TelecomPlus: What expertise did you bring to PTCL?
Naveed Saeed: PTCL would be a better judge of my contribution to the Company.
Let me talk about my involvement with telecom in Pakistan and abroad prior to
joining PTCL. The mobile telephony era came to Pakistan in the early 1990s and I
have been engaged with the technology since then. In 1994, I started working with
Paktel as a Sales Executive and moved on to operations and management over the
years, which also cover my work with Instaphone. Then I joined Mobilink, looking
after the Central & Northern regions and later Southern region also, which gave me
the opportunity to manage its entire operation from one vantage point. I managed
marketing and branding in Mobilink, which contributed immensely to my learning in
this field. Later I joined a satellite communication project with Thuraya. The
technology was introduced for the first time in the world for handheld devices using
Geo Stationery satellites. It was a successful project. When Warid was launched in
Pakistan, I joined the company and managed its sales & marketing, services,
product design, promotions, rollout of services, etc. As Head of Commercial, I was
part of the launch of Warid’s Bangladesh operations, which came with a technology
upgradeable to 3G. I moved on to Africa with Warid to lead the green-field
operations. Thus, from early 1990s to date, I have been fully involved with the
telecom business. Once you are in the corridors of telecom, you get exposed to
new technologies and changing marketing dynamics. It is not just commercial
learning but also business and technology learning, which adds value to your
persona as well.
How does all that fit with your academic qualification?
I hold a Masters in Economics from Government College Lahore. I was there for six
years and later also held the executive membership of Old Ravian Union for two
terms. I believe that at the end of the day, every business is about economics. It
requires micro-economic inputs, like how to reduce expenditure without reducing
income, how to enhance income, and how to maximize profit. I am a sales person
and a marketer who is driven by economics. That said, I have been a tech-savvy
guy since boyhood. Had I not been an economist, I would have been an engineer.
This passion comes handy if you are in a business which is driven by technology.
The technology has to be correct, functional, adaptive, progressive and efficiently
priced. If you don’t understand technology, it is quite difficult to make the right
economic decisions
What is your vision of a telecom operator?
All operators want to be premium quality service providers with innovative
technology, leading from the front, creating value for their employees and
shareholders and adding prosperity to the economy. But the underlying fact is that
it’s a business. All operators have to make money because they have to go back to
the shareholders to justify expenditures. PTCL is one of the most progressive data
connectivity providers of the world. Just look at our extensive optic fiber network
providing corporate solutions, wholesale solutions and consumer solutions that are
inclusive of voice and data. Our wholesale corporate services are here and getting
better, keeping abreast of technology all the time. However, not much was done on
the consumer front. We thus launched wireless and wire-line data connectivity for
the residential segment of the society. We have been able to give up to 100 Mbps
of bandwidth on FTTH [Fiber to the home]. We were the first in the world to launch
VDSL technology on copper network. Then there is IPTV and videophone services
connected to a regular DSL modem, which again is a first in the world. We were
recently declared the ‘Best South Asian Telecom Operator 2011’ by SAMENA. It
covers a large area including South Asia, part of the Middle East, and North Africa.
On the wireless side, we went from CDMA 1X2000 to EVDO Rev A for data connect
with the EVO dongle. Then we upgraded to the Rev B technology. This technology,
on a commercial dongle, had not even been developed anywhere in the world. So
we went to manufacturers to develop a dongle for it to support the claimed speeds.
We have 9.3 Mbps maximum speed and we get 5 to 6 Mbps on a regular basis.
This is a greater average than what I have experienced in developed countries on
3G networks. It is amazing to get such speeds wirelessly here in Pakistan. So
when we say our vision is to be the leading data connect solution provider to the
corporate sector, the institutions and the residential customers, it is not just a
slogan. We are already there. Our concentration is not on voice alone; it is on data
connectivity. For a consumer using broadband solutions at home, there is lot of
integration and a lot of expansion required in the core, access, backhaul and the
international bandwidth at gateways and PTCL is continuously investing in that
space.
How far can you go with VDSL on copper?
