SBP Considering Teleco Led Branchless Banking

"We have taken a look at the permissible branchless banking models in our earlier post and have seen them all to bank led. At the third international mobile commerce conference recently held State Banks’s Deputy Governor, Yaseen Anwar, has indicated of a Teleco led model of branchless banking is being considered. The staff report from Dawn News gives the details.

The State Bank of Pakistan is considering introducing a new non-bank led and Telco led model of branchless banking, said deputy governor of State Bank, Yaseen Anwar, while speaking at the third international mobile commerce conference in Pakistan on Thursday.

He said this adds a totally new dimension to regulation that extends beyond the direct supervisory role of the SBP.

“We may need to establish, as in some countries, a National Payments Council that will include other stakeholders to regulate this rapidly expanding business sector.”Mr Anwar said that the SBP has issued guidelines for branchless banking as part of a broader strategy to create an enabling regulatory environment with the objectives of promoting financial inclusion.

He said branchless banking is a significantly cheaper alternative to conventional branch-based banking as it allows banks to offer financial services outside traditional bank premises.

“One inherent power of branchless banking is that it can be used to substantially increase the financial services outreach to the un-banked communities and in a broader perspective provides ways and means in the promotion of financial inclusion in the country,” he added.

At the same conference the PTA Chairman, Dr. Muhammad Yaseen, said that Pakistan Telecommunication Authority has joined hands with the State Bank of Pakistan to produce an all – inclusive mobile banking regulatory frame work which is to be finalised very soon. Daily Times gives the details about this.

Dr Yaseen said billions of mobile and online internet users worldwide are creating huge opportunities for the development of new means of commerce like e-commerce and m-commerce. However, the industry’s growth and its development impact can only be maximized, if stakeholders work together towards identifying the appropriate policy and business models that can achieve scalability. He said, “we have joined hands with the State Bank of Pakistan to produce an all inclusive mobile banking regulatory frame work which is to be finalised very soon”. He said the global mobile money industry has grown significantly in size and scope and there are various modes of transactions via your bank branch, call centers, IVR, ATM online and mobile phones. Amazingly, the lowest of all is mobile money transaction costing around $0.08 per transaction. He said the mobile money not only provides convenience but the lowest transaction cost as well, according to the World Bank, Pakistan is amongst the top 20 remittance – receiving economies with a size of $6.1 billion by 2007. This proves realistic market availability for kick starting various modes of mobile money, he added.

With this regulation coming forward we can expect more telecom players entering in to the mobile banking domain."

Source: TelecomPK

Real Time Traffic Reporting in Pakistan!

Apparently Rasta.PK is first of its kind project initiated by collaboration of UTNT and Punjab Traffic Police that is aimed at providing real time traffic information to general public through website, SMS and other similar sources.

As I mentioned, the project has initiated, however, it may take some time to start offering the services. Currently, a prototype (or feature less) website is in place that reveals the kind of services that Rasta.pk will offer in future.

Features will include

• Real time traffic information
• SMS based traffic information
• Live Traffic Cams
• Live Chat with traffic experts
• FM radio channel
• Traffic TV

Looks, service will offer above mentioned information for Multan, Faisalabad, Lahore, Gujranwala and Rawalpindi in first phase.

Website says that Traffic update will be available after every 5 minutes during peak hours.

As website is not fully functional so no words on feature quality or the reliability. However, what we see is that if executed well, Rasta.PK is going to be a very productive and useful web tool for a general citizen.

Source: ProPakistani Blog

Telenor Pakistan To Use Nokia Siemens Technology For Solar Power Based Service in Rural Areas

Telecom companies in Pakistan are one of the major power consumers and in addition to the increasing cost of electricity, they also face the challenge of lack of access to the electricity grid in rural areas to supply power to base stations. A few pilot deployments of solar powered base stations were luanched earlier.Now Telenor Pakistan and Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) have signed an agreement that will provide NSN’s off-grid site solutions that use solar energy to power Telenor base station sites in rural and remote areas. This is expected to result in substantial cost savings for Telenor Pakistan along with the social benefits that come with using renewable and clean energy.

Nokia Siemens Networks will design the sites, taking into account local solar mapping, site landscape and other factors to maximize the use of an abundant, clean, and natural energy source. Nokia Siemens Networks’ Green Energy Control will help deliver a sustainable solution while optimizing operating costs.

The solar-powered sites will be implemented using Universal Services Fund (USF) that was awarded to Telenor Pakistan in 2009. USF-based contracts aim to provide access to mobile services for underserved and unserved areas of Pakistan. Telenor Pakistan, till now, has been awarded three USF contracts for Mirpurkhas, Malakand and Bahawalpur region.

“It’s important that we connect the world in such a way that not only maximizes benefits for consumers and businesses, but also ensures the welfare of our planet,” said Saad Waraich, the Pakistan country director for Nokia Siemens Networks. “Providing communications to rural areas will become increasingly important and we believe renewable energy will be the first choice for such installations. In fact, the majority of base station sites installed by us by 2011 will use this form of energy. We are especially proud to partner with Telenor – a definite trend setter for the use of environmental technologies in network expansion.”

The GSMA has estimated that more than 75,000 new off-grid sites will be built each year through 2012 in developing countries. About 80% of the energy in a typical mobile telecommunication network is consumed by base stations. Renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power offer a reliable alternative to sites with limited or non-existent electrical grid access. Nokia Siemens Networks has already deployed more than 360 sites that exploit renewable energy and has over 25 years of experience in implementing solar-powered sites.

Source: TelecomPK Blog

Microsoft Awards Warid Pakistan

Warid Telecom (Pvt.) Ltd. the country’s most reliable service provider has always been on forefront in deploying the latest technology, partnering with the Worlds top class vendors like Oracle, Cisco, Sun Microsystems and Microsoft.

Warid has recently commenced an outstanding project of implementing Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) solution based on Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V. This initiative was taken as part of Microsoft’s early adoption Program for this cutting edge virtualization technology. Warid Telecom was amongst the pioneer customers in the MEA region in implementing VDI solution under this program.

Microsoft held a commercial launch of Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, and Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 in Pakistan. The event was held in Sheraton Hotel Karachi on 22nd October 2009. It is the largest outreach to IT Decision Makers, IT Professionals and Developers in Microsoft’s history. Warid Telecom is awarded with Gold Sponsorship and an honorary shield was given to Warid’s Chief Information Officer. Microsoft has also developed a case study taking a detailed account on Warid Pakistan, and it will be published on Microsoft’s global website.

While speaking on the event Javed Mushtaq, Chief Information Officer, Warid Telecom said , “We expect a 20 percent drop in our capital expenditure and a 62 percent drop in operating expenses by cutting power, support, and hardware costs with the Hyper-V solution.”

Microsoft Country Head Kamal Ahmed said “The launch of such a powerful product portfolio showcases Microsoft’s commitment to our customer’s top priority and seeks to enhance cost savings, IT efficiency and business productivity. Companies in Pakistan can use these products to not only drive costs down but also drive down their risk profile through better security and compliance, while maximizing the productivity of the workforce they support”

With this project, Warid Telecom taken a leap forward in carbon emissions, honoring its part in keeping the planet greener thus takes another initiative for environment friendly green technology. Total Power Consumption is reduced by 180% with annual saving of 215,280 KW/Y from power and Total Air Conditioning Saving per Year: 160,030 KW/Y, also Carbon Emission Saving per Year: of 581730 Pound.

Source: TelecomPK blog

Pakistan’s Mindstorm Studios launches world’s most sophisticated Cricket game (PC)

Mindstorm Cricket Revolution is OUT (no pun intended). As will be amply evident from all the screenshots I’m posting here, the game looks absolutely amazing. There is great attention to detail, a rich team selection, multi-player....

