.1 billion people own a mobile phone, compared with around 35 percent in China

2015, according to a study by the India Semiconductor Association and research and consultancy firm Frost & Sullivan. Furthermore, the study says electronic equipment consumption should surge to $363 billion by 2015, more than 10 times spending of $28.2 billion in 2005. AMD, a technology partner to the local SemIndia consortium, said it has planned to set up a chip-making facility in India with an investment of $3 billion over the next five years. Intel, the world's largest chip maker, said last November it was waiting for India to form its semiconductor policy before deciding on plans to begin manufacturing. South Korea's Hynix Semiconductor Inc. is considering emerging markets like India to set up a manufacturing facility in the future as part of its global expansion strategy, according to the senior vice-president of the company, O.C. Kwon. Tough competition: One difficulty the industry faces is that India does not spring to mind as a manufacturing destination in a very competitive sector with established Asian rivals, because of inadequate infrastructure and archaic labour laws. India, as a manufacturing hub of the future, however, needs some wisdom. This wisdom has to do with the understanding of the explod-

ing Indian market and exponentially growing middle class with sizeable disposable income. Analysts say interest in India would be fuelled by a growing appetite for electronic goods such as computers, mobile phones, and digital televisions that currently use imported chips. At the moment such chips may very well have been designed in India, because, while it lags in chip manufacturing, it has made big strides further up the value chain. According to the India Semiconductor Association, India's semiconductor design industry had revenues of $3.3 billion in 2005 and employed about 75,000 people. That is expected to increase to $43 billion in revenue and over 780,000 employees in 2015. In February, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (TSMC), the world's top contract chip maker, opened an office in Bangalore to support its customers with design activities in India. If India can do the chip design work, it can take care of the manufacturing part as well; especially when labour costs in India are still 10-12 percent lower than China. „

By 2009 more than four billion people in the world - out of a population of 6.3 billion - are expected to have a mobile phone connection in their lives. The challenge for cellular companies is to sell products to all these markets - all of which have different needs

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obile phones have re-shaped global communications. But who shapes mobiles? From city bankers to shantytown dwellers, and from hip teens to octogenarian SMS fiends, no use of a phone is too trivial; no detail of a person's life too insignificant. Jan Chipchase, principal researcher at Nokia Design, is on his way to world tour to see how people use mobile phones in their everyday lives and, more broadly, how people live. In the last 12 months he has visited 15 countries, carrying out eight full-scale research projects. Mr Chipchase's focus is on the uses to which people put their phones; where they keep them, how they answer them, and a million other details about our relationships with these devices that have helped shape our world On the street, in homes, in the office, in pockets, handbags, at the marketplace, and in the community - Mr Chipchase tries to put mobile phone use into the context of the culture and landscape he is in. His research includes looking at home battery charging services in rural Uganda, street charging in Kampala, how illiterate people use a mobile and more recently where people keep their phones. Mr. Chipchase takes a team - designers,

psychologists - into different countries around the world, to look at people's lives in different contexts. "I want to understand what people do and why, and pretty much in every context". "We do this research work to inform and inspire the design stage. To bring designers into the field so they know whom they are designing for," says Mr Chipchase. He works three to 15 years ahead of the

market. His team carries out research using a method called convergent validity - it is not quantative scientific work but qualitative. In his opinion the important consideration is how people behave, not what the latest technology can do. "It's about what to design and when to design, because human behaviour changes

very slowly; technology changes very quickly." To date, Mr Chipchase has had two patents granted based on his work and a further 25 are currently being considered. By 2009 more than four billion people in the world - out of a population of 6.3 billion - are expected to have a mobile phone connection in their lives. The challenge for cellular companies is to sell products to all these markets - all of which have different needs. Mr. Chipchase and his team employ a number of techniques from shadowing people's lives, talking to as many local people as possible and documenting their lives in different contexts. "We spend as much time as possible being in the places that people do what they do. The mobile phone is used from when you get up in the morning and is often the last thing you interact with at night," Mr Chipchase states. He has studied the mobile use of lowincome manual workers in China, and spoken to blind people who are experts in using a phone and not having to rely on a screen. Typically, Mr Chipchase is to be found discovering people and cities on a bicycle or on the back of a motorbike. „

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Telecom

Flare Report

Servers started out as huge, pricey computers from giants such as IBM. Then, groups of smaller, cheaper servers from PC-makers such as Dell became popular. These little servers, called x86 servers, work together to solve big problems and they accounted for about half the market in 2006

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trange things are happening in the normally settled world of computer servers. A shift in the market for the back-office business computers is helping prompt manufacturers to exercise unusual amounts of creativity. Servers started out as huge, pricey computers from giants such as IBM. Then, groups of smaller, cheaper servers from PC-makers such as Dell became popular. These little servers, called x86 servers, work together to solve big problems and they accounted for about half the market in 2006. Now, companies are realizing that it's not always efficient to split up computing tasks. They're shifting back to bigger servers. X86 sales, once expected to jump 61% by 2010, are now expected to rise only 39%. Server-makers are responding with new products. Forced to get creative, they're designing funky computers to distinguish themselves. They're making servers that are: Stuffed into cargo containers. Sun Microsystems just began selling a serv-

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er-filled cargo container as an instant data centre. It is delivered via semi-tractor trailer and can be plopped in a garage or on a rooftop, or any other convenient spot. Once power, a network connection, and water for cooling are plugged in, the container generates a supercomputer's worth of processing power.

Packed full of parts, most computers have one processor chip, or computer "brain." Canada's Liquid Computing sells one server that can have up to 80. That provides a unique power boost for researchers and others who run very complicated computer programs. In Silicon Valley, Open Source Systems make a server that has essentially two Sun Microsystems just began selling computers in one. (It has two motherboards, a key component.) It's ideal for a server-filled cargo container as an companies that want to do two things at instant data centre. It is delivered via the same time, such as running a Web site and behind-the-scenes numbersemi-tractor trailer and can be placed crunching software. Doused with liquid, most computers in a garage or on a rooftop, or any have little fans inside to keep things cool. British computer-maker Very PC is ditchother convenient spot ing fans and developing a server cooled Rackable Systems released its own serverby oil. That saves power and space. Very PC filled cargo container in the last month. The hopes to have a prototype soon and a finished Silicon Valley company has already sold severproduct in 12 to 18 months. al, despite a $2 million to $3 million price tag. IBM sells a product that similarly cools Both products can power field offices or provide groups of servers, with water. There's all sort of a boost during a busy period. creative ideas out there. „

Google workers work on laptop computers at Google headquarters. In its latest attempt to extend its power beyond its Internet-leading search, Google Inc. is introducing a new tool that will make its software applications accessible offline.

Frederic Jourdain , a weather forecast technician at the Roland Garros stadium for the French Open tennis tournament, works at a computer showing weather forecasts for France, in Paris.

Japanese electronics giant Toshiba unveils their new multimedia player "gigabeat V801", equipped with a 80GB harddisk drive and a 4.0-inch wide LCD display, enabling a user to store 339 hours video images or 20,000 music contents and digital broadcasting for mobile gadgets, at a press conference in Tokyo.

Passengers speak to clerks about the cancellation of flights at the All Nippon Airways ticket counter at the departure lobby of Tokyo's Haneda Airport.

Bacteria: Future Medium of Data Storage The four characters that represent the genetic coding in DNA work much like digital data. Character combinations can stand for specific letters and symbols. So codes in genomes can be translated, or read, to produce music, text, video and other content The world has heard breaking news during this month from the booming world of hi-tech and telecom which may be a sign of another era of hi-tech in the human history. This time Japanese researchers have announced to store the data in a more durable device other than disks, computer chips, hard drives or good old fashioned paper, it is bacteria. The four characters that represent the genetic coding in DNA work much like digital data. Character combinations can stand for specific letters and symbols. So codes in genomes can be translated, or read, to produce music, text, video and other content.

bacteria so the data stay intact, though Katsumi Doi, bacteria expert and Kyushu University professor, is skeptical. "We may need more time for practical applications," Doi said. "But I love the idea." It may take time to translate this idea and make it popular world wide but the initial success has given the hope of ultimate success to the scientists which will evolve a revolution in the world of hitech oriented societies. Translating the Einstein message would require solving the code. But Tomita is the kind of freethinking scientist intrigued by the notion that an extraterrestrial might come across it in the dis-

The significance of this development is that the encoded DNA of bacteria would be passed down from generation to generation, making it a possible long-term medium According to Professor Masaru Tomita, who heads the team of researchers at Keio University, While ink may fade and computers may crash, bacterial information lasts as long as species stays alive, possibly a mindboggling million years. Tomita's team successfully inserted into a common bacterium Albert Einstein's famous "E equals MC squared". Genetic coding is so massive that information _ say, a Shakespeare play _ can be stashed away somewhere in the gene without affecting an organism's overall appearance and other traits. But mutation could distort stored data. Tomita says data is stored in four places in the

tant future _ and naturally possess the superior intelligence to quickly solve the code. Tomita shrugs off the obvious question: "Who in the world is going to read bacteria?" "Many people never even thought about storing data for thousands of years," Tomita said. "This may sound like a dream. But we're thinking hundreds of millions of years." The significance of this development is that the encoded DNA of bacteria would be passed down from generation to generation, making it a possible long-term medium. Today's storage mediums are estimated to retain their integrity for up to a century, but scientists estimate that

data stored in bacteria could last for thousands of years. If it is possible to store data on human body then it will certainly change the communication culture with hi-tech even imposing its will and control on one's body and mind. Although it looks possible but due to compatibility of hi-tech with human body this may not be a practical idea. While keeping in view the idea several questions, about this revolution, arise in one's mind like: ? Whether these bacteria will be out of the human body? ? If these are out of human body, then how bacteria will survive? How we will transfer data through this device? ? ? If this bacteria work from human body then will it not harm the human being? Human brain and heart is already reportedly harmed by the radiation from mobile like devices, so these invention may be more

Today's storage mediums are estimated to retain their integrity for up to a century, but scientists estimate that data stored in bacteria could last for thousands of years threatening to human body and for behind the practical. It is really a dream but not the reality. Let's see the trends of storing data move on which direction?

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Special Report

Flare Report

Boeing and Airbus are the world’s leaders in plane manufacturing and among the biggest rivals of the world as far as competing for market share is concerned. 777 is the most popular family of planes belongs to Boeing. Airbus also have A380 family of planes which is equally competent in the market

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Boeing: Boeing is the world's leading aerospace company and the largest manufacturer of commercial jetliners and military aircraft combined. Additionally, Boeing designs and manufactures rotorcraft, electronic and defense systems, missiles, satellites, launch vehicles and advanced information and communication systems. Boeing has customers in more than 90 countries around the world and is one of the largest U.S. exporters in terms of sales. Headquartered in Chicago, Boeing employs more than 150,000 people across the United States and in 70 countries. 777 family is the most popular family of planes belongs to Boeing. About the 777 Family: The Boeing 777 is the first jetliner to be 100 percent digitally designed using three-dimensional computer graphics. Throughout the design process, the airplane was "pre-assembled" on the computer, eliminating the need for a costly, full-scale mock-up. More on innovations... The 777 program was launched in October 1990 with an order from United Airlines. In June 1995, United flew its first 777 in revenue service. The Boeing board of directors authorized production of the 777-300 on June 26, 1995. The first 777-300 was delivered to Cathay Pacific Airways in June 1998.

Market demand sized, shaped and launched the newest member of the Boeing twin-aisle family -- the 777. The airplane design offers features, innovations and approaches to airplane development that set the standard for delivering value to airlines. The 777 currently is available in six models: 777-200, 777-200ER (extended range), 777-200LR (longer-range), 777-300 and the 777-300ER, and the 777 Freighter. 777 Seating Plan:

777 Specifications:

777 CONSTRUCTION: Boeing manufactures the flight deck and forward section of the cabin, the wing, tail and the engine nacelles. Boeing subcontracts the manufacture of components and systems, which are transported to Boeing for final assembly and tests. Subcontractors include Alenia in Italy, ASTA in Australia, BAE Systems in UK, Bombardier Shorts in UK, Embraer in Brazil, Japanese aerospace companies, Kaman in USA, Korean Air, Northrop Grumman in USA and Singapore Aerospace. ENGINES: The aircraft has two pod-mounted turbofan engines below the leading edges of the wings. The General Electric, Pratt & Whitney and Rolls Royce Trent engines are rated at 327kN to 436kN thrust. The main fuel tanks are installed in the wing torsion box with the reserve and surge tanks on the inboard side of the wing.

Special Report The fuel capacity of the 777-200 is 117,350l. A centre section tank installed in the 777-200ER and the 777-300 increases the fuel capacity to 171,175l. The ultra-long range aircraft, Boeing 777-200LR has additional fuel tanks in the rear cargo hold to bring the total fuel capacity to 195,285l 777 Program Key Dates: About Airbus: Airbus is a leading aircraft manufacturer, with a turnover of more than 22 billion euros; Airbus today consistently captures

about half of all commercial airliner orders. The company also continues to broaden its scope and product range by applying its expertise to the military market.

Headquartered in Toulouse, France, Airbus is jointly owned by EADS (80%) and BAE Systems (20%). It is a truly global enterprise of some 55,000 employees, with fully-owned subsidiaries in the United States, China and Japan, spare parts centers in Hamburg, Frankfurt, Washington, Beijing, and Singapore, training centers in Toulouse, Miami, Hamburg and Beijing and more than 130 field service offices around the world. Airbus also relies on industrial cooperation and partnerships with major companies all over the word, and a network of some 1,500 suppliers in 30 countries. Airbus' modern and comprehensive product line comprises four highly successful families of aircraft ranging from 107 to 555 seats: the single-aisle A320 Family (A318/A319/A320/A321), the wide-body

monality in airframes, on-board systems, cockpits and handling characteristics, which reduces significantly operating costs for airlines. Airbus will increase its monthly production

Airbus A380 Family Specifications:

A300/A310 Family, the long-range wide-body A330/A340, the all-new medium-capacity long range A350 Family, and the ultra long-range, double-decker A380 Family. Airbus' unique family concept ensures that Airbus fly-by-wire aircraft share the highest possible degree of com-

rate to 40 for its single-aisle A320 Family by the end of 2009. Currently, Airbus produces 32 A320 Family aircraft per month. At the end of April, Airbus' order book for A320 Family aircraft stood at 5,076 firm orders from 180 customers, far outperforming the 600 orders that were estimated when the programme was launched. In the past two years, the A320 Family has received orders of around 1,600 aircraft making it not only the best-selling but also the fastestselling modern jet airliner. The strong demand for the A320 Family is set to continue as Airbus constantly introduces updates that customers want, such as the new A320 Family cabin that is lighter, quieter, more spacious and easier to maintain. „

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Cover Story

Flare Report

Pakistan has witnessed un-matching growth in previous few years. The overall consensus of industry analysts is that Pakistan is one of the countries with still a huge untapped potential for telecom growth and an attractive investment environment With over 40 percent teledensity, Pakistan is still an unsaturated market and with the falling cost of handsets and lowest tariff plans in world, there are plenty of new subscribers to compete for, especially in the rural areas. To review the detailed statistical data about the growth exhibited by telecom sector in Pakistan, let's go through a report, recently published by PTA. Sector Performance: With increasing number of mobile phone subscribers, telecom sector has significantly contributed in the average yearly GDP of Pakistan. Pakistan tops the rank in teledensity which has achieved 41.92 percent mark.

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With the help of 9 billion dollar of investment, the mobile boom has simplified a common man's life. It has created socio-economic awareness among the people in changing their lifestyle, in improvement of their business and related activities.

Cover Story

Cellular Mobile Cellular industry, the true ravolutionizer of the sector, is still gaining the momentum. The cellular companies are experiencing consistent increase in adding new customers each month. Following graphical data will reveal the individual and collective performance of cellular companies.

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Cover Story

Long Distance and International At present LDI operators are aggressively participating in the market and very affordable tariff are present for most of the countries.

Wireless Local Loop

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Pictorial

An exhibition visitor gets her photograph taken with mobile phone models in Singapore which is currently hosting CommunicAsia, and BoradcastAsia, a 3-day trade show where telecommunications and broadcasting giants gather in the city-state to showcase both the convergence of various technologies and experts representing different sectors in the high-tech industry.

"K-2" flips "Big B" into the air during a robot combat contest at the RoboGames in San Francisco, California. The floor shudders as a hulking robot called The Judge pounds a pneumatic hammer into the heavily-armored top of Little Blue Engine at the RoboGames in San Francisco.

Indian actress Neha Dhupia poses with a cellular telephone handset at the launch of India's first internet radio feature through cellular telephones in Mumbai. The "Cell Radio Links" from Tata Indicom, offers 41 global and local radio stations on a limited range of mobile phones for a subscription charge of INR 25 (USD 0.40cents) for fifteen days across Tata Indicom circles.

In this photo released by LG Mobile Phones, Shannen Doherty (90210) poses at Paramount Studios in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles, to celebrate LG's Mobile TV Party with some of televisions greatest stars and to launch LG Mobile Phones LG VX9400 unit.

