Professional Documents
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PTCL Report 1
PTCL Report 1
PTCL Report 1
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY: This report is a study of PTCL. Now as a student why I needed to undertake a study of PTCL? The reason was that after completion of my MBA (general) 2nd semester course work, it was an academic requirement to undergo an internship for 6 week in any reputable organization so that to test and practice the concepts that I had theoretically learnt in my courses. And thats why I undertook an internship in PTCL and now as an academic requirement, I am putting the details of that internship forward, in the form of this report.
1.2 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY The purpose of this study is not to fulfill an academic requirement. Rather the purpose of this study is to practically learn all the concepts that I have learnt theoretically in my Master. And also to know that what I have studied is to what extent practically observable or practicable.
1.3 SCOPE OF STUDY The scope of this study is very broad. I have tried my level best to each and every aspect and area regarding the organization. And thats why this study gives an overview of Pakistan Telecommunication Limited. An overview in the sense that in this study all areas, including PTCLs service marketing, Human Resource Management, Revenue and financial, have been provide that the data for this study, that I have used, is the most recent one. So that no inconvenience could occur. But even then my main emphasis in this study is on the PTCLs financial, revenue, service related and administration areas. 1.4 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY In this very report I have used Secondary data, which helped me a lot composing this report includes, PTCLs Annual report, accounts summary, websites, newspapers, KSEs websites, different books relating to it.
Telecommunication
Telecommunication is the transmission of messages, over significant distances, for the purpose of communication. In earlier times, telecommunications involved the use of visual signals, such as smoke, semaphore telegraphs, signal flags, and optical heliographs, or audio messages via coded drumbeats, lung-blown horns, or sent by loud whistles, for example. In the modern age of electricity and electronics, telecommunications has typically involved the use of electric means such as the telegraph, the telephone, and the teletype, the use of microwave communications, the use of fiber optics and their associated electronics, and/or the use of the Internet. The first breakthrough into modern electrical telecommunications came with the development of the telegraph during the 1830s and 1840s. The use of these electrical means of communications exploded into use on all of the continents of the world during the 19th century, and these also connected the continents via cables on the floors of the ocean. These three systems of communications all required the use of conducting metal wires. A revolution in wireless telecommunications began in the first decade of the 20th century, with Guglielmo Marconi winning the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1909 for his pioneering developments in wireless radio communications. Other early inventors and developers in the field of electrical and electronic telecommunications included Samuel F.B. Morse and Joseph Henry of the United States, Alexander Graham Bell of Canada, Lee de Forest of the U.S., who invented the amplifying vacuum tube called the triode, Edwin Armstrong of the U.S., John Logie Baird of England, and Nikola Tesla whose most important inventions were created in the United States. Telecommunications play an important role in the world economy and the worldwide telecommunication industry's revenue was estimated to be $3.85 trillion in 2008. The service revenue of the global telecommunications industry was estimated to be $1.7 trillion in 2008, and is expected to touch $2.7 trillion by 2013
In an analog telephone network, the caller is connected to the person he wants to talk to by switches at various telephone exchanges. The switches form an electrical connection between the two users and the setting of these switches is determined electronically when the caller dials the number. Once the connection is made, the caller's voice is transformed to an electrical signal using a small microphone in the caller's handset. This electrical signal is then sent through the network to the user at the other end where it is transformed back into sound by a small speaker in that person's handset. There is a separate electrical connection that works in reverse, allowing the users to converse. The fixed-line telephones in most residential homes are analog that is, the speaker's voice directly determines the signal's voltage. Although short-distance calls may be handled from endto-end as analog signals, increasingly telephone service providers are transparently converting the signals to digital for transmission before converting them back to analog for reception. The advantage of this is that digitized voice data can travel side-by-side with data from the Internet and can be perfectly reproduced in long distance communication (as opposed to analog signals that are inevitably impacted by noise). Mobile phones have had a significant impact on telephone networks. Mobile phone subscriptions now outnumber fixed-line subscriptions in many markets. Sales of mobile phones in 2005 totaled 816.6 million with that figure being almost equally shared amongst the markets of Asia/Pacific (204 m), Western Europe (164 m), CEMEA (Central Europe, the Middle East and Africa) (153.5 m), North America (148 m) and Latin America (102 m). In terms of new subscriptions over the five years from 1999, Africa has outpaced other markets with 58.2% growth. Increasingly these phones are being serviced by systems where the voice content is transmitted digitally such as GSM or W-CDMA with many markets choosing to depreciate analog systems such as AMPS. There have also been dramatic changes in telephone communication behind the scenes. Starting with the operation of TAT-8 in 1988, the 1990s saw the widespread adoption of systems based on optic fibres. The benefit of communicating with optic fibers is that they offer a drastic increase in data capacity. TAT-8 itself was able to carry 10 times as many telephone calls as the last copper cable laid at that time and today's optic fibre cables are able to carry 25 times as many telephone calls as TAT-8. This increase in data capacity is due to several factors: First, optic fibres are physically much smaller than competing technologies. Second, they do not suffer from crosstalk which means several hundred of them can be easily bundled together in a single cable. Lastly, improvements in multiplexing have led to an exponential growth in the data capacity of a single fibre. Assisting communication across many modern optic fibre networks is a protocol known as Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM). The ATM protocol allows for the side-by-side data transmission. It is suitable for public telephone networks because it establishes a pathway for data through the network and associates a traffic contract with that pathway. The traffic contract is essentially an agreement between the client and the network about how the network is to handle the data; if the network cannot meet the conditions of the traffic contract it does not accept the connection. This is important because telephone calls can negotiate a contract so as to guarantee themselves a constant bit rate, something that will ensure a caller's voice is not delayed
in parts or cut-off completely. There are competitors to ATM, such as Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS), that perform a similar task and are expected to supplant ATM in the future.
In Pakistan, Pakistan telecommunication company limited (ptcl) provides telecommunication services at largest level.
Type
Public
Industry
Telecommunication
Founded
1947
Headquarters Islamabad,
Pakistan.
Naguibullah Malik
(Chairman)
Revenue
Net income
Owner(s)
Website
www.ptcl.com.pk
Introduction of ptcl
Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) is the largest telecommunication company in Pakistan. Pakistan Telecommunications Company Limited (PTCL) is the largest converged
services carrier providing all telecommunications services from basic voice telephony to data, internet, video-conferencing and carrier services to consumers and businesses all over Pakistan.
This company provides telephony services to the nation and still holds the status of backbone for country's telecommunication infrastructure despite arrival of a dozen other telcos including telecom giants like Telenor and China Mobile. The company consists of around 2000 telephone exchanges across country providing largest fixed line network. GSM, CDMA and Internet are other resources of PTCL, making it a gigantic organization. The Government of Pakistan sold 26% shares and control of the company to Etisalat in 2006. The Government of Pakistan retained 62% of the shares while the remaining 12% are held by the general public.
PTCL is also part of the consortium of three major Submarine communication cable networks: SEA-ME-WE 3, SEA-ME-WE 4 and I-ME-WE. In addition to wire line operations, PTCL also provides fixed line service through its countrywide CDMA based WLL (Wireless Local Loop) network, under the Vfone brand name. In the cellular segment, the second largest cellular provider in Pakistan, Ufone, is also a wholly History
From the beginnings of Posts & Telegraph Department in 1947 and establishment of Pakistan Telephone & Telegraph Department in 1962, PTCL has been a major player in telecommunication in Pakistan. Despite having established a network of enormous size, PTCL workings and policies have attracted regular criticism from other smaller operators and the civil society of Pakistan. Pakistan Telecommunication Corporation (PTC) took over operations and functions from Pakistan Telephone and Telegraph Department under Pakistan Telecommunication Corporation Act 1991. This coincided with the Government's competitive policy, encouraging private sector participation and resulting in award of licenses for cellular, card-operated pay-phones, paging and, lately, data communication services. Pursuing a progressive policy, the Government in 1991, announced its plans to privatize PTCL, and in 1994 issued six million vouchers exchangeable into 600 million shares of the would-be
PTCL in two separate placements. Each had a par value of Rs. 10 per share. These vouchers were converted into PTCL shares in mid-1996. In 1995, Pakistan Telecommunication (Reorganization) Ordinance formed the basis for PTCL monopoly over basic telephony in the country. The provisions of the Ordinance were lent permanence in October 1996 through Pakistan Telecommunication (Reorganization) Act. The same year, Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited was formed and listed on all stock exchanges of Pakistan
PTCL launched its mobile and data services subsidiaries in 2001 by the name of Ufone and PakNet respectively. None of the brands made it to the top slots in the respective competitions. Lately, however, Ufone had increased its market share in the cellular sector. The PakNet brand has effectively dissolved over the period of time. Recent DSL services launched by PTCL reflects this by the introduction of a new brand name and operation of the service being directly supervised by PTCL. As telecommunication monopolies head towards an imminent end, services and infrastructure providers are set to face even bigger challenges. The post-monopoly era came with Pakistans Liberalization in Telecommunication in January 2003. On the Government level, a comprehensive liberalization policy for telecoms sector is in the offering. In 2005 Government of Pakistan decided to sell 26 percent of this company to some private corporation. There were three participants in the bet for privatization of PTCL. Etisalat, a Dubai based company was able to get the shares with a large margin in the bet. Government's plan of privatizing the corporation were not welcomed in all circles; countrywide protests and strikes were help by PTCL workers. They disrupted phone lines of institutions like Punjab University Lahore along with public sector institutions were also blocked. Military had to take over the management of all the exchanges in the country. They arrested many workers and put them behind bars. The contention between Government and employees ended with a 30% increase in the salaries of workers. In 2009 PTCL launched its new product with the name of EVO. Company Profile PTCL is the largest telecommunications provider in Pakistan. PTCL also continues to be the largest CDMA operator in the country with 0.8 million V-fone customers. The company maintains a leading position in Pakistan as an infrastructure provider to other telecom operators and corporate customers of the country. It has the potential to be an instrumental agent in Pakistans economic growth. PTCL has laid an Optical Fibre Access Network in the major metropolitan centres of Pakistan and local loop services have started to be modernized and upgraded from copper to an optical network. On the Long Distance and International infrastructure side, the capacity of two SEA-ME-WE submarine cables is being expanded to meet the increasing demand of International traffic.
Vision
To be the leading Information and Communication Technology Service Provider in the region by achieving customer satisfaction and maximizing shareholders' value'. The future is unfolding around us. In times to come, we will be the link that allows global communication. We are striving towards mobilizing the world for the future. By becoming partners in innovation, we are ready to shape a future that offers telecom services that bring us closer.
Mission
To achieve our vision by having:
An organizational environment that fosters professionalism, motivation and quality An environment that is cost effective and quality conscious Services that are based on the most optimum technology "Quality" and "Time" conscious customer service Sustained growth in earnings and profitability
Core Values
Professional Integrity Customer Satisfaction Teamwork Company Loyal
Bankers
Habib bank limited United bank limited MCB Bank limited National bank of Pakistan Askari bank limited Citi bank Faysal bank limited Standard Chartered bank limited
Privatization of ptcl
The privatization of the company was completed in the FY06; following the purchase of 26% 'B' class ordinary shares by Etisalat International Pakistan L.L.C. (EIP) on April 12th 2006. EIP took over management control on the 12th of April 2006. Since then, EIP has engaged the services of various technical and management advisors to improve the performance of PTCL. In the nine months period if FY08, PTCL achieved one of the major milestones of transformation subsequent to privatization by implementation of country's most successful Voluntary Separation Scheme (VSS). The change process has been strengthened with new corporate look, human resource quality and systems of service delivery and integrated resource management. Management of the company is committed to turn PTCL into a state of the art organization through these initiatives.
Broad band
Broadband Double Speed Broadband WiFi Free Email Broadband Packages Broadband Installation Guide PTCL BUZZ Broadband Student Package Business DSL Easy Learning Coverage Area
Highlights:
PTCL broadband customers will get a free for life personalized e-mail account with 50mb of space. Broadband keeps you connected to high speed internet all the time. Economical packages for students Special packages for corporate and individuals Access to free movies, music, classical Pakistan plays, famous cricket matches, educational and religious contents exclusively for PTCL broadband customers. PTCL achieving the important milestone of taking broadband into over 414 cities/towns across Pakistan
Now PTCL offers Pakistan's First Entertainment Portal completely free for its DSL Customers. Experience true broadband entertainment, listen or download melodies, songs, watch classic movies, Cricket Matches, PTV Plays , Online learning, Gaming, listen to religious Naats and lots of fun. Now your DSL connection is much more than just speed, it is entertainment and fun! PTCL BUZZ is an entertainment portal which is FREE & EXCLUSIVELY AVAILABLE only for PTCL broadband users. PTCL Buzz has a huge library of content including the best of English and Urdu movies, dramas, Sports, Live radio, Religious programmes and over 10,000 songs to choose from.
Cost effective Always On Internet access High speed data download Unlimited download Free Modem Convenient ordering on phone and web No upfront charges "Broadband Pakistan is now available in over 414 cities/towns including Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Quetta, Faisalabad, Multan, Hyderabad, Peshawar, Gujrat, Gujranwala and Bahawalpur. With the option of subscribing to the speed of (1Mbps, 4Mbps, 6Mbps) and (8Mbps) packages, you can now choose one that best suits your surfing style.
Packages
DSL-1 Mbps Unlimited Rs 1,199 / month Free Unlimited download Free Modem Order Online
DSL-4 Mbps Unlimited Rs 1,999 / month Free Unlimited download Free Modem Order Online
DSL-6 Mbps Unlimited Rs 4,999 / month Free Unlimited download Free Modem
DSL-8 Mbps Unlimited Rs 6,999 / month Free Unlimited download Free Modem
Order Online
Order Online
Installation Charges
One time Installation charges of Rs. 500. The installation charges are applicable from July 1, 2010
1218
visit the broadband student link and access the form http://www.ptcl.com.pk/student/index.php
If institute is registered with PTCL, then please process with the filling of the form. In case institution / university is not yet registered with PTCL then please request institute / university administration to do by calling 0800-80800.
After completing the form, press Submit Request tab. A link will appear on the top of the page to download the form in PDF format. Download the PDF file and printed. This printed form has to be then validated (signed and stamped) by any of the following officials of institute/ university.
Dean Principal Head of the Department Professor Lecturer Any faculty member or Administration staff of your institute The completed and validated form can be taken to the PTCL One Stop Shops or customer services Centers for order entry and validation. OR the completed and validated form can be scanned and emailed to the following email address: student.broadband@ptcl.com.pk
Option 3: Order Registration by calling PTCL Call Center 1. The order can also be placed by calling contact center 0800-80800 2. The call center agent will guide through the procedure of order registration and validation of request by CSR contacting institute/university administration.
Other items
Identical Number Service Reconnect PTCL Packages Conference Call Plan Switching NTC Promotion
Value Added Services
Year 2009-10 has been declared as the year of customer care and gain whereby all efforts are directed towards retaining existing customers.
Features:
Incentives being offered for restoration of services
New simplified procedure for Landline restoration New Products and Services available for Landline users
Incentive
PTCL Management has approved a number of incentives for customers who want to come back to PTCL and get their services restored. They are: Rs. 500/- Restoration Charges have been waived off for all customers who want their services restored Waiver of all fixed charges for the months in which the customer has no variable charges (usage) from the total outstanding amount. Payment of outstanding amount in a number of installments and restoration of services on payment of 1st installment Convenient re-activation process
Re-Connection Procedure
Customers who wish to reconnect their PTCL landline, can now simply call 1236, select option 7 and talk to a CSR for restoration of services. The customers request will be forwarded to the concerned region and the operations team will visit the customer premises, for initiating the restoration process.
Packages PTCL launches new packages; Basic plus, Pakistan plus, International Plus.
Basic Plus Pakistan Plus International Plus
PTCL Plus FAQs
Basic Plus
Basic Plus is designed to meet the needs of the low usage segment and includes basic services along with
voicemail and call waiting. All customers who were not on Pakistan Package as of 31st March 2008 have been shifted to Basic Plus with effect from 1st April 2008 Line rent (excl. taxes) Package charge Local NWD call Mobile Rs. 174
Note: Value Plus was abolished effective November 1, 2008. All subscribers on Value Plus were automatically shifted to Basic Plus thereon".
Pakistan Plus
Pakistan Plus offers 1000 minutes of nationwide calls for a fixed package charge of Rs. 199. The package also includes free voicemail and call waiting. Moreover, for convenience to customers, modified package will be
st
Rs. 199 Rs. 1.00/1 min Free (up to 1000 minutes) additional minutes would be charged at Rs. 1.00 /1 min
Mobile
Rs. 2.50/min
Note: All Pakistan Plus Package subscribers will have 1000 free minutes instead of 2500 free minutes to make NWD Calls.
NO ONE ELSE PTCL also continues to be the largest CDMA operator in the country with 0.8 million V-fone customers. The company maintains a leading position in Pakistan as an infrastructure provider to other telecom operators and corporate customers of the country.
Vfone Azadi Offer Vfone Promotion (free balance for three months) New & Exciting Promotions CONNECTION CHARGES VFONE CALL PACKAGES CARDS LOADING OPTIONS VFONE SALES OUTLETS VALUE ADDED SERVICES INTERNATIONAL CALL RATES INSTALLATION PROCEDURE SCO NETWORK CHARGES VPCO PAYPHONES FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Over the mountains and across the plains; in deserts and through cities, Vfone is the countrys largest WLL network. So whether its unparallel voice quality, network reliability, affordability or unsurpassed presence; the answer will always be Vfone---No one Else!! With Vfone, we make sure you never lose touch with your dear onesVfone lets you connect wirelessly to the whole world. Its easy to use and economical too! With Vfone you can enjoy wireless connectivity and freedom of movement within your premises. You can use your Vfone to connect to the internet and enjoy a world of information and entertainment. And thats not all; we are continuously enhancing our range of Value Ads to make Vfone experience even more fun. Using CDMA2000 1X technology, already have built-up capacity of 2.6M covering over 10,000 urban, suburban and rural villages. The network is already enabled for Voice, Dialup-Internet access (153.6kbps) and EVO Broadband.
Connection Charges
Connection FREE
Paknet
From December 31, 2007 Paknet Limited has been merged into to PTCL and now all assets and users are managed by PTCL Internet Division. According to an official survey conducted by the telecom regulator PTA (results of which appeared 3 July 2006), Paknet enjoys the number 1 or number 2 position in 75% regions of Pakistan for its- quality of services. The company has taken its ranking up by an average of 7 positions in metropolitan cities like Karachi and Lahore PTA
Smart services
PTCL Smart TV is an IPTV service in Pakistan owned by PTCL that was launched on 14 August 2008. The service is currently available in 15 major cities including Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Faisalabad, Peshawar, Sialkot, Multan, Jhelum, Sargodha, Wah Cantt, Taxila, Sukkur, Hyderabad and Abbotabad.
in its long-haul WDM system ZXWM M900, to carry the 10GE service connections between core routers which was quick to implement and save the equipment investment. Unlike to SDH, 10GE services also lack of protection mechanism, WDM-level protection mechanism is of great importance to 10GE services, as a result ZXWM M900s robust optical layer protection functions fully comply with the carrier-class protection switching time of sub-50ms, solving the future problems of the customer.
Due to Pakistans unique regional environment and political economy conditions, PTCL has stringent requirement for network security. ZTE employed ZXWM M900, the industry-leading large-capacity and long-haul DWDM equipment capable of offering 6 WDM-level protection modes and ZXMP S385, the new generation MSTP for hybrid networking. Multi-route protection available at SDH/DWDM levels ensures non-service affecting performance in case of multiple fiber cuts.
PTCL adopted pay as you grow strategy. ZTE solution with MSTP supports large-capacity, smooth upgrade, capable of upgrading from 2.5G to 10G and WDM capable of upgrading from 2.5G to 10G and up to 40-80-160 wavelengths cutting PTCLs initial investment cost.
It took only 5 months for ZTE to accomplish production, transportation, installation, commissioning and service turn-up on inking the contract of national backbone network.
ZTE employed master-slave NM solution to national backbone network ensuring 24-hour monitoring network with zero failure and enabling un-staffed sites. Listening to customer fostering long-term partnership Targeting PTCLs backbone transmission demands in future 5 year, the WDM backbone network is of great consequence. PTCL formed a technical group comprising most professional technicians, while Etisalat assigned an expert group to Pakistan to support the project. With thorough understanding of PTCLs development planning and customized requirements, ZTE partnered with PTCL to tackle the challenge and pressure on PTCL and delivered a customized solution in line with its high technical requirements. The outstanding and cutting-edge solution and mature equipments finally gained approval.
