for other details read our detailed review earlier

http://review.com.pk/2009/06/worldcall-evdo-detailed-review/

http://review.com.pk/2009/03/ptcl-evdo-broadband-on-the-go-rates-and-subscription-details/

the issues we had were

1. Extra ordinary device price (6000 vs 3000 for Worldcall)
2. Only one Package

Seems they have listened and responded well

Here is the add that appeared in the local news paper. according to it

besides the older 2000 Rs fixed package they have introduced two more options plus also allowing the 2000 as pre paid. and the sweetest change of all is the price drop of 2000 rs for the device

here are the new packages all prepaid packages are unlimited for their said duration (Unlimited data)

Device price or installation in other words is 3,999 Rupees,the previous post paid package of 2000 still holds too.

Prepaid also means that now you can pick and choose your internet usage so mage 100 for weekends is your need than this solves it perfectly.

Worldcall its your move now

Increasing its blackberry handset portfolio, ufone has introduced Blackberry Curve 8520 for a very reasonable amount of 25,000 Rs. unlike mobilink who recently introduced blackberry storm for an insanely high price ufone has kept the things in check. And hopefully it will do them good. So the range of blackberry handset available to us keep on increasing .  

I would  be reviewing the services offered by our operators and what hand sets are available with each of them along with the tariff.

Mobilink was one of the pioneers to introduce the blackberry services and handsets in our local market, based on the fact that mobilink had the most corporate client it also was the natural thing to do. With margin of profit declining due to the fierce competition in telecom sector, all the operators are looking are alternate services to make money. BlackBerry services is one of those.

BlackBerry services are typically broken down into two types of broad category there is a BES (Blackberry Enterprise Services) and a BIS(BlackBerry Internet Services) BES are usually for organizations which have an enterprise server installed in their setup, this service allows for official emails and contact lists to be synced over the air directly without any software. For BIS though we need a desktop software provided by blackberry that has to run on a PC inside the organizations LAN to access the official emails, it does provide access to POP and IMAP accounts

Mobilink

as I mentioned earlier Mobilink is one of the pioneers of introducing the BlackBerry services and handhelds in the local market.

BlackBerry Tariff

Mobilink offers both BES and BIS services to its customers, Besides Mobilink is perhaps the only operator that offers BIS services based on the downloaded data instead of the fixed monthly plan. its tariff is as follows you can find it here on Mobilink Site. Also these services are only offered for post paid mobilink customers or Indigo customers

Optimail is a very convenient and bargain deal for users who have frequent access to wireless lan access it would mean that users will only be charged for data that is actually downloaded over the air, the 1000 Rupees BIS Charges is exclusive of the taxes to don’t let that figure fool you for user it actually amounts to some where near 1200 (a little below) also it includes the GPRS charges so that is all you are paying for the black berry connectivity

BlackBerry Handsets

Mobilink is offering following handsets for its BlackBerry services, one thing to note here is that Mobilink is the only service provider which is giving these sets locked to its network.

• BlackBerry Curve 8310
• BlackBerry Curve 8320
• Blackberry 8820
• BlackBerry 8800
• BlackBerry pearl 8120
• BlackBerry pearl 8110
• BlackBerry Bold 9000
• BlackBerry curve 8900

Ufone

Ufone was hot on Mobilinks heals in launching the service.

BlackBerry services Tariff, UFone is offering the cheapest BIS services in all operators maybe its due to the fact that it has lack of handset variety in its offering, also I am not sure but maybe they also are the only operator which is offering these services for prepaid, maybe some of our readers can confirm

Also like Mobilink this package is inclusive of GPRS

Handsets

Ufone is offering following handsets in its list

• BlackBerry Bold 9000
• BlackBerry Curve 8300
• BlackBerry Pearl 8100
• BlackBerry 8800
• BlackBerry 8700 (Who uses this now days yuck !!!)

