PTCL, Chinese firm sign $500m deal

Society Pakistan & World Affairs
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This is truly spectacular news. :k:

http://www.dawn.com/2004/02/10/top8.htm

PTCL, Chinese firm sign $500m deal

The Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) on Monday launched here a wireless local loop project to provide new telephone connections in remote areas of the country. The PTCL has entered into a $500 million contract with a Chinese firm, Huawei Technologies, to implement the plan. The agreement between the two parties was signed at a ceremony held at the PTCL headquarters. Information Technology Minister Awais Ahmed Khan Leghari was also present on the occasion. Muhammad Sarwar, PTCL senior vice-president technical, represented the company while Mr Wang We Jen, CEO Huawei Technologies, signed the pact on behalf of his company. The wireless local loop is a code direct multiplier access based technology almost similar to a mobile cellular phones system. **An informed source told Dawn that the new system would provide telephone access to 127 cities in the areas where 60 to 70 per cent people never had access to any telecom connectivity.

The regions include cities of the interiors of Sindh and Balochistan, like Turbat, Pasni, Gwadar, Chagi, rural areas of Multan, Dera Ghazi Khan, Bahawalpur, Rahim Yar Khan, Central Punjab, Dera Ismail Khan, Kohat and Bannu division and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata. Speaking on the occasion, Awais Leghari said that with an investment of just over half a billion rupees, more than 200,000 new telephone connections would be provided to the inhabitants of rural areas.** This development, he added, was in line with the directions of Prime Minister Zafarullah Jamali and the cabinet to provide telephone coverage to 50 per cent of the rural areas by the end of 2004. In this regard, he said, the PTCL would reduce by 5 to 10 times the per line cost and timescale of deployment and one wireless base station of 450 Mhz would cover a radius of 20 to 25km as opposed to an equivalent distance of only 5km served by the fixed line technology. However, he said, the PTCL had been restricted to areas where the teledensity was very low.

Mr Leghari expressed concern over the poor teledensity in the country and called for its improvement. He attributed this state of affairs in the telecommunications to cost and labour and to the digital divide between the developed and the developing world. “I would also emphasize that while developing a business plan for offering these connections to the general public and while considering the financial mechanism for the provision of terminal units to the people, it must be ensured that the common man is not unduly burdened and the project retains the spirit of public welfare in which it has been conceived,” the minister said. The minister said the new cellular policy which the cabinet had approved would also enhance competition among mobile telephone operators, ensure broad coverage at affordable prices, increase teledensity, choice of service and private investment in the country. Earlier, the charge d’affaires of China, Song De Heng, said: “China and Pakistan go together in building a strong fraternal relationship in terms of synchronic development between their organizations.” He said the Huawei Technologies had shown good performance in fostering partnership with the PTCL for vital telecom projects during the last 2-3 years

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Pakistaniyon ki chhoti-chhoti khoosiyaan....

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^ posts like these = indians ki choti choti...khushiyan

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No doubt not a big investment, but shows that the foreign investors have started taking keen interest in our Land of Pure.

KARACHI (February 10 2004): A German-based group of industries M/s Induser/Europipe has shown keen interest in setting up a Seamless Pipe Mill, worth 50 million euros in the vicinity of Pakistan Steel.
http://www.brecorder.com/index.php

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Another one for Pakistan bashers...

ISLAMABAD, Feb 11: A US-based company has offered to set up a 500 megawatt power project with an investment of $500 million to generate electricity through municipal solid waste processing. A delegation of the GSB technologies, led by its president Gerald Bell, on Tuesday gave separate presentations to Water and Power Minister Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao and Industries and Production Minister Liaqat Ali Jatoi about the technology. The proposal envisages manufacturing of enhanced coal gasification for electricity production through scientific utilization and conversion of municipal solid waste. The sponsors have estimated $500 million as cost of the project based on Pyro-Electric Thermal Conversion System (PETC). It has a simple design, lower cost and far superior in electro- thermal conversion efficiency than standard coal or oil-based thermal plants. It is an industrially viable source of ionizing heat and is viable with a unique thermal conversion process for cost effective commercial applications, officials said. The cost of electricity has been estimated in the range of 3.5 cents per unit (Kwh) as compared to 6.5 cents per unit currently being paid to the independent power producers (IPPs), an official of the ministry of industries said. The US-based company, GSB technologies, has developed plasma technology power plants that run on coal or ordinary trash or a combination of both. The technology has been developed by the space scientists and the power plants based on the technique generates clean drinking water in considerable quantities during the process of generation of electricity and can help reduce pollution, an official of the power ministry said. He said the company had established 14 such projects throughout the world. Liaqat Ali Jatoi, the industries minister said that Pakistan offered a secure and favourable investment environment in all sectors of the economy. The water and power minister said the government would encourage projects that involve local raw material and transfer of technology. The minister told the US delegation to submit a detailed investment proposal to the government. He also asked the company to focus on using local coal for power generation because large reserves of coal were available in the country. The minister showed keen interest in the utilization of trash material for power generation and said it could help reduce pollution and produce clear water as a by-product while generating clean and low price electricity.

