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Category: IT & Telecom

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  • Pakistan imports mobile phones worth $1.31 billion in eight months

    Pakistan imports mobile phones worth $1.31 billion in eight months

    ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has imported mobile phones worth $1.31 billion during first eight months of the current fiscal year owing to rise in demand of such devices for digital financial system.

    According to data released by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Wednesday the import of mobile phones worth $1.311 billion during July – February 2020/2021 as compared with $865 million in the corresponding period of the last fiscal year.

    The strong value of the dollar during the period forced higher import payment in terms of the Pak Rupee. The import of mobile phones in terms of rupee surged by 58 percent to Rs213 billion during first eight months of the current fiscal year as compared with $134.8 billion in the corresponding period of the last fiscal year.

    Market sources said that coronavirus pandemic had limited the physical movement, which had given rise to online transactions. Mobile phones have played a major role in promoting the digital economy.

    Further, the implementation of laws making it mandatory that only verified mobiles through the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to be activated for local services has also discouraged informal channels for the import of mobile phones.

    They said that the depreciation of the Pak Rupee had also an impact on the surge of mobile phone imports.

  • SRB website under cybersecurity threat

    SRB website under cybersecurity threat

    KARACHI: The official website of Sindh Revenue Board (SRB) has been identified as cyber-vulnerable and prone to citizen’s data leakage.

    National Telecom and Information Technology Security Board (NTISB) has issued an advisory through a notification dated March 03, 2021.

    It said that critical vulnerabilities had been identified in website of SRB (notification can be downloaded https://download1.fbr.gov.pk/Docs/202131115323494Advisory8.pdf) that may result in database access and manipulation, exfilteration of sensitive data, remote take-over of users’ sessions and website defacement.

    Identified vulnerabilities are as under:

    a. SQL injection in database

    b. Citizen’s data leakage

    c. Cross site scripting

    d. Unecrypted/plain text transfer of users’ credentials

    e. Cross site request forgery

    f. Microsoft IIS Tilde directory enumeration

    g. Internal IP addresses and server-side paths disclosure

    h. Session cookies lacking secure flags

    i. Server/ASP net version disclosure

    j. Stack traces and error messages on web pages

    k. Server-side technology stack documentation pages on public website.

    For impact of above mentioned vulnerabilities and guidelines for prevention can be downloaded https://download1.fbr.gov.pk/Docs/202131115323494Advisory8.pdf

  • PTA issues regulations for Mobile Device Manufacturing

    PTA issues regulations for Mobile Device Manufacturing

    ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) on Wednesday said it has issued Mobile Device Manufacturing (MDM) regulations and has started receiving applications for mobile device manufacturing.

    In a statement the PTA said that the implementation of PTA’s Device Identification, Registration and Blocking System (DRIBS) in 2019 had resulted in significant increase in legal import of mobile device and establishment of over 33 local assembly plants of mobile devices in Pakistan.

    These plants have produced over 25 million mobile devices including 4G smart phones since implementation of the system.

    The PTA said that with the successful execution of DRIBS, the local assembly industry had evolved from infancy to well growing stage, with significant growth seen in local assembly of smart phones.

    In 2019, only 119,639 smart phones were assembled locally whereas in 2020, the number of such devices grew to 2.1 million. It is important to highlight that the end of the second month of 2021, around 1.21 million smart phones have so far been assembled in Pakistan.

    In the light of the tremendous impact of DRIBS, the government has introduced a comprehensive Mobile Manufacturing Policy to encourage and attract manufacturers to Pakistan and establish their plants.

    PTA has issued MDM Regulations and has started receiving mobile device manufacturing applications. This initiative will help create more jobs in this technical sector, as well as enable consumer to buy locally manufactured mobile devices, the PTA added.

    The PTA said that the country had the distinction of implementing the world’s first open-source, full-fledged DRIBS. This system has the ability to identify all IMEIs latched on Pakistan’s mobile networks and to categorize them based on their compliant status.

  • Huawei Middle East chief visits PTA

    Huawei Middle East chief visits PTA

    ISLAMABAD: President (Middle East Region) of Huawei Technologies, Charles Yang, visited Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) Headquarters in Islamabad, a statement said on Tuesday.

    The President was along with Mark Meng, CEO of Huawei Technologies Pakistan and Deputy CEO Ahmed Bilal Masud.

    The delegation met Chairman PTA Major General (Retd) Amir Azeem Bajwa and discussed matters of mutual interest and investment opportunities.

    The two sides discussed future plans of Huawei Technologies in Pakistan and development of innovative digital and financial solutions to accelerate progress towards digital Pakistan.

  • TPL Properties announces developing Technology Park in Sindh

    TPL Properties announces developing Technology Park in Sindh

    KARACHI: TPL Properties on Monday announced to develop first ever Technology Park in Sindh with high end technology facilities.

    In an information shared with Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), the company said that in continuation to the disclosure made by TPL Properties Limited dated November 11, 2020, whereby the company had announced entering into an Agreement to Sell.

    “We are pleased to announce that the Company, through its wholly owned Subsidiary, G-18 (Private) Limited, has now acquired Plot No. 25-B, measuring 10,002 Square Yards, situated at Sector 30, Korangi Industrial Area, Karachi upon execution of the Sale Deed dated February 19, 2021.

    “The Company aims to develop state-of-art, first ever Technology Park in the Province of Sindh with high end technology facilities. Such infrastructure shall provide a platform to the IT Sector across Pakistan.

    “The timeline for the completion of the Project is anticipated to be two years which includes planning and designing phase.”

  • Fault in international internet cable, PTA makes alternate arrangements

    Fault in international internet cable, PTA makes alternate arrangements

    ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) on Friday said that an international internet cable fault has been reported. However, alternate arrangements to the users have been made, the PTA added.

