..but for just 3 months before the 2 GB/month limit kicks in. Details of all their plans are here:
http://www.ptcl.com.pk/contentp.php?NID=47
Also, PTCL has relaunched its website as it revamps its branding across the board, and it looks great! Good job you semi-state-run monopoly owned by another state run monopoly you!
Popularity: 4% [?]
For the last 3 weeks, I have run the following three services in parallel at the office:
After several download tests, usage testing, and measurement of bandwidth, (I dont have the upload bandwidth numbers with me yet..sorry!) I’ve come up with the following conclusion: Read the rest of this entry »
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Finally, some competition! Even if it is against the state run telecom monopoly, but something atleast. Not to be put down by PTCL, Maxcom has come out with guns blazing in response to PTCL’s “1 MB unlimited for 5000/month” package by offering the ame itself, AND have gone further and are also offering 256k unlimited for Rs 1800/month, something that PTCL as yet does not offer.
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Thanks to a tip from a friend (thanks Altamash!) I logged on to the PTCL website to check out their DSL packages..and click the “more link” to see what left my jaws open Read the rest of this entry »
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Just an update. Ive had Maxcom DSL now for I think 6 months or so. Its gone down, maybe once, for a few minutes. Kudos to them for good service and giving proper advertised bandwidth (well they are more honest than most, them and cybernet.)
Since ive switched from crummy loser Worldcall cable i havent looked back. If you are a worldcall cable customer in pain and paying too much for crappy service, dump them and switch. I’d suggest Maxcom or Cybernet DSL. You may pay a bit more, worldcall has also become cheaper recently (because their sales are down, duh) but I think its better to pay a bit more and get decent internet service which in itself is a valuable commodity in Pakistan.
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The PTA has reduced PTCL bandwidth tariffs in several categories. The average reduction in about 35%, and now for a 45 MBPS line (ds3) an ISP will pay $16,800 instead of $48,000. Kudos to the PTA.. but…This is so sarcastically funny I laugh out loud each time i read something like this. See, this is what our government did :
Step 1 : sell large state-owned monopolistic telecom to the Arabs’ Monopolistic telecom (Etisalat) by showing a high share price which basically comes about by charging tariffs that are 1000 times the world average for bandwidth, communications cost,etc, and keep potential competition out usng the legal structure
Step 2: once you have all the cash, start reducing those tariffs to “level” the playing field and try to get some goodwill for it and try to kickstart the broadband economy.
LOL, very smart indeed, even if it didn’t actually happen that way, thats what it looks like doesnt it… in any case, as a consumer all I can hope is that in the near future I see some of these savings being passed onto me. I still pay through my nose for a very measly amount of bandwidth, making me feel like an indentured e-citizen. Now that bandwidth is cheaper, will the ISPs pass these savings onto their customers? I’ll gladly switch to the ones that do over the ones that don’t.
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Everyone’s whose anyone in the top layer - networking/connectivity provider market, ie Wateen, Mobilink, Multinet,etc nowadays is trying to get into the business that is so far covered only by PTCL :Offering their own infrastructure (like Wateen’s Moto4 wimax network in progress) to transport the country’s voice,video and data to and fro.
An interesting article details the nasty end of this boom, ie high debt, and too much competition for a decent ROI on these investments which means out of the 4 or so players probably 2 will fail. I have my money on Mobilink succeeding though..since its an open secret that they have ooooodles of cash ready to throw at large projects such as these and have enough time to sit back and wait for the ROI to come in…just like what they did with their cellular network service, which is one of Orascom’s largest and most profitable.
Read the article here:
http://www.pakistanlink.com/Headlines/Sep06/19/11.htm
And thanks again to Osama for forwarding it to me!
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Wateen is laying the foundations for one of the largest WiMAX delployements in the world here in Pakistan. WiMAX is a protocol similar to wi-fi, but over much large distances, usually 11 miles or more from a single base station. My friend and fellow writer Osama recently wrote about Wateen telecom, and he makes some interesting points. Read his take on Wateen at :
http://greenwhite.wordpress.com/2006/08/14/pitstops-and-hotels-for-telecom-traffic/
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First of all, i have to apologize for the delay…last few days Ive been sort of out of it..but nevertheless,I am back! (no, not in the Terminator voice..)
I’ve gotten quite a few emails asking me about the latest entrant into the ISP fray, this little company known as Maxcom. (http://www.max.com.pk/). Guess what! Im a maxcom customer…and they ahvent paid me a cent for this post…(actually no one pays me for my posts..which is why I can say what I want..and instill fear in IT companies!! just kidding)
Advertising a great deal, a free modem and a 128k connection for Rs 1800 month, after a little checking, I decided to dump my useless Worldcall connection (which was worse than dialup btw) and try out Max.com .Though now alot of my peers tell me that Worldcall has gotten a lot better…my take is since a lot of people dumped them, that reduced the network clogging and server crashes, lol :D. The one thing i learned from the worldcall experience : never get an internet connection from a company that makes its money by selling cable TV. Stick with an ISP, get the one that’s 20% more expensive , and the service will live up to your expectations.
So how has the “Maxcom” experience been so far ? I would have gone with cybernet, which I think is the best ISP in Pakistan really, but they didn’t give me the free modem and I didn’t feel like dishing out 6000 rupees for one. The modem i got from max.com though looked very used, and doesnt do more than 10 mbps, which means its also old. No matter, the connection itself is stable, and for the last 2 months or so I’ve only had to reset my modem twice… and gotten a stable 11k/sec down min. at all times… all for RS 1800/month. Not too cheap, but well worth the service. Not bad at all, as long as Max.com keeps it quality this good, and cybernet still charges for modems, I’ll stick with Max.com 
Try it out, tell me what you think.. they have a slick website too.
A note on broadband in Pakistan:
Broadband in Pakistan, remains mostly a pipe dream, with companies advertising measly connection speeds as “broadband” and unlimited Internet. The truth is that as long as PTCL does not reduce bandwidth rates, and the ISPs are forced to pass those savings onto customers, we as consumers will never get real broadband at large. At a time when the rest of the world is moving to Wi-Fi in Parks and skyscrapers and where a 1.5 mbps downlink to a home user is common, Pakistanis are still paying out of their noses for 128k connections, and without broadband we are chugging in 3 wheeled wheelchairs while the rest of the world is making the sprint with Nike’s on.
Popularity: 2% [?]
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