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Great news. Foreign investers are queuing up to invest in Pakistan, as never before, and we must ensure that stability and the continuity of the economic reforms of the last four years is maintained for years to come.

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I hope its worth it, PTCL spent a forture last year providing the wireless broadband internet service in the main cities, and barely anyone uses it.

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Record profits for PTCL. :k:

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_27-2-2004_pg5_4

PTCL rings up 34% growth in net profit

The state-run Pakistan Telecommunication Co Ltd (PTCL) posted Thursday a 34 percent increase in net profit for the first half of the year, as a result of higher connections and low debt-servicing cost. In a statement to the Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE), the company said its net profit for the July-December period rose to Rs 13.27 billion against Rs 9.9 billion in the same period last year. The earnings per share of the company increased 34 percent to Rs 2.60 compared to Rs 1.94 last year. PTCL’s earnings beat analysts’ forecasts, which had pegged earnings per share in the range of Rs 2.40 to Rs 2.50 for the period. “The company’s profit is little higher than expected,” said Khalid Iqbal Siddiqui, an analyst at Invest Capital and Securities, a local brokerage house. “The major reason behind the growth in profit is the increase in new connections.” Analysts said the company’s revenues through local calls increased by 27.1 percent during the first half while international revenue also registered a 12.9 percent rise. The company said its total revenues increased 12.6 percent to Rs 37.09 billion during the first half against Rs 32.916 billion in the same period last year. Operating cost declined by 5.8 percent to Rs 16.49 billion compared to Rs 17.519 billion last year. Consequently, operating profit rose 33.7 percent to Rs 20.5 billion for the period under review compared to Rs 15.39 billion in the same period a year ago.

Analysts also said low financial charges have helped PTCL bottom line growth. “The company has gained a lot from declining financial charges,” said Sumaira Dada, an analyst at Elixir Securities, a local brokerage house. PTCL managed to cut its financial charges by 25 percent to Rs 396.11 million during the July-December period compared to Rs 535.07 million spent on debt servicing in the same period last year. Analysts said PTCL’s revenues are likely to come under pressure in the second half following a 33 percent reduction in line rent but they said profitability is expected to increase due to volumetric increase in traffic. Analysts said the impact of the reduction in line rent would be evident in the second half which would depress revenue growth prospects. PTCL’s stock price gained 30 paisas to close at Rs 39.90 in share trade at KSE Thursday. Shahzad Raza adds from Islamabad: “By the grace of God we have managed to earn a record profit, and very soon we are going to announce remarkable reduction in the tariffs for nationwide and international calls,” Akhter Ahmed Bajwa, chairman, PTCL, told Daily Times. He said that besides decreasing the nationwide and international call tariffs, the PTCL would also provide relief to the general public in the local call tariffs in terms of some packages. Asked whether or not the PTCL would be able to maintain the current rate of profit after the entrance of the new private telecom operators in the market, he said: “There would be an initial dent to our rate of profitability, but it is premature to say that how much we would be affected.”

However, he asserted that the PTCL would manage to maintain the current rate of profitability by taking advantage from the new avenues to be opened after the entrance of the new players. “We have to continue as a leading player. We should be able to maintain our revenue and the expansion of our infrastructure,” said Mr Bajwa, and estimated that four to five percent of the current total business might be shifted to the coming telecom players.

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Some1: *
Pakistaniyon ki chhoti-chhoti khoosiyaan....
[/QUOTE]

Jin se hot hai Indianoo ko thodi thodi jalan

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:hehe:

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Pakistaniyon ki chhoti-chhoti khoosiyaan = hinduoon kay baray baray ghaum.. :rotfl:

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With this $500 million deal with China, and a second $500 million deal for an undersea cable also signed, that’s a spectacular $1 billion of extra foreign investment in Pakistan. :k: