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Category: IT & Telecom

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  • Ericsson launches international innovation awards

    Ericsson launches international innovation awards

    KARACHI: Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) has launched its annual Ericsson Innovation Awards (EIA) 2021, a global competition with a grand prize of €25,000 that offers university students around the world, including from Pakistan, the chance to develop new, innovative ideas with support from Ericsson experts.

    The theme in 2021 is ‘Bridge the Digital Divide’. The digital revolution has transformed the world, enriching lives in countless ways yet half the planet lives without access to the tools, information, and resources that many of us rely on every day.

    Ericsson Innovation Awards is open to students currently enrolled in University studies. Students from around the world are invited to enter the competition and are encouraged to form diverse teams of two to four members. Teams must register and submit their ideas by August 5th at 11 AM GMT and the first 50 submissions will receive extra guidance for refining their ideas.

    Innovations come in all sizes, from simple changes in code that could redefine the networks of the future to complex technological advances that will advance humanitarian efforts across the world. We believe that young people drive innovation and development when it comes to current pressing issues. That’s why, with innovation at the heart of Ericsson, we want to invite young talents to register for Ericsson Innovation Awards 2021, said a statement.

    Each of the seven regional winners will receive €1,000 cash prize and in some cases, additional special recognition and prizes offered within respective regions.

    All 14 Semi-finalists – including the seven regional winners – will receive Seven weeks of mentorship from Ericsson experts in innovation and business, recognition on Ericsson social and digital media, the possibility of Ericsson recruiter interviews (if any suitable positions are available at the time) and certificate of achievement. 

    All three finalist teams will receive Grand Prize Winner: €25,000, 2nd Place: €15,000, 3rd Place: €5,000, Bonus: Social Media Prize: €2,000, an invitation to the Ericsson Innovation Awards Grand Final, an additional four weeks of mentorship and recognition across Ericsson social media and digital channels. 

    All three Finalists will have their entries uploaded onto the Instagram page of @ericssoncareers, and for the 24 hours before the Grand Final, anyone can vote on this page. The team who receives the most votes will win an additional €2,000.

  • Phone calls above 5 minutes to be chargeable additional 75 paisa

    Phone calls above 5 minutes to be chargeable additional 75 paisa

    ISLAMABAD: The government has imposed additional 75 paisas as federal excise duty (FED) on a mobile phone call if its duration exceeds five minutes.

    The national assembly approved the changes in the law after the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) will collect additional 75 paisa FED on a call above five minutes.

    According to the law, mobile phone call, if call duration exceeds five minutes; seventy five paisa per call in addition to the applicable rate of duty.

    The additional federal excise duty on mobile phone calls above five minutes shall be applicable from July 01, 2021.

  • How much a phone call will cost after new tax?

    How much a phone call will cost after new tax?

    Persons making calls through their cell phones will cost 38 percent more following the implementation of proposed change in tax rate effective from July 01, 2021.

    The government has proposed one rupee additional burden on a phone call having duration above five minutes. This was announced by Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin a day earlier at the Senate.

    In fact the finance minister announced to reduce the tax burden as compared with the actual proposals announced through the Finance Bill 2021 that was additional tax on a call having duration above three minutes.

    According to sources in telecom industry the existing call rate of duration above five minutes is Rs1.97, which also included 19.5 percent federal excise duty. However, with the implementation of proposed rates the call above five minutes will cost Rs2.72.

    The telecom industry believes the proposed changes in taxation of call rates are not possible to implement.

    Industry sources said that the proposed taxes are un-implementable as the charging structure is not linear and is based on bundle offers to facilitate prepaid users which account for 98 per cent of overall cellular subscribers in Pakistan.

    This regressive move will play havoc with the prepaid bundles being enjoyed by the lowest segment of society as the operators will be constrained to remove such offerings, making voice calling significantly more expensive.

    In addition, users will quickly learn to redial before 5 minutes to defeat this proposed levy hence it may bring nothing to the government but add to the complexity for the telecom sector and operators while causing massive inconvenience to the citizens.

  • PTA renews licenses of three cellular phone operators in AJK, Gilgit-Baltistan

    PTA renews licenses of three cellular phone operators in AJK, Gilgit-Baltistan

    ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Telecom Authority (PTA) has renewed licenses of three leading cellular mobile operators for Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan.

    The ceremony for renewal of licenses was held in PTA headquarters, Islamabad on Thursday.

