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Category: IT & Telecom

IT & Telecom news covering technology trends, digital innovation, telecom updates, software, hardware, and the latest developments in the tech industry.

  • Jazz launches business app for merchants

    Jazz launches business app for merchants

    ISLAMABAD: Jazz, country’s leading phone operator and fintech, has launched a Business App for its rapidly growing merchant base, a statement said on Monday.

    The App has state-of-the-art tools for efficient financial and business management, this app adds to the ease of doing business as small and medium business owners can kick start digital payment acceptance, without the cumbersome bank account registration process.

    This all-new platform has been developed to cater to the SME sector, which is yet to realize the full benefits of a digital payments ecosystem, while some amongst them, are not even part of the formal economy. There are millions of SMEs in Pakistan, and only a few thousand accept digital payments making it a predominately cash-based sector.

    The JazzCash Business app becomes the command center for these merchants, providing visibility on business performance and automating day-to-day activities. Users can receive payments through QR, reconcile transactions, disburse salaries and make payments for stock procurement.

    They can also generate a QR code in real-time and send customizable digital invoices to customers.  Going forward, more features will be added to this app, including the option to request a business loan, playing an essential role in driving economic growth.

    According to Erwan Gelebart, CEO, JazzCash: “JazzCash aims to cultivate a cashless economy and is committed to introducing innovative products and services that offer faster, more transparent, and secure payment solutions.

    “We identified a need for a one-stop digital solution in the SME sector, which still lacks the tools and resources to adopt digital transformation, and created this business app to manage all their financial requirements. By taking advantage of secure, real-time payments, these businesses will witness higher efficiencies and benefit from a thriving digital ecosystem.”

    Business owners can self-onboard from anywhere conveniently by registering themselves on the Business App in a few simple steps by providing basic personal and business information, uploading a copy of their CNIC and photograph.

  • Jazz injects Rs14.6bn as 4G network investment

    Jazz injects Rs14.6bn as 4G network investment

    ISLAMABAD: Jazz, Pakistan’s number one 4G operator and the largest internet and broadband service provider, has further strengthened its market leadership and continues to drive the digital ecosystem in Pakistan, according to a statement issued on Thursday.

    During the first quarter of 2021, Jazz’s overall subscriber base grew by 11.7% year-over-year (YoY) reaching 69.2 million, 4G customer base grew by 62.3 percent YoY reaching 28.7 million, whereas the overall data users grew by 17.1 percent YoY reaching 47.3 million. 

    During the first quarter of 2021, Jazz invested PKR 14.6 billion, as 4G network investment continued to be the principal focus with population coverage reaching 61 percent during the quarter. Data usage per user also grew considerably to reach 4.5 GB per user.

    Aamir Ibrahim, CEO of Jazz, said, “Jazz has been focused on ensuring a robust and expansive 4G network, especially as more and more countrymen started relying on the Internet as an essential communication, productivity and entertainment tool during the pandemic.

    “We are very pleased to see the rise in adoption of digital tools in all aspects of life – especially in fintech, in which the growth of JazzCash as Pakistan’s leading mobile wallet and digital payments provider is very impressive.

    “Given the ever-growing needs and expectations of our customers, Jazz remains firm in its commitment to connect the underserved with fast and reliable 4G and to bank the unbanked through JazzCash.”

    The country’s leading fintech, JazzCash, experienced another strong quarter as its user base saw double-digit growth, finishing the quarter with 14 million monthly active mobile wallets. Overall, JazzCash processed transactions amounting to PKR 701 billion during the reporting period. Jazz World, the self-care app, saw strong levels of customer adoption with monthly active user base reaching 8.5 million. The company’s content services also enjoyed further growth with the monthly active user base reaching 2.2 million.

  • Finance minister directs to expedite sales process of available spectrum bands

    Finance minister directs to expedite sales process of available spectrum bands

    ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin on Thursday directed to expedite the sale process for the available spectrum. He stressed to provide a level playing field so that all operators must have a fair and equal chance in the process.

    He urged all the key stakeholders to ensure maximum participation across the board for successful completion of the sale transaction, he added.