Environmental Analysis
Analysis of internal environment
Industrial structure
Market Operations
Market Structure
Regulatory Environment
BUSINESS STRATEGIES
As part of the Companys vision of maintaining and growing its position as the leading ICT service provider and a profit leader, a five year Strategic Master Plan for the Company, with defined corporate KPI targets, timelines and ownerships was developed by the PTCL management. Defining yearly targets on market shares for various voice and data services, introduction of a corporate KPI based performance measurement system, Restructuring of the organization, formulation of IPTV, Triple Play and converged services, migration to an end to end IP based network, Investment strategies such as Assets Management for risk diversification and improved Return on Investments, were all part of the master plan. The five year master plan will be reviewed and updated on an annual basis. PTCL chose August 14th, the Independence Day, to launch its new logo and theme of feel the difference. To support the new spirit and to reinforce its commitment, PTCL offered free nationwide calls to the people of Pakistan. The traffic on 14th August 2007 jumped to 4 times the level on a similar holiday to give credence to our hypotheses that the good old telephone Company is still the trusted landmark of the people of Pakistan. This unprecedented response to free calls on 14th August was a heartwarming experience as it reassured the faith of our customers in our services, making us even more aware of our responsibilities towards putting our customer first. Fixed Line Telephony PTCL fixed line segment has witnessed decline in numbers in 2007-08 as against last year with a decrease of 452K lines during the past year. The market for the FLL segment has least amount penetration primarily due to the major inclination towards cellular and wireless segments by users. PTCLs fixed line potential is anticipated to remain stable with its having the largest network, coverage and better quality service as compared to WLL and cellular networks. The fixed line segment is anticipated to cater the needs of the business community at large and as expected is to be driven by the countrys future economic growth. Wireless Local Loop PTCLs WLL segment has depicted immense amount of growth, nevertheless at a slower pace than expected. It started its service from the northern regions slowly moving towards the metro cities using its CDMA wireless technology. Wireless local loop PTCL has laid an Optical Fibre Access Network in the major metropolitan centers of Pakistan and local loop services have started to be modernized and upgraded from copper to an optical network. World Call and Telecard were the other major operators that introduced the WLL services using CDMA2000 and CDMA technology to cater the needs of its customers. Time cards started its operations from Karachi, flowing into Baluchistan region while World Call initiated its operation in Lahore in Jun 2005 with aim of rollout its network to update its capacity to 1.5 mn subscribers in the years to come. PTCL has been facing stiff competition however with vast presence and infrastructural facilities across Pakistan, has the potential to outrun its competitors in the segment. Broadband and Value Added Services PTCL through diversification and assorted products and services could retain its fundamental presence in the Telecom Sector. Introduction of DSL Broadband services across major cities with plans to include
more cities in times to come will enhance the revenue base of PTCL. Stiff competition from other cable based broadband service providers and local cable operators still persists. PTCLs broadband services were introduced in Jun 2007 with free installation service with an initial capacity of 100,000 subscribers by providing services in the five largest cities and had a decent start by adding over 10,000 subscribers within the first few months of its operations depicting PTCLs brand recognition. Furthermore, with the introduction of WLL segment, Phone N Net, IPTV, VMS and Carrier Services is expected to bring product leadership in the sector.
The sub-modules of Personnel Development & Appraisals, and Training & Event Management have gone live in the Phase A2 of the implementation cycle. HCM - Personnel Development & Appraisals module takes care of management of the information related to the educational qualifications according to the requirement of the particular post. It helps in determining the right individuals for processing through personnel appraisals. This is a powerful feature to do effective planning requires with regards to the development of employees by identifying the right matches of individuals with the right job positions. The planning feature is tightly integrated with the Training Feature of HCM for identification of training needs for future leaders of the company. HCM - Training & Event Management has also been implemented in the SAP Systems during Phase A2. This module provides complete management to the Trainings and Events happening in the company. It takes care of the basic functionality needed to maintain the necessary historical record for better visibility into company wide events and trainings. The whole process starts with defining the events in the System and covers the complete cycle including the event attendance, administration, expenditures, earnings, facilities management like room reservations and having tight integrations with Financials System for real time update of financial data. This module also provides effective solution to the needs of managing the commercial courses in Institute of Communication Technologies (ICT) of PTCL. Certain HCM Payroll enhancements have also been successfully developed and implemented. The enhancements include the critical areas of Cost of Living Allowance (COLA), Car Maintenance Allowance (CMA), New Tax Slabs for Fiscal year 2008-09 and 35% increment for non-management employees
ERP Human Capital Management provides the most comprehensive global HCM solution available today. With ERP HCM, We gain the following business benefits: Consistently achieve corporate objectives Retain talented people Proactively identify and fill talent gaps Lower costs of compliance and employee administration Balance global and local coverage Improve employee satisfaction Improve decision making and manage human capital more effectively Reduce risk Realize return on investment Implement value-added activities Enable business process outsource
THE HUMAN RESOURCE DEPARTMENT is lead by the CHIEF ENGINEER and he is responsible for the activities carried out by the department. There are four DIRECTORS working under the supervision of the chief engineers. Then these DIRECTORS supervise the divisional engineers and assistant divisional engineers and so on. As it is at its initial stages so authorities and responsibilities are still under the process of development and precise definition of these are not finalized by the top-level management. The hierarchy of the human resource department clarifies the responsibilities and level of authorities between the different level of the department and also between the persons of human resource department. The general hierarchical structure is as follows: CHIEF ENGINEER (HRM&P)
DIRECTOR
DIVISIONAL ENGINEER
ASST.DIVISIONAL ENGINEER
STAFF
Their classifications of the DIRECTORS are through their region like KARACHI, LAHORE, and CENTRAL AND NORTH.
SPECIAL TASKS
There are no defined and precise responsibilities of this department as it has already been mentioned that this department is still in the development stage. However some special task has been assigned to the department so that its activities can be started and the flow of activities and their harmony with other department can be established. For this purpose numbers of activities are assigned, out of which some were accomplished and some others are in the process of accomplishment.
There was confusion about the exact number of PTCL employees. Exact data was not provided to the top-level management, approximate figure was there. More over different departments of PTCL claim different number of employees, which they collected through their own resources. Top level management was not satisfied which such kind of information, so it assigned the first task to the HUMAN RESOURCE DEPARTMENT. The challenge was accepted by the department and was successfully met with in the given time period. The figure of fifty five thousands three hundreds and eighty five (55,385) was found for the regular employees and figure eight thousands (8,000) was found out for the employees on contract basis. This figure is for the year 2002, so is the latest figure and is accepted by the toplevel management. The organization of data base management system was also assigned to the HRM department, which was also successfully done by the department. This helped PTCL to gather the distributed employee data which is then helpful for the regulation of pay system for the employees and also helpful for the regulation of seniority system for the employees These works are done successfully by the HRM DEPARTMENT. There are some other responsibilities, which are still in process of accomplishment. a. The development of recruitment manager software. b. Restructuring of organization structure. c. Revising of performance appraisal process. d. Establishment of some new rules and regulations to cope new market conditions. e. Changes in the salary structure of the employees. f. Changes in the medical facilities.
g. Establishment of compatibility between the expertise and their appointment. h. Reduction of union influence in the company matters. i. Establishment of programs for the development and training of employees.