    Three Cellular Mobile Operators i.e. Telenor Pakistan, PMCL (Jazz) and PTML (Ufone) have deposited payment (50 per cent of the PTA determined license fee) amounting to Rs3.19 Billion against their license renewal fee with PTA.

    The event was attended by Federal Secretary for IT & Telecommunication, Dr. Muhammad Sohail Rajput, Chairman PTA, Major General Amir Azim Bajwa (R); Member Finance PTA, Muhammad Naveed and Member Compliance & Enforcement PTA, Dr. Khawar Siddique Khokhar; Executive Director, Frequency Allocation Board (FAB); Joint Secretary Gilgit Baltistan Council; Deputy Secretary (Finance) and Deputy Secretary (Welfare & Development) AJ&K Council and senior officers of PTA. CEOs of Telenor, Jazz and Ufone along with senior representatives of CMOs also attended the event.

    On the occasion, Chairman PTA lauded the efforts of the cellular operators for playing a crucial role in providing connectivity across these regions.

    He also appreciated the tireless efforts of concerned officials of PTA, FAB and MoIT for timely conclusion of the renewal process. He further stated that AJ&K and GB are the prime areas of tourism in Pakistan and the license renewal will pave the way for provision of 3G/4G and Next Generation Mobile Services to the consumers of these areas as well to the tourists.

    Continuous efforts are being made to bring state of the art telecommunication services to far flung areas enabling access to a multitude of opportunities for businesses, education and health.

    On this occasion Secretary IT & T, Dr. Muhammad Sohail Rajput congratulated the mobile operators on renewal of licenses. He said that AJ&K and GB have immense importance in government policies, and it is the government’s priority to provide advanced telecom services in these regions. He said that there are vast opportunities for public-private collaboration in various sectors including telecoms.

    It is pertinent to mention that due to license renewals, this will not only contribute towards uninterrupted provision of better telecom services to the people of AJ&K and GB but will also help in promotion of competition and investment in the telecom sector.

  • SBP, JazzCash sign MoU for increasing financial literacy

    SBP, JazzCash sign MoU for increasing financial literacy

    KARACHI: National Institute of Banking and Finance (NIBAF) – a subsiday of State Bank of Pakistan – and JazzCash, Pakistan’s leading FinTech Company, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding for increasing financial literacy amongst youth of Pakistan, the SBP said on Saturday.

    NIBAF and JazzCash aim to jointly promote financial literacy through the engaging and interactive game called “PomPak – Learn to Earn” developed under SBP’s project, National Financial Literacy Program for Youth (NFLP-Y).

    PomPak, utilizes a story-based narrative by following the journey of two families setting up a small entrepreneurial venture. This helps to keep the players engaged while effectively inculcating ethical behavior and financial skills such as budgeting, saving, and banking. PomPak is available in both English and Urdu for three age groups: children (9-12); adolescents (13-17); and youth (18-29).

    Anyone who completes the course is awarded a certificate of financial literacy jointly from NIBAF and NFLP-Y. It can be played on a desktop computer or can be downloaded from Google Play and the App Store for other devices.

    JazzCash, under its partnership, is going to provide SBP access to more than 26 million Pakistanis by promoting the PomPak application on its platform. This will help the application reach a wider audience, thus increasing its usage and eventually promoting financial literacy of the nation resulting in a highly positive socio-economic impact.

    Riaz Nazarali Chunara, Managing Director, NIBAF stressed on the role of increased financial literacy for promoting financial inclusion. He said that being Pakistan’s first e-learning financial literacy game, PomPak has revolutionized the way financial education is delivered. He went on to add that NIBAF is really proud of what PomPak has achieved since its launch and this partnership with JazzCash will contribute majorly towards our commitment to provide free of cost financial education to all.

    While emphasizing on the significance of the MOU, Erwan Gelebart, Chief Executive Officer JazzCash, said that there is ample scope for financial enablement and education through JazzCash.

    Creating a strong business and building a better Pakistan in parallel are key contributors of long-term success for JazzCash. This agreement will contribute in achieving the aforesaid objectives as we look forward to upskill the youngsters of Pakistan, he said.

    Under the guidance of SBP, NIBAF is implementing National Financial Literacy Program for Youth to impart essential financial education to Pakistani youth and school going children. In the last three years, the project has successfully reached more than 45 districts of Pakistan making over 750 thousands financial literate in this category.

  • Telecom sector gets relief measures in budget 2021/2022

    Telecom sector gets relief measures in budget 2021/2022

    ISLAMABAD: The telecommunication sector has received several relief measures in the federal budget 2021/2022 that will help new investment in this sector.

