TTP asked cell company to install tower in one month

By Jawwad Rizvi

LAHORE: Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has asked one of the largest customer base cellular operator for commissioning company's BTS tower installed at Shaou Khail an area of Kurram Agency.The banned outfit written letter in Pashto and available with The News has threatened in a humble way for commissioning the tower within one month. The TTP in its letter gives assurance of the protection of the largest customer based cellular operators property if the company commissioned/on-air the BTS tower within one month after receiving this letter.The TTP's letter mentioned that if the company would not commission the BTS tower in the given time limit then the TTP would dismantle the BTS tower and all dismantled material would be deposited to Bait-ul-Maal.The News has translated the letter which reads: "First of all Salam and it is humbly requested that your Mobilink tower situated at SHAOU KHAIL is not yet commissioned (on-air), we assure you that the TTP will not harm any property or personal if it is commissioned with in one month, if it is not then tower will be dismantled and all dismantled material will be deposited to Bait-ul-Maal, Inshah Allh Tahla".The News has contacted the BTS tower site owner Malik Shareef Khan and asked him about the letter, he told some TTP representatives had delivered the letter at his residence. He said a representative of the TTP had reached to the area and asked about his house. "Abdul Wahab Khan owner of a medical store has informed him about my residence where the TTP representative delivered the letter to me from his commander Mula Muhammad Umar and TTP chief Baitullah Masood", Shareef disclosed."After receiving letter I have talked to a company official who asked me to sent the letter to him", he mentioned adding that after that whenever I called Mukthar said what company can do in this matter. However, the official assured me the company was trying to resolve the matter, Shareef told.He further informed that the company had installed BTS tower some six months ago but it was not operational till now and many times the locals had asked him when the company would commission the BTS tower. "People asked me when company give current to the tower", Shareef said.When The News contacted, spokesperson of the company said "in view of the prevailing adverse security environment, there are risks involved in sending technical teams for installation/repair of BTSs to certain areas. This subject has been already been taken up by the Ministry of Interior, Ministry of IT and PTA. That said, we evaluate such requests on a case-to-case basis and have forwarded the letter to our government relations team so that they can work with the authorities concerned", spokesperson added.

The News has published this news item on Feb 21 2009 in Lahore edition on Page 2

Pak-India trade through Wagah rises to $31m from $20m

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

By Jawwad Rizvi

LAHORE: Trade with India through Wagha border substantially increased in the first seven months (July 2008 to January 2009) of the current fiscal year as Pakistan imported around $31 million worth of goods compared to last year’s $20 million.According to official figures available with The News, a quantum jump has been recorded in import of different items from India through Wagha border this fiscal year. During the whole last fiscal, Pakistan imported goods worth $48.51 million through the route.Pakistan is importing tomato, potato, onion, meat, garlic, cotton, maize and animals from Wagha land route but exports nothing to India through land due to non-tariff barriers imposed by Delhi.The data depicted Pakistan had imported about $6 million worth of tomato with quantity of 31,354 tonnes. Besides that, 322 tonnes of meat, 88,485 tonnes of potato, 6,997 tonnes of cotton and 1,745 tonnes of maize had been imported.Compared to those, during the last fiscal year tomato import totaled 110,038 tonnes, onion 12,651 tonnes, meat 4,570 tonnes, potato 1,243 tonnes, cotton 1,921 tonnes, maize 7,100 tonnes and 3,791 animals.No import of onion took place in December and January while last year traders had imported 12,651 tonnes of onion on in these two months due to scarcity and lower price offered by Indian traders. However, this year no major shortage of onion has occurred but it is expected that traders would import the commodity in the coming days following its shortage in the local market.Imran, an importer of vegetables from India, said trade in vegetables with Delhi was only seasonal. “Pakistani traders import some seasonal vegetables through India when these are scarce as they get good price during scarcity while in crop season import of vegetables through India is not a viable business,” he said.Currently, only tomato was a major item being imported from India. Import of potato had sharply come down and almost ended in February after the government imposed import duty in order to protect local farmers, he said.Meanwhile, porters and customs officials deputed at Wagha border said tensions with India after Mumbai attacks in Nov last year had no major impact on Wagha trade. “The Indians are wise enough and know that they are gaining from this route. That is why they have not imposed any restrictions on their exporters,” one commented.

