Tag: PTA

  • Pakistan manufactured 9.72 million mobile phones in four months: Report

    Pakistan manufactured 9.72 million mobile phones in four months: Report

    Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) revealed that domestic plants produced 9.72 million mobile devices in the first four months of 2022, contrasted to 0.86 million acquired internationally.

    In April 2022, local manufacturing plants developed 2.56 million mobile devices, compared to 0.25 million imported from other countries.

    According to Brecorder, 5.69 million 2G smartphones and 4.03 million 3G and 4G phones are among the 9.72 million mobile handsets developed or assembled locally. 53 per cent of mobile devices on the Pakistan network are 3G and 4G smartphones, while 47 per cent are 2G.

    Despite the growth in local mobile phone production, Pakistan acquired $1.810 billion worth of cellphones in the first ten months of 2021-22, contrasted to $1.684 billion in the same period the previous year, a 7.43 per cent increase, as per the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

    Total telecommunications imports into the country climbed by 14.05 per cent during the review period (July-April) 2021-22, rising from $2.116 billion in July-April 2020-21 to $2.413 billion in the same period last year.

    According to PTA data, the local manufacturing tendency indicates a favourable response to the PTA’s Mobile Device Manufacturing (MDM) Authorization regulatory system.

  • PTA to take action against advertising of illegal housing societies on social media

    PTA to take action against advertising of illegal housing societies on social media

    The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) instructed housing societies that do not have a legal No Object Certificate (NOC) to refrain from advertising unauthorized businesses on social media platforms.

    According to a news release, the PTA has been approached by the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) in response to a direction given by the Lahore High Court in a writ case on March 30, 2022, with regard to banning advertisements of illegal housing societies on digital and social media.

    All non-approved housing societies that operate without valid NOC from the concerned authorities are encouraged to desist from publicising the unlawful business on social media platforms, or else the PTA will take action in accordance with its legal mandate.

  • Pakistanis will get slow Internet on Thursday

    Pakistanis will get slow Internet on Thursday

    Internet users in Pakistan will have to deal with slow internet speed tomorrow (Thursday). As per Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), the internet speed in Pakistan will be slow on April 21 from 2 am to 7 am, meaning overnight on Thursday, due to a power reconfiguration activity on a section of the international submarine cable.

    “Alternate measures to provide uninterrupted internet services to users will be taken to meet capacity requirements and to return to full functionality as quickly as possible. The availability of internet services will be as usual throughout the country” The PTA said in a tweet.

    Last night the photo-sharing app Instagram was down globally for several users. Most users were unable to access profiles or refresh the feed, for hours.

  • PTA records 1.73 million new 3G, 4G users in one month

    PTA records 1.73 million new 3G, 4G users in one month

    The latest stats from Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) show that the number of 3G and 4G customers in Pakistan increased by 1.73 million to 113.11 million by the end of March 2022, up from 111.38 million at the end of February 2022.

    By the end of March 2022, the number of mobile users in Pakistan had risen by 1.79 million to 193.42 million, up from 191.63 million at the end of February 2022. The cellular population climbed from 87.17 per cent in February 2022 to 87.95 per cent in March 2022.

    The entire teledensity had risen to 89.09 per cent, up from 88.31 per cent in February.

    The overall number of Jazz 3G users was 6.489 million at the end of March, down from 6.607 million at the end of February 2022, a fall of 0.118 million. By the end of March, the number of Jazz 4G users had risen from 35.822 million to 36.518 million.

    The number of Zong 3G customers fell from 3.501 million in February to 3.447 million in March, while the amount of 4G users increased from 27.483 million in February to 28.033 million in March.

    Telenor’s 3G users totaled 3.911 million at the end of March, which was the same as at the end of February. The graph, however, shows a downward trend. Its 4G subscribers increased from 20.801 million at the end of February to 21 million by the end of March 2022.

    Read more: Textile exports soared 25pc to $14.3b: PBS

    By the end of March, there were 3.809 million Ufone 3G users, up from 3.873 million at the end of February. Ufone’s 4G user base expanded from 8.099 million in February to 8.6 million by the end of March 2022, a 0.501 million growth in the time period under consideration.

