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Karachi: CEO and President, Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL), Walid Irshaid, has said that his company is going for 3G and it will be the first to compete for a 3G license in Pakistan.
“We have no option but to succeed,” said Mr. Irshaid, while addressing the UAE Trade and Investment Conference 2011 held here today. “We are going for 3G and we will be the first to compete for a 3G license.”
Held as part of the first ever “Magnificent 7 UAE Expo 2011” in Pakistan, organized by the UAE Ministry of Foreign Trade and UAE Consulate Karachi, the event was attended by a large number of CEOs and top executives of UAE-based companies in Pakistan and other eminent personalities of the corporate sector.
Addressing its first session, PTCL CEO and President said that when Etisalat entered the Pakistani market, four other regional and international telecom operators followed the suit.
“This was the impact that Etisalat created for Pakistan by attracting foreign direct investment for the country,” said Mr. Irshaid. “Our deep passion has been to transform PTCL from a state monopoly dominating the market to a world-class telecom company which is able to favourably compete with 45 players on the ground.”
Mr. Irshaid said that today PTCL is not just the telephone company of Pakistan, but it is the integrated telecommunications company of Pakistan. He said that PTCL was the last company to enter Pakistan\’s broadband market, and yet today it is the largest broadband provider in the country.
“This has been our transformation over the last 5 years,” said CEO and President PTCL. ” We don\’t just have a business plan; rather we have a mandate to bring broadband to five million people of Pakistan – a mandate given to us by our shareholders, our Board of Governors and our valued customers.”
Mr. Irshaid was of the view that the UAE Trade and Investment Expo and Conference 2011 had been possible because of the brotherly relations and strategic partnership between UAE and Pakistan. “Pakistan is replete and ripe with opportunities,” he said. “We believe in this market and we are here to stay.”
Other speakers of the conference included H.E Eisa Abdullah Al Basha Al Noaimi UAE Ambassador to Pakistan; Khalid Tawab, President, Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI); Jamil Ahmed Khan, Pakistan’s Ambassador to UAE; Dr. Ishrat Hussain, Director Institute of Business Administration (IBA) and former governor State Bank; Atif Aslam Bajwa, CEO Bank Alfalah; and Joost den Hartog, regional general manager, Asia Pacific North and Indian Subcontinent, Etihad Airways.
For more information, contact:
Pakistan Telecommunication Company (PTCL)
F-8 Exchange, Nazim-Ud-Din Road F-8/1, Islamabad
Tel: +9251 111 20 20 20
Fax: +9251 111 21 21 21
Email: shahzad.khalil@ptcl.net.pk