GRANT FOR TRAINING PERSONNEL IN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY BY SUBSIDIZING INTERNATIONAL CERTIFICATION FEES
In order to meet the international standards in Information Technology there was need of certification and qualification improvement by getting training and passing the examinations of different classifications of IT. So a grant was approved for the said purpose. The purpose of this grant is to support the candidates in obtaining specified and internationally recognized certification relevant to information technology and telecommunication by either completely or partially subsidizing the fee of examinations.
GRANT FOR HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT and Institutional Up gradation
Capacity-building in science and technology is one of most important aspects of a viable infra structure. Unfortunately majority of institutions in Pakistan suffer from a severe lack of human and institutional capacity to conduct any meaningful research and development projects and to provide quality teaching in the areas of science and engineering. There was therefore an urgent need to train manpower and upgrade scientific institution in Pakistan. SO a grant was approved by PTCL. This grant scheme was thus aimed to train manpower. The purpose of this grant was fold: to support the candidates in obtaining essential training/certification Staff-Welfare
PTCL is providing free medical facilities (indoor / outdoor) to both its serving and retired employees and their dependent family members from panel hospitals as well as from 42 staff dispensaries / medical centers established in various cities. The total number of beneficiaries is 296,850. Besides this, employees are given merit/stipend awards and general education grants for professional and general studies of their children. Benevolent grants of Rs. 1 lac as special compensation is paid to the employees on accidental death. Widows are also financially compensated out of welfare funds on the eve of Eid.
Marriage grant is paid to the employees on the marriage of their dependent daughters as well. Transportation facilities for the commutation of staff and school going children are provided on nominal charges. Schools being run by Telecom Foundation (TF) are providing quality education to the children / wards of PTCL employees at concessional fees.
Education-Training
At PTCL, special attention and care is given to nurturing potential and building human assets. Great emphasis is being laid on the inculcation of sense of responsibility and management of staff. Numerous training courses have been introduced for all levels of management and staff in order to train and groom the human capital. The National Post Graduate Institute of Telecom & Informatics (NPGITI) is also being revitalized. The institute currently offers Masters Programs in Telecom Engineering and Telecom Management apart from Diploma in Routing Technology. Engineers and other professionals are sent overseas to have a greater insight into emerging technologies and grasp latest management skills. Educational and training institutes that are run by PTCL include Telecom Staff College, Haripur, Regional Telecom Training Schools and fifteen Divisional Training Centers spread across the country. These facilities are fully equipped with all the required paraphernalia and have experienced faculty to groom the future resources for the organization. The modern training facilities at National Post Graduate Institute of Telecom & Informatics are accessible to the whole of the telecom sector. All telecom players can benefit from our facilities. This open approach gives PTCL the edge of achieving self-
sustenance in its training projects, besides catering to the telecom sector through trained and efficient human resources, thus catalyzing the growth and progress. To streamline the existing procedures and processes, further steps have been taken by integrating Recruitment Management and the Job Management System into the Human Resource Management Information System (HR-MIS).
The cycle above describes the organization management process at PTCL. Yellow blocks describe the core functions of the company performed at all levels in the organization. Grey blocks describe strategic functions which are performed at the strategic level.
SAP AT PTCL
1. Urgent Training Needs Programme: The Urgent Training Needs which realistically depict the post VSS scenario are being assessed and catered immediately by conducting customized training programs. The involvement of all departments, regions and business units for providing their valuable input in the form of TNA response is essential for accurate identification of their requirements. Given the transformation stage, the most eminent developmental needs were highlighted and incorporated in this programme. 2. Customer Care Initiative: To achieve the pinnacle of Excellence in Customer Service envisioned by the President/CEO the Training and Development department has assumed the responsibility for effectively imparting training under the Customer Care Initiative to all PTCL employees. 3. HRD Plan for 2009-10: Training is one of the tools used for the development of employees and to consolidate change on sustainable ground. In order to address the training needs of all stakeholders of PTCL, EVP (T&D) has directed training region administration to conduct comprehensive Training Need Assessment of PTCL employees. This exercise of TNA is required for developing an effective and need satisfying Human Resource Development Plan for PTCL training centers. The pilot run of this programme is expected to commence by the end of April 2009. 4. Training Incentive offered to VSS Optees: For the rehabilitation of VSS Optees, PTCL offered a package of post VSS training & development services, out of which the most beneficial and helpful service offers were Vocational and Technical trainings. 5. Revamping Project of PTCL Training & Development by Etisalat Academy: PTCL has a huge training infrastructure throughout the country that is geographically wide spread. To revamp this wing of PTCL and transform it into a profit center, Etisalat Academy has been engaged for this project with the following main objectives:
Evaluation of existing training infrastructure Identification of potential and non-potential training institutes Development plan for proposed training set-up Comprehensive workforce analysis of existing Human Resources in T&D department Proposals regarding computerized learning management system Preparation of Quality Assurance (QA) systems & procedures Determination of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
The focus of the project is to set up and maintain the qualifications catalogs, create and evaluate profiles for a range of objects (for example, persons and positions), evaluate career and succession planning scenarios, set up appraisal systems, as well as plan, hold, and evaluate appraisals, create development plans, and work through individual development planning scenarios by customizing the functions of personnel development to meet customer requirements. 7. PTCL Academy activities: PTCL Academy has been revitalized with a new vision to be recognized locally and regionally as a center of excellence in the provision of state-of-the-art training and consultancy services in telecommunications and related fields. It will provide a platform for the creation, dissemination and exchange of knowledge and expertise in all areas of telecom and IT to internal and external stakeholders. Some of the programmes on its agenda are: Ph.D. Programme MS programme Post Graduate Diploma Cisco Regional Academy Programme Oracle Academy Programme Joint venture with CISCO and NUST Seminars / Short Courses / Certificate programmes Course development for new offerings (technical and management courses) Testing / Inspection of telecom equipment
8. Lineman Training Programme: The declaration to celebrate year 2008-09 as year of Customer Care & Satisfaction by the President/CEO of the company, has entrusted upon Training & Development Department a gigantic task to transform our line staff who are the real customer care agents of PTCL. This initiative is the part of companys strategic vision to turn PTCL a leading corporate entity in highly competitive business environment of telecom industry. A mega training campaign has been launched for all the Linemen of PTCL. The training module prepared by Training & Development department has tried to address all skill needs most direly required by our Linemen to cope with emerging technologies in telecommunication. This training will significantly improve both soft and technical competencies of our linemen and we believe that this training shall be remembered as a milestone in PTCLs history. 9. Quality Awareness Programme: In order to create quality awareness and skills improvement of PTCL staff, a 3-year QA plan has been made. The project is scheduled from March 2007 to December 2009. Following four types of programmes are under the work plan: Installation Quality Standards Quality Auditor Course Companywide Quality Awareness Train the Trainer Programme offered to the faculty of PTCL training centers
10. Senior Management Development Program: Etisalat Academy being the lead consultants of PTCLs Training and Development department has proposed a meritorious program for the development of Senior Management Team (SMT) of PTCL. The workshops, their contents and out comes have been reviewed and have been found beneficial for the company. Proposed plan of five workshops is in line with emerging concept of Continuous Professional Development. CPD is being promoted for conscious updating of professional knowledge and enhancement of professional competence throughout a person's working life. PTCL Training & Development wing is committed to the pursuit of professional excellence with its Senior Management Team. PTCLs SMT, though possesses matchless functional competencies, will benefit from these workshops.