    He said this while presiding over a meeting of the Advisory Committee for the release of Next Generation Mobile Services (NGMS) Spectrum at the Finance Division.

    Federal Minister for Science and Technology Senator Shibli Faraz, Federal Minister for IT and Telecommunication Syed Amin ul Haque, Adviser to the PM on Commerce Abdul Razak Dawood, Secretary Finance Division, Secretary IT & Telecommunication, Secretary Law & Justice Division, Chairman PTA, Executive Director Frequency Allocation Board (FAB) and other senior officers participated in the meeting.

    The Chairman PTA briefed the Advisory Committee about the arrangements underway for the sale of available Spectrum of Next Generation Mobile Services in the country.

    A detailed presentation was made about the specifications of available spectrum bands and methodology for sale in line with international best practices. The newly hired consultants also gave a detailed input and answered the technical queries by the members of the Committee.

    Speaking on the occasion, the Federal Minister for Science and Technology Shibli Faraz said that international benchmarks must be followed to ensure the whole process of sale is competitive and based on principles of transparency and equity.

    Adviser to the Prime Minister on Commerce suggested an in-depth analysis to gauge demand for Spectrum and devise a strategy for its pricing and packaging accordingly. The Federal Minister for IT and Telecommunication stated that the sale of NGMS is of key importance for strengthening and expanding communication / IT Services across the country. After due deliberations, the Advisory Committee approved the recommendations for the sale of NGMS during the meeting.  

  • PTA warns against fake calls for money transfer

    PTA warns against fake calls for money transfer

    ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) on Sunday warned general public for not sharing their personal details on hoax or fake calls because response to those calls may result in loss of money.

    In a press release, the PTA cautioned the public to be aware of hoax, falsified and unsolicited calls and messages asking for personal details or money transfer.

    PTA or other organizations such as banks will never call and ask for personal information, like ATM pin, code, OTP and account details.

    People are advised to do not share their personal information with an unknown caller/SMS sender and ignore calls claiming to be from PTA or other organizations asking to update or verify details i.e mother name, account balance, CNIC No etc.

    Besides contacting their respective telecom service operator, consumers may also register their complaints by dialing 0800-55055 or at https://complaint.pta.gov.pk/RegisterComplaint.aspx . Appropriate action would be taken against the persons involved in this fraudulent activity.

  • Country spends Rs248bn on mobile phones import

    Country spends Rs248bn on mobile phones import

    ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has imported mobile phones worth Rs248 billion during first nine months (July – March) of 2020/2021 owing to rise in demand of devices for digital financial system.

    According to data released by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Saturday, the country imported mobile phones worth 248 billion during July – March 2020/2021 as compared with 153 billion in the corresponding period of the last fiscal year, showing an increase of 62 percent.

    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 US dollar increased by 56.74 percent to $1.53 billion during July – March 2020/2021 as compared with $980 million 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.

  • Abolishing withholding tax, reducing sales tax rate on telecom services recommended

    Abolishing withholding tax, reducing sales tax rate on telecom services recommended

    KARACHI: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has been urged to abolish withholding tax rate at 12 percent on telecom services to promote the accessibility of internet/data services to the low-income group.

    Similarly, Federal Excise Duty (FED) is charged at 17 percent on telecom services which is on higher side as compared to other sectors, and general rate.

    Provincial authorities levy a much lower rate of sales tax on other services. Since sales tax is a consumption tax (on usage), the decrease in sales tax rate will result in increased usage of telecom services and consequently drive tax collection upwards.

    There should be single sales tax rate across all jurisdiction to remove the anomalies and undue hardships being faced by telecom sector in terms of compliances in different jurisdictions, thus, to provide ease of doing business.

    These recommendations have been sent by Overseas Investors Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OICCI) to the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) for the budget 2021/2022.

    The OICCI further recommended that since the insertion of 9th Schedule in Sales Tax Act, 1990 effective 1st July 2014, the matter is in litigation. This tax should be abolished, ab initio, by accepting the decision of Lahore High Court as the resolution of the matter will result in additional upside on the corporate tax side for the exchequer and eliminate the undue litigations.