Read full story at TechLahore

Google Map Maker - Top contributors from Pakistan

Google LatLong Blog recognizes efforts of two volunteers who have contributed hours to make the Pakistani Map available for us all to use.

Name: Faraz Ahmad (farazilu)

Day job: Web programmer

Region mapped: Pakistan

Name: Jabran Rafique (جabran)

Day job: IT administrator

Region mapped: Pakistan

Faraz and Jabran are both Pakistani-born, high tech workers living in the United Kingdom. They both learned about Map Maker on the Internet, and they have formed a virtual team with a mission to map Pakistan. Although they live 400 miles apart and have never met in person, they collaborate on mapping Pakistan and providing other mappers with advice and tips on mapping the region.

Time lapse video of Gujranwala, Pakistan:

Faraz started using Map Maker shortly after it launched in 2008, and he is now the top mapper with more edits than any other user. Jabran found Map Maker a few months after Faraz. Both mappers started with their home towns and have subsequently mapped many cities in Pakistan. 'It's like mapping your own world -- describing your world to other people. In the UK, we use Google Maps to find directions if we want to go somewhere. But we couldn't do that in Pakistan. This is a big opportunity to help other people find things,' says Faraz.

Time lapse video of Karachi, Pakistan:

'I spend so much time on the Internet looking at new technologies. It's like a hobby for me to develop maps -- time spent positively because I know it will help others. In Pakistan, using Map Maker to find an efficient way to get somewhere can save a life in an emergency situation,' says Faraz.

Experienced and accomplished mappers with more than 70,000 map edits between them, Faraz and Jabran collaborate with many others to map the region as well. Jabran explains, 'I post on the group when I finish mapping a city. A fellow who just joined recently is making some edits near Lahore, adding names to streets and local businesses. So we help each other. If one can map it and another can name it, that's great. Someday I will open Google Maps and see all of Pakistan mapped!'

In areas of Pakistan that the virtual team knows less well, they use the satellite imagery on Map Maker to draw the roads. When they meet people from Pakistan, Faraz & Jabran ask them where they are from and what areas they know. "Then I drag them to Map Maker and ask them the names of roads, shops, hospitals, whatever. We're trying to make the maps more and more elaborate. Together we can make a difference."

Jabran recalls that, one weekend, a couple of guys with local knowledge of an area sat with him as he edited the maps -- here's one small example of an addition to the map he made based on their knowledge. 'Great thanks to all those many people who agree to help in such a way,' says Jabran.

Living in the UK, Faraz and Jabran use Google Maps extensively, particularly on their mobile phones, to find their way around and explore new places. Through their contributions to mapping Pakistan with Google Map Maker, their goal is to help all Google Maps users in Pakistan to find their way, too. We wish both of these Map Maker 'power users' all the best in their efforts to map their worlds, and look forward to seeing their goal of completing the Pakistan map fully realized!

Source: Featured Map Makers: Faraz & Jabran

Pakistan Ranks 9th in Global Mobile Markets – 1H 2009 Update

The Global Wireless Markets continued to grow rapidly especially in India and China where the carriers (together) are adding around 20M new subscriptions every month. China crossed the 700M subscriptions mark in July while India’s total went past 450 in Aug. Overall, the global subscriptions penetration is above 64%. During 2009, services revenues further tilted towards data services, increasing 21% from 2008 EOY.

For some leading operators, data is now contributing over 40% of the overall revenues. However increase in data ARPU is not completely offsetting the drop in voice ARPU for most operators. From the true and tested SMS messaging to the new services such as Mobile Advertising, Social Networking, Commerce, Mobile Wallet, and others, different services helped in adding billions to the revenues generated in 2009. US continues to lead Japan and China in total mobile data revenues by a healthy margin.

The top 10 nations by subscriptions are: China, India, US, Russia, Brazil, Indonesia, Japan, Germany, Pakistan and Italy.

Read the full report here or download PDF from here or Power Point presentation from here

Thanks to ProPakistani blog for this post.