    In a statement it said, in the wake of a fault in one of the international cables landing in Pakistan, alternate arrangements to provide uninterrupted internet services to the users have been made by relevant service providers through obtaining additional bandwidth.

    Trans World Associates (TEA) has earlier communicated service degradation on the international connectivity towards Europe on SMW5 cable system due to subsea fault near Abu Talat, Egypt. Work is underway to rectify the fault however it may take some time until the fault is removed completely.

    PTA is monitoring the situation and will continue to update on it.

  • Pakistan spends Rs185 billion for mobile phones import in July – January

    Pakistan spends Rs185 billion for mobile phones import in July – January

    ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has expended a substantial amount of Rs185 billion on the import of mobile phones during the first seven months (July – January) of the fiscal year 2020/2021, according to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Wednesday.

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  • Zong users enjoy free calls, internet service

    Zong users enjoy free calls, internet service

    KARACHI: The users of Zong, the leading mobile phone operator in Pakistan, are enjoying free calls and internet services on Wednesday and still continued till filing this news article.

    Zong has become top trend on Twitter and people messaging about availing free calls and internet services.

    According to some tweets the system of Zong has been crashed which enabled the free services.

    One message is reported as: “Zong network has some technical issues so the users can use free internet, call anyone for free national or international until their service gets on track. So enjoy the free time till then.”

    The reporting team of Pkrevenue has checked free internet and free calls on a zero balance Zong SIM and found the services are available.

    No official comments is available from Zong management in this regard.

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  • Telenor awarded contract worth Rs1.37bn for high speed broadband services

    Telenor awarded contract worth Rs1.37bn for high speed broadband services

    ISLAMABAD: Telenor, a leading mobile phone operator in Pakistan, has been awarded a contract worth Rs1.37 billion for providing high speed mobile broadband services in various districts of Kyber Pakhtunkhwa.

    A statement issued on Wednesday said that the Universal Service Fund (USF) has awarded contract worth approximately PKR 1.37 billion to Telenor for providing High Speed Mobile Broadband services in Chitral, Upper Dir and Lower Dir districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

    Federal Minister for IT and Telecommunication, Syed Amin Ul Haque and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) for Overseas Pakistanis & HRD, Syed Zulfiqar Abbas Bukhari witnessed the contract signing ceremony held at the USF Office, Islamabad.

    The contracts were signed by Haaris Mahmood Chaudhary, CEO, USF with Irfan Wahab Khan, CEO Telenor. The Federal Secretary for IT & Telecommunication and Chairman USF Board, Shoaib Ahmad Siddiqui, Chairman PTA, Major General (R) Amir Azeem Bajwa and other Officials were also present at the ceremony.

    Chief Guest of the ceremony, Federal Minister for IT and Telecommunication, Syed Amin Ul Haque said: “With the help of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), districts of Chitral, Upper Dir and Lower Dir can achieve better visibility, communication and integration into economic and tourism flows. High Speed Mobile Broadband services will enhance tourism and attract tourists, thus creating jobs. The Ministry of IT and Telecommunication will continue close cooperation to support the tourism industry of Pakistan and provide the basis for achieving sustainable rural development.”

    Furthermore, he extended his warm felicitation to the teams of USF and Telenor on the contract signing and emphasized on making Digital Pakistan vision a reality. Guest of Honor of the ceremony, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister for Overseas Pakistanis & HRD, Syed Zulfiqar Abbas Bukhari while congratulating USF and Telenor on the signing of the contract said, “The use of ICT in tourism is a welcoming step for the residents of Chitral, Upper Dir and Lower Dir districts. High speed internet connectivity will expedite activity in the region and make the travel process efficient and pleasant.”

    In addition, he expressed gratitude to the Federal Minister and the Ministry of IT and Telecommunication for the guidance and support. Sharing his views on the development, CEO Telenor Pakistan, Irfan Wahab Khan said: “We are committed to ensure the basic right of connectivity to the people of Pakistan. At Telenor Pakistan, we are driven to continue empowering the country by bridging the digital divide, creating access to opportunities and uplifting the lives of millions. We stand firm in our commitment of connecting people to what matters most to them and aim to continue providing opportunities in the future.”

    Also, sharing his thoughts at the ceremony, CEO USF, Haaris Mahmood Chaudhary said: “This project will benefit an unserved population of 0.7 Million in 648 unserved mauzas, thereby covering an unserved area of 18,212 sq. km. of Chitral, Upper Dir and Lower Dir districts. We are committed to empowering the unserved and unserved communities of Pakistan and we look forward to strengthening our partnership with Telenor.”

    Moreover, he thanked the Federal Minister and the Ministry of IT and Telecommunication for adopting policies and mechanisms that are supportive of the digital revolution of tourist places.

  • PTCL declares 5pc decline in annual profit to Rs6.03 billion

    PTCL declares 5pc decline in annual profit to Rs6.03 billion

    KARACHI: Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) on Wednesday announced a five percent decline in annual profit for the period ended December 31, 2020.

    According to financial results, the company announced after tax profit of Rs6.03 billion for the year 2020 as compared with the profit of Rs6.35 billion in the preceding financial year.

    The company declared earnings per share at Rs1.18 for the year ended on December 31, 2020 as compared with Rs1.24 in the preceding year.

    The company had announced no cash dividend or bonus share for the year under review.

    The gross profit of the company fell to Rs14.99 billion for the year 2020 as compared with Rs16.98 billion in the preceding financial year, showing a decline of 11.72 percent.

    Administrative expenses of PTCL were almost flat at Rs6.7 billion as compared with Rs6.75 billion a year ago.