11. Internship Programme: As per existing policy approximately 194 internship offers were made during 2008-09. Currently, we are in the process of invigorating our Internship Policy. During the last couple of years Internship Programme at PTCL has received special attention and focus. The overall concept has evolved from its traditional perspective into a strategic perspective. We look forward to this programme not only as a learning opportunity for the participants but also a prospect for PTCL in its continuous endeavor for talent hunt. It is the process by which we not only contribute significantly to the development of the best talent in professional and leading universities and schools, but it also aims at creating PTCL Ambassadors that spread goodwill of the company all over the country. This programme is intended to provide students with the opportunity to apply what they are learning in their academic pursuits to real world situations. Through the successful implementation of this programme, PTCL looks forward to rightly identify, recruit, train and develop its most important need of the day i.e. the Human Resource.
12. Nominations for Open House Training Programmes: Besides aforementioned activities the Training and Development Department is organizing a complete database of the training firms/institutes and the freelance training consultants. Staff is being nominated for open house training programs offered by reputable firms to assess the efficacy and the relevancy of the program.
FINANCE
The SEVP (FINANCE) is concerned with the makeup of the all type of financial decisions especially in the context of acquisition, financing and management of all assets with some goal in mind. The EVP (Finance) with the General Manager (Finance) extend their expertise in the decision making process.
ACCOUNTS Here the SEVP (Finance) is once again concerned by heading the EVP(ACCOUNTS) and General Manager (Accounts) to deal with all Accounts Decision. In PTCL the Finance and Accounting are so correlated but the difference between finance and Accounting is the method of Funds Recognition and the decision making. In the Accounting the Director Accounts in the PTCL Regions assist the higher management. REVENUE
Here the SEVP (Finance) is once again concerned by heading the EVP (Revenue) and General Manager (Revenue) to deal with all Revenue matters. One Director Revenue within the Region assists to implement and control the inflow of Revenue and Reconcile it with the PTCL Headquarters Islamabad. The PTCL is actually the Revenue Generation organization. PTCL Collect the Revenue from the following modes. 1) Revenue from System Billing of Land Line Numbers. a) Through Line Rent of Land Line Numbers. b) Through National wide dialing from LLNs (Land Line Numbers) c) International dialing from LLNs d) Providing Value Added services to customers. Like UAN (Universal Access Numbers), PABX (Private Auto Branch Exchanges),VPN( Virtual Private Network) Bandwidth of ISPS (Internet service providers) e) PTCL has its three subsidiaries PAKNET (leading ISP in the country), UFONE (unique cellular phone company in Pakistan), TF (Telecom Foundation) the leading foundation for the welfare of employees of Telecom Sector.
In PTCL the rules contained in the special volume of the PTCL under which the SEVP (FINANCE) is responsible for creating the procedure of Accounting matters.
1. REVENUE FROM BILLING SYSTEM a. Revenue from Usual customer. b. Revenue from DXX System c. Revenue from DSL System d. Revenue from PABX/PBX System e. Revenue from Card Phone Operators f. Revenue from IPOs Internet service providers g. Revenue from Mobile Phone Operators h. Co-location charges from various companies
2. REVENUE FROM OTHER a. Revenue from Overseas calls (Incoming) b. Revenue from Premium PRS (0900) calls c. Income from Dismantle Exchanges d. Revenue from MDF used by other companies
CAPITAL EXPENDITURES
INSTALLATION OF NEW EXCHANGES Expenses of installation of new Exchanges are the major capital expense of PTCL because PTCL purchases the new telephone exchanges from France, Italy, Germany and China. So heavy cost is to be paid for purchasing process in order to proper margin. Each exchange having different capacity and due which each Engineer should has to be trained accordingly so expenses rises on purchasing of new Telephone Exchanges. This is the main expense of PTCL.
EXTENSION OF EXISTING EXCHANGES The extension of the existing exchanges is the dire need as the density of the population is increasing day by day and in order to fulfill the basic communication and fill the communication gap PTCL has to extend its normal Telephone Exchanges in accordance with the demand and per paid connection. So PTCL sustain heavy expenses on the extension of exchanges.
The PTCL has sustained huge amount in context of internal audit both Accounts and Technical from various agencies. For example M/s Ferguson conduct both internal audit and external audit and payment made to auditors in the expenses of the company.
Sometime in the best interest of company, some expenses could be occurred for example if there is need of induction of a financial analyst in one region or if there is need of an Engineer then transfer and posting order can be issued and traveling and training expenses could be realized to employees.
SALARIES OF STAFF The monthly salary of the staff is rest with the approval of PTCL H.Q Islamabad. PTCL is spending lot of amount on the salaries. PRINTING AND STATIONARY CHARGES On printing of stationery PTCL spends reasonable amount. CONTRIBUTION IN PROVIDEND FUND There is also contribution in the provident fund from the PTCL.
FINANCE SYSTEM OF PTCL PTCL has magnificent finance structure; it is basically Product Oriented organization so here, the Revenue is the Life Blood as such for any other profit seeking organization. So we should have isolated the Revenue from Finance side or either we should consider the Finance in the context of Revenue. Finance activities can be evaluated in terms of PTCLs basic financial statements analyzing through:
Finance planning
On PTCL HQ Islamabad, SEVP (Finance) is, who with the concurrence with the CEO for making all the Finance Planning thats way the PTCL has to inject the money in order to boost up the business and in order to complete the stiff competition faced in the telecomm sector. Before taking any decision regarding financial planning the draft could be presented before the Board of Governors. In this section there is need of financing either in the WLL (wireless local loop) sector or wire-line or mobile operator services. Managing the PTCLs Asset structure PTCL is very organized organization and it has also its fixed as well with the current asset. So there are many experts in order to keep the eye watch on the PTCL infrastructure, for example Director (Fixed Assets) is responsible for the maintenance and repair of the building and machinery on the Regional level. Managing the PTCLs financial structure PTCL financial structure is in the safe hands the basic qualification for the post of Assistant Accounts Officer is MBA (Finance) and for the SEVP (Finance) the incumbent should possess the degree of MBA with ACMA & CA. Due to such fresh blood the young and energetic financial management taking some bold decision the results of which are awaited up till.