Warid

Warid with its large post paid user base is another operator which launched these BlackBerry services it is also only offering BIS at the same rate as Mobilink also as other its inclusive for GPRS

Handsets

Warid is offering following handsets in its list

• BlackBerry Bold 9000
• BlackBerry Curve 8900
• BlackBerry Pearl 8120
• BlackBerry 8310
• BlackBerry 8820

Telenor

telenor was surprisingly the last operator to offer BlackBerry services, due to its strong European roots it was expected to launch these services a lot earlier.Tariff is again same as mobilink and warid

Handsets

Telenor has the most limited set of handsets for use with only three up its sleeve.

• BlackBerry 8220
• BlackBerry Bold 9000
• BlackBerry 8900 Curve

Conclusion

BlackBerry services have come a long way, now we have almost the latest sets available through operators, Though you would have noticed absence of BlackBerry Storm from these, the other gripe I have is the sets offered by these Operators are grossly over charged for example Curve 8900 can be bought from market unlocked for about 35k and from these operators it costs you about 40k similarly for other sets they are charging a 5k premium approximately. Zong is still no where in BlackBerry offering I am guessing once they come in the rates might come down,

With this smart move wateen has made it really difficult for wiTribe and Mobilink infinity (due to be launched soon) lets see if the follow the suit.

PTCL Launches USB Device for EvDO Connections.

The new device looks good sleeker than the previous one, in competition with the one Worldcall Launched in lahore

Sketchy details on the website indicate some kind of voice capability on the device continue reading for a picture of old device and detailed PTCL add.

Here is the quote from PTCL regarding the voice capabilities of the device

The device also supports your Laptop / Desktop PC earphone and microphone. By inserting a Vfone RUIM you can use your Evo device to make/receive voice calls or send/receive SMS.

The old device looked like this (Picture taken from tazzix.com from here )

and the orignal complete add from PTCL is shown below

I have had the chance of using it for about 2 weeks now and here is a detailed review of how it fared from the purchasing experience to the usage one.

bye the way for those of you in Karachi Mohtashim at IT Tazee has done a detailed review here also for those of you weighing your options against PTCL techlahore has a post here

So how did it fare in Lahore hit the read more link for details

Getting on Board

Getting a connection of Worldcall Wireless Broadband is as simple as it gets, you need a copy of your id card and a copy of utility bill (I still don’t understand the need for this ) The will provide you with a box like a CD box which you can take home and start using). The box contains the sleek USB Device a USB Extension cable and manual. Introductory price of Worldcall EvDO device is Rs 3000. That’s all the cost you need to start using this connection

Installing and using the connection

Installing and getting up on the connection is also pretty easy, as soon as you plug-in the device it will automatically run the installer utility and all your drivers will be installed automatically, a new connection with the name “Worldcall EVDO” and a new Program “Mobile Partner” are installed automatically. You can use the mobile partner to connect and you are online !!

Device

Worldcall’s has provided a very sleek device to access the EvDO Network, the device itself is a HUWAEI EC168C EvDO USB Stick. It is a durably built device looks good, the USB Connection rotates and fixes in place to make it more secure for carrying in a pocket or your Laptop Bag

The rotable USB connection makes it very easy to connect to a USB Port on your computer and adjust it so it does not obscure your work.

Icing on the Cake

The most interesting thing for me (might not be important for every one) in the device was the ability to access a micro SD card, there is a hidden slot which appears when you open the device where you can insert a micro SD card, I had a 1 gb old Micro SD card which i inserted and viola!! I had a usb stick with me, I had been thinking of buying a USB device for some time but this really came as a savior, now don’t need to carry two separate things, also it will enable for quicker access to the Micro SD of my black berry for the pictures or videos i keep snapping. According to specs it should be good up to an sd card of 8 gb capacity which is enough for my needs. One caveat how ever would be how this device acts when connected to a computer which does not have all the drivers installed it will install the drivers for evdo before allowing the system to access the storage, however for me its a god send gift

Packages

We have already covered the packages in our previous post Worldcall EvDO coming to Lahore on 25th Of May

just reposting for new readers here

Introductory price for service activation is 2999/- (Its my assumption that it means the cost of device too) which is not a bad deal considering the device is being charged at 4500 in Karachi, and PTCL device costs 6000 rs

Comparing with PTCL EvDO Rates for 2000 you get an upwards of 1 Mbps connection with same unlimited downloads where as for 1800 worldcall gives you a 512 Kbps, and with the recent launch of USB Device from ptcl the competition would be stiff, the plus point PTCL also has is the continuous functioning of device even out of major cities, but Customer service of PTCL has been an issue for people having problems.