    According to budget commentary released by KPMG Taseer Hadi & Co. Telecommunication is one of the largest service sectors of Pakistan contributing substantial revenue in the form of taxes on telecom services and income tax on profits.

    The Finance Bill 2021 proposes several relief measures for this sector, some of them were being demanded for long, such as grant of ‘industry’ status for tax purposes.

    These measures will help to attract investment in telecom infrastructure and reduce the cost of doing business and consequential relief to the public.

    Following tax relief measures are proposed for this sector:

    —Grant of industry status which will resolve several anomalies in taxation of this sector. Also, it will make it possible for telecom companies to import plant and machinery without collection of advance tax after obtaining exemption certificate from the Commissioner.

    —Reduction in rate of withholding tax on receipts from 8% at present to 3%. As the said tax is also minimum tax, this will entail a reduction of 62.5% in effective tax rate on income for those with low profits.

    —Reduction in rate of federal excise duty on telecom services from 17 percent to 16 percent. This will however only be relevant for services rendered in Islamabad as services rendered in provinces are subject to provincial sales tax.

    —Abolition of fixed sales tax on SIM cards. However, this will not affect existing cases in litigation.

  • Budget 2021/2022: FED reduced on telecom services

    Budget 2021/2022: FED reduced on telecom services

    ISLAMABAD: The government has announced reduction in Federal Excise Duty (FED) from 17 percent to 16 percent to facilitate businesses and provide relief to the general masses.

    Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin while presenting federal budget 2021/2022 on Friday said the government had decided to reduce FED on telecom services.

    He said that to facilitate businesses and provide relief to the general masses, rate of federal excise duty on telecommunication is proposed to be reduced from 17 percent to 16 percent.

    Further, the finance minister announced withdrawal of federal excise duty on Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) charged on POS by banks, so that businesses are encouraged to carry out transactions through POS machines.

  • CCP directs DHA to give ROW to Nayatel

    CCP directs DHA to give ROW to Nayatel

    KARACHI: Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) on Tuesday directed the management of Defence Housing Authority (DHA) – I Islamabad to provide a level playing field for Nayatel by giving right of way (ROW) to provide its cable internet and telephony services on the same terms and conditions as are being offered to other existing operators.

    The CCP conducted an enquiry after taking a suo motor notice of the complaints and concerns received from the residents of DHA-I Islamabad, stating that had been deprived of an alternate choice of CIT services provider, which was restricted to only two operators i.e. Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) and DHAI Teleman.

    They alleged that DHA was not letting Nayatel to operate in the area despite the company’s interest to provide its services.

    The ROW is a platform for internet service providers for the provision of CIT services.

    According to the complaints, DHA management had given ROW to PTCL and DHAI Teleman in DHA-1 while denying the same to Nayatel on equal terms and conditions.

    It was alleged that DHA’s management had created a barrier to entry for Nayatel by offering dissimilar conditions and demanding a higher price of ROW that the already existing internet service providers.

    The CCP’s enquiry concluded that DHA management, prima facie, abused its position in violation of Section 3 of the Competition Act, 2010 by not allowing Nayatel to operate in the relevant market and recommended to initiate proceedings against DHA under Section 30 of the Act.

    After hearing the parties, the bench passed the order, in which it applied the ‘essential facility doctrine’ to the matter and observed that in the current era, the CIT services are an essential need for the citizens, both for personal as well as commercial use.

    The order further stated that the residents of DHA-I were demanding CIT services from Nayatel, being a Fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) based CIT service provider, however, DHA-I management, abusing its dominant position, refused to issue an NOC to Nayatel to install its infrastructure within DHA-I Phase-I and other sectors.

    As per the order DHA-I held a dominant position in the relevant market and had already granted ROW to four parties i.e. PTCL, Transworld, Wateen and its very own subsidiary DHAI Teleman for providing (G-PON) and allied CIT services to the residents of DHA-I, the lincensee seeking the ROW was Nayatel.

    The already existing service providers are on cost sharing basis with DHA-I rather than on a revenue sharing basis. The order observes that DHA-I has failed to explain any logic as to why there has been a disparity between the charges offered to Nayatel and other incumbents, which amounts to discrimination and application of dissimilar conditions to the same transaction, under Section 3(I), read with subsection 3(e) of the Act.

    The order also finds support from the directive issued by the ministry of information technology and telecommunications in October 2020, called the “public and private right of way policy directive” which stated that ‘the public authority shall not discriminate any licensee towards charging of right way fee and there shall not be any differential or preferential treatment in right of way fee for any type of licensee including other utility service providers and those wholly or partially owned by the federal or provincial government or the public authority.

