Category: Technology

Lahore (NUT-Technologies)

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has notified amendments to Information Memorandum (IM) for spectrum auction for Next Generation Mobile Services (NGMS), while granting a grace period of six months in achieving the throughput Key Performance Indicator (KPI) of 4Mbps.

Sources revealed that the benchmark for technologies standardized for 4G/LTE was an average download data rate of 2Mbps, which would be increased to 4Mbps in two years from the effective date, with equal yearly increase. For upload throughput will be at least 25 percent of download throughput.

However, according to the amendment, a grace period of six months in achieving the throughput KPI of 4Mbps will be granted from 2nd year of effective date for testing; and subsequent improvement by licensee as directed by the authority.

The amended in the IM further noted that if the licensee disputes any outstanding amounts due under this license as decided by the authority, the licensee shall either deposit 50 percent of the disputed amount in an escrow account opened by the authority and on terms specified by the authority or furnish unconditional and continuing bank guarantee, to the satisfaction of the authority, in favour of the authority equal to 50 percent of the disputed amount.

Upon resolution of dispute, the amount deposited in escrow account shall accordingly be paid to the authority or refunded to the licensee along with bank profit accrued thereon during the period amount deposited in escrow account. In case of bank guarantee, the same shall accordingly be encashed or returned to the Licensee. Late Payment Additional Fee (LPAF) shall not apply to the extent of amount deposited in escrow account, however, in case of submission of Bank Guarantee LPAF shall continue to apply on total outstanding dues from due date till date of payment.

The notification further stated that if the payment of pre-bid deposit is being made from sources in Pakistan, it should preferably be made through wire transfer or through RTGS in PTA’s Account titled, Pakistan Telecomm. Authority Fund A/C, Account No 3000942222 (IBAN PK39NBPA2221003000942222) maintained with Corporate Branch, National Bank of Pakistan, Islamabad, under intimation to DG Licensing, PTA and reference “Spectrum Auction for NGMS in Pakistan 2021”.

As an alternate, in exceptional circumstances where there is technical difficulty in wire transfer/RTGS mechanism, the pre-bid deposit can be made through demand draft or banker’s cheque drawn, in favour of the PTA.

Lahore (NUT-DESK)

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has rejected the request of Cellular Mobile Operators (CMOs) for extending the timeline for sealed bid submission for Spectrum Auction for Next Generation Mobile Services (NGMS).

Sources revealed that the CMOs had requested the PTA for extending the timeline for sealed bid submission by at least three weeks. CMOs stated that there are a lot of internal approvals requirements, corporate governance requirements and the Board-level approvals to participate in the auction.

However, the PTA responded that enough time has been provided as per international practice and past precedence in Pakistan. The PTA published Information Memorandum on August 5, 2021 and the consultation period ended on the Spectrum Auction rules and procedures as set out in the Information Memorandum on August 26, 2021. Further changes to the Spectrum Auction rules and procedures and publication were notified on August 31, 2021.

Information session for prospective applicants; last opportunity for prospective applicants to ask questions and get clarification on specifics of the Spectrum Auction were scheduled on September 2, 2021, while the deadline for prospective applicants to submit application form and sealed-bid form with pre-bid deposits is September 9, 2021.

The PTA will notify qualified applicant(s) and further inform all qualified applicants whether the auction shall move to the electronic auction stage or the PTA declares qualified applicants as provisional winners on September 10, 2021.

If the PTA proceeds with the electronic auction stage, an information package containing confidential information and instructions to participate in the electronic auction stage is provided to those qualified applicants eligible to participate in that stage on September 13. Mock clock auction (1800 MHz and 2100 MHz), if required, for eligible qualified applicants will be held on September 14 and clock auction bidding will be starting, if required on September 15. SMRA auction bidding will start, if required, for eligible qualified applicants on September 16 and provisional winners will be announced for both spectrum bands on September 17, 2021.

In response to another query of CMOs that in the event there are unsold portions of 1800MHz band, where will these unsold assignments be placed in the band? At the beginning, at the end or elsewhere, the PTA responded that this will depend on the auction outcome though the PTA will seek to maintain contiguous spectrum holdings and recognized that a further rationalisation may be required once that unassigned spectrum is awarded. Any rationalization plan for 2100 MHz will be implemented with mutual consultation of CMOs, the authority added.

The CMOs asked that if there is a planned band rationalization for 2100MHz, what is the purpose of bidding for frequency specific blocks in 2100MHz band, the PTA responded that it sees merits in auctioning specific blocks in the 2100 MHz band, due to the prevailing uncertainties on the rationalization within this band and in recognition of CMOs’ demand for this spectrum may differ by block.

Lahore (NUT-Technology)

Today, a whole new world of infotainment is available online, instantly accessible for every smartphone user, nurturing a prolific new lifestyle. While the smart-devices industry is experiencing unprecedented progress at an enormous scale and speed, Pakistan must take maximum advantage of this revolution, to unleash the enormous potential of its youth at this critical juncture, to overcome the major challenges faced by this resilient nation.

In 2020, the telecom sector in Pakistan contributed 278 billion rupees to the economy – 129% higher than the previous year, while the country’s tele-density has reached well over 84%, with more than 184 million cellular subscribers. Thus, it is promising big revenue-opportunities for the investors. Due to this robust performance, almost all the global manufacturers of mobile-devices are planning to enter Pakistan, while ‘Infinix’ – a resourceful multi-national, has already pioneered the manufacturing of hi-tech devices in Karachi.

‘Infinix’ is surely the No. 1 smartphone brand in Pakistan, with the fastest business growth. It is showing complete confidence in the ability of this nation to progress, despite major crises like the Covid-19 pandemic. Infinix is proud to be the only manufacturer of smartphones, which has established 3 smartphone-factories in Pakistan, operating for more than a year now. Hence, the robust investments and advanced telecom technologies from Infinix are already gaining great recognition and reputation in this key Asian market.

These 3 state-of-the-art production plants installed by Infinix in Karachi, have provided employment for more than 6,000 people, with a capacity to manufacture the most sophisticated technologies for high-quality smart-devices sought by various consumer-segments. Local manufacturing of such high-tech products in Pakistan has enabled valuable savings in the import-bills and foreign-exchange. These valuable contributions of Infinix are enriching the national economy, while also promoting the ‘Made in Pakistan’ brand, all over the world.

Speaking at a forum, as the Chief Executive Officer of Infinix, I – Joe Hu, had recently promised to all our consumers and stakeholders that our company will pursue a new vision to achieve “Progress through innovation”, with a powerful strategy to introduce the best technology products in Pakistan. Nearly 70 percent of Infinix workforce in Pakistan are women. This clearly reflects our strong commitment for “Women’s Empowerment” and global best-practices, along with other social-development initiatives to improve quality of life, Public-Health and Education for the masses.

Infinix Mobile is a subsidiary of Transsion – a globally leading Chinese company that achieved the highest market share (47%) during the 2nd quarter of 2021. It also achieved 409% growth as a smartphone vendor in Pakistan. In the same period, ‘Vivo Mobile’ achieved 23% unit-share, while Xiaomi was ranked 3rd with 11% unit share. Samsung was 4th on the list with 9% share and Oppo came 5th with 7% share in Pakistan’s smartphones market.

In future, Infinix plans to focus on bringing cutting-edge technologies into Pakistan. One of its spectacular innovations is the Concept Phone 2021 that boasts a 160W fast-charging, to fully charge a 4,000 mAh battery in just 10 minutes. It is also working on other revolutionary features like; Color-changing technology to liven up the rear panel. Meanwhile, Infinix is also developing a sustainable technological ecosystem that will nurture the support industries for local-manufacturing of devices in Pakistan.

Currently, all three Infinix plants in Pakistan are based on Semi Knocked Down (SKD) components only. However, Infinix is now striving to enable ‘Completely Knocked Down’ (CKD) manufacturing in the country, to significantly reduce the cost of production, and achieve higher efficiencies. The CKD production-model will create a lot more room for local manufacturers to improve their quality-standards and build-capacity to produce more sophisticated technologies, indigenously. Infinix is thus enabling Pakistani industries to gain self-sufficiency in producing smart-devices. This game-changing development will soon bring tremendous opportunities for the mobile sector, leading to a brighter future for the nation.

