Telenor Pulls Back Controversial TVC, Airs Backup AD

It looks that Telenor has decided to pull back its recent most TV commercial of Internet.More, which came under fire from masses due to its over-expressive nature.
We don’t have official words on this yet; however, Telenor’s official YouTube page has deleted the ad that showed a guy hunting for a girl on Facebook using Telenor’s GPRS.
Telenor is airing a backup TVC on TV channels, which shots a better use of Telenor’s GPRS.
As we said, we don’t have official words on this matter yet; still, pulling the plug of TVC in question is being termed as positive and sensible response from Telenor’s end.
At the same time, now it is evident that said TVC had thematic problems in it.
Below is new TVC of Intenret.More

Telenor Clarifies its Position on Controversial TVC; Regrets if Sentiments Were Hurt

A statement issued by Telenor said that company has taken down the TVC based on concerns raised certain sections of society regarding the advertisement of Telenor internet.more TV campaign.
Telenor expressed its regrets if anyone’s sentiments were hurt through this advertisement.
“Said advertisement is already off air and will not be telecasted again.”
TV Channels are already airing secondary ads for Internet.More campaign.
Indeed a reasonable step by Telenor Pakistan. Same as their previous corporate record, such as, Karo Mumkin, Khuddar Pakistan initiatives, Telenor has once again acted responsibly by listening to its customers and society.

Unlimited Free Calls to 3 FnF Numbers: Telenor

After Mobilink’s Na-qabil-yaqeen offer, Telenor has offered its customers a similar treat to make unlimited calls to three friend and family numbers at a fixed daily rental of Rs.9.99 plus tax.

Telenor’s this offer comes with its TalkShawk 24 ghantay package, which is a pretty decent package for making calls to all networks at 80 paisas plus tax per 30 seconds. Little higher than counterparts, which are offering 68 paisas or even 65 paisas per 30 seconds for all networks.
Telenor’s this move, of following Mobilink, may push other operators to allow un-metered calls on selected numbers at a fixed daily rental.
However, cellular companies will have to keep an eye on their network’s strength before offering this kind of incentives.
So if you want to make free calls to 3 FnF numbers, switch to Talkshawk 24 ghantay package, following is the method:
How to Migrate to TalkShawk 24 Ghantay Package:
Write “migrate” and send SMS to 345
Customer will reiceve a menu, reply this message with your desired package and you are done.
How to Avail 24 Hours Free Call Offer:
Dial *345*300# for daily activation.
Daily Charges:
Rs.9.99 +tax
How to Add FNF?
To administer FnF through SMS, use the following:

• To add an FnF send “Add ” to 345
• To delete FnF send “Del ” to 345
• To edit FnF send “Edit ” to 345
• To view FnF send “FnF” to 345
• or  Dial 555 to add FnF

Tariff Details for TalkShawk 24 Hours:

Karo Mumkin Show Hits its ‘Grand Begining’

nor’s Karo Mumkin Show has entered into its final round; they are calling it “Grand Beginning”.
Karo Mumkin is an initiative by Telenor to bring the best idea for glorifying Pakistan, not only it; Telenor plans to get the idea executed as well.
Telenor Karo Mumkin aims at building the  “Can do” spirit among Pakistanis by having them to think positive and have faith in their abilities; and encourage them to do something no matter how small for the country in their individual capacity.
In earlier two episodes, best ideas were unveiled and then based on nationwide voting through SMS, IVR and website ‘Grand Beginning Show’ will announce the winners.
watch Telenor Karo Mumkin Show on leading TV channels starting today; here is the complete schedule.

Telenor Offers GPRS Bundles

Telenor Pakistan has introduced data bucket or GPRS bundles for its prepaid and postpaid customers.
Prepaid customers can sign up for daily, weekly or monthly plans, while postpaid customers can avail GPRS bundles of 10 MB, 50 MB or unlimited bandwidth in a month.
Earlier, Telenor was offering this 5 MB data bucket for one day subscription only, which is now revised and offered with 3 MB data limit.
Prepaid GPRS/EDGE Bundles:

Postpaid GPRS/EDGE Bundles:

How to subscribe:

• Dial *345*901# to activate Daily bundle
• Dial *345*902# to activate Weekly bundle
• Dial *345*903# to activate Monthly bundle

How to check remaining quota:
Dial *999# to check the bundle balance. The balance will update after end of every GPRS session. Charges for checking balance is 12 paisas (including taxes)
Terms:

• Data bundlea are applicable on all prepaid TalkShawk and Djuice price plans.
• Bundle would expire on the date of expiry at midnight. An expiry SMS notification will also be sent to the customer
• The subscribed bundle would expire & the customer would have to re-subscribe again
• If bundle expires during a session then customers will be charged the default GPRS charges for volume consumed in addition to the allowed volume bucket i.e. 3MB for daily, 10MB for weekly, 45MB for monthly. In case the user does not have any balance in his monetary account his session would stop after bundle exhaustion.
• Subscribers can subscribe to multiple validity bundles at one time.