  • Can a jalsa turnout be determined through number of mobile phones?

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s jalsa’ was held on March 27 at the Parade Ground in Islamabad as the opposition geared up to remove the PM from his office via a no-confidence motion. The very first thing that the media speculates is that how many people were present at the location of the rally.

    Several Pakistani digital news platforms have stated that “more than 0.6 million unique mobile devices were detected in Islamabad on Sunday, as per the data traffic analysis shared by Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA)”, which means that they are suggesting that more than six lakh people were present at the PTI rally.

    It is pertinent to mention that PTA or any authentic personnel have not officially released any statement regarding this. In fact, a number of netizens have commented that the ones who are claiming the presence of 0.6 million people at the Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s march do not have the authentic source of information.

    The crowd was reportedly estimated by Islamabad police to be between 60,000 – 70,000 people, while the Intelligence Bureau (IB) said it was only 26,000 people.

    Independent sources claim that not more than 35,000 people attended the rally, and some suggest that the crowd was not even close to 100,000 people.

    But the question remains: Can you determine a jalsa turnout through the number of mobile phones in the area?

    Whenever a cell phone is used, it emits an electromagnetic radio wave, called a radio frequency, which is received by the nearest cell tower’s antenna. Once the cell tower receives this signal, it will transmit the signals to a switching center.

    Also, the cellular towers have limitations to accommodate a certain number of phones, this might allow the network provider to determine the devices connected to it.

  • Annual report reveals only 22% women in Pakistan are social media users: PTA

    Annual report reveals only 22% women in Pakistan are social media users: PTA

    There is a great gender gap in social media users of Pakistan, reveals a report published by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) for the year 2021.

    “Pakistan has some of the widest gender gaps identified not only by international organisations but also by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS),” states the report.

    “The digitally excluded segments of Pakistani women are mainly illiterate, unemployed, disabled, and those over 45 years of age,” it added.

    Since the last couple of years, the percentage of female mobile subscriptions is only 21 per cent of the total subscriptions. This results in a large number of unaccounted women using mobile connections. Of 1,825 million (FY 2021) mobile connections across Pakistan, only 38 million are held by females against their CNICs; the remaining 144 million connections are held by the male population.

    The Pakistan Social and Living Standards Measurement (PSLM) Household Survey 2021 released by PBS reported that 46 per cent of the country’s population (25% female and 65% male) owns a mobile phone. In terms of the rural-urban divide, the gap between male-female mobile ownership in rural areas is much higher compared to urban areas.

    As per the report, out of the total social media users in the country, only 22 per cent are women, while the rest of 78 per cent are men.

    The report also revealed the websites that are most visited local websites by the users, which are Daraz, OLX, Urdu Point, and Dawn.

  • LHC dismisses petition seeking ban on PUBG

    The Lahore High Court (LHC) dismissed a plea regarding banning the popular online mobile game PUBG on Monday.

    A resident of Lahore, Tanveer Sarwar, approached the LHC and filed a plea to ban the online mobile game after a violent murder in Lahore.

    The petitioner had to appear on the day of the hearing, however, he did not reach the court.

    As a result, the LHC discharged the application over the petitioner’s discontinuation of the case’s pursuit.

    The petitioner claimed in the application that PUBG is creating intolerance in society and causing detrimental effects on young minds.

    Last month, 18-year-old Ali Zain killed four members of his family in Lahore. An investigator found that the teenager was “addicted” to the online game PUBG.

    According to the murderer, he went to sleep after the murder with a sense of accomplishment. The bodies of his four family members were discovered on January 19.

    The Punjab Police had decided to request the federal and provincial governments to ban PUBG after this incident.

    On July 1, 2021, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) temporarily suspended PUBG in the country after it received multiple complaints from different segments of society. However, the ban was lifted later.