A dinosaur skull, a part of a Heping Yongchuan dinosaur fossil, is exhibited in Shanghai June 18, 2007. The fossil skull, which measures one metre (3.28 feet) in length and weighs 300 kg (661 pounds), is the world's most complete, according to local media.

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty sits in a GM hydrogen fuel cell vehicle after announcing the creation of a $650 million automotive green fund to encourage investment in environmentally friendly technology, at a news conference at the GM Oshawa Assembly Plant.

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Informative

Nokia 8600 Luna

Nokia 6500 Classic

Size Dimensions 107 x 45 x 15.9 mm, 70 cc, Weight 143 g Display Type TFT, 16M colors, Size 240 x 320 pixels, 2 inches Ringtones Type Polyphonic (64 channels), MP3 Memory 128 MB internal user memory Data GPRS Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps, HSCSD Yes, EDGE Class 10, 236.8 kbps, Bluetooth Yes, v2.0 with A2DP, USB Yes, microUSB Features Camera 2 MP, 1600x1200 pixels, video(QCIF), Stainless steel body Smoked glass sliding cover, FM radio, Java MIDP 2.0, MP3/AAC/AAC+ player, T9, Calendar, Calculator, Currency converter, Built-in handsfree Battery Stand-by Up to 240h, Talk time Up to 3h 40 min

Size Dimensions 109.8 x 45 x 9.5 mm, 47 cc, Weight 94 g Display Type TFT, 16M colors, Size 240 x 320 pixels, 2 inches Ringtones Type Polyphonic (64 channels), MP3 Memory 1 GB internal user memory, Data GPRS Class 32, 53.6 kbps, HSCSD Yes, EDGE Class 32, 296 / 177.6 kbits, 3G Yes, 384 kbps, Bluetooth Yes, v1.2, USB Yes, microUSB Features Camera 2 MP, 1600x1200 pixels, video(QCIF), flash, Seamless case of anodized aluminum, Java MIDP 2.0, MP3/AAC/AAC+ player, T9 Calendar, Calculator, Built-in handsfree, Voice memo Battery Stand-by Up to 300h, Talk time Up to 5h 30 min

Crafted from chrome, stainless steel and titanium, the Nokia 8600 Luna melds nearly opaque smoked glass with unique, gentle keypad that illuminates and pulsates from beneath the glass case while the phone awaits a call. Nokia's first use of a single micro-USB port not only allows for a streamlined design free of extraneous indentations, it allows owners to streamline common activities - like charging, audio and data connectivity - into a single connection.

Nokia 2630 Size Dimensions 105 x 45 x 9.9 mm, 45 cc, Weight 66 g Display Type TFT, 65K colors, Size 128 x 160 pixels Ringtones Type Polyphonic (24 channels), MP3 Memory 11 MB user memory Data GPRS Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps, EDGE Class 6, 177.6 kbps, Bluetooth, Yes, v2.0, USB Yes Features Camera VGA, 640x480 pixels, video(128 x 96), FM radio, Java MIDP 2.0, T9, Calendar, Calculator, Currency converter, Built-in handsfree Battery Stand-by Up to 310h, Talk time Up to 6h

Crafted with an anodized aluminum case, the Nokia 6500 Classic measures just a 9.5 mm thin. Each 6500 Classic is individually polished, ensuring no two phones are exactly alike. Diamond polishing used on the beveled display aperture and cold stamped logo demonstrate the highest levels of craftsmanship. A full 1 GB of internal memory means that the 6500 Classic has capacity for more pictures, videos, contacts, songs, messages and other content than the vast majority of other mid-tier mobile phones.

Democratic presidential hopeful New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton holds a cellular phone during a rally at the Capitol in Albany, N.Y. Clinton invited supporters to keep track of the campaign by using text messaging. Clinton was endorsed by top state Democrats in her presidential bid.

At 9.9mm, the 2630 (top) is the thinnest handset to come out of Nokia's stables. Bluetooth allows users to share, store and print images taken on the phone's camera. For productivity, tools such as an email client, calendar and calculator are bundled on the phone. The 2630 also features direct access shortcut key, as well as entertainment in the form of an FM radio. No MP3 player on this, though

Nokia 6500 Slide Size Dimensions 96.5 x 46.5 x 16.4 mm, Weight 125 g Display Type TFT, 16M colors, Size 240 x 320 pixels, 2.2 inches Ringtones Type Polyphonic (64 channels), MP3 Memory Card slot microSD (TransFlash), 20 MB user free internal memory Data GPRS Class 11, 53.6 kbps, HSCSD Yes, EDGE Class 10, 236.8 kbps 3G Yes, 384 kbps, Bluetooth Yes, v2.0, USB Yes, microUSB Features Camera 3.2 MP, 2048x1536 pixels, Carl Zeiss optics, autofocus, video(VGA), flash; secondary QCIF videocall camera, Stainless steel case, FM radio with RDS, Java MIDP 2.0, Push to talk, MP3/AAC/AAC+ player, TV out, Built-in handsfree, Voice memo Battery Stand-by Up to 310h, Talk time Up to 6h Featuring 3.2-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics and the ability to easily share pictures, videos and even video calls on a television, the Nokia 6500 Slide brings imaging and sharing to the midrange market. Using 3G technology, images and videos can be quickly shared with friends around the world, while the TV-out jack allows them to be instantly viewed on any television with standard RCA inputs.

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Nokia 1200 Size Dimensions 102 x 44.1 x 17.5 mm, 67 cc, Weight 77 g Display Type Monochrome graphics, Size 96 x 68 pixels, 29 x 23 mm Ringtones Type Polyphonic (32 channels) Memory 4 MB user memory, T9, Calendar, Calculator, Currency converter Built-in handsfree Battery Stand-by Up to 390h, Talk time Up to 7h Nokia 1200 is a dual-band GSM candybar phone. It features Black/White display with green backlight, SMS messaging, Phonebook and dust resistant keyboard.

Informative

Samsung i620 Size Dimensions 113 x 59 x 11.8 mm, Weight 95 g Display Type TFT, 65K colors, Size 320 x 240 pixels, QWERTY Keyboard Ringtones Type Polyphonic (64 channels), MP3 Memory Card slot, microSD (TransFlash) Data GPRS Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps, EDGE Yes, 3G HSDPA, 1.8 Mbps, WLAN Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, Bluetooth Yes, v2.0 with A2DP, USB Yes, v1.1 miniUSB Features OS Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.0 Standard Edition, Camera 2 MP, 1600x1200 pixels, video, flash; secondary VGA videocall camera, Java MIDP 2.0, WMV/3GP/H.263/MPEG4 player, WMA/MP3/AAC/AAC+/OGG/ASF player, Organiser, Document viewer (MS Word, Excel, PPT, PDF),Built-in handsfree Sleek and stylish, the SGH-i620 is Samsung's slider phone, and it's definitely no slouch. Boasting a 2.0-megapixel camera, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, microSD card slot, full QWERTY keypad, and Windows Mobile.

Samsung J600 Size Dimensions 97 x 44 x 15 mm, Weight 92 g Display Type TFT, 65K colors, Size 128 x 160 pixels Ringtones Type Polyphonic (40 channels), MP3 Memory Card slot microSD (TransFlash) Data GPRS Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps, EDGE Class 10, 236.8 kbps, Bluetooth Yes, USB Yes Features Camera 1.3 MP, 1280 x 1024 pixels, video, flash, Java MIDP 2.0, MP3/AAC/WAV/MIDI player, T9, Voice memo/command Organizer, Built-in handsfree This is Samsung J600, the latest 'cool blue' handset by Samsung. This phone falls under the category of economical trendy handsets. This TriBand GSM handset has a little resemblance to the famous LG Chocolate and here I mean only the structure similarity nothing else. Samsung J600 is a multi features phone which can suit any pocket. This 92 grams gadget is a sliding handset with a 1.3 mega pixel camera. It has a 65K colour TFT screen which is quite good for cell phones.

Motorola RAZR2 V9

An employee of Japan's mobile phone carrier Willcom shows off its new cell phones "WX320T Carrots" where users can browse websites during a preview at its headquarters in Tokyo. The company will put the new product on domestic market from the end of July.

Size Dimensions 103 x 53 x 13.3 mm, Weight 125 g Display Type TFT, 256K colors, Size 240 x 320 pixels, 2.2 inches Second external 256K colors, 2 inches display (240 x 320 pixels) with contextual touch interaction, Screensavers and wallpapers Downloadable logos Ringtones Type Polyphonic, MP3 Memory Card slot microSD (TransFlash), 45 MB internal memory Data GPRS Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps, EDGE Class 12 3G HSDPA 3.6 Mbps, Bluetooth Yes, v2.0 with A2DP, USB Yes, v2.0 microUSB Features Camera 2 MP, 1600x1200 pixels, video, Video calling and download, Java MIDP 2.0, MP3/AAC/AAC+ player, T9, Organizer Calculator, Built-in handsfree, Voice memo, Battery Stand-by Up to 260h, Talk time Up to 3h 30min The Motorola RAZR2 V9 defines the next trend in 3G. Composed of materials include vacuum metal finishes and two-tone soft touch housing, the RAZR2 V9's stainless steel frame make it durable and resilient helping to ensure an ultra-thin shape with a strong structure. Offering CrystalTalk technology, the RAZR2 V9 automatically accounts for background noise and adjusts the audio to match the ambient volume so consumers will be heard in a crowd.

Samsung i620

Sony Ericsson T250

Size Dimensions 94.7 x 49.6 x 16.8 mm, Weight 96 g Display Type TFT, 256K colors, Size 176 x 220 pixels, 2.1 inches Second external mono display (32 x 128 pixels) Ringtones Type Polyphonic (64 channels), MP3, Dual speaker Memory Card slot microSD (TransFlash), 58 MB embedded memory Data GPRS Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps 3G Yes, 384 kbps, Bluetooth, Yes, v1.2, USB Yes, v1.1 Features Camera 1.3 MP, 1280 x 1024 pixels, video; secondary VGA videocall camera, Java MIDP 2.0, MP3/AAC/AAC+/e-AAC+ player, T9, Changeable front and back cover, Organizer Built-in handsfree, Voice memo Battery Stand-by Up to 300h, Talk time Up to 4h

Size Dimensions 100 x 45 x 13 mm, Weight 82 g Display Type TFT, 65K colors, Size 128 x 160 pixels, 1.7 inches, Wallpapers, screensavers Ringtones Type Polyphonic (32 channels) Memory Phonebook Yes, 2 MB internal memory Data GPRS Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps, HSCSD Yes, Infrared port Yes, USB Yes Features Camera VGA, 640x480 pixels, video(QCIF), FM radio with RDS, Slide show, Full screen viewer, T9, Stopwatch, Timer, Built-in handsfree Battery Stand-by Up to 300h, Talk time Up to 7h

The Z240 makes more than just a fashion statement. Empowered by dual-camera video call capability with 3G technology, it makes keeping up with your friends and the latest walk in town one smooth and groovy experience. Whip out your Z240 and use the 1.3 Megapixel camera and video camera to your every advantage! Shoot videos for instant playback and sharing on the 2.1" colour TFT-LCD screen. An external memory slot for storing your photos and videos ensures that your fun doesn't have to end.

Simple sophistication sums up the Sony Ericsson T250, the stylish metal finish of this compact phone gives it a premium feel that up until now has been the preserve of high end models. Add to this a feature set that makes it easy to stay connected, either with friends or the latest news, and you have the perfect partner for keeping in-touch with style.

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Informative

Sony Ericsson S500

Sony Ericsson T650

Size Dimensions 99 x 47 x 14 mm, Weight 94 g Display Type TFT, 256K colors, Size 240 x 320 pixels, 2.0 inch Ringtones Type Polyphonic, MP3, AAC Memory Card slot Memory Stick Micro (M2), 12 MB shared memory Data GPRS Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps, HSCSD Yes, EDGE Class 10, 236.8 kbps, Bluetooth Yes, v2.0 with A2DP, USB Yes Features Camera 2 MP, 1600x1200 pixels, video, TrackID music recognition Walkman 2.0 music player, Java MIDP 2.0, T9, Organiser, Voice memo Built-in handsfree Battery Stand-by Up to 370h, Talk time Up to 9h

Size Dimensions 104 x 46 x 12.5 mm, Weight 95 g Display Type TFT, 256K colors, Size 240 x 320 pixels, 1.9 inch, Wallpapers, screensavers Ringtones Type Polyphonic, MP3, AAC Memory 16 MB shared memory Data GPRS Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps, HSCSD Yes, 3G Yes, 384 kbps, Bluetooth Yes, v2.0 with A2DP, USB Yes Features Camera 3 MP, 2048x1536 pixels, autofocus, video, flash; secondary videocall camera, Java MIDP 2.0, MP3/AAC music player, TrackID music recognition, FM radio, T9, Organiser, Voice memo Built-in handsfree

Clocking in at a respectable 14mm thick, the slider is all about style. It's got "ever-changing themes and illuminations that change as day turns to night" and "hidden illumination" to make you stand out while taking calls outside a club. As for the guts, it's got a 2-inch screen, media player expandable via a memory card slot, 2-megapixel camera, and a GSM/GPRS/EDGE connection for Web surfing.

Sony Ericsson is tossing out the T650. A candybar, it packs a beefier 3.2-megapixel camera while remaining only 12.5-mm thick. It's also a 3G phone, making checking your email or RSS feeds a snappier affair than if you're using the S500. The 1.9-inch screen is covered with a layer of mineral glass, which will apparently make the colors pop, increase the viewing angle, and protect it from scratches when you put your phone in the same pocket as your keys.

Sony Ericsson P1 Size Dimensions 106 x 55 x 17 mm, Weight 124 g Display Type TFT touchscreen, 256K colors, Size 240 x 320 pixels, 2.6 inches QWERTY keyboard, Handwriting recognition Ringtones Type Polyphonic, MP3, AAC Memory Card slot Memory Stick Micro (M2), 512 MB card included, 160 MB shared memory Data GPRS Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps, 3G Yes, 384 kbps WLAN Wi-Fi 802.11b, Bluetooth Yes, v2.0 with A2DP, Infrared port Yes, USB Yes, v2.0 Features OS Symbian OS v9.1, UIQ 3.0, Camera 3.15 MP, 2048x1536 pixels, autofocus, video, flash; secondary videocall camera, Java MIDP 2.0 Video playback, FM radio with RDS, Media Player (MP3, AAC) Sync ML, Office applications, Business card scanning, Organiser Photo album, Voice memo, Built-in handsfree, Battery Stand-by Up to 440h, Talk time Up to 10h Sony Ericsson unveiled its fifth-generation P-series smart phone, the Sony Ericsson P1. The P1 is 25 percent smaller than its predecessor, the Sony Ericsson P990i, but that doesn't mean it skimps on features. The smart phone is based on the Symbian and UIQ operating systems and has a 2.6-inch touch screen, a 3.2-megapixel camera, and push email support for Exchange ActiveSync and BlackBerry Connect.

Motorola RAZR2 V8

Sony Ericsson W580i

Size Dimensions 103 x 53 x 11.9 mm, Weight 117 g Display Type TFT, 256K colors, Size 240 x 320 pixels, 2.2 inches Second external 256K colors, 2 inches display (240 x 320 pixels) with contextual touch interaction, Screensavers and wallpapers Downloadable logos Ringtones Type Polyphonic, MP3, Customization, Download, Vibration Yes Memory 420 MB or 2 GB internal user memory Data GPRS Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps, EDGE Class 12 Bluetooth Yes, v2.0 with A2DP, USB Yes, v2.0 microUSB Features Camera 2 MP, 1600x1200 pixels, video, Java MIDP 2.0, MP3/AAC/AAC+ player, T9, Organizer, Calculator, Built-in handsfree, Voice memo Battery Stand-by Up to 260h, Talk time Up to 3h 30 min

Size Dimensions 99 x 47 x 14 mm, Weight 94 g Display Type TFT, 256K colors, Wallpapers, screensavers Ringtones Type Polyphonic, MP3, AAC Memory Card slot, Memory Stick Micro (M2), 512 MB card included 12 MB shared memory Data GPRS Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps, HSCSD Yes EDGE Class 10, 236.8 kbps, Bluetooth Yes, v2.0 with A2DP USB Yes Features Camera 2 MP, 1600x1200 pixels, video, TrackID music recognition Walkman 2.0 music player, Java MIDP 2.0, T9, FM radio with RDS Organiser, Voice memo, Built-in handsfree, Battery Standard battery, Li-Ion, Stand-by Up to 370h, Talk time Up to 9h

The RAZR2 V8 'talks' to consumers by speaking the interactive menu, contact lists, emails and messages aloud - a feature developed for people with visual impairments, but convenient for in-car use. Without opening the phone, RAZR2 users can rely on the large external screen to read messages and reply with pre-programmed text messages.

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A Chinese promoter shows off a latest mobile handset at a hitech expo in Beijing. Sales of mobile phones in China increased 40 percent year on year to 120 million units in 2006, as China become one of the world's largest handset markets, with sales likely to surge 25 percent to 150 million units in 2007.

The Sony Ericsson W580 offers a complete world roaming cellular solution with its quad-band support. The W580 automatically comes with a 512MB memory stick. When you're out and about, you can have your favorite music with you wherever you go and your picture library and favorite Web sites. W580i is for active people with 2 MP camera as well.

Informative

Nokia 2310 Rs. 3,500 Size Dimensions 105.4 x 43.9 x 19.05 mm Weight 85 g Display Type CSTN, 65K colors Ringtones Type Polyphonic, MP3 Memory 4 MB shared memory Features FM radio, Stopwatch, Built-in handsfree, Picture messaging Battery Stand-by Up to 400 h Talk time Up to 6 h Design is made personal with the Nokia 2310 phone. Turn on, tune in and groove to FM Radio on the go. Sophistication and entertainment in one package, the Nokia 2310 is the best fit for your mobile lifestyle. Design: 7.4 Features: 7.1 Performance: 7.1

Motorola W208 Rs. 3,900 Size Dimensions, 108 x 44 x 14.9 mm, 65 cc, Weight78 g Display Type TFT, 65K colors Size 128 x 128 pixels, 28 x 28 mm Ringtones Type Polyphonic (64 channels) Memory 750 SMS messages, Features FM radio, iTap (T9), Organizer, Calculator, Built-in handsfree Battery Stand-by Up to 300h, Talk time Up to 7h 50 min Motorola W208 gives you the tools you need to keep you connected in style. Affordable and feature rich, the Motorola W208 delivers a super-slim form and the best of the basics for work and play. Complete with calendar, alarm clock, vCard capabilities, FM radio, and speakerphone, the Motorola W208 delivers on-the-go tools for entertainment, organization and communication Design: 7.7 Features: 7.1 Performance: 7.4

This combo picture shows Indians talking with their mobile phones in Siliguri.

LG C2500 Sony Ericsson J230i Rs. 3,100 Size Dimensions 102 x 44 x 18 mm, Weight 84 g Display Type STN, 65K colors Ringtones Type Polyphonic (32 channels) Memory 500 KB user memory, 50 short messages Data GPRS, Class 8 (4+1 slots), 32 - 40 kbps Features FM radio, Exchangeable cover, Image viewer, Calendar Stopwatch, Built-in handsfree Battery Stand-by Up to 280h, Talk time Up to 6h Providing music capabilities and value that reaches a broad range of consumers, the Sony Ericsson J230 features a built in stereo FM radio. The J230 also comes equipped with a stereo hands-free access and a speakerphone in the back. Design: 7.6 Features: 7.4 Performance: 7.6

Rs. 4,500

Size Dimensions 101 x 46 x 18 mm Weight 80 g Display Type CSTN, 65K colors Ringtones Type Polyphonic (64 channels), MP3 Memory 60 MB shared memory Data GPRS Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps USB Yes Features Camera VGA, 640x480 pixels, MP3/AAC player FM Radio, Organiser, Voice memo, Built-in handsfree Battery Stand-by Up to 250h Talk time Up to 3h A sharp phone with MP3 Player and FM Radio; a speaker phone is there to enhance your experience of digital music. Your VGA Camera supports upto 4x zoom. 64 MB memory is enough for your clear pictures. Design: 7.6 Features: 7.8 Performance: 7.7

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Above prices are subject to change as per market

Informative

Nokia 5200

Rs. 8,800

Samsung E200

Size Dimensions 92.4 x 48.2 x 20.7 mm, 85 cc Weight 104 g Display Type CSTN, 256K colors Ringtones Type Polyphonic (64 channels), MP3 Memory Card slot microSD (TransFlash), hotswap - 5 MB internal memory Data GPRS Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps HSCSD Yes EDGE Class 10, 236.8 kbps Bluetooth Yes Infrared port Yes USB Yes Features Camera VGA, 640x480 pixels, video, Stereo FM radio, MP3/SpMidi/AAC/AAC+ player, Stopwatch Battery Stand-by Up to 263 h Talk time Up to 3 h 10 min

Size Dimensions 108 x 45 x 9.9 mm, Weight 90 g Display Type TFT, 65K colors, Size 176 x 220 pixels Ringtones Type Polyphonic (40 channels) Memory Card slot, microSD (TransFlash), 30 MB internal memory Data GPRS Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps EDGE Class 10, 236.8 kbps, Bluetooth Yes, v2.0 with A2DP, USB Yes, v2.0 Features Camera 1.3 MP, 1280 x 1024 pixels, video, Java MIDP 2.0, Stereo FM radio, T9, Organiser, To Do list, Built-in handsfree, Voice memo

A Phone for kids with a beautiful design, though there are questions about its lacking feature, but it can be a good choice for your kids. With a VGA Camera and Bluetooth, you can play around with pictures.

Samsung is slimming not only it's high end Ultra Edition phones. Other, more affordable handsets get on a diet too. Samsung E200 is 9.9 mm thin GSM phone with GPRS/Edge and Bluetooth connectivity, 1,3 megapixel camera, FM radio and microSD memory card slot.

Design: Features: Performance:

7.9 7.8 7.8

Design: Features: Performance:

7.8 7.6 7.8

Tero Ojanpera, chief technology officer for Nokia, poses for the media with Nokia's N95 mobile phone equipped with 5 megapixel camera during the Seoul Digital Forum 2007, a three-day gathering of technology and media industry figures, in Seoul, South Korea.

Sony Ericsson W700 Motorola RAZR V3 Rs. 8,100 Size Dimensions 98 x 53 x 13.9 mm, 65 cc Weight 95 g Display Type TFT, 256K colors - Second CSTN display (96 x 80 pixels), 4096 colors Ringtones Type Polyphonic (24 channels), MP3 Memory 5.5 MB internal memory Data GPRS Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps Bluetooth Yes, v1.2 USB Yes, miniUSB Features Camera VGA, 640x480 pixels - Java MIDP 2.0, MPEG4 video, T9, PIM functions Built-in handsfree, Battery Stand-by Up to 280 h Talk time Up to 7 h One of the thinnest clamshell phones in the world. This feature-packed, quad-band GSM phone sports a sleek metal design, dual color displays, a VGA camera, long-range Bluetooth, MPEG4 video clip playback, and Java 2.0 with 3D graphics. Design: Features: Performance:

8.4 7.7 7.6

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Size Dimensions 100 x 46 x 20.5 mm, Weight 99 g Display Type TFT, 256K colors, Size 176 x 220 pixels, 28 x 35 mm Ringtones Type Polyphonic (40 channels), MP3 Memory Card slot Memory Stick Duo Pro, 256 MB card included, buy memory, 34 MB shared memory Data GPRS Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps HSCSD Yes, Bluetooth Yes, v2.0, Infrared port Yes, USB Yes, v2.0 Features Camera 2 MP, 1632x1224 pixels, video, flash MP3/AAC player, up to 30h playback if the phone is switched off, Video player, Java MIDP 2.0, T9 FM radio with RDS, Image viewer, Picture editor Organiser, Voice memo, SyncML, Built-in handsfree Battery Stand-by, Up to 400h, Talk time Up to 9h Sony Ericsson W700 is amongst the Walkman phone family, discreetly designed, the W700 offers classic styling cues for those in the upper echelons of society. Splashed in a subtle Titanium Gold colour, the W700 offers fantastic sound quality and unprecedented ease-of-use, while the 2-megapixel camera provides an outlet to explore your artistic slant, amongst other fun features. Design: 7.6 Features: 7.7 Performance: 7.7

Informative

Motorola W375

Rs. 5,600

Size Dimensions 99 x 45 x 18.6 mm, 73 cc, Weight 88 g Display Type TFT, 65K colors, Second external mono display Ringtones Type Polyphonic, MP3, Customization, Composer, download, Vibration Yes Memory 1.5 MB shared memory Data GPRS Class 8 (4+1 slots), 32 - 40 kbps, USB Yes, miniUSB Features Camera VGA, 640x480 pixels, FM radio, iTap (T9), Organizer, Calculator Built-in handsfree Battery Stand-by Up to 250h, Talk time Up to 7h 30 min The W375 combines strikingly svelte design and a splash of colourful self-expression with an integrated VGA camera. The W375 provides a sense of individuality with its palette of three iconic colours: Cannon Gray, Lustrous Silver & Mandarin Orange. Design: 7.8 Features: 7.4 Performance: 7.5

Samsung D820 Rs. 12,100 Size Dimensions 95 x 51 x 15.2 mm Weight 99 g Display Type TFT, 256K colors Ringtones Type Polyphonic (64 channels), MP3 - Dual speakers (3D sound) Memory Card slot microSD (TransFlash) - 73 MB total shared memory 4 MB for Java apps Data GPRS Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps EDGE Class 10, 236.8 kbps Bluetooth Yes, v1.2 USB Yes, v1.1 Features Camera 1.3 MP, 1280 x 1024 pixels, 180 deg rotating lens, video(CIF) - TV output MP3/AAC/AAC+ music player, Picsel viewer, MPEG4 video recording & playback SyncML, Built-in handsfree Battery Stand-by Up to 180 h Talk time Up to 3 h Samsung's D820 is a sophisticated phone with a super slim profile. A mere 15.2 mm thin, the slim SGH-D820 nestles nicely into the palm of your hand. With just one gentle push of the thumb, all the rich features in this sleek, slide-up design will be at your fingertips. Design: Features: Performance:

8.3 7.9 8.0

An Intel Corp. sales representative explains the new 45nm (nanometer) processing chip speeds at the world's second largest information technology show, the 27th annual 2007 Computex Taipei Taiwan. With over 2,700 booths and an expected 100,000 visitors.

Nokia 6101 Rs. 8,100 LG KG300 Rs. 8,800 Size Dimensions 100 x 46 x 17 mm, Weight 89 g Display Type TFT, 256K colors Ringtones Type Polyphonic (64 channels) Memory Card slot microSD (TransFlash), 60 MB shared memory Data GPRS Class 8 (4+1 slots), 32 - 40 kbps, Bluetooth Yes, USB Yes Features Camera 2 MP, 1600x1200 pixels, video, Java MIDP 2.0, MP3 player FM radio, T9, Organiser, Voice memo Battery Stand-by Up to 250h, Talk time Up to 3 h

Size Dimensions 85 x 45 x 24 mm, Weight 97 g Display Type TFT, 65k colors, Size 128 x 160 pixels, 29 x 35 mm, Second external display 4096 colors (96 x 65 pixels), 5-way navy key Ringtones Type Polyphonic (24 channels), MP3 Memory 4.4 MB shared memory Data GPRS Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps, HSCSD Yes, 43.2 kbps EDGE Class 6, 177.6 kbps, Infrared port Yes, USB Yes, Pop-Port Features Camera VGA, 640x480 pixels, video, Push to Talk, FM radio, Java MIDP 2.0 SyncML, T9, Presence enhanced contacts, Calendar, Built-in handsfree Voice dial/memo

The LG KG300 mobile phone has a 2inch 260k color QVGA TFT LCD, a 2 Megapixel camera, built-in media player supporting MP3, AAC, AMR, WAV music and MPEG4 videos. KG300 has also built-in FM Tuner, 56MB internal memory, and a microSD slot for expansion. It supports Bluetooth1.2 and USB1.1

Consumers will appreciate the features of the Nokia 6101 such as its easy-to-use menu structure. The built-in VGA camera with a dedicated button takes colorful videos and pictures that can be shared via MMS or uploaded to an online photo album or printing service. The external color display shows incoming calls, time and date while the internal screen displays favorite images or a busy social calendar.

Design: Features: Performance:

Design: Features: Performance:

8.2 8.1 8.2

8.1 7.9 7.8

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Informative

Nokia 3250 (1 GB) Rs. 16,100

Sony Ericsson W830

Size Dimensions 103.8 x 50 x 19.8 mm Weight 130 g Display Type TFT, 256K colors Ringtones Type Polyphonic (64 channels), MP3 Memory Card slot microSD (TransFlash) (up to 1GB) - 10 MB internal memory Data GPRS Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps EDGE Class 10, 236.8 kbps Bluetooth Yes USB Yes, Pop-Port Features OS Symbian OS v9.1, Series 60 rel. 3.0 Camera 2 MP, 1600x1200 pixels, video(QCIF) Stereo MP3/AAC player, Stereo FM radio, Visual radio, Standard 3.5 mm stereo headphones jack, PIM functions, Built-in handsfree Battery Stand-by Up to 245h Talk time Up to 3 h

Size Dimensions 98 x 47 x 21 mm, Weight 116 g Display Type TFT, 256K colors Ringtones Type Polyphonic (40 channels), MP3, AAC Memory Card slot Memory Stick Duo Pro, 1 GB card included 16 MB shared memory Data GPRS Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps EDGE Yes, Bluetooth Yes, v2.0 Infrared port Yes, USB Yes Features Camera 2 MP, 1600x1200 pixels, video, flash, TrackID music recognition Walkman 2.0 music player, FM radio with RDS, Organiser, Voice memo Built-in handsfree, Exchangeable covers Feel the vibe come alive, whatever your taste in music. Storage for a thousand songs. Fast Web connection to download more; Make calls, take pictures and videos, play and download music, and even identify unknown tracks. The advanced Walkman® music player lets you browse album artwork to find the song you want. It looks great on the large colour screen. Make the most of high speed Internet to enjoy mobile video, Internet and messaging.

This compact smartphone sports a unique keypad that twists 90 degrees for camera mode, and another 90 degrees to reveal music keys. Key features include a 2 megapixel camera, FM radio, microSD memory card slot, and USB with mass storage mode. Other features include EDGE data, speakerphone, and Bluetooth. Design: Features: Performance:

8.3 8.1 8.2

Design: Features: Performance:

Nokia 5700 Rs. 23,200

Motorola A1200 Rs. 18,700 Size Dimensions 95.7 x 51.7 x 21.5 mm, Weight 122 g Display Type TFT touchscreen, 256K colors, Size 240 x 320 pixels, 36 x 48 mm Handwriting and speech recognition Ringtones Type Polyphonic (40 channels), MP3 Memory Card slot, microSD (TransFlash), buy memory 8 MB built-in memory, Intel XScale 312MHz processor Data GPRS Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps Bluetooth Yes, USB Yes, miniUSB Features OS Linux Camera, 2 MP, 1600x1200 pixels, video Java MIDP 2.0, Stereo FM radio, MP3/MP4/AAC+ player, PIM functions, Document viewer, Voice dial/memo, Built-in handsfree Battery Stand-by Up to 200h, Talk time Up to 4h The new Motorola "MING" PDA Smart Phone is a fully integrated gadget that serves as a mobile phone, a PDA, a music player, a camera, a video recorder, a name card reader and a data storage device(up to 1GB). A business solution with more fun. Design: Features: Performance:

8.4 8.0 8.1

Size Dimensions 108 x 50 x 17 mm, 84 cc, Weight 115 g Display Type TFT, 16M colors, Size 240 x 320 pixels, 2.2 inches Ringtones Type Polyphonic (64 channels), MP3, AAC Dual stereo speaker Memory Card slot, microSD (TransFlash), buy memory 35 MB of user memory, 64 MB SDRAM, 128 MB ROM, ARM 11, 369 MHz CPU Data GPRS Class 32, 107 / 64.2 kbps, HSCSD Yes, 43.2 kbps, EDGE Class 32, 296 / 177.6 kbits, 3G Yes, 384 kbps, Bluetooth Yes, v2.0 with A2DP, Infrared port Yes, USB Yes, miniUSB Features OS Symbian OS v9.2, S60 rel. 3.1, Camera 2 MP, 1600x1200 pixels, video(QVGA), flash Video calling, Java MIDP 2.0, FM stereo radio Push to talk, MP3/AAC/AAC+/eAAC+/WMA player, Voice memo/command, T9, Calendar Calculator, Built-in handsfree Battery Stand-by Up to 290h, Talk time Up to 3h 30 min The 5700 features a twist design that switches between four modes at the flick of the wrist - music player, 2.0-megapixel camera, video call and smartphone. Using an optional 2 GB microSD card, the Nokia 5700 supports up to 1500 tracks that can be enjoyed using Bluetooth stereo headphones. Loading songs onto the 5700 is fast and easy as consumers can choose from a broad range of supported digital formats, including WMA, MP3, AAC, as well as eAAC+ and MP4. A video call feature and the built-in 2.0-megapixel camera make it easy to share moments with friends and family. Design: Features: Performance:

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8.2 8.1 8.0

8.0 7.9 7.9

Informative

Samsung U600 Rs. 19,600 Size Dimensions 103.5 x 49.3 x 10.9 mm, Weight 81 g Display Type TFT, 256K colors, Size 240 x 320 pixels, 34 x 44 mm Ringtones Type Polyphonic (64 channels), MP3 Memory 60 MB embedded memory Data GPRS Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps EDGE Class 10, 236.8 kbps, Bluetooth Yes, v2.0 with A2DP, USB Yes, v2.0 Features Camera 3.2 MP, 2048x1536 pixels, autofocus, video, flash, Java MIDP 2.0, MP3/AAC/eACC/WMA player FM radio, T9, Yahoo search, Organizer Business card recognition, Document viewer (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF), Voice memo Built-in handsfree Battery Stand-by Up to 250h, Talk time Up to 3h 30 min Inspired by the shine and shimmer of the crown jewels, Samsung's Ultra Edition 10.9 (U600) offers elegance and modern style, coming in a choice of colors which includes sapphire blue, garnet red, platinum metal and copper gold casing. The design of U600 includes an interface for sophistication and usability. It also comes equipped with a 3.2-megapixel camera encased in an ultra slim profile and boasting a 2.22-inch wide TFT LCD widescreen. For the feature watchers, Samsung's Ultra Edition 12.1 (U700) offers a HSDPA 3.6 Mbps data transfer speed, video telephony functionality and auto focus in a slim 12.1 mm case. Design: Features: Performance:

Motorola RIZR

Rs. 11,300

pSize Dimensions 106 x 46 x 16 mm, Weight 115 g Display Type TFT, 256K colors Ringtones Type Polyphonic, MP3 Memory Card slot microSD (TransFlash), 20 MB internal memory Data GPRS Yes, EDGE Yes, Bluetooth Yes, v2.0, USB Yes, v2.0 Features Camera 2 MP, 1600x1200 pixels, video, flash MP3/AAC/AAC+ player, Built-in handsfree Battery Stand-by Up to 230h, Talk time Up to 3 h 20 min The Motorola RIZR Z3 features an ultra smooth slider that easily glides open with a subtle push to the elevated lens treatment. Equipped with 2.0megapixel digital camera and high-intensity camera light and a built-in music player. With multiple messaging capabilities including MMS and IM, share a picture, file or expression with friends, family or loved ones. Design: Features: Performance:

8.2 7.8 7.8

8.4 8.1 8.2

Nokia N76

Sony Ericsson P990 Rs. 21,700 Size Dimensions 114 x 57 x 26 mm, Weight 150 g Display Type Size 240 x 320 pixels, 41 x 56 mm, TFT touchscreen, 256K colors, QWERTY keyboard, Handwriting recognition Memory Card slot Memory Stick Duo Pro, 64 MB card included, buy memory, 128 MB Flash, 64 MB RAM 60 MB user memory Data GPRS Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps, HSCSD Yes, 3G Yes, 384 kbps, WLAN Wi-Fi 802.11b Bluetooth Yes, v2.0, Infrared port Yes, USB Yes, v2.0 Features OS Symbian OS v9.1, UIQ 3.0, Camera 2 MP, 1600x1200 pixels, autofocus, video, flash, second video call camera FM radio with RDS, MP3/AAC player, SyncML 1.2 Office applications, Built-in handsfree Battery Stand-by Up to 400h, Talk time Up to 9h Take pictures to be proud of. The P990i has a 2 megapixel digital camera with video. Catch the moment and save it or send it . P990 takes effective communications to new heights, you have everywhere access to the Internet, push e-mail to get your e-mail straight to your phone and video calling and messaging for effective communications. Design: Features: Performance:

Rs. 32,500

Size Dimensions 106.5 x 52 x 13.7 mm, 70 cc, Weight 115 g Display Type TFT, 16M colors Size 240 x 320 pixels, 2.4 inches, Second external 256K colors display (160 x 128 pixels) Ringtones Type Polyphonic (64 channels), MP3, 3.5 mm headset jack Memory Card slot, microSD (TransFlash), hotswap, 26 MB shared memory Data GPRS Class 32, 107 / 64.2 kbps, HSCSD Yes, EDGE Class 32, 296 / 177.6 kbits 3G Yes, 384 kbps, Bluetooth Yes, v2.0, USB Yes, v2.0, miniUSB Features OS Symbian OS 9.2, S60 rel. 3.1, Camera 2 MP, 1600x1200 pixels, video(QVGA), flash; secondary CIF video call camera, Video calling, Push to Talk, Java MIDP 2.0, MP3/M4A/AAC/eAAC+/WMA player, Stereo FM radio, Voice command/dial PIM including calendar, to-do list and printing, Document viewer, Photo/video editor Integrated handsfree Battery Stand-by Up to 200h, Talk time Up to 2 h 45 min Holding up to 1500 tracks, the Nokia N76 works with industry standard 3.5 mm headphones and supports the popular Windows Media DRM for optimal use. The N76 integrates a 2.0megapixel camera to capture, zoom and review pictures. With up to 2 GB of expandable memory, users have ample storage for high-quality multimedia. Design: Features: Performance:

7.9 8.0 8.0

7.9 8.2 8.3

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The Nokia 6500 Classic (actually, Nokia insist on calling it classic with a lowercase "c") is a relatively lightweight and slim 3G phone aimed at the mass market. At just 95 grams, the 6500 Classic is light for a 3G phone. It is also only 9.5mm thick, and the attractive casings are individually polished to make them individual and are available in Black and Bronze colors. There's a 240x320 pixel display in 16 million colors, a 2 megapixel camera with flash, dual-band 3G (850/2100 MHz), an MP3 player and stereo output to wired headphones (the 6500 Classic does not appear to support stereo Bluetooth). The Nokia 6500 Classic's battery gives up to 5.5 hours talk and 12.5 days standby time which is quite impressive (assuming those are 3G figures). One drawback on the 6500 Classic is the lack of video calling, and also the video capture on the primary camera is only 176x144 pixels. One impressive feature with the Nokia 6500 Classic (apart from the looks) is the whopping 1GB of internal memory. This should be enough for most people, but it cannot be expanded with memory cards. Connect the 6500 Classic to a PC with the supplied microUSB connector, and you can use the phone as a sort of memory stick. Nokia say that the 6500 Classic should be available from Q3 2007.

First thing to notice is that this is a very unusual looking device the "squashed" look that you can see in the photo on the left isn't a sizing error, the SGH-i620 is a wide and squat phone at around 59mm across by 94mm tall when closed, opening up to a 131mm device with a QWERTY keyboard using a sliding mechanism. Samsung have clearly tried to keep the i620's layout as simple and as elegant as possible. There are two cameras on the SGH-i620. It supports tri-band GSM (900/1800/1900 MHz) and has a two megapixel camera with flash. There's a wide 320x240 pixel display too, which is a more practical arrangement for a smartphone than the typical "tall" display found on other phones. Assuming that this is an updated slider version of the i600, one can expect that Samsung i620 to support HSDPA (3.5G) data in addition to UMTS (3G) and come with 802.11b and g WiFi capabilities. This should be a Windows Mobile 6.0 device with a wide range of supported multimedia formats, and this would mean that the SGH-i620 also comes with the usual array of Windows Mobile software. Stereo Bluetooth and microSD expandable memory are also to be expected. There are a lot of assumptions there - as yet there is no official word from Samsung as to the SGH-i620s exact technical specifications, and some of these could be wrong. The design of the Samsung i620 is certainly appealing.

Informative

Samsung SPH-M300 phone provides tools to help users stay connected, including web access, email and text messaging. It offers downloadable games, a VGA camera with digital zoom and PictBridge support. The SPH-M300 is available in both dark silver and misty rose red. The M300 provides tools to help users stay connected, including web access, email and text messaging. The M510 measures 3.74" x 2.0" x 0.64" and weighs just 2.9 ounces. It will be priced at $129.99 with a two-year service agreement. The M300 by Samsung measures 3.58" x 1.85" x 0.68" and weighs less than 2.7 ounces. It will be priced at $29.99 with a two-year agreement. „ Easily connect to wireless headsets or other devices featuring Bluetooth Wireless Technology (Supports HSP, HFP, and DUN and OPP and OBEX only with vCard) „ Integrated camera captures VGA-quality digital pictures to send to an email account or compatible phone and can be assigned to contact entries for picture caller ID (Resolution up to 640 x 480 px) „ Speakerphone allows for easy, handsfree communication „ Download Pictures, Ringers & J2ME Games with Sprint PCS Vision.

The first thing that most people will notice on the RAZR2 V8 is the very large external display - this is a 2" 240x320 pixel panel which is possibly the largest external display we've ever seen. Another clever feature is that the screen is touch-sensitive, meaning that media playback can be controlled by touching the softkeys on the screen. The external display has been chemically hardened to protect it. The camera is a little disappointing - the RAZR2 V8 only comes with a 2 megapixel unit, Video capture is just 176x144 pixels which again mean that this isn't a particularly great camera phone. Of course, the RAZR2 V8 is a multimedia device that can play back a wide variety of audio and video clips. The V8 has a whopping 420MB of internal memory available to the user, and this can be expanded by a further 2GB using microSD cards. Stereo playback is either by a wired headset or stereo Bluetooth. There's a pretty comprehensive software suite on the RAZR2 V8, including a web browser, email client and a new user interface. There are some improvements elsewhere too - Motorola have worked on call quality and are also using "haptics" to provide tactile feedback on the external display, audio prompts for menus and a whole range of other usability improvements. The battery life on the RAZR2 V8 is very impressive, with up to 8 hours talktime. The V8 supports EDGE data as well as GPRS, but not 3G. This is definitely not the original RAZR in any respect - but it shares the same styling and that is probably the biggest drawback. It is very disappointing to see that Motorola didn't try a fresh approach when it come to cosmetics and it's quite possible that many consumers will not understand just how different the RAZR2 V8 is underneath. Motorola say that the RAZR2 V8 should be available in next month.

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Clearly closely modeled on the Nokia 8800 Sirocco, the 8600 is a stylish slider phone aimed at fashion conscious consumers and executives. Featuring an unusual smoked glass sliding cover, the Nokia 8600 certainly scores well for "wow factor". Other features are a general improvement on the 8800 series, with a 240x320 pixel display, quad-band GSM support for worldwide roaming, and the Nokia 8600 also has a 2 megapixel camera, 128MB of internal memory and an FM radio. As well as the stylish semitransparent cover, the Nokia 8600 features quite a lot of stainless steel in its construction which brings the weight up to a heft 140 grams while adding significantly to the 8600's structural strength. Despite the weight, the Nokia 8600 isn't a 3G device although it does have 850/900/1800/1900 MHz GSM with GPRS and EDGE. Of course, the Nokia 8600 also has Bluetooth and an MP3 player. One major limitation is the lack of any memory expansion - the Nokia 8600 just has the 128 MB of internal memory and no more can be added. The battery life is 3.5 hours talktime and 10 days standby time. Despite the shortcomings, one thing that the Nokia 8600 will have is common with the original 8800 and later 8800 Sirocco is looks, and the overall design and usability of the 8800 has appealed to many people in the past. This device certainly won't suit everyone - especially when you take price into consideration - but it is appealing in many ways.

Delivers Stylish Mobile Multimedia Powerhouse Motorola has launched the MOTOROKR E6 in Pakistan, a powerful handset designed to provide rich mobile entertainment and productivity. Raising the bar in style and design for PDA-style devices, the MOTOROKR E6 continues Motorola's heritage of industry leading form and function. The handset provides a combination of portable entertainment and business efficiency. The handset's dedicated music keys, expandable memory, video capabilities and productivity tools provide the ultimate multimedia experience for professionals on the go. The MOTOROKR E6 provides powerful business tools that allow users to easily manage calendar appointments send and receive email and view documents on the go. Handset measures in at 14.5mm thick and includes a large 240x320 TFT Touch Window® and features a 2.0 megapixel camera with 8x zoom, dedicated music keys and removable SD card memory slot. Additional multimedia features also include high-quality video recording, MPEG-4 / Realplayer® video playback and task manager. "The MOTOROKR E6's greatest advantage in Pakistan lies in its lifestyle-focused features which are designed to create powerful and meaningful experiences for mobile consumers in the rapidly growing business market," said Sarim Alvi, Director Sales and Marketing, Mobile Devices, Motorola. "The MOTOROKR E6 has been specifically designed to provide the best in mobile multimedia and business productivity, allowing users to easily create and share their experiences"

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Informative

Sony Ericsson has announced S500i, a 14 mm slim slider offering color accents and changing desktop themes. Consumers can set in-phone themes and external light effects to change when they want - as day turns to night or when the weekend begins. Hidden illumination appears to highlight a certain event and the keypad glows when the slim slider is opened. With the 2.0-megapixel camera users can share moments as they happen, taking photos and blogging it directly. Users can also send pictures or video to any mobile phone or email address. The S500i offers more than aesthetics with a media player and expandable Memory Stick slot, Sony Ericsson Disc2Phone music management software has everything users need to transfers favorite music from a PC to the phone. When the S500i is connected, it appears as a drive on the computer. It also features Bluetooth 2.0, giving fast, robust connection to other Bluetooth devices. The Sony Ericsson S500i is a 14 mm slim 2.5G slider phone (GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900) and will be in early 2008.

Billed as the spiritual successor to the classic T610 handset, the Sony Ericsson T650 combines a touch of Swedish minimalist design with the latest 3G technologies. This is a 3G phone - the Sony Ericsson T650i supports UMTS 2100 plus GSM 900/1800/1900. There's a 1.9" 240x320 pixel display in 262,000 colours plus a 3.2 megapixel digital camera on the back with autofocus and a photo light. Memory is expandable using Memory Stick Micro cards, and the Sony Ericsson T650i also has stereo Bluetooth. Despite all the effort that seems to have gone into building the T650i, the weight is just 95 grams which is very good for a 3G device. The handset is just 12.5mm thick (104 x 46 x 12.5mm overall) which means that this is also quite a slim device. As you might expect, the T650i comes with the usual range of software including an email client, web browser, RSS reader, multimedia player, an FM radio (subject to confirmation), speakerphone, video calling and animated themes. The overall design is unusual but striking, at it serves as a reminder of the elegant designs of the early Sony Ericsson handsets which seems to have been somewhat lost in the past year or so. We'd definitely count this as a "fashion phone", but one with plenty of substance to back it up. Sony Ericsson say the T650i should be available from Q3 2007.

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The Sony Ericsson P1 is a 3G Symbian smartphone with a QWERTY keyboard which can be regarded as a replacement for the Sony Ericsson P990i. The P1i breaks with the tradition of the P800/P900/P910/P990 series and disposes of the characteristic "flip" on the front of the device and it also ditches the QWERTY keyboard for a keypad similar to the M600i - a move that might not be popular with all P900 series users. It's also a fair bit lighter than the 150g P990i weighing in at 124 grams. The first thing to note on the Sony Ericsson P1i is the large 2.6" 240x320 pixel TFT display - this is now a transflective panel which means that it can be read more easily outdoors. As with previous models, this is a touchscreen although the Sony Ericsson P1i also has a jog-dial control. On the back is a 3.2 megapixel camera with autofocus and flash, and there's a secondary video camera on the front of the Sony Ericsson P1i for video calling. There's also a multimedia player and FM radio. The 160MB of internal memory can be expanded by using a Memory Stick Micro card, we understand that the standard sales package will include a 512MB card in the box. Of course the P1i also supports Bluetooth. Underneath this is a tri-band 900/1800/1900 MHz device with UMTS 2100 MHz and support for 802.11b and 802.11g WiFi. One major drawback is that the Sony Ericsson P1i doesn't support HSDPA, and also the tri-band GSM/single band UMTS network support is a little limiting. The operating system on the Sony Ericsson P1i is version Symbian 9.1 with the UIQ 3.1 interface running on top. Those familiar with the P990 will find the usual set of applications including a web browser (based on Opera), RSS reader, email client and a range of personal information management tools. The P1i supports VOIP too, but expect this to be carrier dependent as some networks have recently disabled VOIP in their phones. Support for corporate email solutions such as BlackBerry, ActiveSync and other systems will be available through add-on applications. The Sony Ericsson P1i is only a little larger and heavier than the M600 at 106 x 55 x 17mm and 124 grams. Battery life is quoted as 10 hours talk/18 days standby on GSM, 3.5 hours talk/14 days standby on 3G. Using Bluetooth and WiFi will eat into the battery life significantly, although hopefully not as quickly as it did on the P990. Sony Ericsson say that the P1i will be available in some markets in Q3 2007 but have not given any pricing details, our estimate is that the P1i will cost at least Rs. 50,000.