VDSL on copper is a last mile solution. After a certain distance, the losses are so
much on copper that you can’t sustain the speed you begin with. The VDSL is
effective within one to two kilometers. Within this limit, we can give the rated speed
in the last mile connectivity. But we have fiber as backhaul to feed the last mile
VDSL copper network. We have an extensive copper network and by strengthening
and rehabilitating copper with fiber, we can give good speeds on our existing
copper network. I watch IPTV on my copper network and also have the 10Mbps
connection and I am very happy with its performance. However, very data hungry
applications are just round the bend. The time is not far away when cable
operators will be offering HDTV and Blue-Ray quality movies to customers on FTTH
connections.
How would you compete when 3G will take broadband to almost every part
of the country?
We cover both areas: wire-line broadband and wireless broadband. Our wire-line
footprint today covers such remote areas where cell phone has not reached
because it is not a viable business case there. Then we have V-phone coverage
deployed all across the country and it has a very large footprint, at least at par with
GSM coverage if not larger. We are in 1,100 cities today and if we include the small
towns and villages that are covered, the number is much larger. At some places in
Balochistan, our V-phone service is the only available communication facility. It has,
by default, 1X Internet dialup capability giving speeds of up to 150Kbps that fulfill
most of your Internet needs. We have energized our EVDO services in over 200
cities giving speeds at par with 3G. I don’t think any GSM operator will launch 3G
services in 200 cities in the first go at least. So PTCL has a head start. We have
wire-line and wireless, and we can be selective. In areas where we have difficulty in
operating and maintaing wire-line services, we would use our wireless service. We
also have handsets for EVDO, which are GSM and 3G compatible. You can use
this service for data as well as for cell telephony with built-in 3G.
We have a smart platform and for us, opportunities are endless. First, we brought
CDMA 1X. Then we introduced Rev-A with 3G EVDO service over a dongle, which
was followed by 3G EVDO Rev-B dongles. Then we launched 3G EVO Cloud
Mobile Wi-Fi Hotspot. Our latest offering is the 3G EVO Android Tab with built-in
EVDO service on a 7-inch screen. It has wireless, Wi-Fi, GSM, EVDO etc. And this
is not the last product. There are a lot more in the pipeline. We can give you
remotely managed and monitored EVDO enabled wireless cameras, tracking
solutions, point of sales solutions, telemetery services, location based services – it’
s endless. Whatever the applications you want to develop, we have the platform to
deliver. We can offer smart power meter solutions to electricity companies. They
can remotely monitor and manage consumption in real time and pinpoint power
theft. It would also enable the power companies to launch pre-paid packages. You
can buy a Rs.1000 card and use electricity as long there is balance in the card. If
you want to use more, you can recharge the card. It minimizes the risk factor for the
company and is also an instrument for consumers to control consumption just like
pre-paid cell phone packages.
Pakistan Railways is going to adopt a Public-Private Partnership model. There are
companies which are setting up their own business trains. We are working with
them to provide all the telecommunication facilities, including wireless broadband,
so that the cabin becomes a business center on the go. You can browse the Web,
send and receive emails, hold videoconferences and what not.
What future do you see for the land-line?
The future is bright. Data is going to be the driver. We would be very innovative in
pricing and packaging. The penetration level of landline is very low in Pakistan
compared to other countries where the land-line penetration is 60 percent or more.
So the scope is tremendous. By land-line I don’t just mean copper, it also includes
fiber.
Like to add anything?
According to new research, broadband has become a greater tool of a nation’s
economic growth than agriculture and several other key economic sectors [see
charts]. Regions, where broadband penetration has been greater, have
progressed twice as much compared to regions with no or little broadband. PTCL
has a responsibility to develop Pakistan’s technology and data network and
contribute towards establishing the echo system conducive for our country’s
economic growth and social uplift. We are moving in that direction. Our data
networks will provide you eCommerce, eHealth, eEducation, eBanking,
eGovernance, eMaintenance, eEntertainment etc. Broadband is a driver for the
national GDP. It’s happening already in Pakistan. The scope is going to be wider
and the pace quicker and PTCL is fully primed to facilitate that.
|
|