  • Want to buy the new iPhone? Think again because the new Pakistan tax is shocking

    Want to buy the new iPhone? Think again because the new Pakistan tax is shocking

    If you are thinking of asking your relative or a friend to bring you iPhone 13 Pro Max 1TB from abroad, think again. The government has yet again increased taxes on luxury phones.

    Let’s suppose you buy the highest-end iPhone from abroad. The 1TB phone will cost you $1,730.92 which is 305,068.94 PKR, for the highest-end iPhone.

    If you will a buy a 128GB phone it will cost you $1,189.67 which is 208,571.16 PKR. Similarly, the price for a 256GB phone will be $1,297.92 which is 227,549.39 PKR.

    The price of a 512GB phone is 1514.42$ which is 265,505.84 PKR.

    A government source has informed The Current that phones from abroad are now being subjected to 17% sales tax instead of a fixed sales tax. The total tax will also include customs tax.

    Earlier, the fixed sales tax on the iPhone13 Pro max was Rs. 10,000 but if you now calculate a 17 per cent tax on 305,068.94 PKR in our case, the tax will be 51,861.7198. The customs tax is Rs 34,000 on the iPhone.

    If you now want to buy an iPhone 13 Pro max in Pakistan, the total tax will be 51,861.7198+34,000=85,861.17 for the 1TB Phone.

    If you have a passport on which you came back with the phone, it will cost you a little less, 51,861.7198+26,000=77,861.7198.

    Government sources while talking to The Current said, “If a person can afford a phone worth almost 300k, then he can pay 78k too. These phones have inelastic demands.”

    “Most smartphones sold in Pakistan (more than 80%) and mid category (between $150-200). 70% of these are now made in Pakistan and have very little tax on them. The ones in the range that are imported have a tax of around Rs 5-8k on them,” the source added.

  • TikTok releases official statement on shooting incident in Karachi

    TikTok releases official statement on shooting incident in Karachi

    Video sharing platform, Tiktok has released an official statement on Friday regarding the recent shooting incident in Karachi. The incident involved the shooting of a man, Qamar Raza by three teenagers who were creating videos for the application.

    The incident took place on December 23, when teenagers were riding on the motorbike and one of them opened the fire on Raza for the ‘thrill’.

    Tiktok spokesperson condemned the incident in the statement, “The safety of our community is our top priority and we do not tolerate any dangerous acts, hate speech, or hateful behaviour. TikTok has zero-tolerance for firearms and we do not allow any content that depicts acts of violence.”

    He has given assurance that the application would remain observant to control the violent content and vowed to remove the videos that are against the guidelines of the community. He assured their commitment towards the safety of the users.

    Meanwhile, two suspects, Saeed Ahmed and Fazil Ali are currently in remand of the police custody. The other friend named Ismail has been on the run. Raids are been conducted to arrest him.

    Recently Tiktok has set up Urdu-language safety centre in Pakistan to ensure that the contents are within the guidelines of the country.

    Earlier on July 21, a boy had drowned in the Khanpur Dam while trying to take a selfie. The 20-year old was taking a selfie at the edge of the dam. According to details, a 20-year-old was attempting to take a selfie while standing at the edge of the dam when he suddenly lost his balance and fell into the dam.

    The Pakistan government banned Tiktok four times for the violent and vulgar content however it was lifted by Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) on November 19 after the assurance to control the immoral and violent content from the Tiktok management.

  • Having issues with your internet speed? Here’s why

    Having issues with your internet speed? Here’s why

    Internet users in Pakistan are reporting slow internet speed since yesterday (Monday). As per Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), the internet’s speed in Pakistan is affected by 1 terabyte because of a fault in South East Asia–Middle East–Western Europe 4 (SEA-ME-WE 4) optical fibre submarine cable, reports Geo.

    South East Asia–Middle East–Western Europe 4 (SEA-ME-WE 4) is an optical fibre submarine communications cable system that carries telecommunications between Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Egypt, Italy, Tunisia, Algeria and France.

    As per media reports, internet speed during the peak hours is likely to be further affected. The repair work of SEA-ME-WE 4 will be completed in January 2022.