It may be noted that the company holds large amounts of cash and bank balances compared to the other companies in the business. This may provide an edge to the company over its competitors. Although the liquidity stance of the company is fairly satisfactory at the moment, but a continuation of the current negative trend may spell trouble for the company. The debt ratios of the company showed a decreasing trend in the FY07. The debt to asset ratio of the company had declined considerably in the FY05 but the trend reversed in the FY06, declining again in FY07. It is important to note, however, that the company maintains a largely unleveraged capital structure, with the current trend in debt ratios bought about largely by changes in current liabilities of the company. This was brought about mostly due to a decline in current liabilities of the company in the FY05 and an increase in the same in the FY06. The absence of the dividends payable portion of current liabilities in FY05 and its coming back online in FY06 was an important contributor to the trend. Furthermore, the FY06 also saw an increase in short-term borrowings of the company, complemented by increases in other components of current liabilities. Increases in assets, mainly arising from higher cash and bank balances, could not prevent the trend of the debt ratios. The financial strength of PTCL is evident from the healthy TIE ratio of the company. The TIE ratio of the company continued to rise in the FY06 despite lower profits during the period. However, it declined in FY07, as a result of decrease in profits as discussed before. This reflects the little ability of the company to pay off its liabilities as they become due. The major portion of debt arises from current liabilities. The DSO of PTCL has seen an upward trend throughout the period under analysis, except for the FY05 when an improvement was witnessed. The ratio jumped up considerably in the FY06, completely nullifying the effect of the decline in FY05, and exacerbating the already long collection period of the company. However, DSO showed a decline in FY07 showing that management of PTCL is constantly striving for improvement and enhancement despite stiff competition. As a result, the operating cycle has also decreased in FY07. The total assets turnover and sales to equity ratio of the company also declined in the FY06 as revenues shrunk during the period. Sales/equity declined with the increase in equity of the company. The EPS touched its lowest level in quarterly results of PTCL declining to 1.29. The lower net profit in the FY06 has resulted in a considerable decline in the EPS of the company. The EPS mirrored the 21.9% decline in the net profit of the company. The book value of the company continued o increase in the FY06 as assets increased with no change in the number shares issued by the company. The P/E ratio, however, registered a decline in the FY06. The Shareholders' equity has also shown a growth of 5.2% in FY07 as the net worth of the Company rose to Rs 110.91 billion. This positive growth was also reflected in the market capitalization of the company which increased by Rs 83.01 billion. Hence book value of the company rose in FY07 along with a rise in price earnings multiple.
Customer care is at the core of all PTCL activities. It is endeavor to provide customers services through various touch points for their ease, be it online, through phone or by visiting one of our locations. There are many facilities for ptcl customers but some are discussed here.
Customers can reach us by visiting one of our One Stop Shops (OSS) or Customer Service Centers (CSC). Offering one window operation, these One Stop Shops and Customer Service Centers are strategically located to ease the reach of our valued customers. In all, 19 OSS and 71 CSCs operate in selected cities and towns across Pakistan. Our courteous and friendly staff is trained to handle customers from varying backgrounds and different walks of lives. Equipped with our latest products and services our OSS/CSCs have been designed to facilitate customers and provide all the convenience under one roof. The following services are available at One Stop Shops and Customer Service Centers o o o o Order Booking (Telephone, Broadband, Smart TV) Sales (Wireless Local Loop and EVo Wireless Broadband) Billing Services Information Services
OSS Multan
One Stop Shop LMQ road Central Telephone exchange Dera Adda Multan.
Customer Assistance
Valued subscribers can simply dial 1200 from their home or office to access instant billing information of the required PTCL service. 1200 is a dedicated service to exclusively provide billing information.
PTCL Corporate Customer Centre is a one-point contact facility designed to give our valued Corporate Customers maximum convenience with personalized and prompt service. These centres will facilitate Corporate Customers in:
New service provisioning Maintenance support End-to-end communication solutions provisioning At Corporate Customer Centers, ptcl give business top-of-the-line telecommunication services.
Objectives:
PTCL has established Corporate Customer Centers to facilitate corporate customers. Currently, these centers have been established in Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore. Our aim is to provide better customer care through:
Swift processing of Corporate Customer requests. One window for all Telecom Services. Convenient registration procedure. Minimum documentation for hassle-free registration.
telephone bill is required for payment. Internet banking (Selected Banks): You can pay your telephone bill by using internet banking (if offered by your bank). Your Customer ID on telephone bill is required for payment. Direct Debit: You can instruct your bank or credit card issuing bank to deduct your telephone bill from your account as soon as the bill in delivered. You can subscribe to this facility by requesting your bank. Drop Box Facility: Drop boxes are available at selected branches of various banks. Customer can deposit cheque, (local, in favor of PTCL) attached with the monthly bill in the designated drop box.
NADRA Kiosks
Bill payment facility is available at NADRA Kiosk machines available across the country.
5 forces
Threat of New Entry
As government of Pakistan is showing liberalism in case of telecommunication sector and opened its policies to award new licensees to new mobile service providers so threat of new entry is high. As set-up cost is in billions of dollars so in this case threat of new entry is low, but there are companies who are working to achieve licenses and approaching PTA to know terms and conditions for this. As for this business companies need a well established distributions and franchises network so threat of new entrant is high in this case.
Cost of switching from one company package to other company package is low. Hence, power of buyers is high.
Competitive Rivalry
Currently there are six market players but in future they will be eight and nine or even more. Thruway satellite service is offering subscribers freedom of mobility and uninterrupted service. Thruways satellite technology supplements of existing mobile service providers, overcoming the challenges of large geographical areas and insurmountable terrain.
Market leadership in Local loop, Wireless local loop (WLL) and Fixed telephony. PTCL (Ufone) is market challenger in GSM segment. Ufone is performing well though Warid and Telenor are tough Competitors. PTCL, Ufones profitability increased by 49.2 percent to Rs 977 million in 1H/FY07 as compared to Rs 655 million in the corresponding period last. Competitors still depend on PTCL network either directly or Indirectly.
Weakness
Not been able to nurture its growth around customer Services oriented strategy. Not been able to nurture its growth around customer
Services oriented strategy. Monopolistic culture has further added to its complexities.
Paknet, the internet service provider arm of PTCL continues to incur losses due to poor management and lack of network optimization.
PTCL-V, the fixed wireless phone service is poor. Over employment & low productivity. Slow decision making including external interferences. Ability to Attract & Retain Quality Professionals.
Opportunities
Low teledensity of Pakistan. Have vast infrastructure and real estate assets which can be Leveraged further. Global connectivity reliability has been improved. PTCL is expanding the long distance and infrastructure side through Spreading out two sea-me-we submarine cables. Partnership with new entrants in a deregulated environment. Scope for efficient/cost effective operations.
Threats
Increased competition in long distance continues to exert Pressure.
