WiMAX.Pk – WiMAX portal for Pakistan

Here is an interesting piece by Richard Grigonis titled “WiMAX – Will America Catch Up?“. What I found most interesting was that, among other things, it compared the state of WiMAX services in the United States with those in Pakistan. From the article:

At the moment, Pakistan enjoys the world’s largest WiMAX network……… While Pakistanis luxuriate in WiMAX wireless broadband, we Americans await the big commercial rollout of Sprint-Nextel’s Xohm WiMAX service.

It’s good to know that at least Pakistan is ahead in one technology.

Here’s a more detailed introduction to wi-tribe, a company preparing to launch its Wimax service in Pakistan:

wi-tribe is a leading wireless broadband provider focusing on emerging markets in Asia and Africa. It has its corporate office in the Kingdom of Bahrain, with Jordan becoming the first wi-tribe enabled market in 2008. wi-tribe was founded by two shareholders – Qtel and ATCO. The Qtel Group is one of the fastest growing telecommunications services providers with a presence in 16 markets in the Middle East, North Africa, and Asia. A.A. Turki Group of Companies (ATCO) is one of the leading companies in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

wi-tribe also enjoys a comprehensive technology partnership with Clearwire, one of the world’s leading wireless broadband operators in North America and Europe with more than 470,000 subscribers, as of September 2008. Ground-breaking WiMAX technology allows instant connection to the Internet without the delays and hassles associated with other last-mile solutions. wi-tribe already has experience with bringing this technology to a large user base and will launch its service in Pakistan in 2009.

For more information on wi-tribe and its services, please visit www.wi-tribe.pk.

Korean Telecom has signed an MoU with Apple which could make Korea among the first places to receive a Wimax-enabled iPhone. Such a phenomenal device as the iPhone could do wonders for Wimax, especially when it is introduced in such a hi-tech and huge market as Korea.

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Last month, Mobilink, a subsidiary of Orascom Telecom and Pakistan’s largest mobile service provider, officially launched their Wimax service by the name of Mobilink Infinity. The service is currently limited only to Karachi and runs on technology provided by Alcatel and Zyxel.

Already having an established network and a huge existing customer base, Mobilink should have had no trouble competing with Wateen Telecom. However, what should have been a wake up call for Wateen may not see the light of day in the rest of the country.

According to blogger Masud Reza, Orascom has cut further funding for the Wimax service and expansion plans have been put on hold. Worse, there is talk of scrapping the whole Broadband Unit. This may be good news for competitors, but it could have serious ramifications for the country’s already struggling technology sector.

Update: Nov 4, 2008. The blog post was older than their launch in Karachi so it probably is just a rumour. Or, maybe they are confusing the other, somewhat struggling, Orascom subsidiary in Pakistan with Mobilink Infinity.

Wateen Telecom has signed a deal to expand its WiMAX operations to 22 Pakistani cities with a potential market of 30 million people. Wateen’s Pakistani Wimax network is already one of the largest in the world and it is a positive sign to see it growing. Whether they have overcome their financial troubles is another question.

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