PTCL and WTISD 2011 theme: Better life in rural communities with ICT

ICTs are increasingly in demand to meet the Millennium Development Goals. In the rural context, ICTs provide enhanced opportunities to generate income and combat poverty, hunger, ill health and illiteracy. We know that half of the world's population resides in far flung communities in rural districts.
These people represent the poorer, less educated, and most deprived. Indeed, latest figures indicate that as many as 70 per cent of the developing world's 1.4 billion extremely poor people live in rural areas. They are also among the least connected to the benefits of ICTs.
We cannot allow this situation to continue and as the leading specialised telecommunication company of the Pakistan PTCL looks towards its members to raise awareness of the role of ICTs in creating fresh opportunities for a better life through long-term, sustainable development, not least among the most vulnerable sections of the society. ICTs are key instruments in improving governance and rural services, such as providing community health care, safe drinking water and sanitation, education, food and shelter; improving maternal health and reducing child mortality; empowering women and the more vulnerable members of society; and ensuring environmental sustainability.
As ICTs increasingly dictate lifestyles and behaviour patterns and power the growth of trade and commerce, rural communities must not be allowed to fall behind cities in their quest for connectivity. Developing a global partnership for development and using the power of ICTs to meet the MDGs is a goal in itself. So it's the time to pull together every conceivable resource to ensure that rural communities world-wide are fully connected to ICTs. Acting as catalysts, ICTs open the door to myriad solutions in the quest for a more productive and better life in our rural communities. In this regard Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited has played a major role in bridging up the digital divide it has taken the major initiatives to upgrade its network connecting the small tiny villages to the rest of the world believing that ICTs are means of providing accessible and affordable information and education, while empowering marginalized groups to play a crucial role in the economic development. PTCL Broadband aims to deliver these social and economic benefits of ICTs to the underserved areas, thus helping achieve Government's objective of breaking the poverty cycle and eliminating the social divide.
Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited is the largest telecommunication company in Pakistan it holds the status of backbone for country's telecommunication infrastructure. It operates in one of the most dynamic, deregulated and competitive markets in the world; and intends to be the leading ICT provider in the region by achieving customers' satisfaction and maximising shareholders' value. It is ever ready to connect to new technologies, build new partnerships & embrace the future as it comes.
Internally it gives a new zeal to its employees to stimulate the mindset change from a technology & operations focused company to a competitive carrier that has customer services as its hallmark. PTCL made several investments in infrastructure development and added network capacity to enhance services and expand its reach across the country and has the largest nation-wide network infrastructure capability including switching, transmission, Fibre optic backbone, co-location and international capacity.
Customer services as its hallmark. PTCL made several investments in infrastructure development and added network capacity to enhance services and expand its reach across the country and has the largest nation-wide network infrastructure capability including switching, transmission, Fibre optic backbone, co-location and international capacity.
This gives PTCL a unique position in terms of providing to carriers and individual consumers alike. With the introduction of Vfone, the new CDMA based WLL platform of PTCL, is poised to become the largest fixed wireless telephony network in Pakistan. Broadband Pakistan offers DSL services with unmatched reliability, affordability and connectivity. Customers have the option to packages with varying speeds from 512Kb to 2Mb with unlimited downloads. As part of offering converged services, expanding its service portfolio and improving customer retention and acquisition.
PTCL initiated the multi-channel Inter Protocol Television (IPTV) project during 2006-07. This is a landmark addition to the PTCL service portfolio and enables the company to provide Triple Play services over a single fixed line connection. With IPTV the customer is provided with a single interface to satisfy his communication and entertainment needs along with single billing. Keeping in mind customer convenience, PTCL is actively engaged in bringing an array of bill payment options to its customers. Moreover, PTCL has introduced a variety of valued added services while a number of others are in the pipeline.
On the technical front, PTCL has laid an Optical Fibre Access Network in the major metropolitan centres of Pakistan and local loop services have started to be modernised and upgraded from copper to an optical network. PTCL has invested in the capacity of two SEA-ME-WE 3 & 4 submarine cables to meet the increasing demand of international traffic.
PTCL, as a socially responsible corporate entity, has been pursuing different social causes touching on areas of culture, sports, music, environment and general welfare by supporting different initiatives. It understands the need to communicate effectively and efficiently at all levels of society & its various products are catering for the needs of the Pakistan corporate market as well as rural communities which have revolutionised communication. PTCL has always believed in a solid commitment to growth, security and reliability.
In short PTCL new products & innovative schemes promise a bright future for Pakistan's telecommunication sector and the rural section in particular because one needs to be connected to the world, to have an eye on the world in order to see what's happening & PTCL is committed to be the link that allows global communication as it has always addressed the customers needs in terms of quality, reliability & customer service. PTCL gives its customers innovative strong services & has always showed sound management & a clear strategic direction along with an extremely strong performance demonstrating revenue generation in the country; undoubtedly PTCL has immense potential to be an instrumental agent in Pakistan's economic growth.