Some addition to our initial observations is that wordcall does have an edge of providing flexibility in packages where a user with a lower budget could go for the 1200 Package which is absent from the PTCL deal.

Speed and Connectivity

Speed of worldcall EvDO is as promised on speedtest.net I got this (the download never exceed the 512 though which is the speed of my package.

The browsing is fast and ftp downloads are also fast (will update with accurate speeds later).

I have so far have not faced any signal or connectivity issues how ever as one reader has suggested in his comment and on his blog its not working in Cantt area of Lahore

http://daudahmed.wordpress.com/2009/06/01/worldcall-evdo-not-available-in-lahore-cantt-yet/

similarly i have heard that there are some times (rare) issues of remote computer not responding type but they are still far and beyond.

Conclusion

For us consumer the advent of EvDO and Wimax present some very good alternatives to DSL which some times can be a night mare if your landline has noise etc (Try getting it fixed through PTCL). EvDO in itself presents a very viable options for people on road, allowing connectivity in small portable packages, also with the current load shedding if your laptop can withstand a 1 hour black out it would mean that you can stay connected through the load shedding which in itself was a major thought when i went for this. The competitor in its space is PTCL which has a better cost to speed ratio but a little less flexibility in packages and a considerable startup cost of 6,000 rupees (against worldcall’s 3000 )

Do let us know your experiences and comments

Unlike witribe which had a bold statement and good branding on the package wateen only settled with a small logo on the box

see the picture after the break.

here is a picture

Ohh this month is proving to be good for broadband users, after the recent launch of WiTribe it seems Worldcall’s EvDO service is not fat behind, today I say this flyer at a local shop and upon inquiry was told that it is coming by 25th and they were booking orders 6%

another Image and details after the break

Tarif being offered is as follows

Introductory price for service activation is 2999/- (Its my assumption that it means the cost of device too)

which is not a bad deal considering the device is being charged at 4500 in Karachi.

Other discounts for advance subscription is as follows

Comparing with PTCL EvDO Rates for 2000 you get an upwards of 1 Mbps connection with same unlimited downloads where as for 1800 worldcall gives you a 512 Kbps, and with the recent launch of USB Device from ptcl the competition would be stiff, the plus point PTCL also has is the continuous functioning of device even out of major cities, but Customer service of PTCL has been an issue for people having problems.

So lets see how it goes

Update

We have a detailed update on Worldcall Service you can read here

Worldcall EvDO Detailed Review

Mobilink and UFone both have started offering Tracking services. Detailed review of both should follow in few days for now we can compare what major features these advertise.

The following table gives an over view of what both of these operators are offering in case of tracking services.

Analysis

At the moment Ufone has an edge on trial period plus the ability to offer service for devices which has GRPS (Which covers most of all devices available in market) Mobilink has a short coming of tying this to GPS based devices only which limits the usability.

Regarding pricing Ufone has click based model while mobilink might be offering (they does not have it clearly mentioned though) subscription based packages.

Ufone is a bit pricey but we can’t compare yet because of mobilink’s non clear pricing at the moment. for ufone searching a site then clicking on it and zooming in would cost you 3 rs (1 per action) and if you wish to get a route you will pay another 2 Rs, for someone who wants to use this occasionally this might make sense, for some one lost a lot more frequently (like me ) this will cost a fortune.

Plus the fact that Google Latitude is available free for for any GPRS based device and it has not maps for Pakistan it remains to be seen how many will use these services, but the fact remains that google at the moment does not offer directions which might be a winning point for these solutions.

Keep tuned in for a review of the services.