    Keeping in view all circumstances and with a view to give a chance to DHA-I to correct its behavior and to offer Nayatel within 90 days from the date of the order to use the ROW on terms and conditions no less favorable than the incumbent service providers.

    The CCP has not imposed any penalty on DHA for now. But in case of non-compliance, DHA-I shall be liable to pay Rs2 million for violating Section 3 of the Competition Act, 2010 in addition to appropriate penalties for non-compliance under Section 38 of the Act.

    DHA-I has been further directed to file a compliance report before the registrar of the commission no later than 7 days from the date such offer is made to Nayatel.

  • PKIC to make Rs500 million investment in Planet N

    PKIC to make Rs500 million investment in Planet N

    KARACHI: Pakistan Kuwait Investment Company (Private) Limited (PKIC) announces that it is making an equity investment of Rs500 million in Planet N (Private) Limited. This is the largest equity investment by a local Financial Institution in a Tech Investment Platform in Pakistan. It was approved by the Board of PKIC in December, 2020.

    This investment will help Planet N expand its operations and will also motivate other investors to explore opportunities to develop and strengthen tech entrepreneurship and disruption in the country.

    With total assets of over rs107 billion and equity of over Rs38 billion, PKIC is Pakistan’s leading DFI engaged in investment and development financing activities in the country. PKIC was established as a joint venture between the Governments of Pakistan and Kuwait in 1979. It is a “AAA” (Triple A) rated financial institution.

    Planet N has invested and nurtured tech start-ups such as Tapmad TV, Dawaai.pk, PublishEx, Tez Financial Services, Datalift, PiePie, Kashat, JinglePay, etc. spread across various jurisdictions including Pakistan, UAE, Egypt, Singapore and USA. It currently has more than 30 companies in its portfolio focusing on financial inclusion, fintech, digital media, data science & AI. This portfolio is expected to grow further after the equity investment by PKIC.

    Speaking on the occasion of the signing ceremony, MD PKIC Mubashar Maqbool expressed his elation at this investment by PKIC and stated that PKIC has a firm desire to support all priority sectors of the economy, especially the growing technology sector, by providing traditional as well as innovative financing solutions to its prospective customers.

    Maqbool hoped that this landmark investment should inspire other players, investors, family business houses, and investment companies to do the same and would also encourage the young entrepreneurs in the tech sector.

    CEO Planet N Nadeem Hussain said he has always tried to encourage local investors to aid young entrepreneurs with innovative ideas. His initial investment in tech companies has seen exponential gains and he hopes that having PKIC as an equity partner will initiate a big disruption in the local- investors- horizon and their approach towards tech-based investments.

    Irfan Siddiqui, CEO and President Meezan Bank Ltd, chief guest to the occasion said that this is one of its kind investment by a local DFI into a Tech disruption investment company paving the way for further investment by other financial institutions that will help tech start-ups in Pakistan.

    Also, present on the occasion were Ariful Islam, Deputy CEO Meezan Bank Ltd, Khurram Hussain, MD Pak Libya Holding Co. and senior management from PKIC, Planet N, and Arif Habib Limited (AHL). AHL acted as the Financial Advisor to this landmark transaction.

    Planet N was founded by Nadeem Hussain in 2016; with a vision to invest in growth oriented hi-tech companies. Hussain is the founder and ex-CEO of Telenor (previously Tameer) Microfinance Bank.

  • PTA receives Rs15.82bn from mobile operators as 2nd installment for license renewal fees

    PTA receives Rs15.82bn from mobile operators as 2nd installment for license renewal fees

    ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) on Thursday said it has received an amount of Rs 15.82 billion (equivalent of $103.17 million) against second installment of License Renewal Fee from two Cellular Mobile Operators (CMOs); Telenor Pakistan and Pakistan Mobile Communication Ltd. (Jazz).

    The amount is being deposited in Federal Consolidated Fund (FCF) as per practice under Pakistan Telecom Re-organization Act 1996.

    PTA has so far deposited PKR 135.81 billion (equivalent of USD 862.22 million) with the Government, received against 50% of total License Renewal Fee and first instalment of the same from three CMOs.

    With the amount of second installment received from two CMOs now, the total receipts on this count have become PKR 151.63 billion (USD 965.39 million). The second license renewal fee instalment of CMPAK (ZONG) for USD 54.086 shall be due in October 2021.