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Telecom

Samsung attracts fashion conscious Pakistani users with a new unique product

amsung and Jasper Morrison, a leading industrial designer, with a collective cooperation have brought out SGH-E590. The Samsung E590 is a perfect solution for users who want to have all of the advanced multimedia features with eye-catching design in one hand. Through the partnership with Jasper Morrison, well known for his talents in various areas of industrial design, the E590 is designed to touch customer's emotion. The stylish E590 comes in simple contours and clean lines which comprise this compact bar design. True to Jasper Morrison's witty sense, the mobile phone provides dual face; one side features phone keypad and LCD screen while the other side is outfitted with dedicated camera functions. With the sleek design, E590 is equipped with a powerful camera functions even other digital cameras would envy the capabilities as it allows the users to enjoy 3.2 Megapixel camera with Auto Focus and Half-shutter. Panorama shot feature offers intuitive camera UI which displays easy to use icons. Moreover, E590 comes with the Bean bag, a unique tripod which is a truly useful and portable accessory made of a special rubberized material for maximum flexibility and grip. "The SGH-E590 is a very pragmatic work of art that reflects the synergy between Samsung and Jasper Morrison. We have teamed up to satisfy our users with high-performance technology and emotional design." says Shahid Khan, National Marketing Manager of Samsung Electronics Pakistan. He added, "Through the partnership with renowned designers, Samsung will strengthen its design power to bring design excellence to our customers." The Samsung E590 is available in two colors, noble black and snow silver. „ SGH-E590 Specification

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Flare Report

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treasure hunt is a game, encompassing numerous players who try to find hidden articles using a series of clues. This activity can be an indoor or outdoor activity; outdoors they can be played in a garden or the treasure could be located anywhere around the world. More recently however, a new term for treasure hunting called, 'Geocaching' is an outdoor treasure-hunting game in which the participants use a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver or other navigational techniques to hide and seek containers (called "geocaches" or "caches") anywhere in the world. Conversely, Nokia recently launched its Nokia N95 in Pakistan. Media representatives were invited to a challenging and unique treasure hunt in Karachi. The invitees were allowed to use Nokia N95's web browsing capabilities to solve clues and to seek for photo opportunities to shoot using the 5 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics. The event allowed Nokia to demonstrate just a few of the endless ways this cutting edge handset can deliver to consumers what they need when they need it. The launch of the new computer consisted of the experience zone and presentation zone providing the media with first hand experience of the different features available on the device and to share the multimedia story with the same. A cluster of journalists gathered at a local coffee house at Park Towers, which were divided into two groups, and waited with impatience as the hosts explained the rules of the 'game'. The game, a novel concept, comprised of clues strategically located in the sprawling Bagh-e-Ibn-eQasim Park. As the teams proceeded towards the experience zone, devices in hand, a base unit was set up to send out clues and receive the snapshots of the images taken on the device. The teams kicked off by choosing a name of their group. The first clue 'There's something in my pocket, it's not one thing, it's many: Shoot where earth, water and sea combine' was sent to the team as the clock touched the mark of 05:10pm. Team A

Telecom

took the lead by solving the first inkling, which was the shot of the sea from the canopy structure, and sent this to the base. Soon after they received the second clue, 'There's something in my pocket, it's not one thing, it's many: Shoot the 520 paces leading to traces of Gizri Limestone' through SMS. This clue again was solved by Team A and they sent a shot of the Jehangir Kothari Parade and made their way to the third and the final clue, 'There is something in my pocket, it's not one thing, it's many: Connect the 8 corners of your rest near the Jodhpur stones'. A final group portrait was taken and the winning team proceeded back to the coffee house. The entire experience was quite heady and both the teams were exhilarated. The teams were encouraged to solve the clues by using the web browser on the Nokia N95 and were advised to search Wikipedia. They were given a first hand chance to test the features of the device. Upon returning to the coffee shop, the teams were briefed by Neil Gordon, General Manager Multimedia Sales & Marketing, Nokia MEA. The pictures were illustrated in a slideshow and a cake was presented to the winning team to show appreciation. This was followed by Q&A and snacks. "The Nokia N95 is the ultimate multimedia computer and a fantastic example of what Nokia N series devices can deliver," said Neil Gordon General Manager, Multimedia, Nokia Middle East and Africa.

"It easily replaces a number of single purpose devices with a well designed package that is with you and connected. The Nokia N95 is what computers have become - personal, powerful and connected devices." The technology behind the Nokia N95 is advanced and compatible with the most modern network systems. Designed for High Speed Downlink Packet Access

(HSDPA) networks and with support for WLAN, EDGE and WCDMA networks, the Nokia N95 provides excellent coverage and connection speeds. The Nokia N95 is based on the world's leading S60 software on Symbian OS, enabling you to personalize your device from a wide choice of compatible applications that can be downloaded to the Nokia N95, including games, navigation, entertainment, productivity and creativity. „ 67

Informative

HP Pavilion dv6000t Processor Intel Core 2 Duo RAM 512 MB / 2 GB(max) Hard Drive 60 GB Display Type 15.4 in TFT active matrix Graphics Processor Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 Pros: Slick, lightweight design; decent processor performance; built-in Webcam; two headphone jacks. Cons: Mediocre battery life; optional glossy display can be reflective. The bottom line: We like the HP Pavilion dv6000's attractive design and multimedia features, but don't expect this Core 2 Duo laptop to break any speed records.

Dell Latitude D630 Processor Intel Core 2 Duo T7100 / 1.8 GHz RAM 2 GB / 4 GB(max) Hard Drive 120 GB - 5400 rpm Portable Storage CD-RW / DVD-ROM combo - Plug-in module Display Type 14.1 in TFT active matrix Graphics Processor Intel GMA X3100 Pros: Strong performance; long-lived nine-cell battery; sturdy construction; bright display; comfortable keyboard; corporate-level security, including smart card reader; WWAN available as an option; lengthy three-year warranty. Cons: Somewhat heavy for a thin-and-light notebook; native screen resolution makes icons and text look small; fingerprint reader decreases mouse button size. The bottom line: Corporate users can't go wrong with the Dell Latitude D630, which integrates Intel's latest mobile platform with a business-friendly feature set and lengthy extended battery.

Sony VAIO SZ Processor Intel Core Duo T2400 / 1.83 GHz RAM 1 GB / 2 GB(max) Hard Drive 100 GB - 5400 rpm Portable Storage DVD±RW (+R DL) - Integrated Display Type 13.3 in TFT active matrix Graphics Processor NVIDIA GeForce Go 7400 TurboCache supporting 128MB / Intel GMA 950 Pros: Sleek, carbon-fiber case; large, comfortable keyboard; bright, high-quality display; integrated Webcam and microphone; solid performance and decent battery life. Cons: Very expensive; lacks multiformat card reader found on competitive models; unremarkable speakers. The bottom line: The Sony VAIO SZ manages to be eminently portable without sacrificing a readable screen or a usable keyboard, and it incorporates all of the features and components, and most of the connections, that business users need.

HP Business Notebook Nx9420 Processor Intel Core Duo T2500 / 2 GHz RAM 1 GB / 4 GB(max) Hard Drive 80 GB - 7200 rpm Portable Storage DVD±RW (+R DL) / DVD-RAM Integrated Display Type 17 in TFT active matrix Graphics Processor ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 - PCI Express Pros: 17-inch wide-screen display; big keyboard and separate number pad; solid performance and battery life; full range of security features; portable enough for room-to-room movement. Cons: Display isn't particularly bright; system lacks external touch pad on/off button; small touch pad. The bottom line: If you're looking for a 17-inch wide-screen laptop that offers corporate-caliber security, power, and battery life, the HP Compaq nx9420 is the only game in town. 69

Humaira Naz & Muhammad Nadeem Khokhar

IT

The guidelines for Requirement Management have been documented many times formally but the actual problems faced by the software industry are quite different. Through research it is found that most of the software projects fail before they are completed or if they do reach completion their quality is not up to the mark. The aim of this article is to identify the loopholes in the requirements gathering practices and how they are affecting the entire project and final product

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ools rush in where angels fear to tread, a stitch in time saves nine, Measure twice, cut once, Look before you leap, what do all these sayings have in common? They're all about thinking before acting. Why? Because it saves time, money, effort and embarrassment. It's plain common sense, yet, when it comes to software development, this common sense seems to disappear. All too often, projects start before thought has been put into the project's purpose, its desired results, and how its success will ultimately be measured. We find that, during most of the history of software engineering, requirements analysis has been considered to be a relatively easy part of the process. However, in the last decade or so, it has become increasingly recognized as being the most vital part of the process; given that the failure to properly identify requirements makes it virtually impossible for the finished piece of software to meet the needs of the client or be finished on time". WHY REQUIREMENTS GATHERING? Imagine if instead of developing software, you are building an expensive house. Wouldn't you expect that before you started pouring the foundation, you'd have detailed drawings that showed what the finished house should look like, inside and out? Of course you would. And why is that? Well, it's because architects and general contractors have determined that having architectural drawings and blueprints is the most cost-effective way to build houses. Do you think they would go to all the trouble to create drawings and blueprints if they weren't necessary? REQUIREMENTS GATHERING ISSUES: 1. Users don't understand what they want 2. Users won't commit to a set of written requirements 3. Users often do not participate in reviews or are incapable of doing so. Leakage of defects from requirements gathering stage to the rest of the lifecycle: Defects leaking from one phase of the software development lifecycle to another are very obvious if observed rightly. One organization

that has done so is Hughes Aircraft. A study by Snyder and Shumate [1992] follows the leakage of phenomenon for a large collection of projects Hughes has conducted over the past 15 years. The study indicates that 74 percent of the requirements-oriented defects were discovered during the requirements analysis phase of the project - that is, the formal phase during which customers and systems analysts discuss, brainstorm, negotiate and document the project requirements. That's the ideal time. 4. HOW TO SAVE YOURSELF!? 1. Find the right person to do the job: Essential skills to look for in the person are : Soft skills, listening skills, interviewing and questioning skills, analytical skills, alleviation, observation skills, Writing skills, organization and modelling skills, interpersonal skills and strong creative skills. 2. Context and groundwork: Before a project can be started, some preparation is needed. Finkelstein categorises such preparation as context and groundwork. In the past, it was often the case that RE methods assumed that RE was performed for a specific customer, who could sign off a requirements specification" 3. Requirements elicitation: The elicitation of requirements is perhaps the activity most often regarded as the first step in the RE process. The term "elicitation" is preferred to "capture", to avoid the suggestion that requirements are out there to be collected simply by asking the right questions 4. As per Bashar Nuseibeh and Steve Easterbrook "Information gathered during requirements elicitation often has to be interpreted, analysed, modelled and validated before the requirements engineer can feel confident that a complete enough set of requirements of a system have been collected. Therefore, requirements elicitation is closely related to other RE activities - to a great extent, the elicitation technique used is driven by the choice of modelling scheme, and vice versa: many modelling schemes imply the use of particular kinds of elicitation techniques. 5. Modeling and analyzing requirements: Modelling - the construction of abstract descrip-

tions that are amenable to interpretation - is a fundamental activity in RE. So that a number of RE textbooks focus almost entirely on modelling methods and their associated analysis techniques. Models can be used to represent a whole range of products of the RE process QUALITY REQUIREMENTS: Characteristics of quality requirement statements: According to Karl Wiegers, we find that "How can you distinguish good software requirements from problematic ones? Individual requirement statements should exhibit six characteristics. A formal inspection of the SRS by project stakeholders with different perspectives is one way to determine whether or not each requirement has these desired attributes. Another powerful quality technique is writing test cases against the requirements before you cut a single line of code. Test cases crystallize your vision of the product's behavior as specified in the requirements and can reveal omissions and ambiguities Keys to excellent software requirements: We find in Karl Wiegers' article on avoiding requirement traps, the following: „ "Educating developers, managers, and customers about requirements engineering practices and the application domain. „ Establishing a collaborative customer-developer partnership for requirements development and management „ Understanding the different kinds of requirements and classifying customer input into the appropriate categories „ Taking an iterative and incremental approach to requirements development „ Using standard templates for your vision and scope, use case, and SRS documents „ Holding formal and informal reviews of requirements documents „ Writing test cases against requirements „ Prioritizing requirements in some analytical fashion „ Instilling the team and customer discipline to handle requirements changes consistently and effectively". „ 71

Aatif Saeed

Telecom

Technology has an important impact on innovation and the development of societies and economies. ICT (Information & Communication Technologies) have created great opportunities for people around the world to change the way they work, live, play and learn. But all the advancements made in ICT are dependent on the ICT network readiness. The regulator (PTA) should look for an alternative policy framework for fast deployment of ICT network and regulation on the overall structure of the industry, instead of simply looking at the new issues through the same old regulatory lens

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he pace of technological innovation throughout the global community is relentlessly pushing forward. In the nineteenth century, we saw more technological change than in the nine centuries preceding it. Then in the first twenty years of the twentieth century, we saw more advancement than in all of the nineteenth century. ICT (Information & Communication Technologies) have created great opportunities for people around the world to change the way they work, live, play, and learn. Each era of technological advancement since the Industrial revolution-from steam engines and railways to steel & electricity and oil & automobiles has enabled businesses to expand their commerce and production globally. Today's innovators, however, are using ICT to completely rethink how they use information, and they are designing new business models and new capabilities that integrate dispersed partners and coworkers who network closely with each other. Technology has an important impact on innovation and the development of societies and economies. This impact can be visualized as occurring in three stages. In the first stage of "substitution," new technology substitutes for the old. For example, with the invention of the mobile telephone, consumers start substituting their fixed telephone lines with mobile handsets. The second stage of impact is "diffusion," which occurs when the new technology is adopted widely across society because it is cheaper, better, and in general more effective than the previous technology. Continuing with the example of the mobile telephone, there are many countries in the world today where the number of mobile telephones exceeds the population of the country. The final stage of impact is "transformation," which occurs when new ways of living and working start emerging because the new technology is diffused so widely in society. For example, the widespread adoption of the mobile telephone has led to interesting innovations in the communication patterns of individuals -such as executives conducting business while waiting in airport lounges or traveling in trains. Keeping the above three-stage model in mind, one can argue that we are at a critical stage of transformation in society and business with new (Internet-based) information and communication technologies. For example, mobile telephones are not only creating innovative patterns of social and business communication but

are also becoming sources of entrepreneurial business generation. . Today's technologies, such as IPTV and mobile TV, personalize that entertainment in ways that let consumers pick and choose what they want and when they want it. These new capabilities also make good business sense, providing fresh revenue opportunities for service providers. In education, IP networks are turning the traditional classroom into virtual schoolhouses that deliver education to remote students, life-long learners, and others. But all the advancements made in ICT are dependent on the ICT network readiness. The infrastructure plays the role of back bone in ICT developments. An analysis is carried out to rank the different countries as for as ICT network readiness is concerned. The ICT networked readiness analysis is based on three main sub indexes, capturing: „ The presence of an ICT-conducive environment in a given country by assessing a number of features of the broad business environment, some regulatory aspects, and the soft and hard infrastructure for ICT. „ The level of ICT readiness and propensity of the three main national stakeholders-individuals, the business sector, and the government; and „ The actual use of ICT by the above three stakeholders. Based on a mixture of hard data, collected from well-respected international organizations such as the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), World Bank and survey data coming from the Executive Opinion Survey conducted annually by the World Economic Forum, the countries are ranked based on the given criteria.

Pakistan, India and China are far behind in International ranking:

Though we claim the Telecom revolution in the country but still we are far behind in ICT network readiness. Therefore, under this situation spreading the fruits of ICT to every corner of the country is not possible. Government will have to take more steps to employ ICT to deliver more services to citizens at less cost and to improve their networking capabilities. The major challenges are finding investment capital, setting regulations for security and interoperability, and providing Internet access to and educating citizens. Regulator should play a key role in deploying ICT network. The regulators should look for an alternative policy framework that recognizes the impact of ICT and regulation on the overall structure of the industry, instead of simply looking at the new issues through the same old regulatory lens. Operators, regulators, and other industry stakeholders must work together to manage the transition to new technologies and their fast deployments successfully. This might be the only way that investors will be encouraged to invest, and that industry stakeholders and society can capture the full benefits of communication age. „

Top 10 Countries in ICT network readiness:

Japan's computer giant Fujitsu employee displays the new mobile information terminal "Flepia" with a 12-inch sized electronic paper display with a touch screen function, which enables to display 4,096-color XGA image continously.