A Line was Just Crossed: Telenor Internet.More [TVC]

Telenor, a company that is usually very responsible in advertisements has apparently crossed the line, by having a go on a TVC, which is morally beyond or social values.
To sell its newly launched internet bundles, Telenor decided to show a boy spotting a college girl. He then searches her on Facebook using Telenor’s GPRS. He then sends her message to be connected, and then she turns out to be the daughter of principal of that college – in the end, boy and girl get connected, in ten rupees for a day.
Tagline of this ad can be: How to Get a Girl in Rs. 10 with Telenor Internet.More
Following is the AD:
A multinational company of Telenor’s magnitude must consider the operating circumstances before defining a policy. A love story presented like this in TVC is not going to get acceptance by masses, while we already are hearing bad words on it from industry:

Here are few points to be considered:

• What has happened to ad agencies? where is creativity?
• Sales’ desperation has gone this high that company can show/teach this nation anything?
• Where is PTA/PEMRA?

Thanks to Rashid Shahzad for sending us above screen-shot.

Telenor’s Flirt-Promoting Ads Should Be Banned, Pleads Faiza Alam

Telenor’s Internet.more TVC got mixed response from masses; however, almost all bloggers expressed their disapproval over highly noised advert.
Arsalan Mir opined that ad was not only a cheap attempt by agency but also an irresponsible attitude from Telenor, while Mudassar Mufti questioned Telenor’s TVC by comparing it with ‘Karo Mumkin Campaign’ and how both the faces of Telenor contradict each other.
Some termed it as disrespect to women, while others talked about further propagation of our worsening social values.
However, Faiza Alam, a ProPakistani reader is worst impacted, as her name was used in the said TV commercial. She agrees that it’s our society that has the flaws but at the same time she protests against Telenor for encouraging the bad deeds.
Faiza Alam said that she reserves the right to contact courts for using her name in such a bad advert.
She mentioned us instances of Abrar-ul-haq, when he was asked by Lahore High Court to pull back a song from his album that mentioned Punjabi women in bad manner.
She wants a immediate ban on Telenor’s this TVC!
Following is excerpt of letter we received from Faiza Alam:
Dear Sir,
I would like to bring into the notice of the concern people about a coincidence, a miserable coincidence that has made my life a living hell.
My name is Faiza; Faiza Alam to be exact and I have been victim of cheap jokes since one of the cellular phone companies have heavily advertised its services on media recently.
Though the co

Telenor Joins Hands with Opera to Promote Mobile Internet

The Telenor Group and Opera Software announce a non-exclusive Global Frame Agreement aiming to stimulate rapid growth of mobile Internet services across Telenor’s business units.
Telenor’s business units can co-brand, distribute and run the Opera Mini mobile browser across its mobile handset and subscriber portfolios. As a result, Telenor’s customers in all geographies will be able to enjoy a fast, affordable and user-friendly mobile web experience on their favourite handset.
Under the agreement, Opera Software and any of Telenor Group’s business units may develop a co-branded version of Opera Mini that is adapted to the local operator.
Opera Mini is the world’s most popular mobile phone browser with 60 million monthly users.
As part of the Global Frame Agreement, Opera and Telenor will also work to further innovate and expand the scope of the mobile web.
The first deployment of Opera Mini in the Telenor network is scheduled for Septembe

Telenor TalkShawlk 5 Paisa Offer

Telenor TalkShawk has also introduced a special Ramadan offer after Mobilink, Zong and warid. Telenor TalkShawk has come up with special discount rates in this Holy month of Ramadan. Now all TalkShawk subscribers can make calls at lowest rates during the day time only for the month of Ramadan.
Subscription Charges:
Subscription charges are Rs.12+tax (Rs. 14.34 inclusive of tax)
Subscription and Validity:
For subscription dial *345*201# USSD. This offer is only for TalkShawk subscribers.
Subscription Validity:

• This offer is valid during the month of Ramadan till 7^th September.
• TalkShawk customers can avail discount between 7:00 am and 7:00 pm on the same day of subscription.
• If the subscription is done between 12:00 am and 6:30 pm then customers can avail discount for 1 day i.e the same day of subscription.
• If the subscription is done between 6:30 pm and 12:00 am then customers can avail discount for 2 days i.e till the end of next day.

