Djuice Football World Cup Offer

Now that cricket is over, it is time for telecom companies to work on their soccer offers. Check out this new one from Djuice.
If you are crazy for football then Djuice is the place to be!As the world gears up to witness the best of the world clash in the greatest football event of the year, Football World Cup 2010 djuice has brought all your football needs to one place. Log onto www.djuicefootballpitch.com and find out what djuice has to offer. Here’s a sneak peak:



Armed with Djuice Football Alerts, heat up your football fever with the latest scores as they happen or subscribe to updates either for tournament or knock out rounds.

Not only that, Djuice is hosting a fantasy football game on its website where you create your dream football team whose real performance in the World Cup could WIN you a return ticket to anywhere in the world, a Nintendo Wii or an official football kit.

If this isn’t enough, Djuice is also hosting a daily quiz where you would have to guess the winner of each game of the World Cup. Whoever has the most points will win a Qatar Airways trip to anywhere in the world!

The portal contains the following information regarding the World Cup 2010:

Fixtures / Schedule
Live Match Updates
News & Analysis
Gallery
Team & Player Rankings
Details of all djuice football services:
Djuice Football Fantasy League
Djuice SMS Alerts
Djuice Quiz Competition

Mobilink Holds Fundraiser to Support Social Initiatives

Bilal Munir Sheikh, Vice President Marketing Mobilink standing next to Mobilink Brand Ambassador Wasim Akram amongst employees families at the Mobilink Foundation Fundraising Carnival organized at the Gun Club Islamabad

Mobilink, a part of Orascom Telecom Holding organized the Mobilink Foundation Fundraising Carnival.

The Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) team created a festive environment for Mobilink employees and their families, at The Gun Club in Islamabad. All proceeds from the event will be used for CSR activities and social initiatives of the Mobilink Foundation.

Mobilink Brand-Ambassador and legendary cricketer Wasim Akram was also present at the carnival, where the participants were delighted at the opportunity to get autographs from him and have their family’s picture taken with the icon.

There were several entertaining activities for everyone, including; games, food stalls, autographed giveaways by celebrities and a kids-corner. A grand lucky-draw was also held to present valuable prizes including Blackberry “Storm” devices, hi-tech cell phones and much more.

The Director Public Relations and CSR at Mobilink, Omar Manzur said, “The Mobilink Foundation is a grant-giving organization, extensively engaged in social development initiatives and making a difference in the lives of the underprivileged across the country. The money raised from this fundraiser will support various projects in education, health and environment. He expressed his gratitude to the participants, donors, volunteers and stakeholders including Gun Club Islamabad for their extensive support to make the event a success.”

Mobilink Foundation’s CSR engagements go beyond philanthropy and donations by promoting employee volunteerism. The team of nationwide Torchbearers contributes by payroll and over 250 volunteer hours for community service every month. Since January 2010, Mobilink volunteers have positively affected over 3600 individuals.

Mobilink customers are welcomed to take part in this noble cause by depositing financial contributions in the Mobilink Foundation account or by simply calling up the helpline and donating reward points earned with every swipe of their indigo Rewards Card. For further details, please visit www.mobilinkfoundation.org

PTCL Corporate Cricket Challenge 2010 Concluded

The 1st PTCL corporate cricket challenge 2010 concluded successfully with PTCL Greens as winner.

The event was organized by PTCL procurement department. Among participants include the teams of PTCL Greens, PTCL Blues, National Engineers, IMEX International, Getronics, Huawei, Cisco and Inboc Technologies. The final was held between PTCL Greens and IMEX International, in which after a nail biting match, PTCL Greens won the title by 8 runs.

Asfaq Q Ahmed was named man of the match as a result of his tremendous performance.

Mr. Mohammad Nehmatullah Toor CFO PTCL was the chief guest at the occasion. Who while congratulating the winning team also appreciated the organizers efforts and encouraged them to organize such healthy activities in future as well.

He further added “We hope that the spirit of game is kept alive always and cricket continues to grow. All the teams that have participated in the tournament are winners in true sense. This tournament has brought forth many cricketing talents and PTCL’s initiatives like these have been continuously making great contributions in the field of sports”.

Wateen Likely to Fire 40 Percent Managers [Updated]

A list of senior managers, managers and area managers has been prepared for lay-off at Wateen Telecom, told us highly reliable source in the company.

Reportedly, termination letters were to be served last Friday, however for some reasons it got delayed and now the judgment day is destined this week, by Friday at most, according to the source.

When we spoke with a Wateen official, who wanted to remain unnamed said that this news is somewhat correct. He said, “no salary yet, fuel cards blocked since months, bonus not yet transferred, we are in big problem”

Another source in the company gave us similar confirmation.

Reportedly lay-off count is around 120-150, including senior managers, managers and some area managers.

On other hands, General Manager HR at Wateen has denied any such plans, he said there is absolutely no chance for said lay offs.

It merits mentioning here that Wateen had fired some 550 employees in August 2009 before it went public in April 2010.

Wateen Telecom’s share is being traded at Rs. 6.50 today at Karachi Stock Exchange, well below the par value.

Update: We have reports, from sources inside the company, that around 80 employees were served termination letters in the evening today.

Telenor to Plant 1500 Trees in Islamabad

Marking the World Environment Day 2010, Telenor Pakistan employees planted Himalayan Pine trees in collaboration with The Capital Development Authority (CDA) here at Islamabad.

The trees were planted at the Margallah National Forest, Loidandi near Bari Imam.

Telenor Pakistan will ensure the post-cultivation maintenance of the plants until their growth into trees. The organization will cultivate at least 1500 more trees in the upcoming monsoon season.

Blackberry Services Yet to be Fully Restored

Blackberry services in Pakistan are yet to be fully restored, after they were banned in the country on May 20th, 2010 due to blasphemous content on Facebook.

Internet access to Facebook was blocked based on Lahore High Court’s decision. However, later on May 31, 2010 LHC lifted the ban, but Blackberry services are still undergoing issues due to in-availability of filter at RIM.

Sources told us that PTA is in contact with RIM to arrange the filter for blasphemous content.

Users can access blackberry email services however browsing isn’t possible yet. Blackberry users in Pakistan are currently using wap to access internet websites.

Spokespersons of cellular companies confirmed us that they are in-line with PTA over the issue. They said efforts are being made to restore all services except those URLs that contain blasphemous content. However, no deadline was mentioned by spokespersons.

wi-tribe Gives Away Laptops to its Customers

wi-tribe Pakistan celebrated with all the winners of their recent “Win big with wi-tribe” campaign, where participants received laptops, after being selected through a lucky draw.

The exclusive campaign, which ended on the 15thof May, engaged Pakistani broadband customers for 30 days; empowering them with wi-tribe’s reliable broadband internet solution and an opportunity to win laptops.

The campaign, that started on the 15thof April, covered all four of wi-tribe’s cities of operation; Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad and Rawalpindi. The campaign’s theme revolved around three different facets; connect, deposit or activate.

“This campaign has not only shown the demand for broadband internet in Pakistan, it has also proven the customers’ trust in our brand. As anticipated, the campaign drew response from people throughout our areas of operation,” said wi-tribe Pakistan’s Director of Marketing, Ali Fahd.

“wi-tribe, being the most reliable broadband internet service, always brings innovative and unconventional ways to empower its valued customers. We will continue to offer our customers with other rewarding and exciting opportunities.” He added.

This is what a winner had to say about “Win big with wi-tribe” Campaign:

“I’m so excited that wi-tribers got a chance to win such a fabulous gift. I always wanted to have a laptop of my own and wi-tribe made my dream come true. Now I can enjoy my really fast internet connection from wi-tribe on my brand new laptop. Keep rocking wi-tribe!”, Muhammad Adnan Mugal from Karachi

Mobile Phones: Waste of Time and Money or a Need?

BBC Urdu has prepared a special report on use of cell phones in Pakistan. It discusses how cell phones penetrated into local market, and why people buy expensive cell phones while basic telephony is possible with very inexpensive handsets.

It also discusses that voice and SMS packages are wastage of time, as necessary communication can be concluded with-in minutes – then why do people talk for hours with no particular agenda in hands?

Nokia Announces Dual SIM, Low End Phones

Nokia today announced 4 new models fitting in its C series, aimed at audience in developing countries. Two of these phones will support dual SIMs while other two are going to be good for multimedia – but at good price.

Nokia C2

Nokia C2 will cost around Rs. 4,000. It is a dual-SIM phone and interestingly, the second SIM card is easily accessible and hot-swappable.

The battery is estimated to last 16 days on standby and 4 hours of talk time. The Nokia C2 also features VGA camera, GPRS Internet connectivity, Bluetooth and FM radio with broadcast recording. There’s also a microSD card (up to 32GB, but those cost more than the phone itself), 3.5mm audio jack plus an MP3 player.

Nokia C1-00

The other dual-SIM phone is the Nokia C1-00, which will cost around Rs. 3,200. It doesn’t have two active cards – just one, but there’s a quick shortcut to switch between the two.

The phone has a smashing standby of 48 days. It features an FM radio, 3.5mm audio jack and a flashlight.

Nokia C1-00 is expected to hit the stores in the third quarter 2010.

Nokia C1-01 and C1-02

The Nokia C1-01 and Nokia C1-02 only have a single SIM card slot, but offer GPRS, Bluetooth, microSD card slot (up to 32GB), 3.5mm audio jack, FM radio and MP3 player.

The Nokia C1-01 features a VGA camera, which the Nokia C1-02 lacks.


Nokia C2

Nokia C1-00

Court Orders PTA to Ensure Veraciousness of YouTube’s Videos

Sindh High Court has ordered the Pakistan Telecom Authority to take necessary measures to delete all obscene content on YouTube and to ensure that no obscene material is uploaded on YouTube.

Court further said that failure to implement these orders will directly hold Chairman PTA responsible for this.

The order was issued by a Division Bench of the High Court of Sindh comprising Justice Amir Hani Muslim and Justice Syed Zakir Hussain on a constitution petition filed by Sikander Shah who prayed the court to order the relevant police officials to register a FIR for necessary police action and investigation of an illegal act, against respondent Faheem Mughal for uploading altered obscene photographs of his daughter on YouTube.

According to petitioner, who is a resident of Mirpur Khas, respondent Fahim who was a class fellow of her daughter took her photographs from his daughter’s camera phone and also managed to acquire some of her other photographs, altered and uploaded them on YouTube leaving them for viewing for millions of users of the website worldwide.

He pleads the court that Fahim has committed a criminal act that has brought undeserved disgrace and shame to his daughter, him and his family and thus should be adequately punished as per the law.

The court also ordered the Town Police Officer of Mirpur Khas to register the FIR against Fahim Mughal and to have the case investigated by a police officer no lower than the level of a DSP. The Court also ordered respondent Fahim Mughal to deposit a personal surety bond in the sum of Rs 100,000.

It merits mentioning here that there are established businesses based on such leaked pictures and videos or even altered ones. These websites/individuals invade pictures of girls from their camera phones, facebook, orkut, Flickr, Photobucket profiles and then make them available to million of internet users to earn money. In some other cases individuals do such activities just for fun.

Pakistani Politics Hits Twitter

Tendency of following the trend is what we are witnessing these days, as politicians are embracing Twitter, a micro-blogging network.

Good thing is that this way Politicians are in access of a common person, which is otherwise impossible to think about. But bad thing is that Twitter is taken as a vehicle for propaganda than a means of sustained and meaningful engagement with voters or the general public.

We have seen Salman Taseer pulling legs of Punjab Government on Twitter as well, which many think is part of his job assigned by Federal Government. We could have expected the same in return but luckily Rana Sana Ullah isn’t on Twitter yet. Some fear that Rana Sb would be learning Twitter to come out of den, very soon.





Shabaz Sharif hasn’t teased the Governor through Tweets, as of now, but we don’t know about the future as political temperature may rise in the vicinity.



Other politicians include Imran Khan and Mushaid Hussain Syed, who are going pretty smooth with their tweets. Lately, Mushaid Hussain has started interacting with his followers, in nice manner – good approach.

Marvi Memon has been on Twitter for long with her activism from Karachi to Hunza. She is following pretty much number of people and interacts with them as well.

Fatima Bhutto is on Twitter with 8,500 followers, highest in local race.

The renowned Rehman Malik tweets in his traditional way. His tweets actually sound exactly like his voice and accent as he speaks on TV. A pretty similar charter to what we are familiar with.



Not to forget that politicians are facing barriers while embarrassing technology – that’s okay as far as they are tying. But often they are given tough time when they are countered by tech gurus.





By the way, Pervez Musharraf, the veteran social media personality is also on Twitter.

Here is a selected list of Pakistani Politicians on Twitter with link to their profiles

•@SalmaanTaseer (Salman Taseer)
•@CMShahbaz (Shabaz Sharif)
•@ImranKhanPTI (Imran Khan)
•@PMPakistan (Pervez Musharraf)
•@SenRehmanMalik (Rehman Malik)
•@Kashmala_Tariq (Kashmala Tariq)
•@Mushahid (Mushaid Hussain Syed)
•@Fbuttho (Fatima Bhutto)
•@marvi_memon (Marvi Memon)

If you come across any other politician who is on Twitter, drop their link in comments

MNP Users Annoyed of Spam from Previous Networks

Mobile Number Portability or MNP users of all networks have been complaining, since long, that they keep getting promotional messages or what they call SPAM from their current networks and the previous ones.

This is apparently due to the fact that cellular companies don’t withdraw subscribers’ data from their records after a user ports out of their network. Hence, whenever they queue a promotional SMS, it is sent to all subscribers, even to those who are now part of other mobile networks.

Situation worsens particularly when a user opts for MNP service to jump to more than 2 or say all mobile networks. He ends up getting promotional messages of all the previous networks plus his current network.

Even more confusing state is achieved, when SMS sender numbers of more than two mobile companies match, for instance, if Ufone is using 301 for a particular service and messages are sent from 301 – while on other hands Telenor is using same number (301) for a service and messages to Telenor subscribers are sent from 301, in this situation, MNP users barely distinguish the source network of the message.

As we have more than 3 million MNP users in the country, by not sending SMS to other network subscribers, mobile companies can save huge resources. (Only if cellar companies don’t do this intentionally, to market their new products and services to those who have ported out)

PTA may need to intervene in this by making it essential to withdraw all details of those users who have ported out of any mobile network – and not to engage ported out customers in any promotional activities.