Corporate Responsibility
PTCL employees donate One-Day salary for IDPs
Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited employees have contributed their one day salary that amounts Rs. 20 million for the support of internally displaced people of Swat and other affected areas. CEO and President of PTCL Mr. Walid Irshaid called on Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani at PMs House and presented him a cheque of Rs. 20 million on behalf of PTCL employees for PMs Special Fund for the Relief of Victims of Terrorism. While thanking PTCL employees for their generous contribution and appreciating their willingness to help IDPs, Mr. Waild Irshaid said that PTCL employees have exhibited their profound sense of sharing and empathy on this
occasion. This highly speaks of the strong commitment of our employees with this national cause. Contribution from our employees during these days specially donating one day salary for IDPs in these testing times shall be greatly helpful in mitigating IDPs miseries and will go a long way in their rehabilitation process.
PTCL President Mr. Walid Irshaid announces Rs 10 Million for National Press Club Islamabad
The president of PTCL, Walid Irshaid has said that PTCL was still one of the most profitable National organizations, despite all economic and financial crisis and back draws. Addressing the inaugural of the new building, alongside president NPC (National press Club), Tariq Chaudhry, general secretary Afzal Butt, and other luminaries, including SEVP PTCL Sikandar Naqi, EVP Ali Qadir Gilani. Walid Irshaid expressed the company's willingness and readiness to tackle any impending challenges with lan and preparedness. Mr. Walid Irshaid also assured press club about his full cooperation and assistance, and during the lunch hosted in his honor by NPC also announced a grant of Rs. 10 million, DSL Internet services, IPTV and other facilities He said that PTCL would continue to work for betterment of media in Pakistan, and also lauded media services rendered during the last few years
would also be able to access essential billing details through IVR by dialing 1200. PTCL Call center is also expected to start taking orders from customers for their itemized billing details. Subsequently, these details would be delivered to the customers through courier within a certain time frame. Dr. Sadik said, PTCL is determined to improve and build good relationship with its customers by providing novel and superior telecom products and services to its valued customers and is striving hard to meet their expectations.
PTCL, CISCO and NUST to establish Center of Excellence for Internet Technologies
Islamabad: Under the banner of PTCL, CISCO and NUST, Center of Excellence for Internet Technologies is being established at NUST SEECS, Islamabad. The Center a brainchild of Mr Walid Irshaid, President and CEO, PTCL - is to be set up in the state of the art. An MoU to this effect was signed yesterday by the three parties, with the Chief Guest being Dr Ata ur Rahman, Chairman HEC. The occasion was also graced by high officials from public sector, academia and industrial organizations. The ceremony was a huge success and PTCL, CISCO and NUSTs leading role in taking up new challenges to improve the quality of IT education in Pakistan was greatly lauded by members of academia, industry and the media present at the ceremony. Mr Sikander Naqi Executive Vice President Corporate Development speaking on the occasion said that by setting up such a Center, PTCL will be able to benefit from world class research that will be of immense value to them. In addition, the human resources that will be developed at this Center will be able to export their skills and expertise to the region and beyond. This will spur growth in the Pakistani IT sector, and will contribute towards enhancing the quality and quantity of exportable IT related skills to the global marketplace. The Center, staffed by researchers from NUST, will work closely with Cisco engineers in the US who will provide the thematic direction of the joint research. The Centers research is to be funded by the National ICT R&D fund. Dr. Qasim Sheikh, the CEO of ICT R&D fund, stated that his organization is pleased that PTCL, NUST and CISCO are forming a joint research group that will work on significant problems that are relevant to Pakistan. A research project under similar arrangements, funded by the National ICT R&D Fund, is currently underway with Cisco scientists and Pakistani researchers collaborating to develop open source tools for performance monitoring of network traffic. The output of this work has already generated An application for a US patent is being filed as a result of the work carried out during the course of that research. In addition to its research ambitions, the Center will also be providing high quality professional training courses to PTCL and other telecom companies.
FUTURE OUTLOOK: The privatization of PTCL and the transfer of control to the new owner, Etisalat carries important implications for the company. Etisalat has announced an aggressive 5-year expansion plan for the company and is viewing options to re-structure the organization, improve customer care, increase revenue, enhance cost control and change the mindset of employees to bring about a positive change in the operations and running of the company.
As a result of the expansion plans of the company, revenues are expected to grow at a rate of 8%-9%. The management is also striving for improvement in the field of asset management, with special focus towards revenue assurance and timely collection of overdue receivables and effective utilization of the assets of the company. A new Enterprise Resource Planning system along with a new billing and customer care system is also being implemented. Through these, measures, the company hopes to improve its profitability and productivity.
Since the deregulation of the telecom sector, PTCL is learning to survive in a more competent environment and respond effectively to these changes. Despite the deregulation, however, PTCL effectively remains a monopoly as it is the only fixed line service provider in the country. Moreover, the company has a fiber-optic network connecting over 700 cities, which can be used for data transmission and most broadband companies will require the use of this network, hence adding to the strength of the company.
PTCL realizes the commercial importance of the WLL or Wireless Local Loop technology and has therefore been increasing its capacity for WLL connections over the years. PTCL has also subsidized the costs of wireless telephone sets to gain maximum capacity utilization of its WLL connections but is facing competition from another large player in the sector. Moreover, with the tremendous attention towards and demand of mobile phone connections, increased focus on the subsidiary Ufone will be beneficial for the company.
The disguised increase in the local call rates of PTCL will not bode well in the future, as it will lead to lesser call traffic. Consumers will be disillusioned by the increase in call rates under the guise of shorter time duration for one call. The shift to the cellular services shall be more evident in the coming time.
The increased competition from deregulation has hit the profitability of the company as it is forced to reduce its calling rates to maintain its market position. In addition, NWD and International call revenues may decline further in the future due to new phone cards being available in the market. Since these cards are based on VoIP and charge lower rates than PTCL, they pose a threat to the company's profitability in future.
Although the current infrastructural developments undertaken by the company, such as increasing of
bandwidth from kbps (kilo bytes per second) to mbps (Mega bytes per second) and new additions to its product line are currently resulting in a drain on profits, but they are expected to generate considerable returns in the future. The company is also working on adopting new strategies to improve revenues. The company's decision to extend ISD facility to all customers has had a positive impact on international traffic. Incoming and outgoing traffic have by 27% and 148% respectively, a 10% growth in domestic leased lines revenue has also been recorded for the three month period. Moreover, the company is developing strategies to reduce operating costs and increase productivity. This includes the VSS (Voluntary separation scheme) provided to its employees, which the majority of the 65,000 employees of the company are eligible to avail.
In addition, Etisalat the management company plans to increase its share in the company from 26% to 51% in the near future.
With the large number of new entrants and large sums of Foreign Direct Investment flowing into the industry, the telecom sector has considerable potential for growth. The steps being taken by PTCL to improve cost efficiency and network capacity and service capability will enable the company to face the intense competition in the industry more effectively.