Lucky Subscriber:
Lucky subscribers are those who will get 100% discount. Each day a certain number of “Lucky Subscribers” will be selected randomly and given 100% discount from 7am to 7pm  on the same day of subscription. Lucky subscribers will get to make 100% free calls on day of subscription, while the above rates apply for all other subscribers.

Price Plan	Telenor No. (excl. tax)	Telenor FnF (excl. tax)
TS 30 Sec, TS 24 Hrs	Rs0.05 /30 sec	Rs0.03 /30 Sec
TS 63	Rs0.05 /30 sec	–
TS Har Min	Rs0.10 /min	Rs0.05 /min
TS A1 (first minute)	Rs0.14 /min	Rs0.11 /min
TS A1 (2nd minute onwards)	Rs0.10 /min	Rs0.07 /min

Terms & Conditions:

• Time window for 5paisa calls is from 7am to 7pm.
• In case subscriber shifts to another price plan, the service will be deactivated.
• This offer is available only on onnet calls.
• If a customer has a free minute in his/her account and then activates this service then free minutes will be consumed first (even in the 7am to 7pm time window). This applies to the voice bundle minutes too.
• Customers can only re-subscribe to this service after their existing subscription has expired. (after 12am at night)

VP HR and Two Directors at Telenor Step Down

In a mysterious and sudden development at Telenor’s head office, Nayab Baig, Vice President, Human Capital Devision, Director Security Salman Tariq and Regional Director Sales and Distribution for Lahore region Syed Mutazir Mehdi resigned from their positions with not much time distance between their resignations.
It is reported that first, Mr. Tariq resigned, with what looked like a formal resignation. He also had the opportunity to say good bye to his colleagues. However, shortly after, Nayab and Muntazir left without a formal good bye.
Affan Haider, Head of Corporate Communication and Responsibility, confirmed us these resignations without mentioning the details. He further said that replacements will be announced soon.
Nayab Baig served Telenor for over five years and was key person behind People Excellence & Business Process Improvement, Safety and Security, and Organizational Support Services departments, since the start of Telenor’s operation in Pakistan.
Nayab had previously headed the HR departments of Packages Ltd., Unilever Bestfoods, SHV, and Avari Renaissance Hotel.

Telenor Donates 100 Free Phones to Army

Telenor Pakistan has donated 100 mobile phones including free air time to the Pakistan Army.

The handsets with SIMs were handed over by Muhammad Farooq Shaikh, Regional Director Sales & Distribution, Central-3 to Maj-Gen Nadir Zeb, General Officer Commanding, 1st Armoured Division, Multan Cantt. on Aug 27, 2010.

The initiative comes on the heels of Telenor Pakistan’s earlier pledge of Rs. 100 million toward flood relief efforts’

Telenor Receives Best Place to Work Award 2010

Telenor Pakistan received Best Place to Work Award 2010 by Pakistan Society of Human Resources Management (PSHRM) and Engage Human Resources in Karachi at a local hotel.
The Award was announced by Vice President Human Capital Division Telenor Pakistan Nayab Baig at the convocation ceremony of Telenor Pakistan’s Ambassador’s Program held in Lahore.
The Telenor Pakistan Ambassador Program’s ceremony saw attendance from the Federal Minister for Youth Affairs Shahid Hussain Bhutto, MPA Senior Minister (Punjab) Raja Riaz Ahmed, Vice President Corporate Affairs and Chief Strategy Officer, Telenor Pakistan, Aamir Ibrahim and Vice President Human Capital Division, Telenor Pakistan Nayab Baig and the Telenor Pakistan Ambassadors.
Federal Minister for Youth Affairs, Shahid Hussain Bhutto congratulated Telenor Pakistan on winning the Best Place to Work Award 2010. While talking about youth and its significance in the society, he said, “Under the National Youth Policy, the government is continuing to work towards initiatives that engage and inspire the youth to come forward and make use of their true potential. Aligned with our vision, Telenor Pakistan’s Ambassadors Program is one example, where young professionals can make use of opportunities and contribute to sustainable development in the country. We hope that such initiatives will continue to take place.”
Vice President Human Capital Division Telenor Pakistan, Nayab Baig said, “Through our Ambassadors’ Program, we aim to provide hands on learning opportunities to young professionals that help to hone their skills and give them a real time experience of the corporate world. We consider our interns valuable resources and advocates of our vision and values.”
At this occasion, it was announced that the Best Place to Work Award 2010 has been awarded to Telenor Pakistan by PSHRM and Engage HR. The award recognizes Telenor Pakistan’s open work environment, egalitarian policies, transformational learning opportunities and equal and non discriminatory benefits.
Telenor Pakistan provides employment to 2500 direct employees and 25000 indirect employees. The company has also been voted the ‘Most Preferred Employer 2009’ by ROZEE.PK. Telenor Pakistan is committed to develop high-quality human capital through modern corporate practices, advanced trainings and international exposure.
Telenor Pakistan’s Ambassador Program offers internship opportunities to students across Pakistan every year. The Telenor Pakistan Ambassador’s program can be applied for, from the Telenor careers website: www.telenor.com.pk/careers

