The Norwegian mobile phone transnational, Telenor, has claimed that in the first quarter of this year it has taken a big stride and covered 32 million of Pakistan population with 343,000 subscribers. The cellphone service provider was launched here on March 15, 2005, and its first quarter period was spread over 17 days only during which period it linked Karachi, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore, Hyderabad and Faisalabad. In the early days of its second quarter (April-June) it added Gujranwalla to its network declaring that by the end of the year it would be spread to 1,800 base stations--meaning 175 cities.
Addressing a news conference here on Wednesday, company executives recalled that its licence required a minimum coverage of 45 percent of Pakistan's population by the end of 2008. This would mean 70 percent of all administrative areas. At the same time, the company headquarters at Oslo announced that it had gained the support of 60.1 million subscribers world-wide, and its share of the international market was growing rapidly.
Chief Marketing Officer Bjorn Taale Sandberg said that Telenor was encouraged by the growth, and was preparing to meet demands for its products and services. It was also tightening its belt to a 'high quality service'. He said that Telenor estimated its accumulated capital expenses till the end of 2007 between $600 and $700 million, excluding licence fees.
Irfan Wahab Khan, Executive Vice President for Corporate and Regulatory Division, spoke of "extremely aggressive roll-out plans" of the firm and said that completion of additional base stations in Karachi and Lahore had enhanced the capacity and coverage of Telenor.
Khan said that service to Northern Areas was in the master plan, but he could not say when it would be extended to that region. The priorities, he added, are determined on the basis of demand in the market. He said that Telenor had signed 'inter-connect agreements' with most of the operatives in the country and was in the process of finalising these with one or two remaining firms.
Simultaneously, he said, it was working with other operatives to work out facility for the subscribers to retain their original number in case they wanted to switch over to another service provider.
This facility, he added, is available in most other countries and would benefit the subscribers.