    On the issue of advance tax on Auction/ Renewal of telecom licenses at 10 percent under section 236A of Income Tax Ordinance, 2001, the OICCI recommended that this tax should be abolished being irrational and burdensome on CMOs keeping in view the financial/ tax position.

    The chamber said that as large utility providers, Cellular Mobile Operators’ (CMO) are subject to deduction/collection of withholding of income tax on large number of transactions, which increases the cost and complexity of tax compliance and an additional administrative burden for the telecom sector and negatively impacts the overall business environment.

    It is recommended:

    i. Exemption should be given to the telecom sector from deduction or collection of all types of withholding taxes, like banking and oil sector. There will be no loss of revenue to the exchequer as the tax collection mechanism will be simplified in terms of real time payment of advance tax Under Section 147 on quarterly basis.

    Furthermore, this measure will also make the tax claims and its verification mechanism more transparent with minimum operational hassles as maintaining the thousands of records especially for advance tax on utility bills and imports is itself a very cumbersome procedure.

    ii. Amendments need to be made in the section 147 for the calculation of tax liability. Currently the calculation of tax liability is based on the last assessed position and turnover of the year. The assessed position should not be used as a basis of calculation of tax liability until and unless an independent forum (i.e. At least Tribunal) has also confirmed the assessed position.

    The OICCI recommended to reduce the custom duty rates for batteries (8507.6000) to 5 percent and to abolish additional custom duty and Regulatory duty, as these batteries are used with solar and power systems and are core asset for telecom infrastructure services provider. Reduction in duties will further encourage alternate energy resources for Telecom sector e.g. Solar etc.

    On the issue of custom duty and Regulatory duty on import of telecom equipment, it is recommended to restore SRO 575, reduce Custom duty to 5 percent and abolish the Additional Custom duty and Regulatory duty as the core assets needs to be imported for provisioning of telecom services.

    The OICCI demanded exemption from advance tax on electricity for Telecom Tower Infrastructure Companies. The chamber said that currently taxpayers can obtain exemption certificate for non-deduction of tax on electricity bills under section 235(3) of ITO 2001 if their income is exempt under the law or by discharging their advance tax liability for the year. Such exemption is not available to telecom service providers as their tax liability is minimum under section 153(3) of the ITO, 2001.

    Enabling provision may be inserted in section 235 of the ITO, 2001 to empower the Commissioner to issue exemption certificate to Service Providers under minimum tax regime for non-deduction of advance tax on electricity bills.

  • Ufone awarded contract worth Rs2.07 billion for providing mobile broadband services

    Ufone awarded contract worth Rs2.07 billion for providing mobile broadband services

    ISLAMABAD: The Universal Service Fund (USF) on Friday awarded a contract amounting Rs2.07 billion to Ufone for providing high speed mobile broadband services in Kech district of Balochistan province.

    Federal Minister for Information Technology (IT) and Telecommunication, Syed Amin Ul Haque and Federal Minister for Defence Production, Zubaida Jalal witnessed the contract signing ceremony held at the USF office.

    The contract was signed by Haaris Mahmood Chaudhary, CEO, USF with Nadeem Khan, Acting CEO & Group Chief Financial Officer, Ufone. Federal Secretary for IT and Telecommunication, Shoaib Ahmad Siddiqui and Chairman PTA, Maj. Gen (R) Amir Azeem Bajwa were also present at the ceremony.

    Sector Commander South, Brigadier Atif Bin Saeed and senior government officials from Turbat virtually attended the ceremony. Chief Guest of the ceremony, Federal Minister for IT and Telecommunication, Syed Amin Ul Haque said: “In light of the Prime Minister’s vision of Digital Pakistan, the Ministry of IT and Telecommunication through USF has awarded yet another project for the socio-economic betterment of the people of Balochistan.

    “Through the contract being awarded today, residents of Kech district will reap the benefits of High Speed Internet in a span of 12-18 months. It is our priority to ensure that Balochistan remains at the forefront of technology development as we continue to work towards building a robust Digital Pakistan. The digital connectivity will open unprecedented new possibilities for the marginalized communities of Kech district; enhancing their ability to work and transact online and engage in the digital economy.