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n annual affair since 2003, Intel has provided a central point for talented youth around the globe to come together and share on their practicality and skill. Intel's decade-long sponsorship of Intel ISEF is part of its global commitment to improving the quality of education. Since Intel became the prime sponsor in 1996, the number of Intel ISEF finalists has grown about 40 percent while the number of participating

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ers into paper products. A device for the Speech Impaired and Deaf (D-S.I.D), a life changing communication (an alternative to sign language) was undertaken by Fatima Shami from Headstart School in Islamabad. While Mufadil Mansoor, from Karachi's Aga Khan School undertook a project about adding a feature to the mobile to allow it to control electrical appliances via a cell phone. The students' projects encompass a wide range

"Intel ISEF finalists are the next generation of innovators," said Craig Barrett, Intel Chairman. "At Intel we've been working to promote math and science for nearly four decades, so coming to Intel ISEF and meeting these amazing young scientists is something I look forward to every year." Last year, 15 year old Hamza Sheikh of Head Start School, Rawalpindi did Pakistan proud by winning the second prize in the category for

Talented Youth of the The importance of education, science and technology for the shaping of society and for providing realistic options for development policies is no longer arguable. A competent education curriculum and system provides more resources for science and technology research and a better scientific output opens new horizons to a better economy. Realizing the importance of education and the potential of human resources, Intel has once again attracted students to the world's largest science fair; the annual International Science and Engineering Fair

Fatima Shami - Islamabad, Pakistan

countries, regions and territories has grown by 70 percent. High school students from 51 countries, regions and territories around the world, including Pakistan arrived in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA to compete for $4 million in scholarships and awards in the annual Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (Intel ISEF). The top three winners, alone, will each be awarded a $50,000 scholarship by Intel Corporation. Earlier, Intel Pakistan Corporation in collaboration with the Ministry of Education had organized the National Science Olympiad where students from across the provinces showcased their research based projects. The National winners from Pakistan were chosen to compete at the now annual Intel ISEF held in the US. Notably, 3 students from Pakistan participated in this grand event. 13 year old Kulsum Bilal of Govt. Kinnaird High School for Girls, Lahore won an acknowledgement for her project based on the feasibility and recycling of chicken feath-

of disciplines that address breakthroughs which have stumped scientists for years and which could lead to major scientific advances. More than 20 percent of the young scientists competed in Intel ISEF 2007 either had a patent or they had applied for a patent for their work. This year's projects tackled themes about climate change, solar-powered water generator, a device to increase the mileage of hybrid vehicles amongst others. A treatment for cancer including a way to prevent the development and progression of lung cancer and a way to identify cells that contribute to cancer growth were part of some of the notable projects. An engineering solution such as a "smart swim" drowning alert system for children, a robot that uses artificial intelligence to determine the most efficient paths through mazes and an airplane engine that can run on compressed air were also ambitiously undertaken by the students. This platform provided the associates with unlimited access to showcase their green thumbs.

chemistry. The award, accompanied with $1,500 in prize money, was awarded to him at a grand ceremony where he displayed his project on the effectiveness of pea flower as an effective bio-insecticide. Judges (all PhDs in chemistry) were impressed by his work, which was based on an experiment that covered an important environmental issue which is the use of chemical pesticides. “It's cost effective, easily available and adds nutritional value to food, not to speak of the safety factor,” said Sheikh, adding “chemical pesticides have caused detrimental effects to our surroundings.” The ISEF has been coordinated for 57 years by Science Service, one of the most respected non-profit organizations advancing the cause of science. With the continuation of the annual Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, Pakistani's around the world now earnestly await the participation of their fellow compatriot to continue to vow the rest of the world with their brilliance. n

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Pictorial

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Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz speaking at the World Telecommunication and Information Society Day.

Imam-e-Kaaba Shaikh Abdur Rehman Al-Sudais push the computer button to inaugurate the website of Jamia Ashrafia during a ceremony held at Awan-e-Iqbal, Lahore.

President (LCCI) Shahid Hassan Sheikh distributing shields among the participants during a seminar on the occasion of World Telecom Day held at a local hotel. Hamid Farooq CEO, Warid, also seen in pic.

Federal Minister for Information Technology Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari briefs the students from Fatima Jinnah University Rawalpindi.

Film star Reema Khan, Farhan Abbas, Rubab Gardazai and Kazim Mujtaba pose for a group photo during a press conference regarding 2 years agreement of Warid’s brand ambassador at Royal Palm Country Club.

Mr. tariq Malik CEO, Wateen Telecom, Zubair Ahmed Kasuri, Editpor in Chief Flare, Mr. Tayyab Shafi, GM Business Development & Projects Wateen Telecom,

Meteo-France technician works on a computer next to the "NEC SX-8R", a five times more powerfull new calculating machine from Japan's NEC Corporation which will enable, to the French company in 2008, new weather prediction and new research on climatic evolutions in Toulouse.

A model displays KDDI's new mobile handset, W52SA by Sanyo (L), W53T by Toshiba (C), and W52SH by Sharp (R), during a press preview to announce KDDI's new summer collection at in a Tokyo.

Pictorial

Canon India Pvt. Ltd. Vice President Alok Bharadwaj, second left, and President Kensaku Konoshi, third left, pose along with models at the launch of consumer products in New Delhi, India.

Visitors admire the display of prototype robots at a hitech expo in Beijing. China will increase its spending on science and technology by nearly 20 percent in 2007.

CEO Dubai Islamic Bank Pakistan Saad Zaman and Chairman Hashoo Group Sadriddun Hashwani at the signing ceremony where Dubai Islamic Bank Pakistan Ltd. was appointed as the lead arranger by Orient Petroleum International, Inc. (OPII) for its USD 35 million Syndicated Musharaka Facility.

Motorola received the WiMAX World Europe 2007 Award in the Devices Category at the WiMAX World Europe Conference, in Vienna, Austria. Photo shows Motorola's director of WiMAX global marketing, Hossein Parandeh receiving the award from Mike Saxby

Pierre SEILLAN the Counsel General of France, Amin Muhammad Lakhani of McDonalds, Strategic Partner of the event along with the winners (Lahore Team) of the Electronic Sports World Cup 2007 - National Final.

Erika Sawajiri, a Japanese actress, model and gravure idol, poses with a mobile handset "Walkman W52S" produced by Sony Ericsson during a press preview on its CM campaign in Tokyo.

Lowest prices of cell phones have not only made it easy for the poorest segments to purchase but also increase their productivity by using modern technology.

77

IT

Asad Mushtaque

Information technology came to Pakistani market in late 70s but the industry started strengthening its roots in 90s. The number of players has now reached to 200 as compared to 1996 when they were 80

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nformation technology (IT) has assumed unprecedented importance in the global economic arena. In Pakistan, the present Government is giving a very high priority to IT. One of the pre requisites, for ensuring sustained growth of the industry in the economy, is the provision of a definite framework consisting of policy, legislative, financial, and operational guidelines, which can provide a stable umbrella for growth. Thus, the government, as the main facilitator, enabler, and promoter of the IT sector, has evolved an effective national IT Policy and Action Plan that clearly caters to the needs of nurturing the industry and is responsive to the dynamic forces of change that can affect its future growth. The private sector is also being brought into the mainstream as the main driver for growth. History of IT Industry What is information technology?. IT Industry is the industry that began with the idea that technology must be used to serve the most complex need of any organization's information. Hence it started with bringing first database server to US Army. Later on commercial companies started copying and handled their information through software technology. Information technology came to Pakistani market in late 70s but the industry started strengthening its roots in 90s. The number of players has now reached to 200 as compared to 1996 when they were 80. Opportunities of the Industry IT Industry in Pakistan is in its growth phases. On one side there are attractive domains and on the other is industry establishment attractiveness. Let us see the opportunities from these two separate glasses. Attractive Domains or Areas Today Pakistan has developed industrial experience in areas such as Customized Software Solutions, Call Centers, ERP Solutions for the Textile, Insurance, Banking, Pharmaceutical sectors, Mission Critical Complex systems for various industries, E-Commerce & E-Business Solutions, Multimedia and Training Applications, Medical & Legal Transcription, HR & Financial Applications, Engineering and Design Applications, Risk Management Systems etc. Several software houses have developed Industrial information backbone on technology, yet the demand for improved information technology infrastructure is still enormous. Despite of so much development in this field, there are so many areas that are not explored properly. Generic product softwares, gaming software and many others can be taken as examples. Any new comer can come into any such field to serve the untouched market.

Attractiveness If we think strategically and view the government policies we will see big reasons for investing into IT business. The statistics given below are provided by Pakistan Software Export Board that is continuously engaged in promoting it industry in Pakistan. „ Mild competition - Easy to enter „ Flexible Government - Easy to Register „ Market demand for Product Software Very High „ Low funds required for establishment „ Information technology parks with low rents, fiber optic connectivity, libraries and conference rooms „ Provision of funds for software companies to get ISO-9000 and CMM level certifications „ Foreign investors allowed 100% ownership of equity in "IT/ITeS companies" „ Tax exemption for IT companies till 2016 „ 100% repatriation of profits allowed to IT companies „ 5% custom duties on import of ITrelated equipment „ Seven years' tax holiday for Venture Capital funds „ The rate of depreciation on computer equipment is 30% „ The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has allowed the opening of Internet Merchant Accounts by banks „ Instant, reliable and high-speed connectivity available „ Over 85% of telecommunications infrastructure is on fiber optic cables „ Internet access is available in over 1862 cities/towns across Pakistan „ Several cellular companies are using digital transmission (GSM and TDMA) „ The cost of 2 Mbps connection has been lowered to $2000/month Threats to the Industry Pakistan's IT industry is facing many threats. These threats are creating a lot of problems for the progress of the industry. Low number of skilled workers Pakistan government has worked very hard to build up HR Pool for IT industry but unfortunately it has gone all the path in haphazard way, today there are many software personals but only few are technically sound just because of improper education and lake of professional training. Rare skilled IT managers Talking about IT technicians, we have a very big

pool of such people, but business is never run through technicians. There is also a major flaw in our education system that causes this dearth. Students are taught to become coders but they are not taught how to manage software products. On one hand simple programming education is provided to some students and on the other hand Management training provided is inadequate. The prime need of the industry is people with expertise in management and having good technical knowledge. Difficult Recruitment Recruitment is very difficult because of institutes giving improper education. With the boom of IT industry many institutes have mushroomed up providing substandard education and awarding degrees to unworthy students. It has created a big pool of IT grad-

Pakistan's IT industry is facing many threats like low number of skilled workers, rare skilled IT managers, difficult recruitment, Global Market Image and un-stable political system uates but also has initiated a major problem; how to filter out the pool to find best people really eligible to do their job. Global Market Image When compared to other countries Pakistan is not able to earn respect in the eyes of foreign investors. The same is the case with software quality image of Pakistani firms, unfortunately Pakistani software are buggy just because we are so hasty to get out money that we don't properly test our products before launching. We never launch beta versions even for testing. Unfortunately Pakistani firms (most of them) are famous for not completing the projects taken just because they take more than their capacity. Unpredictable Government Government policies are very good but you never know when they will change, creating problems in planning. Managers have to concentrate more on political changes than at strategic thinking. Any firm willing to compete will have to overcome all these threats and bank on these opportunities to achieve success. „

Joke

One day, a Sardarji gets a new born child. So he starts filling the birth certificate. At the same time, a couple who are touring India, meet him and congratulate him on getting a son. The Sardarji is very happy. The next day, the couple go to Delhi. There they find the very same sardarji writing the very same form. The puzzled couple go to the Sardarji and ask him "Sardar Bhai, yesterday, We saw you at Mumbai filling the same certificate, but today you are here?" Sardarji replies, "I came here because on the certificate said WRITE IN CAPITAL" --------------------------------------------------------------Our sardarji was filling up an application form for a job. He promptly filled the columns titled NAME,AGE,ADDRESS etc. Then he came to the column salary expected : He was not sure as to what to be filled there. After much thought he wrote : Yes ---------------------------------------------------------------

ANCESTORS After digging to a depth of 100m last year, Russian scientists found traces of copper wiring dating back 1000 years, and came to the conclusion that their ancestors already had a telephone network one thousand years ago. So as not to be outdone, in the weeks that followed, American scientists dug 200m, and headlines in the US newspapers read:- "US scientists have found traces of 2000 year old optical fibres, and have concluded that their ancestors already had advanced high-tech digital telephone 1000 years earlier than the Russians. " One week later, the Pakistani press reported the following: "After digging as deep as 500m, Pakistani scientists have found asolutely nothing. They have concluded that 5000 years ago, their ancestors were already using mobile phones" --------------------------------------------------------------An American, Japanese, and a Sardar were sitting in the sauna. Suddenly there was a beeping sound. The American pressed his forearm and the beeping stopped. The others looked at him questioningly. "That's my pager," he said, "I have a microchip under the skin of my arm." A few minutes later a phone rang. The Japanese lifted his palm to his ear.

When he finished he explained, "That's my mobile phone. I have a microchip in my hand. The Sardar felt low-tech and inferior. He didn't know what to do to be as impressive as the American & the Japanese. He decided to take a break in the toilet. When he returned, he didn't realize that there was a piece of toilet paper got stuck and hanging from his backside. The others raised their eyebrows and said, "Wow! What's that?" Instead of being embarrassed, inspiration struck his mind. The sardar explained, "I'm getting a FAX. . . . ." --------------------------------------------------------------The world`s first fully computerized airliner was ready for its maiden flight without pilots or crew. The plane taxied to the loading area automatically, its doors opened automatically, the steps came out automatically. The passengers boarded the plane and took their seats. The steps retreated automatically, the doors closed, and the airplane taxied toward the runway. "Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen," a computer voice intoned. "Welcome to the debut of the world`s first fully computerized airliner. Everything on this aircraft is run electronically. Just sit back and relax. Nothing can go wrong...nothing can go wrong...nothing can go wrong.... nothing can go wrong.... nothing can go wrong.... nothing can go wrong...."

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Pictorial

Bollywood actress Dia Mirza holds a Samsung mobile handset during its launch in New Delhi.

A Chinese promoter shows off a latest mobile phone using solar power, in Beijing. Sales of mobile phones in China increased 40 % year on year to 120 million units in 2006.

A model displays the new Nokia E90 mobile phone sets during a launching ceremony in Jakarta. Nokia E90 communicator launched for the Indonesian market.

A commuter talks on the mobile phone as the rickshaw puller wades through a water logged street in Calcutta, India. Seven persons were killed as the first monsoon showers lashed Gangetic West Bengal, water logging large parts of Calcutta and adjoining districts.

Miss India 2007 Pooja Gupta, center, with President Consumer Business of Tata Teleservices Limited (TTSL) Naresh Malhan, right, and Chief Operating Officer TTSL Delhi Debashish Sur, launch the 'Freedom call voucher' and entry level color handsets, in New Delhi, India.

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Indian models hold cameras as they pose for photographers at an Olympus Camera launch in New Delhi. Olympus Imaging Corporation announced it's foray into the Indian market with the opening of a branded showroom in the Indian capital. Two camera model launches were also made onto the Indian market with the Miju-770SW a 7.1 megapixel water and shockproof compact model.

Japan's microscope and other optical and electronic devices maker Scalar Co. Employee Miyako Fujioka demonstrates newly developed compact TV monitor Teleglass T3-F attached to the side of her glasses while holding its remote controller.

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Nozomi Ando, an employee of Panasonic Mobile Communications, shows off the new mobile "P904i" at the head office in Tokyo. Japan's biggest mobile carrier NTT DoCoMo will put the new mobile series on the market.

A Taiwanese model displays the "OLPC" (One Laptop per Child) during the Computex Taipei Taiwan. OLPC is a new, non-profit association dedicated to research to develop a $100 laptop, a technology that could revolutionize how we educate the world's children.

Miss India 2007 Pooja Gupta poses with a cellular telephone at a ceremony held to launch the Tata Indicom 'Freedom Call Voucher' and entry level colour handsets in New Delhi.

Japan's toy maker Tomy employee displays the new robot figure toys (L-R) "Transformers Speed-dial, Long-view, Spy-shot", which transformed to these shapes from a mobile phone, binoculars and camera, at the company's headquarters in Tokyo.

Indian visitors examine a display panel inside the first class cabin of a recently acquired Boeing 777-300ER aircraft on display at Chatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai.

Labourers carry long wires as they are busy in laying telephone lines under Karimabad Flyover.

A woman displays the latest 3.5-inch 1,000 GB Hitachi hard drive during the the Taipei International Information Technology Show (Computex Taipei 2007) at the World Trade Center in Taipei.

A Chinese promoter shows off a latest mobile handset at a hitech expo in Beijing. Sales of mobile phones in China increased 40 percent year on year to 120 million units in 2006, as China become one of the world's largest handset markets.

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Gartner Inc to Conduct Study on Pak IT Industry

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akistan Software Export Board (PSEB) has signed a contract with Gartner Incorporated the world's leading information technology research and advisory company to conduct a study on the Pakistan IT Industry. The contract was signed in the presence of Secretary IT, MD PSEB, President PASHA and VP Gartner Consulting. Dr.Tony Murphy, Vice President, Gartner Consulting arrived in Islamabad to deliver the technology related insight need to boost the IT Industry in Pakistan. He will undertake a review and study of the existing conditions of the Pakistani IT sector with particular emphasis on the software and IT services sector,” the statement said. It said the study would also develop a practical strategic blueprint for the sector to achieve a step-change improvement in the performance of the IT Industry. “Dr. Tony Murphy would act as Engagement Manager and Chief Author for this study. His recent book 'Achieving Value from Technology: A Practical Guide for Today's Executives' has become an international best seller and is becoming standard practice for many organizations worldwide,” added the statement. “We are extremely happy with this success in bringing the world's leading IT research company to Pakistan.” the statement quoted Yusuf Hussain, Managing Director PSEB as saying. Dr. Murphy said the technology based businesses would be the key to national success in the coming years. He said Pakistan had ambitious plans in this regard and Gartner was pleased to assist the country achieve its objectives.