20pc increase in power tariff likely from June

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

By Jawwad Rizvi

LAHORE: The Pakistan Electric Power Company (Pepco) has sought 20 per cent increase in power tariff, which is expected to be implemented from June 2009. Pepco had already increased the power tariff for the domestic consumers by 54 to 108 per cent during the last two years and increased its revenue generation up to Rs 300 billion with this increase. The News has learnt that Pepco has requested the government to further increase the power tariff to pay off the circular debts of the company, which had emerged after four years of stagnant power tariff (2003-07) during the previous regime. Official notifications of Pepco showed that the power tariff for 100 units and below consumers had increased by 54 per cent, up to 300 units 70.27 per cent, up to 400 units 68.91 per cent, up to 500 units 68.46 per cent and up to 1,000 units and above 108.06 per cent. The bill of 100-unit consumers inclusive of all taxes in February 2007 was Rs 269.61 which has now been increased to Rs 415. The bill of 300 units was Rs 966, which has reached Rs 1,599, for 400 units the bill has increased to Rs 2,547 from Rs 1,508, 500 units bill to Rs 3,495 from Rs 2,076, 700 units bill to Rs 5,392 from Rs 3,211 and 1,000 units bill to Rs 8,267 from Rs 3,971. The per unit price for 100-unit consumers in 2007 was Rs 2.69 that has reached Rs 4.15, for 300-unit consumers it was increased from Rs 3.13 to Rs 5.32, for 400 units from Rs 3.77 to Rs 6.36, for 500 units from Rs 4.15 to Rs 6.99, for 700 units from Rs 4.58 to Rs 7.70 per unit and for 1,000 units from Rs 3.97 to Rs 8.26 per unit. Sources in the Finance Ministry said in June the unit price would be again raised for every slab with 20 per cent increase in tariff. They said the government had already committed to the International Monetary Fund to waive all subsidies from electricity and petroleum products. Therefore, the government will announce the new electricity tariff in June. According to the consumption-based billing formula used in the world, the unit price decreases with an increase in consumption, while in Pakistan it is exactly the opposite as the unit price increases with the increase in consumption.

Lesco fails to recover Rs1.8bn of December bill

Monday, February 16, 2009

By Jawwad Rizvi

LAHORE: Lahore Electricity Supply Company (Lesco) failed to meet the target of recovering Rs 8.4878 billion in December and collected Rs 6.6860 billion from its billing amount. The Lesco had not recovered Rs 1.8018 billion from different government and private institutions during the month of December which is 20 per cent below the actual billing amount. The recovery position from the government institutions remained poor in the month. According to the official figures available to The News, the Lesco had failed to recover even 50 per cent billing amount from the public institutions. The company has issued Rs 641.1 million bills to the public sector customers and it had recovered only Rs 301 million only.The company has recovered Rs 183.5 million from billing amount of Rs 240 million in Gulshan Ravi Division, Rs 386.8 million from Rs 452.4 million in Ferozewala Division, Rs 199.8 million from Rs 251 million in Ravi Road Division, Rs 179.7 million from Rs 226.3 million in Data Darbar Division, Rs 195.7 million from Rs 246.1 million in Badami Bagh Division, Rs 374.3 million from Rs 488.4 million in Township Division, Rs 179.9 million from Rs 224.4 million in Raiwind Division, Rs 323.5 million from Rs 414.3 million in Allama Iqbal Town Division, Rs 169 million from Rs 224.9 million in Samanabad Division, Rs 228.3 million from Rs 325.7 million in Civil Lines Division, Rs 240.4 million from Rs 302.6 million in Shalimar Division, Rs 224.3 million from Rs 281 million in McLeod Road Division, Rs 316.2 million from Rs 376.3 million in Baghbanpura Division, Rs 183.4 million from Rs 236.9 million in Mughalpura Division, Rs 485.1 million from Rs 578.2 million in Gulberg Division, Rs 332.7 million from Rs 420.3 million in Defence Road Division and Rs 194.2 million from Rs 243.7 million in Ferozepur Road Division. A senior official of the Pakistan Electric Power Company (PEPCO) disclosed that the company has issued instructions to all the distribution companies to gear-up their recovery campaign and ensure their all outstanding dues against their customers should be cleared before June 2009. He said the Advisor to Prime Minister for Finance Shaukat Tareen has instructed the PEPCO officials in a recent meeting to clear Rs 39 billion outstanding before June 2009 so that the PEPCO has asked the DISCOs to gear up the recovery campaign and not make instalments in current billing and also recovered the previous amount without any discrimination. He further said the recovery position of December is relatively improved from the past months of all the DISCOs and hoped that the DISCOS would further improve it after the instructions of the PEPCO.

