NTC, Telenor to ensure 3G/4G, data services in remote parts

ISLAMABAD, July 6 (APP): National Telecommunication Corporation
(NTC) and Telenor would provide internet dongles, mobile handsets
and SIM cards services in order to ensure 3G/4G and data facilities in remote areas.
In this regard, both NTC – an official ICT services provider
and Telenor on Thursday signed an agreement to provide such services
where NTC infrastructure is not available.
The signing ceremony was attended by Brig (R) Viqar Rashid
Khan, Managing Director NTC and Irfan Wahab, CEO Telenor Pakistan.
The agreement was signed by respective delegates.
NTC is an official IT & Telecom service provider for
government of Pakistan and has been granted Integrated Long Distance
International (LDI) License to provide ICT services to armed forces,
Defense Projects, Federal Government, and Provincial Governments or
as the Federal Government may determine.
NTC is committed to provide secure, efficient and state-of-
the-art ICT services to its valued subscribers.
On the occasion, Viqar Rashid Khan said that since its
inception, NTC has continued to provide the most innovative ICT
services to all government departments.
He said secure ICT infrastructure provided by NTC will
facilitate subscribers in automating and thereby, improving its
management and processes.
Highlighting the achievements during past four years, Viqar
Rashid Khan said NTC is the first operator in Pakistan to establish
a Cloud Based National Data Center for public sector.
NTC has witnessed unprecedented financial growth of 359 %
during 2015-16 and an increase in broadband subscriber base by
36 %.
NTC has extended its services from 54 districts/cities to 87
including underdeveloped districts in Sindh and Balochistan.
The number of exchanges increased from 139 in 2012-13 to 260 in
2016, thereby registering overall 87 % increase.
NTC utilized 99% of its Annual Development Programme (ADP)
budget in 2016-17 and also NTC is the first to use M2M and P2P
networks for extending fixedlines and data connectivity. NTC has
already resumed the international gateway operations.
Large scale Wide Area Networks of CDNS, Election Commission, State Bank,
AGP and other strategic organizations have been established.
Pertinent to mention, NTC has also signed a Service Provider
License Agreement (SPLA) with Microsoft to provide SaaS in the
country through its cloud based National Data Centre.
NTC is pursuing strategic partnership with private operators
in telecom industry to bring new services for its subscribers.
NTC has introduced new apps like Go-Smart for its customers and
have extended 3G/4G Mobile data connectivity to its subscribers
under Public Private Partnership.
He also briefed about future plans and projects of NTC
which include establishment of strategically vital submarine cable
landing station at Gwadar as an alternate route to existing network.
NTC further envisions expanding its network to all districts
of Pakistan within the next 3 to 4 years. NTC is also managing
Country Code Top Level Domain (CCTLD) for Urdu and local languages.
NTC will continue to serve through reliable and secure telecom
infrastructure to safeguard against cyber threats. NTC is committed
to achieving `Digital Pakistan’ – a vision of Prime Minister
Muhammad Nawaz Sharif.
Telenor started its operation in Pakistan in 2005 for
provision of GSM services. Telenor Pakistan has reported a
subscriber base of over 36 million, making it Pakistan’s second
largest mobile operator.
Telenor is an international telecom service provider of high
quality voice and data services across Europe and Asia. Telenor
Group is among the largest mobile operators in the world with 180
million mobile subscriptions and a workforce of approximately
33,000.