Warid Telecom likely to jump into 4G

[Saifullah Sani]

In a move that will certainly take everyone by surprise, Warid Telecom – the only cellular service provider in the country that refrained from participating in the April 23 spectrum auction – is gearing up to launch Long-Term Evolution (LTE) or 4G services in top five cities by end of May, The Express Tribune has learned.
Warid is very close to launching 4G services in Pakistan, sources with direct knowledge of the subject confirmed on the condition of anonymity. The Pakistani subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Group has been in talks with the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), the telecom sector’s regulatory body, for launching LTE service on its existing network – this was also confirmed by a top government official.
Now the question here is whether they can do it without acquiring a 4G/LTE spectrum from the PTA? The answer would be a yes.
Warid has a very low subscriber base – less than 10% of Pakistan’s 132.3 million cell phone subscriptions as of January 2014. About 50% of the company’s network, therefore, remains unutilised, giving it the capacity to hold additional traffic on the same network. Moreover, the company already has 8.8 megahertz (MHz) bandwidth in the 1800 MHz spectrum – the same frequency, which the PTA has chosen for the roll-out of 4G technology.
Since the company has a technology-neutral licence, all it needs is an official permit from its regulator to launch an LTE service on its existing network – the process, in tech terms, is known as re-farming.
“Warid would have announced their plans to launch 4G on the auction day, had the PTA approved their request,” said an official who requested not to be named for he was not authorised to disclose this information.
“The PTA’s response has been encouraging and it’s expected that soon after due approvals from the former, the company will be testing 4G services on its network most likely by the end of May,” the official said, adding that the PTA needs time to sell the unsold spectrum before it could give a go ahead to Warid.
Though all of this plan is subject to the PTA’s approval, Warid has been gearing up to introduce 4G services around the same time that Zong – the only operator to have acquired a 4G licence in the country – is likely to come up with its 4G offers.
“Warid is in final talks with all the leading smartphone brands in Pakistan for 4G-supported handsets,” the official said – these brands include Samsung, HTC, Nokia, Sony Ericsson, LG, Google Nexus, Huawei and Apple’s authorized resellers in Pakistan, he said.
Sample handsets, dongles and USBs have been bought for 4G testing in certain locations, according to the official. The Huawei cloud – which receives 4G signal and converts them to Wifi – is also an option.
“The company is expected to launch a trade program too, to replace existing handsets with the LTE handsets,” the official said.
The official further said that the orders had been placed with existing vendors for 4G sims and testing is in process.
A top government official confirmed that Warid has the required licence to deploy 4G services but insisted that the company would have to adhere to the rules and regulations set for deployment of these services. “The company would have to comply with the PTA’s requirement for technology roll-out, network quality and legal intercept compliance,” he concluded.
Warid is the only company with a 100% backend support from a European vendor – the company’s hardware comes from Sweden-based Ericson which is one of the world’s top telecom equipment makers. The company enhanced its network in 2012, which resulted in improved quality for its current Edge technology.
“Warid has been an urban-centric cellular service provider and it will most likely continue this strategy,” the official – not the government source – said, after being asked whether switching to LTE network would restrict the company’s outreach.
“The hype surrounding the company’s acquisition has died down already and it has performed above industry average – in terms of sales – during last six months,” the official said.
This rebuilt investor’s interest in the company, he said, adding that this would guarantee more investment towards infrastructure upgrade if need be.

Behind the scenes: Warid Telecom likely to jump into 4G – The Express Tribune

 

[ali_raza]

i hope they would be successfull cos it will be wini win for both

 

[jay89]

But this wont be fair, like all the other companies actually went through a clean biding system and now how without entering the in the bids they can get 4G on their current network. I smell corruption there should be a clean process to authorize them.

 

[Dubious]

@WebMaster @Aeronaut @Jungibaaz @Manticore @nuclearpak @Oscar can we merge these Warid 4G threads:

Behind the scenes: Warid Telecom likely to jump into 4G

Warid set to launch 4G LTE services, with PTA approval

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) accepted Warid Telecom’s plea to permit it to launch 4G services in the country.

The PTA had held auctions for 3G and 4G network licences on April 23 - a process in which Warid did not participate in. The bids of four mobile operators of Pakistan qualified for the auction of 3G and 4G namely Mobilink, Telenor, Ufone and Zong.

Warid had previously already obtained a spectrum that would allow the roll-out of 4G. The company's existing licence, which was acquired in 2004, is also technology neutral.

While Warid planned to launch 4G LTE (long-term evolution) to compete with the 3G/4G licence-holders, the PTA had insisted that the company needed permission from the regulator for the introduction of the new service.

It was earlier expected that PTA may withhold Warid's request for permission to go for the launch of 4G (LTE) considering the interests of other cellular companies who bought the (3G/4G) licences for $1.12 billion.

Zong and other cellular companies have serious reservations over this decision by the PTA, as they paid heavily during the bid and also invested their time.

Reacting to the announcement, Zong held a press conference and lashed out at PTA's decision. While Zong would require at least a year to offer a complete new array of services to its customers, Warid could easily launch its service within months after the PTA’s permission.

Warid set to launch 4G LTE services, with PTA approval - Pakistan - DAWN.COM

 

[IceCold]

This is unfair to these companies who have invested heavily in the bid, but than again its Pakistan where anything is possible. Pathetic on part of PTA

 

[Secur]

What is the bit about buying the said spectrum back in 2005 ? What happened back then ?

 

[Pakistanisage]

Just to make it Fair to the recent 4 bidders, Warid's application should be approved after these four have had a chance to market their 4G Services.

 

[alibaz]

Some thing very unfair and why would someone bid for something in future. This is pure cheating.

 

[farhanalee7]

PTA clarifies its position on Warid’s 4G ads
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has for the first time clarified its position in response to Warid Telecom’s advertisement of its 4G/LTE services.

The four companies that took part in the 3G/4G auction of the next-generation technologies had expressed concern over Warid advertising 4G services.

PTA Chairperson Dr Ismail Shah briefed The Express Tribune about the complex issue on Sunday.

“The existing Warid license is technology neutral but it does not mean that it is service neutral,” Dr Shah said.

He said that all newly launched services require proper consent from PTA, for which Warid will have to send a proper request to the authority.

PTA will then consider such a request based on the license conditions and on the greater interests of the cellular industry, specially the bidders who had participated in the 3G/4G spectrum auction.

The offer of 4G/LTE services by Warid will have to go through a process as per their license and PTA’s requirements of assurance of proper coverage, quality of service, enhanced monitoring requirements and commencement permissions.

“Warid should provide details about how much spectrum would be carved out from the 8.8 MHz in 1800 band for LTE services and its impact on the existing GSM/GPRS/EDGE customers,” Dr Shah said, adding that not all releases of LTE are 4G.

Specific information about the version of LTE to be deployed have to be provided by Warid Telecom, the PTA chief said. “No plan has been shared with PTA yet.”

Without these details being made available, the claims made in Warid’s advertisement cannot be endorsed in any manner, he added.

The PTA on May 3 had accepted Warid Telecom’s plea that it has no need to obtain a new licence to launch 4G services.

The PTA chairperson had said that Warid Telecom had approached the authority to start 4G service without obtaining any new licence. “However, we have asked the company to share its detailed work-out plan with the PTA,” Shah has said.