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

ISLAMABAD: 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, Defence 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.