ITCN Asia 2014: Pakistan’s 3G transition slow but gradual
The three-day 14th ITCN Asia 2014 IT and Telecom exhibition concluded yesterday at the Karachi Expo Centre, with the event showcasing Pakistan’s steps towards adopting the latest mobile broadband technology.
Organised by the Ecommerce Gateway Pakistan, the exhibition provided a platform for various telecom and industry-related companies to display products and their technologies.
Prominent companies including Zong, Mobilink, Wateen and Wi-Tribe displayed their products with the most significant aspect being the cohesion with 3G services offered.
The country saw the 3G and 4G spectrum auction take place in April this year, raising huge amounts of foreign exchange amid hope that the latest mobile broadband technology will pave the way for future progress — in the economic, social and health sectors.
Four months after the auction, Zong Regional Projects Manager Bilal Ahmed was adamant that the technology will transition its way into more practical usage for consumers. “We have covered around 95% of Karachi with our 3G services and our plan is to introduce 4G within the next two months,” Ahmed told The Express Tribune.
“The full social benefits from these services will only be realised in a year as the industry is still in a transitional phase and will continue to prove its usability to the masses.”
Innovative, practical mobile apps for Pakistan
The most intriguing aspect of the exhibition was application developers coming up with exuberant ideas that could best maximise the usage of 3G in ways other than internet surfing, browsing and messaging – traits that consume most of the current data usage through smartphones in Pakistan.
An application helpful to car owners in Pakistan, My Smart Remote, is being developed by a company in Peshawar that could potentially prevent theft and snatching through remote access to the vehicle through a smartphone.
Another developing agency, Convex Interactive, came up with the idea of an anti-counterfeiting app that can be used by customers to verify a product, for example medicine and branded appliances.
“We have witnessed a surge of clients after the arrival of 3G in Pakistan,” said Omer Iqbal, business manager at Commtel Digital – a company providing IT solutions.
“If the shift to 3G is as quick and smooth as telecom companies predicted, we can expect exponential growth in application development, as suggested by trends in developed countries that have been exposed to these services.”
While it is difficult to predict when Pakistan will be fully able to utilise the true potential of 3G/4G services, there is an abundance of developers that, with their ideas, can help justify this investment by telecom companies, which insist that it is a step forward for an economically stressed country like Pakistan.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 29th, 2014.
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Mr. Bilal Ahmed the Regional Manager Zong is leading the mobile Broadband users of 3/4G/LTE paerticularly the Apps developers which are in the highest demand. As you know this area of Apps. development is un-regulated in Pakistan in the world today where Privacy Control around developers access. Controversies are en-circling the arena particularly in China on Apple iPhone which denies Chinese report that location data are a security risk. Privacy Control around developers access to iPhone location & uploading their address book which caused controversy in the past. Apple denied any risk to national security to the Chinese. A study earlier this year by the US Federal Trade Commission found that a sample of 12 apps transmitted users' information around dietary and workout habits to 76 third parties. China Mobile/Zong is in process of spectrum auction in Thailand for 3/4G, with Pakistan being a show case to the world. Suggest we should develop a mechanism of regulating the Apps., with the capability to monitor the security, privacy, of the App., user, avoiding misuse of advertising, or other data gathering agencies making misuse of the data, hurting the privacy of the individual. Individual should be respected. Compliments on the LTE. Please give us the good news of launch.