1.6m Broadband Connections Target Set for Next 3 years: Shaukat Aziz

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rime Minister Shaukat Aziz has said that the government was fully conscious of importance of broadband for convergence of computing, communication and broadcasting. He was speaking at a function held in connection with World Telecommunication Day. Aziz said that a target of 1.6 million broadband connections had been set for the next three years against the present less than 100,000 connections. “The government wants to develop infrastructure for covering 75 percent of the households in the country with high speed Internet by 2015,” he added.

Employees Protested against Retrenchment Plan of PTCL

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TCL workers staged a big rally at the call of Pak-Telecom Employees Union (CBA) to protest against the proposed retrenchment of 31,000 employees by the management of Etisalat. Kanwar Atta Jilani, Saif-uddin Qureshi, Qazi Mehmood, Malik Nazar Hussain, Haji Ghulam Mustafa and Zafar Baig addressed the rally. They said that their struggle would continue till the withdrawal of the plan of retrenchment of workers particularly upper division, lower division clerks, technicians, telephone, tele-printer, telex operators, chowkidars and peons. The protestors shouted slogans against the president, federal minister for IT & Telecom, and the government. They demanded immediate revision of their pay-scales, grant of 15 percent dearness allowance, 25 percent house requisition, restoration of son-quota, and granting 2.6 percent shares to the employees as per agreement signed at the time of privatization of the company.

Government IT Policy Brings Digital Revolution: Sehba Musharraf

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he First Lady Begum Sehba Musharraf had said that the government's policy to promote information technology had brought a digital revolution in the country and had greatly increased the demand for well trained computer literate youth in the country. She was speaking at ceremony, to award job appointment letters, to the successful candidates at the end of Nadra's Welfare Data Entry Computer Operator course. She further added that there was a need to ensure multifaceted training of our talented youth including technical training, character building and worth ethics. The programme of NADRA was a true manifestation of successful public private partnership from which other public sector organizations can also take lead and work for the progress and prosperity of the nation, she said. Begum Sehba Musharraf said that besides this programme the government's initiatives about national vocational and technical education commission and internship programme would equip our young generation with necessary knowledge and training to face the challenges of the modern world. Chairman, NADRA Saleem Ahmed Moeen, said that NADRA's Database includes 86.8 million citizens with more than fifty-seven citizens having an Identity card. The registration of 2.15 million Afghan Refugees was completed in fifteen weeks by the organization and that our first international project won through an international tender was the driving license for the Bangladesh government.

Mobile Zone Gives Away First Mobile insurance Claim

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obile Zone gave out the first mobile insurance claim through a short ceremony held at their customer support centre. Akbar Ali from Peshawar, the first recipient of mobile insurance claim received the cheque against theft of his Nokia 1600 mobile phone. Mobile Zone's Director Sales Peshawar, Asghar Shanwarim presented the insurance cheque. The Assistant Executive Director of EFU (Mobile Zone's partners in this offer) was also present at the occasion. Commenting on the mobile insurance claim, Pervaiz Abbasi, CEO Mobile Zone, said, "We are a company of ethics and we believe that whatever we commit is delivered. Credible warranties, exceptional outlets service standards, quality of after sales services are all indications of our commitment to Pakistan mobile phone market. Now mobile insurance is the next step towards our commitment to provide convenience to our customers," he added.

Motorola Unveils Slider Bluetooth Headset H800

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otorola Inc. has launched a Slider Bluetooth headset H800. The device offers a fresh new way of experiencing wireless communication in an absolute hands-free mode. H800 is the Motorola's new Slider Bluetooth headset with both style and performance. The company has launched this advanced device in an era of

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technology where the demand for use of wireless communication and convenience with style is increasing day by day. It boasts innovative slider design, distinctive laser-etched details and advanced functionality. Sarim Alvi, head of Country Marketing (Mobile Devices), Motorola Pakistan stated, “Motorola's seamless mobility is enabling consumers to take control of their calls without touching their phones. ”This is the first Bluetooth headset with slider rapid connect technology; the Motorola H800 gracefully glides open for easy one-touch connections.” He added.

Omantel set to take over Pakistani firm soon

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man Telecommunications Co. (Omantel) should conclude the purchase of a majority stake in a Pakistan-based telecom operator this month, Omantel's chief executive said. Omantel, the smallest telecom operator in the Gulf Arab region by market value, is also in negotiations to buy a minority stake in a Gulf Arab telecom operator, Mohammed al-Wohaibi said. Wohaibi declined to name the Pakistani firm, but said the take-over would give Omantel access to Asia's fourth mostpopulous country as competition grows at home. An industry source in Pakistan said Omantel was in talks with Worldcall, which runs long distance and international (LDI) as well as wireless local loop (WLL) services.

Seventh ITCN Asia to be held in August

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he Seventh ITCN Asia will be held at Karachi from August 9 to 11 at the Karachi Expo Centre. An announcement of Ecommerce Gateway Pakistan said that the event would serve as a comprehensive showcase of the latest technology, equipment and machinery as well as allied services. It would also provide the investors with a definite outlook of the regional information technology (IT) and telecom industry and provide an opportunity to meet their perspective counterparts and business partners.

Franchise Selling SIMs without a CNIC Copy to be Sealed

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hairman Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) Maj. Gen. (Rtd) Shahzada Alam Malik has directed the Cellular Mobile Operators to ensure that antecedents of the customers acquiring mobile connections from the respective mobile companies are properly documented before issuing new connections. He was chairing a meeting with the representatives of Cellular Mobile Operators. Malik said it has been witnessed that proper procedure is not being adopted with regard to acquiring the particulars of the customer intending to have a mobile connection and the Authority has also received a number of complaints in this regard. Chairman PTA directed the representatives of CMTOs to make sure that a copy of Computerized National Identification Card (CNIC) is demanded from the customer at the time of issuance of SIM besides electronically maintaining the particulars of every subscriber as given in the customer agreement form. He categorically made it clear that this policy would be implemented immediately and strict action would be taken against those franchises that would be found in violation. He told the CMTOs representatives that by the beginning of July, PTA teams would be visiting various franchises of all the cellular mobile operators across the country to check whether proper procedure is being adopted while issuing the respective mobile connections. Any franchise found to be selling SIMs without a copy of CNIC duly incorporating the SIM number being issued, would be immediately Sealed and strict action, including cancellation of Franchise, would be taken. 84

Prime Minister Lauds Telenor Futures Program

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rime Minister Shaukat Aziz has appreciated Telenor Pakistan's efforts "as a responsible corporate citizen" and has called the expansion of its Telecom Futures program to Attock "an auspicious sign for the local community." "As a model program, if implemented and expanded with genuine commitment, it will Insha Allah help develop a strong human resources base in the field of telecommunication, delete reliance on expensive expatriate resources, and enable the local youth to generate income for themselves and their families," he said in a special message, which was read out to the audience at the launch ceremony of Teleco m Futures in Attock. "Telenor Pakistan has been playing its role as a responsible corporate citizen with vigor and enthusiasm running several community support programs to empower the truly disadvantaged section of the society. I wish Telenor Pakistan the best in their endeavours." Telenor Pakistan CEO Tore Johnsen said, "After the successful implementation of Telecom Futures at Tevta's Lahore campus, I am very pleased to see that the project model now has been replicated at Attock as well. Telenor Pakistan and its partners realize that vocational training institutes are building human capital from the lower socio-economic classes and there is huge opportunity and potential in this area. The Telecom Futures program will build on Tevta's Higher National Diploma in Telecom by aligning curriculum with industry expectations, providing advanced trainings and rewards to teachers, sharing specialized equipment with students, and offering internships or jobs to suitable diploma holders.

HP Introduces New PCs

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P introduced an attractive new line of consumer PCs that, for the first time, have been designed to complement any room of a home featuring the latest consumer electronics and home appliances. Part of HP's "The Computer is Personal Again" campaign, the redesigned PCs have an elegant, piano-black finish with refined silver trim and subtle blue LED light accents. New features include a power button positioned on the top of the chassis for easy reach, a built-in bay for removable digital storage and a more easily accessible media card reader to simplify enjoyment of digital music, videos and photos.

Fixedline Phone Segment not Showing Required Growth

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ixed Local Loop (FLL) segment of telecom industry which is 98 percent owned by incumbent PTCL was not showing required growth, rather it was witnessing a decline in

its expansion. Besides capacity and coverage issues, this segment is facing stiff competition from cellular and wireless phone operators, which is resulting in customer churning and traffic migration. Because of this, fixed line tele-density, which was 3.4 percent, a year ago, has also declined to 3.2 percent. Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) in its quarterly report said only four new FLL licensees are operational with the network coverage in few cities of Punjab and Sindh. It said the licensees are also facing difficulties in their roll-out plans and expected business. But few other companies are at their roll-out stage and it is hoped they would start their operations in the coming months. However, their coverage is limited with low capacity. The report said incumbent Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) lost 75,972 fixed line subscribers during first quarter of this year. Major loss of subscribers was in Punjab where fixed line

subscribers reduced by 59,616. However, during second quarter, 22101 subscribers were added due to expansion in the subscription of Sindh. PTCL is mainly focusing on the expansion of its subscriber base on wireless network. The report said new FLL operators including Worldcall, Brain net and Union Communication have a total of 14,848-subscriber base.

Over $3 billion Invested in Telecom Sector in Three Years: PTA

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ountry's telecom sector has attracted record inflow of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) during the last three years, which has crossed 3 billion dollar mark. This is continuing and new companies are investing in their network and infrastructure build up. Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), in its quarterly report said the telecom sector attracted 472 million dollar FDI during the last half year in which only 133.2 million dollar was under privatization proceeds of Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL).”This shows that 72 percent of telecom FDI is purely new investment mostly in expansion of infrastructure and services and eliminates the misconception in some quarters that privatization is the dominant component of FDI in telecom," it added. During the last few years, this sector has witnessed astounding growth as a result of credible government policies and prudent role of the regulator, the report said and added this has resulted in the above 109 percent average annual growth rate of overall tele-density during the last two fiscal years. The sector exhibited the same growth trends in the first two quarters of fiscal year 2006-07. Currently the overall tele-density in the country is crossing 37 percent. The report said besides astounding growth, this sector is also contributing increasingly in the government exchequer through various taxes and regulatory duties. The major component of these collections is GST/CED, collection of which remained Rs 16.92 million during the first six months of this year which is 43 percent higher than the same period last year. The mobile contribution in total telecom GST/CED Collection is also increasing and during second quarter of 2006-07, its share was 77.7 percent as compared to 66.9 percent during the corresponding quarter last year.

Mobilink, Box Office Launch Spider-Man 3 in Pakistan

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obilink and Box Office, Pakistan's leading distributor of quality films, have announced the formal launch of Spider-Man(tm) 3 - an adventure movie in Pakistan, initially will be shown in Karachi and Lahore on June 15. Addressing a press conference, Sadaf Zarar, brand manager indigo, Mobilink and Maria Lotia, general manager, Box Office said that they were committed to play their role in the revival of country's cinema culture. They said that provision of better entertainment facilities to the public would be continued. Despite the fact that theatre in the country was on the decline, Mobilink and Box Office would continue to provide the people with good movies, besides opening Cineplex theaters in the country, they added. At the premier of the movie, Sadaf Zarar said: "It is Mobilink's endeavor to make a genuine contribution to the social uplift and welfare of our people." To a question, she replied that Mobilink would also sponsor Pakistani movies. Being Pakistan's favorite cellular company, this was the beginning of its value-added services to customers, in addition to a commitment to the public, she added. Maria Lotia said that Box Office was committed towards reviving the cinema culture in the country by bringing the latest Hollywood movies throughout the year. "We are happy to have partnered with Mobilink, which also understands the need to breathe life into this activity that we all believe is for the social development of people," she maintained. Box Office would

introduce new Hollywood movies in the country in days to come, she added.

2.8 million New Mobile Customers Join Ranks

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lmost 2.8 million new mobile customers joined the ranks in Pakistan in of April - the second highest total ever recorded in the market, behind October 2006. Monthly proportionate growth stayed above 5 per cent by a whisker, after 5.1 per cent in March, taking the total customer base in the market to 58.4m and penetration to 34.7 per cent from 33.0 per cent a month earlier, a private TV channel reported. A total of 10.0m new customers were added in the first four months of 2007, these being shared almost equally between the market's four largest operators. Telenor garnered the biggest portion, with 3m or 30 per cent of the total, ahead of Mobilink (27 per cent), Ufone (25 per cent) and Warid Telecom (21 per cent). Warid Telecom recorded a market-best 8.5 per cent increase in customer numbers in April.

Countrywide Mobile Phone Banking Soon: Awais

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ederal Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication (IT&T) will initiate fast Internet connectivity and mobile phone banking within next six months. Federal Minister for IT&T Mr. Awais Ahmed Khan Leghari said this while addressing the inaugural ceremony of the Global Business Management Solution (GBMS), an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) for the Ready-made Garments and Hosiery industry. The GBMS is the first locally developed and implemented open source ERP in Pakistan. He said the fast internet facility would initially be provided in cities having 200,000 population; adding that this would increase usage of computer, which would help increase the productivity. Leghari said that a new and fast system of banking through mobile phone would also be launched within next four to five months. Under this system, mobile phone users would be able to pay all the utility bills through mobile phone, which is a fast and secure means of transaction. The project will be implemented with the collaboration of State Bank of Pakistan, he asserted. Leghari said that Federal IT&T Ministry's vision is to bring a positive change in the common man's life. "We are also trying to introduce automation in all the ministries so that every stakeholder should have an easy access to the relevant information," he added.

Integrated Telecom Plan Evolved for Northern Areas

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n integrated plan has been formulated by the Special Communications Organization (SCO) to extend modern and quick means of telecommunications to the people across Northern Areas (NAs), a spokesman said. Under the plan the existing telephone numbers would be changed and all the districts in Northern Areas would get a new telephone code in the next few months, he said. A latest modern billing system will be introduced at a cost of Rs. 580 million within one and half years in the region to facilitate the people, the spokesman said. He said Pakistan had inked an agreement with China for laying optical fibre line from Rawalpindi to Gilgit and then onto Khunjerab at a cost of Rs 490 million. China will lay the line to Khunjerab on their side, he said.

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International

Samsung's main Mobile Plant to Etisalat’s Egyptian Unit Attracted Move to Vietnam over 300,000 Subscribers in first outh Korean high-tech 20 days giant Samsung

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Electronics plans to relocate its main mobile phone factory to Vietnam because of rising wage costs at home. Industry sources revealed that Samsung had this year suspended recruiting for its main plant at Gumi, 260 kilometres south of Seoul. The Gumi factory accounted for some 60 percent of total production of mobile phone handsets last year. "As part of its new (global outsourcing) strategy, Samsung has decided to build a bigger plant in Vietnam than the one in Gumi in the last quarter of this year," one of the sources said. The Vietnam plant, the site of which is yet to be decided, will eventually produce 100 million units per year, according to the source. Samsung Electronics has concluded that its domestic factories no longer have merit because the labor cost is 10 times higher than in Southeast Asia. Last year, Samsung produced 130 million mobile handsets -- 80 million from the Gumi plant, 45 million from its factories in China and the rest from production facilities in other places. „

Sri Lanka Signs $600 Million of Investments

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ri Lanka has signed nearly 600 million dollars worth of investment deals with foreign and local companies mainly to set up or expand businesses in the telecom and IT sectors. Among major investors, India's largest publicly-listed telecom firm Bharti Airtel pledged to spend 150 million dollars to set up Sri Lanka's fifth mobile phone company this year, told Investment Promotions Minister Sarath Amunugama. "We expect about a third of this year's investment target of two billion dollars to come from telecom and IT related services which is proven to be a winning success for our country," Amunugama said. Sri Lanka, an island nation attracted 604 million dollars worth of foreign investments last year, and Amunugama said the bulk of this year's target will come from phone services, information technology, clothing, power and housing. "Sri Lanka is a very promising market for telecom services, with phone penetration low at 20 percent," Airtel's Director, Narendra Gupta, said. Sri Lanka Telecom, the biggest fixed line operator which is partially owned and managed by Japan's Nippon Telegraph and Telephone, also committed to invest 200 million dollars over a two-year period to expand its network. Mobitel, Sri Lanka Telecom's mobile phone unit, signed up to invest 50 million dollars to rollout high speed third generation network capable of offering video calls and high-speed Internet surfing. Telecom is one of the fastest growth sectors in this South Asian island of 19.5 million people, with the number of mobile phone users already crossed 4.5 million, according to Central Bank of Sri Lanka. Amunugama admitted that attracting foreign investment has "become a bigger challenge" because of an upsurge in fighting between Tamil Tiger rebels and government forces since December 2005 that has left more than 4,800 people dead. „

he Egyptian unit of Etisalat, the telecom giant of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), attracted more than 300,000 subscribers in the first 20 days of operation. Etisalat Misr, the company's subsidiary in Egypt, launched its services on May 1 with the country's first 3.5G network, bringing rich multimedia content and enabling mobile business across Egypt. It also brought mobile television, high-speed internet access and video calling to the Egyptian market for the first time. Aiming at attracting 10 million subscribers by 2010 in the Egyptian market which has a population of more than 70 million, Etisalat Misr plans to invest up to 8 billion Egyptian pounds (1 U.S. dollar equals to 5.68 Egyptian pounds) additionally in the next three years, the report said. "These investments will be allocated to all aspects of our business in Egypt including new base stations, enhancing the network, customer service centers, and so forth," Etisalat Misr's chairman Jamal Al Sadat was quoted as saying. The company is also planning to launch an initial public offering (IPO) to list itself on the Egyptian stock market within two years, the report added. Etisalat Misr is one of 14 service providers managed by Etisalat in the Middle East, Asia and Africa. Etisalat's services currently reach more than 32 million subscribers. „

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World's Largest Memory Capacity Card for Mobile

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outh Korea's Samsung Electronics said that it had developed the world's largest storage-capacity memory card for mobile phones. The eight-gigabyte memory card, microSD, can store some 2,000 MP3 music files, 4,000 photographs or five DVD-quality movie files, the company said in a statement. It is only a quarter the size of the widely used and existing SD card but much faster in downloading and uploading multimedia data, it added. SD cards are largely used for data storage in digital cameras and televisions. Samsung, quoting market researcher Gartner Dataquest, said the global multimedia memory card market would grow 10 percent annually until 2010. „

French-US telecommunications equipment maker Alcatel-Lucent's President of governing board, Serge Tchuruk (2ndL), gives a speech during a meeting, in Paris, next to Chief executive officer, Patricia Russo (2ndR), and Financial Director Jean-Pascal Beaufret (R).