UK foresees better economic outlook for Pakistan

British deputy high commissioner says UK government is encouraging its companies to invest in Pakistan

Sunday, February 15, 2009

By Jawwad Rizvi

LAHORE: British Deputy High Commissioner and Director UK Trade and Investment in Pakistan Robert W Gibson has said the UK government is foreseeing better economic and investment outlook in Pakistan and encouraging its companies to make investments here.Pakistan has great investment potential and the British government is not issuing strict travel advisory for Pakistan to its nationals as compared to other western countries.“British investors can travel to Pakistan comfortably except a few troubled areas,” Gibson said adding, keeping the importance of Pakistan’s economic and investment outlook in mind the UK government is likely to announce an investment package for Pakistan.In an interview with The News after a reception hosted by Moody International to the elite of the business community of Pakistan on fostering trade and investment and to acknowledge contribution of British companies in Pakistan, Gibson pointed out that British entrepreneurs working in Pakistan were having continued interest to work and safeguard their businesses and were looking forward to opportunities to further increase their operations by expanding existing projects and explore new avenues for investment.Responding to a question of future credit rating of Pakistan Gibson said, “It is not my duty to tell about the credit rating of the country but existing economic scenario is showing a positive outlook of Pakistan,” he said adding that so British government recommending the Britain companies for making investments in Pakistan. Gibson said “Pakistan has excellent regulatory regime for investors and I’m identifying these opportunities for British companies.” He further said that the Britain is determined to retain liberal trade markets. He added that a good number of UK companies are keen to invest in Pakistan in different sectors. Responding to a question on market access for Pakistan in the West, the Director of UK Trade and Investment said the Britain would certainly want to have such an arrangement with Islamabad. However, being part of the European Union (EU), Britain is bound to the decisions of Brussels on any such facility, he added in the same breath.British envoy proudly disclosed that 100 British companies with an investment portfolio of 1.7 billion dollars are operational in Pakistan over the last four years. According to him, Pakistan, with a population of 170 million, is a market with huge potential and the UK is keen to invest further here.Similarly, the Britain will provide some 480 million pounds for social uplift with a focus on poverty alleviation in Pakistan during the next three years, Gibson said adding that there is no problem for making investments in Pakistan. “There are only some areas of Pakistan where law and order is a problem while in the rest of the country there is no issue,” he said. The British government has been motivating their business people to make investments in Pakistan, said Robert W Gibson. Talking about the economic recession, he said a global solution is needed to overcome global recession.

