Qubee plans to expand its advanced internet technology to millions of customers in various cities in Pakistan by the end of the year with the investment of US $150 million, said Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) of Augere Holdings, Alistair Johnston, on Thursday.
Briefing journalists at a local hotel, he unfolded Qubee's future plans to be executed during the calendar year. Qubee is a 100 percent shareholder subsidiary of Augere. Johnston designed a roadmap to reach millions of customers in developing countries including Pakistan with the broadband internet technology in a short span.
The total investment of the company will be increased to $150 million by the end of current year, he said. The expansion in operations will offer business ventures and employment opportunities to the local people in this highly advanced technology field, Johnston said.
He explained Qubee was focusing on developing countries. Broadband subscribers were increasing in Pakistan and had crossed one million mark. Pakistan is a potential market for internet broadband, he said. "We are looking forward towards adding more professionals to our staff," Johnston said, adding the number of employees in the company will increase to 1,000 by end of this year.
He recounted the rapid growth of services and network of Qubee since its beginning, saying that the broadband operator started its operations from Karachi with four sales centers situated in different areas and has now enhanced its services into four cities with 45 customers care centers in the last year. Qubee has outlets at 27 different locations in Karachi. In Lahore, its outlets have been set up at 11 spots and the rest of the outlets were established in different areas of Islamabad and Rawalpindi.
The network infrastructure has been widened significantly and now Qubee offers one of the lowest broadband rates in the country with uninterrupted connectivity and extensive download capacity, CMO Augere said. The tariff starts from Rs 750 for 512 Mps with no activation charges. The services are currently available in Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad and Rawalpindi, he said. "Home users are our main customers though we have been entered in different deals with academic institutes, small-sized business in Karachi," he said.
According to a study, more than 80 percent of the internet users consume less than 5 GB every month. In one GB as many as 20,000 pages are downloaded; 100-hour surfing could be done; seven-hour videos can be watched and 80 hours can be spent over online games.