Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Telenor Pakistan, Irfan Wahab Khan on Tuesday announced to shift 80 percent of its network on 4G by next year with aggressive investment in the pipeline. He said this while briefing the media persons about Telenor Pakistan's new campus - 345, which is built with $80 million.
"Telenor's foreign direct investment (FDI) in Pakistan currently stands at $3.5 billion and the momentum would be continued in the coming years to achieve the goals of fostering a larger digital and financial inclusion in the country," said the CEO Telenor.
"Telenor is continuously transforming its workplace to be innovative and inspire new ideas," said Khan, adding that for them innovation goes beyond the sophisticated equipment and high-tech settings, though they have the best of both here at the new campus; the innovative and collaborative working environment have developed which give employees the freedom and flexibility to create solutions that supplement their ambitions.
He said it took 12 years to roll out 2G in the country, 3 years to roll out 3G, while covered one third with 4G in one year and envisaging to reach 80 percent by the next year. Though it would require huge investment, at the same time it would connect the far-flung areas through voice as well as data connectivity, he added.
Rejecting the notion of building monopoly in the telecom sector, the CEO Telenor said that Pakistan is one of the best competitive markets to work with the lowest voice and data tariffs. He said that Telenor has emerged as Pakistan's primary digital lifestyle partner, as it continues to lead the country's ICT-powered digital revolution.
With best-in-class mobile broadband and aggressive 4G rollout with intelligent use of spectrum catering to both data and voice customers, Telenor is constantly reaching out to the previously unserved people and making the most of communications technology for a larger social impact.
Chief Technology Officer Telenor Pakistan Khurrum Ashfaque, briefing the media about its network operations center said that the center makes real-time monitoring of Telenor Pakistan's network possible to cater to any changes on the go. Ashfaque also gave a demonstration of License Assisted Access (LAA) trial of 4.5G services active in selected areas of 345.
"As we aim our 4G services to cover over two-third of our network in 2018, we are constantly introducing new and improved services to our customers that supplement our expansion efforts. As an example to efficiently meet the future data requirements of indoor customers, Telenor Pakistan has performed and successfully completed a field trial of License Assisted Access, which is 4.5G functionality," he added.
The Telenor official further said that the facility is designed considering all kinds of environment friendly, sustainable and energy efficient solutions, which depicts Telenor Pakistan's commitment and responsible conduct to the environment. Some of the eco-friendly features of the building are designed in accordance with ASHRAE 189.1; a stringent standard for design of high performance green buildings.
The building is consciously oriented north-south to avail maximum benefits of solar path and seasonal variations. Some 783 photovoltaic panels on the roofs contribute renewable energy in excess of 10% of the total power requirement of the facility.
Built on 15.5 acres of land and with workspace for over 1300 people, 80 multi-rooms, 20 project rooms and 32 fully-equipped meeting rooms all in a serene neighborhood, Telenor Headquarters "345" is not only an architectural landmark but it also sets new standards for the construction industry in Pakistan, he added.
Lots of deliberations and diligence have gone into the planning and design process to make the new facility an exciting and creative workplace that inspires. The campus has a fitness center, a daycare facility, a medical room, a library, retiring rooms, a startup garage, numerous exploration zones, social zones, a cafeteria, a beautiful coffee shop, open terraces, gaming zones, a parking facility for over 500 vehicles, a pit stop for employee services and much more. For sure it sets Telenor apart from everyone else in the industry.
The charming lush green lawns on the outdoors with hundreds of trees and the spectacularly crafted stepped ponds inside and outside the building with its sparkling water draws its inspiration from the "Baolis" making this an invigorating workplace. The strong blend of indoors and outdoors make a timeless design that continuously drives passion and vitality. All in all 345 is so planned that it fosters a culture of knowledge sharing, cooperation, collaboration and creativity.
In-house drinking water system with its multi-tier filtration arrangement and recycling of grey & black water for irrigation purposes has been developed. Use of LED lights, provision of occupancy sensors, day light compensation sensors, light timers, use of double glazed low-E glass façade, low flow plumbing fixtures and choices of energy efficient devices in the electro-mechanical systems.
A high-grade thermal insulation used in the building envelope will supplement keeping the house cold in summers and hot in winters. Heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) consumes a big proportion of the total power supplied into a building; therefore, special considerations were made in selection of energy efficient solutions for the HVAC systems including the use of active chilled beams for cooling of work zones.
A modern dedicated outdoor air systems, deployed on the roofs, not only supply abundant chilled fresh air into the building but its recovery wheels recover heating and cooling from the outgoing ventilated air for added efficiency. For design, Telenor held architects competition and got 6 proposals from 5 architectural firms, selection committee from TP/TG/independent architects, selected Arcop due to campus style/modular design/best utilization of space according to Telenor workplace model/design sync with local environment yet modern.
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