Alcatel-Lucent Wins $460 Million order from Chinese Operators

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rench-US telecommunications equipment maker Alcatel-Lucent has signed deals worth 460 million dollars with two major Chinese mobile operators. According to a report, Alcatel-Lucent will provide China Mobile, the country's largest handset operator, with radio and core network equipment, customized solutions and services for 340 million dollars. The company has also inked a 120-million-dollar agreement with China Unicom to support the latter's broader mobile network expansion in the mainland as well as in Macau, the Beijing Times added. China Mobile and China Unicom this year have budgets totaling 125.8 billion yuan (16.4 billion dollars). Other telecommunication equipment vendors, including domestic firms Datang and ZTE and Sweden's Ericsson, have won orders topping 20 billion yuan in the two operators' previous online bidding, it added. „

International

VSNL; First Indian Operator to Provide Global Wi-Fi Roaming

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SNL is the first Indian operator to provide global Wi-Fi roaming for customers as they travel overseas and need Internet access; Quiconnect to deliver Wi-Fi interconnectivity initially with WBA members and with other international telecoms companies following shortly. Quiconnect will deliver the Wi-Fi technical roaming integration and implementation services required to deliver this for all parties, branded to the consumer's familiar telecoms provider. VSNL is part of the $27 billion Tata Group. It pioneered Internet services in India and today provides dial-up, broadband, and Wi-Fi services under the Tata Indicom brand name. VSNL operates around 300 hotspots throughout the country at important, high traffic locations comprising international and national airports, hotels, cricket stadiums, cafes, hospitals, banks and shopping malls. VSNL plans to open another 1,000 hotspots this year to increase Internet access to business and net-savvy travellers on the move. Prateek Pashine, VSNL's Vice President Marketing & Technology, Retail Business said, "VSNL's philosophy is to offer products and services that can be accessed seamlessly across the globe without customers having to change their service providers. Working with Quiconnect, we want to create a VSNL branded global Wi-Fi network to enhance customer convenience as more and more people from India travel and require Internet access." Initially, VSNL will be marketing enhanced global Wi-Fi services to its business customers given the majority of business users have laptops. Quiconnect has long been championing the approach, recently adopted by the WBA, to make WLAN access on the move simple and easy. In October 2006, it became one of three companies to be WRIX accredited and able to provide public WLAN services to the WBA membership which comprises 28 of the world's leading telecoms companies. „

Motorola to Slash 4,000 More Jobs

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otorola will cut an additional 4,000 jobs as the mobile phone maker tries to cope with tough global competition. The latest belt-tightening move announced aims to save 600 million dollars in annual costs for 2008. It comes on top of an earlier effort to save 400 million dollars and trim 3,500 positions, which Motorola said would be completed by this month. "Long-term, sustainable profitability is -- and always has been -- Motorola's top priority," said Motorola Inc., chief financial officer Tom Meredith. "Today's actions are an update to the commitment we made during our first-quarter earnings conference call -- to drive out additional costs -- and a continuation of the plan we announced in January," he added. The company expects to record additional restructuring charges of some 300 million dollars to pay for the new job cuts. Motorola has been lagging competitors like Nokia in the market for mobile handsets and has been fighting an effort by corporate raider Carl Icahn to get on the board and make drastic changes to the company. Icahn failed earlier this month to win a board seat at Motorola after he sent a letter to shareholders saying it was a "troubled" company whose shares had lost nearly one-third of their value since last October. „

Etisalat Selects Alcatel-Lucent to Expand its GSM Network

A Stephane Bret, director of Porsche Design Mobile Group, holds a Porsche Design Mobile Phone P'9521 in Essen. The Porsche Design Group and Sagem Communication are presenting the first Porsche Design Mobile Phone, the P'9521, at the Red Dot Design Museum in Essen.

Chinese gamers play online computer games at an internet cafe in Shanghai. Electronic Arts (EA).

lcatel-Lucent has received a contract from Etisalat, one of the Middle East's leading service providers, to upgrade and enhance the operator's wireless network with the latest generation of Alcatel-Lucent's GSM and EDGE technology, which is based on the industry's most advanced hardware architecture. With its compact new design and high performance, this platform will leverage Etisalat existing network while reducing operating expenses. Based on the leading Alcatel-Lucent GSM/EDGE technology, the contract covers the upgrade and expansion of Etisalat mobile network in the UAE, enabling the operator to provide higher quality and more widely available mobile communications services to its customers. Alcatel-Lucent's 9130 Base Station Controller/MultiBSC Fast Packet Server (BSC/MFS) is a new BSS (Base Station Sub-System) controller platform that supports the ever-increasing market-driven volume of voice and data traffic. This state-of-the art equipment based on the field-proven Advanced Telecom Computing Architecture (ATCA) will enable Etisalat to create a more centralized and optimized GSM/EDGE network architecture, thereby bringing significant cost savings in network deployments and extensions. "This contract is the result of many years of faithful cooperation with Etisalat, and we are very proud of their continuing confidence towards Alcatel-Lucent," said Olivier Picard, President of Alcatel-Lucent's Europe and South activities. "We will devote all our efforts to deliver the best-inclass solution to Etisalat to help it enhance the high corporate quality of service it insists on providing to its subscribers." Alcatel-Lucent has more than 170 GSM/EDGE customers in over 90 countries, making it a leading provider of mobile communications solutions. „

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International

HP and NASA Ink Seven-year Contract

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t's all systems go at Hewlett-Packard as the PC and printer maker announced a new seven-year contract with NASA, to the tune of $5.6 billion. The pact will allow NASA's procurement department to select from HP desktops, workstations, blade PCs with Linux and Unix capabilities, servers, and printers, among other offerings. The agreement is an indefinite delivery indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract, meaning that the space agency has an open date on the purchases as well as the exact amount spent on individual products. The entire federal government and its authorized prime contractors also have the option to purchase HP technology through the contract, also known as a "Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement (SEWP) IV Class 5." The partnership agreement ends when the money runs out, but the government's procurement office has the option to renew or expand the contract if it sees fit. For example, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs said it also is making NASA's relationship with HP its mandatory contract for acquiring technology. The deal is a boon for taxpayers as well since the contract specifies that HP's products must be guaranteed at or below U.S. General Services Administration schedule prices. That means the government is paying the lowest surcharge (0.6%) -- capped at $18,000 for orders more than $3 million. To date, HP said it has delivered more than $620 million worth of products and services to federal government agencies between 1992 and 2007 through previous NASA contracts. But the company's relationship with the government IT contracts has not been without its controversies. The U.S. Department of Justice said in April 2007 that it will investigate claims suggesting HP and others made kickbacks to other companies involved in technology contracts with government agencies. „

New Virus Threats for Mobile this year; McAfee

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he number of mobile viruses is set to double by the end of the year as virus writers are creating new ways to attack the fragmented cellphone software market, a senior official from data security firm McAfee said. "We expect this trend to increase as data transfers to mobile," Jan Volzke, marketing manager for McAfee's mobile business, said in an interview. Even though the chance of catching a virus on your cellphone is stillrelatively small, it is continuously increasing as the use of e-mail and Internet on cellphones is growing. The most pernicious viruses can render a phone useless or swell phone bills through pricey messages or calls to unwanted numbers. Volzke said attackers were increasingly creating so-called spyware, which can steal all data from the phone, enable call monitors, and follow the phoneowner's tracks. Volzke said McAfee has also found that "edited" picture formats can crash the Opera Software Internet browser, opening a way for virus writers to attack the phone. Opera's browser was installed in around 40 million phones sold last year. Since the first mobile virus appeared in 2004, the number of different viruses, worms or other type of "malware" has reached 361. While smart-phones represent less than five percent of the total cellphone base, and form a small part of the one billion phones sold annually, the first virus has been created to abuse JAVA technology, which is used in more than half of the phones sold each year. „

MTC Shows Interest in Qatar's Second Cell Licence

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uwait's Mobile Telecommunications Co (MTC) said it was interested in bidding for Qatar's second mobile phone licence. A MTC spokesman said "Yes, it's true. We are investigating. We are very interested in finding out more details, the process, what's the opportunity," an MTC spokesman said when asked about a report in al-Rai, which quoted MTC's Chief Executive Saad al-Barrak as saying the firm planned to compete for the license. Barrak told Kuwaiti daily al Rai he expects intense and tough competition for the Qatari mobile license, expected to be awarded in the last quarter of this year. Qatar's Supreme Council for Information & Technology Communication is finalising a list of firms after receiving prequalification applications. Prequalified companies will be invited to submit technical and commercial offers by July with a final award expected in November. The licence will end Qatar Telecom's monopoly in the saturated market, which has a mobile penetration rate in excess of 100 per cent. The spokesman said MTC, which has expanded strongly in the Middle East and Africa, was investigating new opportunity. Barrak also told the paper the MTC-led consortium, which was declared the highest bidder for Saudi Arabia's third mobile license earlier this year, was still waiting for the Saudi cabinet to issue the license. The consortium offered 22.91 billion riyals ($6.11 billion) for the Saudi license. MTC bought Netherlands-based Celtel, which is operating in 14 sub-Saharan countries, for $3.4 billion in 2005 as part of its expansion. The spokesman also confirmed Barrak's comments in the newspaper that MTC still planned to list on a European bourse next year but that it would not necessarily be on the London stock exchange. „

Microsoft to boost China R&D unit

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icrosoft Corp plans to add 1,200 staff for research and development in mainland China this year at an estimated cost of US $60 million. The world's largest software company has also bought land to set up corporate campuses in Beijing Shanghai, Zhang and Yaqin, Microsoft's head of mainland R&D operations, told the newspaper. The article said Microsoft, which has about 3,000 employees on the mainland, last year invested about US $150 million "in just people costs" in China and will "add probably 40 percent in people" this year. Much of the new spending will be on Microsoft's mobility software, including Web services, digital entertainment and media applications for mobile telephones. With the land purchases in Beijing and Shanghai, Microsoft will have the capacity for 8,000 people in 2-3 years time. „

Japan's computer giant Fujitsu employee displays the company's new paperback booksized notebook PC "FMV-Lifebook U8240", based on the latest platform of Intel's Ultra Mobile Platform 2007 and a 5.6-inch swivel and flip multi-angle LCD display on its compact body, weighing 580g, at the company's advanced technology exhibition in Tokyo.

Press Releases

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Govt to roll out High-Speed Internet in 6 Months; Awais

ederal Minister for Information Technology Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari vowed to take fast and high-speed broadband internet service to all major cities of the country within the next six months. "We have made elaborate plans to provide fast, reliable and always-on broadband services to all cities with more than 200,000 population within the next six months by using funds from the multi-billion Universal Service Fund," he said in a keynote address to a function organized by Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) in Lahore to mark the signing of two memorandums of understanding aimed at seeking implementation of global business management solution (GBMS) in over 700 SME units in the readymade garments and hosiery units in Pakistan. The MoUs were signed separately between Pakistan

Readymade Garments and Manufacturers Association (PRGMEA) and SME Business Support Fund (BSF) and between Pakistan Hosiery Manufacturers Association (PHMA) and SME Business Support Fund (BSF). The development of GBMS, a locally produced ERP software to be used in the readymade garments and hosiery units, was initiated by Pakistan Software Export Board as part of its industry automation project launched a couple of years ago to improve the productivity of SME units by providing them ERP software in those sectors of the economy with a high export potential. With the emergence of WTO, the ERP software will allow the SME units in these sectors to be able to compete with the industries in other countries. „

Ericsson Acquires Drutt Corporation

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ricsson has signed an agreement to acquire 100 percent of the shares of Drutt Corporation, a world leading provider of Service Delivery Platform (SDP) solutions. This deal represents yet another step in Ericsson's ambition to become the leader in multimedia. Telecom operators need solutions to provide consumers with new attractive multimedia services and applications which can be created, launched, and presented to consumers easily, reducing costs and time to market. This is where service delivery platforms play an important role by providing flexible tools for pricing and packaging, as well as uptake and consumer behavior analysis. Jan Wäreby, Senior Vice President Multimedia, Ericsson, says: "Being such an innovative and focused company, with close to 70 percent of its workforce dedicated to R&D and service delivery, Drutt adds an important

piece to the Ericsson SDP strategy." "Ericsson is already the leader in the fast growing SDP market. By acquiring Drutt, we will be even better positioned to support our customers to offer a better consumer experience by adapting content for the individual, and making it attractive to use," he added. "Our combination will provide operators with integration-ready platforms, thus reducing system integration complexity". Drutt's flagship solution - MSDP (Mobile Service Delivery Platform) offers an end-to-end multi-channel solution for establishing a profitable mobile service delivery business helping operators mobilize and charge for any content to any kind of mobile device, over any mobile network and delivery channel. Today, Drutt's MSDP is commercially deployed in more than 60 telecom operators in 35 countries, managing millions of transactions every day. „

PIA - ABN AMRO Bank Sign Us $ 522 Million Loan Agreement

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n a ceremony arranged by ABN AMRO Bank in Amsterdam, Pakistan International Airline (PIA) and ABN AMRO signed a landmark loan financing arrangement for a total sum of US Dollars 522 million to fund the acquisition of three state of the art brand new Boeing 777300 ER aircraft for PIA. The financing arrangement comprises a 12 year term loan facilities of US Dollars 470 millions supported by Export Import Bank of the United States of America and Government of Pakistan guarantee. Present at the ceremony were senior members from ABN AMRO's Cross Border Structured Finance group including Mr. Maarten Klessens, Global Head of Structured Funding & Investments, Mr. Paul Kranendonk, Global Head Cross Border Structured & Commodity Finance and

Mr. Naveed A. Khan, Country Executive, ABN AMRO Pakistan. Mr. Anil Patel represented the Boeing. While PIA team was headed by Mr. M. Abdul Aleem, Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Maarten Klessens, congratulated PIA for a remarkable achievement which has resulted in fleet modernization through a very attractive financing package. Naveed A. Khan, Country Executive ABN AMRO Pakistan appreciated the efforts of both ABN AMRO and PIA teams and termed this deal a landmark achievement for the aviation sector and for Pakistan. PIA Chairman, Mr. Zaffar A. Khan also appreciated the agreement in finalizing this large transaction at commercially attractive rates. „

Etihad Airways Holds North Pakistan Agent Awards

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tihad Airways hosted Travel Trade Partner Recognition Award Ceremony for travel agents in North Pakistan, to honor their tremendous contribution to the airline in the year 2006. The event, which was held in the capital city, had active participation from leading travels agents representing the two cities of Peshawar and Islamabad. Award categories included Appreciation Awards for the Top 10 agents in Islamabad and Peshawar, along with special trophies for the highest revenue-earning agents from the two cities. Speaking on the occasion, Joost den Hartog, Area Manager for Etihad Airways Pakistan, said, "Etihad Airways believes that the travel traders, who support us throughout the year, are our partners. It is with their support that our flights from Islamabad alone have increased from 3 to 7 per week, with excellent inbound and out bound connections to many international destinations like New York, Picture shows Joost den Hartog, Area Manager Etihad Airways in Pakistan(6th-Left), and Ken Marshall(4th Left), Sales Manager, Etihad Airways Pakistan, along with the winnings agents of the region." Toronto and London. " A similar ceremony has also been schedfrom Islamabad and two times per week from Peshawar to Abu Dhabi, uled in Lahore, where agents from Lahore, Faisalabad and Sialkot will be providing swift and convenient onward connections to the airline's fast honored for their support to Etihad Airways. ETIHAD Airways currently flies 10 times per week from Karachi, daily from Lahore, 7 times per week growing global network of 42 destinations. „