Lahore (NUT-DESK)

Clubhouse, an audio-only chat app, said  it will launch a spatial audio feature to make voices sound as if they’re coming from different directions, helping conversations and virtual performances feel more life-like.

The app, which is backed by venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, jumpstarted the social audio trend last year and became known for chatrooms of thousands that included chief executives and celebrities. However, it faces increasing competition from larger tech giants like Facebook, Twitter and Spotify, which have all introduced their own social audio chat features.

The new surround-sound-like feature will help Clubhouse lean into performances and entertainment rooms that have proliferated on the app.

Depending on how many speakers are in a Clubhouse room and a variety of other factors, the app’s technology will assign users a spatial positioning, so that the listener will hear the voices surround them in their headphones, said Justin Uberti, Clubhouse’s head of streaming technology.

In comedy rooms for instance, Clubhouse’s technology will detect the main speaker and place that person’s voice in the “front,” while the laughter of other people could sound as if they’re coming from a listener’s left and right sides, he said.

“I could hear people laughing and the room erupts around me,” Uberti said. “You can imagine in music … there’s a lot of potential.”

The spatial technology also makes it easier to detect when different users are speaking, whereas people previously might have to pay attention to the speakers’ cadence and vocal timbre, he added. Clubhouse, which started as an invite-only app and recently was opened to all users, said more than 700,000 rooms are now created each day, up from 300,000 in May. Spatial audio will roll out first to iOS users and then Android users soon after, Clubhouse said.

Lahore (NUT-DESK)

Google is seemingly adamant in its decision to maintain the coveted role of default search engine on iOS, a strategy that could generate nearly $15 billion for Apple in 2021, according to one industry analyst.

The analysts drew out two potential risks for Google’s payment to Apple, regulatory risk and Google deciding the deal is no longer worth it. Google may end the deal or it may try to renegotiate terms and decrease the amount it pays. The regulatory risk is a 4-5% impact to Apple’s gross profits in case of an adverse ruling.

Apple has been criticized for retaining Google as a search engine over the years, but the company’s senior director of global privacy, Jane Horvath, provided reasons in an interview, that Google was the most popular search engine. Google payments to the company account for Services segment, which helps showcase to its investors that it has more ways to grow revenue and profit.

While Google continues to pay hefty amounts to Apple to retain its search engine in Safari browsers, analysts predict the amount may increase over the years, leaving Google to stop payments or renegotiate the price to be paid with Apple.

Lahore (NUT-DESK)

The upcoming iPhone 13 series is expected to be a lot more pricey than previously expected as leaks indicate Apple might sell the smartphone at a higher price to prepare itself for the upcoming chip shortage. Apple is going to launch the much-touted iPhone 13 series soon and there are rumours it would be a lot pricier than previously expected as US technological company might sell the smartphone at a higher price to prepare itself for the upcoming chip shortage.

According to a report by Digitimes, TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company), one of the leading Apple suppliers for SoC is expected to increase its costs of chip production by a whopping 20 percent, which would result in a domino effect that would impact TSMC customers (which includes Apple) and by extension, us.

The new pricing is expected to go into effect in January 2022, however, to prevent itself from spiking its pricing again, Apple could price their phones in a way that would factor this price hike, and try to minimize its impact on the profits.

The spike in cost is due to TSMC’s adoption of more advanced and mature manufacturing processes. The report also highlights that these price adjustments would be also seen on orders scheduled to be fulfilled starting December this year.

According to new leaks, it has been revealed that Apple has created a new Face ID hardware, which basically will allow you to unlock the iPhone even if you wear a mask or glasses.

This has been tested by the company’s employees in various scenarios. Even after that, they are needed to set up the Face ID without a mask or glasses.

The iPhone 13 is expected to have improved cameras, bigger batteries, a small notch, an A15 Bionic chip, iOS 15, and other exciting features. Its launch is expected to be followed by more Apple products, including the AirPods 3, new Macs, and more.