Telenor Karo Mumkin Show; Starting Today! (13.08.2010)

People of Pakistan responded overwhelmingly to the call of Telenor Karo Mumkin Show by submitting their ideas about making Pakistan better. Now the time has come when best ideas will be shown in “Karo Mumkin Show”, out of which one idea will be selected as best one based on viewers’ votes.
You can watch Telenor Karo Mumkin Show on leading TV channels today from 7:30 pm onwards & vote for the idea you like.
Schedule details are available here
To download the Karo Mumkin RBT

Code: 60173 13
Send STcode to 230”

Telenor Pakistan, Partners Organize Leadership Conference for PWDs in South Asia

The Regional Leadership Conference for Persons with Disabilities in South Asia 2010 was inaugurated at a local hotel today. The three-day conference has been organized by Special Talent Exchange Program, SightSavers Pakistan and Ministry of Social Welfare and Special Education in partnership with Telenor Pakistan’s flagship corporate responsibility program ‘Khuddar Pakistan’. Some 80 leaders of organizations working on issues related to persons with disabilities (PWD) from Pakistan as well as dignitaries from Bangladesh, Japan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand and US are also attending.
Chief Guest at the occasion, Vice President Corporate Affairs and Chief Strategy Officer Telenor Pakistan Aamir Ibrahim while commenting on the event said: “Through Telenor’s Khuddar Pakistan program we aim to provide the disabled community of Pakistan with integration and inclusion opportunities. We believe that a platform like the Leadership Conference enables participants to devise ways and means to resolve the issues that they face. It is also an opportunity for government and corporate sector stakeholders to get a clear perspective on steps necessary to mainstream Persons with Disabilities.”
Country Director, Sightsavers Pakistan, Niazullah Khan appreciated the initiative as a positive step towards inclusion of Persons with Disabilities. He said: “We are extremely satisfied with how the conference has progressed from a national initiative last year, to a regional one during 2010. We are sure that the conference will achieve its desired results and will continue to grow as a potent platform for Persons with Disabilities”.
Others who spoke at the inauguration were Muhammad Atif Sheikh, President, STEP; Akiie Nino Miya, Executive Director, APCD; Dong Lin Li, Country Director, ILO Pakistan; Toshiya Sapo Chief of JICA; and Adam Thomson, British High Commissioner to Pakistan.
The conference is expected to provide various stakeholders with an understanding of upcoming developments in the disability sector and the needs of persons with disabilities. It will close on August 2.

Telenor 5MB Prepaid GPRS Bucket

Finally, Telenor Pakistan has introduced prepaid GPRS bucket.
Price:
Get 5 MB quota for GPRS at Rs. 11.95 (including taxes)
How to Avail?
All telenor prepaid and djuice customers can avail this package by dialing *345*901# from their telenor prepaid.
Validity:
Validity of this package is till 12:00 AM in the night from the time you subscribe. Customers can activate package as many time he/she wants during the day.
Note:

• Package will not be renewed next day automatically by the network, customers have to reactivate by dialing through *345*901#
• To check remaing quota in GPRS bucket dial *999# (12paisas will be charged to checking reaming quota)
• Charging pulse in this GPRS package is not 64 KB, it is 1KB.

Without this GPRS package, for Telenor customers normal GPRS rates are Rs. 1+tax per 64 kb and 50 paisas+tax per 64 kb for Djuice din raat package.
Click here to get Telenor GPRS/MMS  settings
This GPRS package is better than of Ufone’s daily GPRS bucket, however still Zong is leader in providing several inexpensive GPRS packages.

Telenor Posts Strong Second Quarter 2010

Highlights:

• 519k net subscriber growth
• Stable ARPU
• 16% organic increase in mobile revenues from subscriber growth
• Financial services starting to contribute to revenue growth
• Margin jump driven by higher revenue, decommissioning of leased lines and reduction in SIM tax Q3 09

Telenor Pakistan’s added 519,000 subscribers in the previous quarter, a rise of 14% over the same period last year with subscriber numbers reaching 23.80 million at the end of Q2 2010.
EBITDA margins also continued to rise, up 34% over the previous quarter and 75% year-on-year. ARPU remained positive both year-on-year and over the previous quarter.

