PTCL concluded its management training program

Pakistan Telecommunication Company LTD (PTCL) held a certificate distribution ceremony on the successful accomplishment of the three week comprehensive training program titled “Management Development Program” (MDP) at PTCL Academy Islamabad.

PTCL real asset has always been human capital and network. It has achieved various commendable milestones but this Management Development Program is one of the most world beating achievements as the entire training calendar 2011 has been designed based on the theme “Ensuring Corporate and Customers Loyalty through learning”.PTCL has a huge training infrastructure throughout the country that is geographically wide spread.

PTCL Academy has been revitalized with a new vision to be recognized locally and regionally as a center of excellence in the provision of state-of-the-art training and consultancy services in telecommunications and related fields. It is providing a platform for the creation, dissemination and exchange of knowledge and expertise in all areas of telecom and IT to internal and external stakeholders. MDP is to determine user’s requirements, specific training needs, evaluate training resources, develop and implement the training program and then finally to evaluate it.

PTCL President and CEO – Walid Irshaid while acknowledging this achievement, highlighted the pragmatic approach of PTCL and stated that PTCL is Developing Customer Centric Approach in the employees and keeping the pace with the dynamic trends of the Telecom Industry has always been a priority of the management, He expressed his satisfaction over the initiative taken by the training and development department and said that we will ensure that the training produces visible and desired results.

He further added that we are continuously striving to make a positive impact on the lives of our customers, we are focused and determined to better understand the needs of the ever evolving customer and connecting with them.

EVP Training and Development, Shakeel Ahmad, also expressed his views on this occasion and said that the Training and Development team has been making untiring efforts to turn PTCL into a true corporate entity. He expressed gratitude to his team and attributed this success to team work.

Etisalat was in Buyout Talks with Nayatel

Etisalat was in takeover talks with Nayatel, a local internet service provider based in Islamabad/Rawalpindi, reported Reuters.

Nayatel confirmed ProPakistani that Etisalat was indeed in talks with Nayatel for buyout of its DSL/Fiber-optic operations. However, talks remained inconclusive and are over now due to price differences from both the sides.

Local internet service provider companies are facing tough competition from PTCL, probably a reason that Micronet had to close its broadband operations for at least 3 exchanges in Islamabad recently.

When asked by ProPakistani about possible merger with any other ISP in Pakistan, company said that it won’t merge/sell its operations with any local operator. However, it might consider a foreign but potentially strong investor.

Nayatel is hoping to expand its domestic business beyond Islamabad and Rawalpindi to Lahore and Pakistan’s biggest city, Karachi, which has an estimated population of 18 million.

Earlier, quoting Mr. Rashid Khan, the chairman of Nayatel, Reuters had reported that Etisalat wanted to buyout DSL and fiber-optic internet operations of Nayatel.

According to Reuters, annual sales among its 7,000 customers top $12 million, said Khan, with revenue growth of 40-50 percent a year.

11 Pakistanis Go Mobile Every Minute: CEO Mobilink

“Every minute roughly 11 Pakistanis become a part of the cellular community. More than 430,000 SMS messages and 160,000 voice minutes are being exchanged even now as I speak,” said Rashid Khan, President and CEO Mobilink, Pakistan’s market leader in cellular services, at the ceremony to mark the completion of 100 million cellular subscribers in Pakistan.

Khan said, “This is not only a moment of joy for us gathered here but also a reaffirmation to the common Pakistani man and woman that access to technology is not  a privilege limited to the elite, but a right that is available to them – that is accessible and affordable.”

Highlighting the contribution of the telecommunications sector in the country’s growth and development, Khan said, the sector contributes 3% to the country’s GDP whereas the total telecom sector revenue reached at Rs. 357.7 billion in the year 2009-10 compared to Rs. 333 billion in the previous year. This is despite the fact that the cellular industry in Pakistan is paying the highest taxes in comparison to the entire region. Incomes of 6 out of every 1,000 persons in Pakistan are tied with the telecom sector, he added.

Khaled Bichara, Group CEO of Orascom Telecom Holding, Mobilink’s parent company and Egypt’s largest foreign investor in Pakistan was also present at the ceremony.

Bichara congratulated Dr. Muhammad Yaseen, Chairman Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) and the industry stakeholders on accomplishing this historic milestone.

Hosted by PTA the ceremony was chaired by the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani and attended by dignitaries from leading cellular operators as well as Telecom Ministry and industry.

Android in Trouble, Google Found Guilty of Copying Java Code

Oracle sued Google last year for infringing on copyrights and patents related to Java, which Oracle acquired along with Sun Microsystems.

Oracle’s case got stronger this week when Florian Mueller, a intellectual property activist,proved that Google copied at least 43 Android source files from Java.

With this development, lawsuit becomes a simple and easy case to prove when Google used 37 Android source files marked “PROPRIETARY / CONFIDENTIAL” and “DO NOT DISTRIBUTE” by Oracle / Sun and at least six more files in Froyo and Gingerbread that appear to have been decompiled from Java 2 Standard Edition and redistributed under the Apache open source license without permission.

This is not a threat to Android lovers or Google alone, but billions of dollars of various handset manufacturers (including HTC, Samsung) may land into trouble as well.

Though, there are reports that these copied files were just for test and are not important for the core OS, however, Oracle seems confident of winning the case.

In case Oracle wins, it might ask Google for a per-handset royalty on every Android handset shipped.