Telecom sector starts cutting jobs

Mobile operators deny retrenchment

Sunday, February 15, 2009

By Jawwad Rizvi

LAHORE: Pakistan’s telecom sector, which flourished during the last five years and created numerous highly paid jobs, is now feeling the heat of economic crisis and has started laying off employees.This is not surprising as international telecom industry is already cutting jobs to cut their operational costs as worldwide recession strikes many countries. Both mobile phone manufacturers and cellular service providers are slashing their staff in the wake of declining profits.The International Labour Organisation in its 2009 report has expressed concern that under the present label of global recession 20 million jobs would be wiped off by the end of this year. However, if the recession further deepened, in the worst case scenario, the reduction in jobs could touch 50 million, an eye opener for Pakistan as well.The same thing has started happening in Pakistan also. Though there is no mobile phone manufacturing company, sales offices of almost every manufacturer are operating here. Cellular service providers are also facing numerous difficulties to maintain their cost in a scenario when new investments are not forthcoming and Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) has been declining every passing day.The News has found that different cellular service providers had recently laid off their employees. Industry sources revealed Mobilink, having the largest customer base, cut jobs from the administration and security department. The company removed its permanent employees in a bid to cut operational costs.Similarly, UAE-based company Warid has terminated the services of over 250 employees from its sales and marketing departments while China-based company Zong has laid off some 30 people from its sales department. The company had shown the door to sales team officials of Lahore, Faisalabad, Multan and Bahawalpur.However, representatives of all cellular operators denied there was any job cuts in their companies and said they had no plan to lay off staff in the near future.Telecom sector people said no new investments had been pouring in the industry due to economic crisis. Besides that, a price war among the operators has started which has reduced profit margins. Similarly, ARPU has dropped to $2.7 from $9 in 2004 because of economic downturn which is also a big blow to the sector.Director Sales Zong Berkat Ullah talking about job cuts in the company said there was no lay-offs in the south region of the company. However, “I don’t know about job cuts in sales department of the central region,” he added.On the issue of price war, he said for a consumer price war was beneficial. “The company has entered into a cut-throat competition and creating troubles for others.”Director People Excellence Telenor Pakistan Haroon Bhatti, responding to The News queries, said the company had not planned any job cuts. “We have planned our workforce carefully and are a lean organisation. Hiring people on short-term goals and then laying them off is a painful process. Telenor do everything in its capacity to avoid a situation of cutting jobs,” he added. He further said the company had not shed any of its staff and not planned to do so in the future. Haroon Bhatti said the global economic slowdown was having an impact on business world-wide. However, through prudent hiring and by keeping long-term business in view, “we don’t have to lay off people.”Ufone spokesman Moazzam Ali Khan said the company had always been a very efficiently managed organisation and therefore had never built any fat in any area. “We therefore do not plan or foresee any job cuts and has not shed any staff so far.“Pakistan’s telecom industry has been impacted by the international economic crunch because of its reliance on international technology and vendors,” he said, adding “we are, however, getting more affected by local inflationary pressures and taxation changes.” He said, “for the first time in the last 19 years this industry has seen a contraction in the size of subscribers and pressure on revenues and costs is becoming a worry for all the players.”Similarly, Mobilink spokesperson rejected the notion of job cuts during the last six months. “The global economic crunch and overall inflationary trends have affected the entire economy and the telecom sector is no exception. However at Mobilink, our employees are our greatest asset. Our strong value and support system when it comes to looking after our employees is what has earned us the Most Preferred Telecom Employer 2008,” she said.However, Warid spokesperson opined that the situation had worsened the world over due to the economic crisis but the same was not reflected in Pakistan’s economy because the country’s market dynamics were different from developed nations. “In future no job cuts will take place in Warid, however cut in the revenue of telecom industry is reflected in the planned or current downsizing of surplus employees in some companies,” she added.

China Mobile pleads for LDI licence

Saturday, February 14, 2009

By Jawwad Rizvi

LAHORE: The Zong management urged Federal Minister for Investment Senator Waqar Ahmed Khan to resolve the long-delayed matter by PTA for issuance of LDI licence to China Mobile Pakistan. It pointed out that despite getting approval from the prime minister and the cabinet and clear directives of the Ministry of Information & Technology, the PTA has refused to issue LDI licence to China Mobile. This refusal could limit investment in this sector of the industry. The federal minister for investment has visited ZONG’s Head Office with Ambassador of China Luo Zhaohui as part of the efforts by China to apprise the government of the level of Chinese investment in the country. The sources revealed that on the occasion, the ambassador urged the government to intervene in this regard in order to provide level playing field to all the stakeholders in the cellular industry keeping in view the long-term friendship and close ties between both the countries. He pointed out that President Asif Ali Zardari is due to visit China during the last week of February during which he is expected to meet Chinese investors especially from the power and telecommunications sector and explore new areas of cooperation. President Zardari had earlier visited China during October 2008 during which a number of Chinese investors had pledged investments in Pakistan. He said the ZONG is China Mobile’s first venture outside of China and has attracted attention not only in the global cellular arena, but also international finance experts and investment houses. The sources said during visit the minister appreciated the plans of the company to invest another $500 million in the country’s economy during 2009 in the areas of building new network capacity of more than 20 million customer base and other infrastructure. Similarly, Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Zong Zafar Usmani in his briefing informed the minister that the company had so far invested $1.66 billion in Pakistan and has generated more than 1,700 direct and over 40,000 indirect jobs in the country.