Click on image on enlarge

Jon Eddy Abdullah, CEO Telenor Pakistan while commenting on the results said: “I am pleased with the fact that Telenor Pakistan continues to perform well. Still, the energy shortages, currency devaluation, security costs and discriminatory taxation on the industry are a constant challenge. We look forward to timely intervention by the government through measures aimed at minimizing the impact these factors are having on the development of the industry and, as a result, the country.”
In the previous quarter, Telenor Pakistan also did well on other fronts. It became one of the few mobile operators in the world – and the first in Pakistan — to receive a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Mobile Money for the Unbanked Fund. It launched the industry-first, state-of-the-art, Sahulat Ghar to help bring mobile services to more people across the country. And it provided free telecommunication services to Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation in Hunza to assist in emergency communications regarding the situation in Attabad and surrounding areas.

Telenor Gets High Tax Payer Award of Excellence

Telenor Pakistan has won the High Tax Payer Award of Excellence from Pakistan Customs (Islamabad Collectorate) for the year 2009-10.
In a ceremony held in Islamabad recently, Chief Collector Omar Farooq (right) gave the award to Muhammad Yousaf Rashid, Manager Logistics, Telenor Pakistan.
This is the second time Telenor Pakistan has won the High Tax Payer Award of Excellence from Pakistan Customs.

Telenor to Focus on Health, Safety & Environmen

Telenor Pakistan hosted the 3rd Industrial HSE Network Meeting in Islamabad on July 8. A number of national and multinational organizations participated (representatives pictured above).
The objective was to find solutions to common HSE (Health, Safety & Environment) issues, share best practices and work to develop a structured HSE system to meet local and international market challenges.
Following the meeting, the participants agreed to develop a portal for sharing knowledge and good practices, and establish an environment bank for taking collaborative environmental initiatives. Telenor Pakistan will track and follow up on these activities until 2011.

Telenor Pakistan Completes 50 Solar-Powered Cell Sites

Telenor Pakistan has become the country’s first mobile operator to complete the largest solar-powered telecommunication network to be established in Universal Service Fund-assisted areas.
Of the 50 solar-powered cell sites established, 47 are in the USF-assisted areas of Mirpur Khas and Bahawalpur. The sites are providing telecommunication services to nearly 1.63 million people who previously lacked any such access. The other three sites are in Islamabad and Khyber-Pukhtoonkhwa.
The solar-powered cell sites are an outcome of Telenor Pakistan’s Green Energy Project that aims to provide environment-friendly telecommunications solutions.
Khalid Shehzad, Chief Technology Officer, Telenor Pakistan commenting on the achievement said: “We are delighted to have created the largest solar-powered cell network in the USF-assisted areas of Mirpur Khas and Bahawalpur. With the deployment of solar-powered cell sites our aim is to provide environment-friendly telecommunication services even in the remotest areas of Pakistan. By doing so we are reducing power demands on the national grid and also helping to reduce carbon emissions. Alternative energy solutions are the way forward and we will continue to explore greener, more environment friendly solutions for our business.”
USF is a government fund set up with the aim to provide basic data and telephony services to the unserved and underserved areas of the country.
Solar energy is one of the salient features of Telenor Pakistan’s Green Energy Project that will help in preventing emission on average of 2.5 tons of carbon dioxide per site per year.

Telenor Mala-maal Offer for Retailers

Telenor is incentivizing its retailers with cash prizes and motorbikes if they make extra sales (for easyload) in the month of July 2010.
Campaign starting today will enable those retailers to enter into the lucky draw who will earn 5 percent additional sales than of their targets.
Prizes:

• Motorbikes – 12 prizes
• Rs. 10,000 Cash – 30 prizes
• Rs. 5,000 Cash – 60 prizes
• Rs. 2,100 Cash – 2100 prizes

Terms:

• Campaign will run through the month of July (1^st July 2010 to 31^st July 2010)
• This campaign is for retailers only, Franchises and Service Center staff is not eligible for it
• Retailers can get information on their sale targets by calling 345-545
• 5 percent additional sale will entitle one entry while 10 percent additional sale will earn you two entries in the lucky draw
• Minimum easyload sale should be Rs. 2,000 to qualify for lucky draw
• One retailer can send maximum of 10 entries
• Telenor’s decision for lucky draw winners will be final