    “I would pay my special gratitude to the Federal Minister of Defense Production, Ms. Zubaida Jalal who has played a significant role in highlighting the region for digital transformation and emphasizing on the importance of digital inclusion for the growth and prosperity of the youth.”

    The Ministry of IT and Telecommunication through USF has contracted various development projects worth approximately Rs 7 billion to provide High Speed Mobile Broadband services in districts of Chagai, Noshki, Bolan, Mastung, Panjgur, Gwadar, Ziarat, Jaffarabad and Pishin.

    These projects are expected to be completed within 12 to 18 months from the date of commencement.

    The Federal Minister for IT also said: “Today, in this regard, it is pertinent to highlight the progress of National Highways program. The Ministry of IT and Telecommunication through USF has initiated development projects worth approximately Rs1.8 billion to provide High Speed Mobile Broadband services to commuters on all National Highways in Balochistan, thereby covering a road segment of 1,780 km. NH 10 and NH 25 is 75  percent completed whereas NH 50 and NH 70 are 50 percent completed.

    Likewise, NH 25 and NH 65 are 25 percent completed. All National Highway projects will be completed within the next 6 to 9 months.”

    In Balochistan, the youth are benefiting from DG Skills and Virtual University’s education programs. So far, 25,000 youngsters have completed free licensing courses amongst others through DG Skills.

    Similarly, through Virtual University programs, offline centers have been established in 9 districts whereby thousands of students can access educational courses without any internet service.

    Four new software technology parks are being established in Quetta, Khuzdar, Turbat and Gwadar in Balochistan where in lieu of rent, the government will give a 25 % subsidy and other facilities.

    Federal Minister for IT shared that 3,500 students from Balochistan will be provided a 6 month paid internship with a monthly stipend of PKR 20,000. Other than this, new national incubation center campuses will be opened.

    With the help of Ignite, new projects for the youth in research and development will be initiated as well. Syed Amin Ul Haque stated that the people of Balochistan should not be disappointed as we are working very hard for the development of Balochistan.

    The Prime Minister is very clear in his vision that there is no national progress without progress in Balochistan. This is the reason whereby upon my instructions, Federal Secretary for IT and Telecommunication, Shoaib Ahmad Siddiqui and all attached departments working under our ministry undertook a tour to Quetta and apprised the Government of Balochistan regarding its development projects.

    While addressing the ceremony, Federal Minister for Defence Production, Zubaida Jalal thanked the Federal Minister for IT and Telecommunication, Syed Amin Ul Haque and said that the Ministry of IT’s development projects for the people of Balochistan are in line with the true spirit of Digital Pakistan and will play an important role in alleviating the marginalization of Balochistan and supporting the province to come at par with the developed world.

    She further said that I am sure that the development projects in Kech district will be completed timely and I assure you that the youth from these areas will be as capable in terms of skills, capabilities and digital proficiency as youngsters from urban cities.

    Sharing his thoughts at the ceremony, CEO USF, Haaris Mahmood Chaudhary said, “This project will benefit an unserved population of 0.34 Million, thereby covering an unserved area of 23,964 sq. km. of Kech district. Upon the directive of the Federal Minister for IT and Telecommunication, our focus on providing access and connectivity to the remote and far-flung areas of the country remains distinguished. In the last two years, USF has contracts projects worth over Rs21 billion.

    “This project has been awarded to Ufone through a through an efficient and transparent competitive bidding process. We strive to empower the people of Balochistan and bring ease into their lives through these projects.”

    Sharing his views at the ceremony, Group CFO and Acting CEO PTCL & Ufone, Nadeem Khan, said, “Ufone is dedicated to the cause of a Digital Pakistan. Our telecommunications projects in Balochistan are an attempt to make lives easier for the millions that are residing in the province.

    Through this project in the Kech district of Balochistan, we aim to provide telecom services to 306 muazas of the area. This dream would have never reached fruition without the support of USF, which has been devoted to the cause of providing connectivity in far-flung areas of Pakistan.”

    Senior officials of the IT Ministry, USF and Ufone were also present at the ceremony.

  • 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.