Mubashir Naqvi is a famous name in the telecom industry of Pakistan. He previously served Pak Telecom Mobile Limited (Ufone) as the President & CEO and Etisalat as an advisor.
He has been associated with broadband sector and leading Wimax operator, Qubee since 2007. The News Tribe correspondent has an opportunity to meet him recently. Following is the excerpt of his interview
The broadband internet access has become the basic need of the people for changing their socio-economic condition but it comes true if masses are provided with computer system at lowest cost throughout the country.
The population constitutes largely on youth in the country hence they should be educated with advanced skills of IT with maximum opportunities of internet availability for constructive purposes.
The broadband internet services are available at reason prices but it can be affordable for masses if computer systems are provided at low cost after reduction of duties on their imports and incentives. Hence, the internet growth will be same as it witnessed in the cellular sector which saw boom because of competition, low service tariff and handset prices.
There is need to provide low cost computer systems for students and make them literate to operate different applications of IT with broadband facility, he added.
The government should establish training centers for promotion of IT education among the youth aimed at enhancing a true literacy level in the urban rural areas, which is still very low as far as technology enabling is concerned.
The broadband technology is indispensable not only for educational and business sector but it is utmost necessity for small medium sized enterprises.
The government can really give a boost to the industry and overall economy by encouraging e-governance and deregulating the financial system to allow more transaction capability to users.
Once the users realize the full potential of the internet the entire commercial landscape can change within a short span of time, as businesses and their consumers interact at a closer level. This will open up a much larger market for smaller enterprises and big businesses as well to reach their consumers more directly. An example can be online payment mechanism with top-up capabilities everywhere and ability to transfer online in real time.
Making the education system more technology oriented at the grass root level, will allow for students to have a more collaborative and bi-directional academic experience. This will increase the use of broadband at almost a utility level for most students.
In developed countries, people have their broadband connection on all time and Pakistan should move towards this direction with optimistic and aggressive approach..
Pakistan internet broadband market is very competitive with the existence of too many players in the sector. These operators should penetrate their services in the entire country rapidly and compete among themselves on quality of services and value products, he further said.
The investment is directly linked to few factors including infrastructure, economic growth and law and order situation of the country but unfortunately all these factors are not conducive for broadband operators to flourish their business with heavy investment.
The broadband operators are financially strong to bring investment in the country and grab their respective share in the highly competitive market.
Qubee’s mission is “Broadband for All”. We have lived up to the promise and delivered maximum value to the subscriber ever since we launched our services in 2007.
Our packages have been the best value in the Wimax arena and devices best in class. Qubee has given the concept of an affordable reliable internet service which is easy to acquire, use and pay.
We don’t believe that we have innovated a new dimension of brand activations but what we do try and done is a creative approach to consumer contacts, where the consumer gains with a relatively memorable brand experience.
Lastly, as internet is a youth driven category, we also aim to channel our communication plans towards media that reaches our audience with best possible impression ratios.
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