Mobilink recently re-launched its post paid packages again.

Mobilink was the major share holder for post paid market and is still the operator of choice for many corporate due to its separate corporate customer handling.

How ever during these times of recession companies do try to cut down costs and a quick comparison would yield that mobilink post paid packages or Indigo as they call it are not the cheapest ones around, and the historical edge that mobilink had always held that most of the mobile subscribers are mobilink users and so the call from mobilink is cheapest does not hold true any more, so will these new packages do the trick, continue reading to find my take on this

So here are the packages as advertised

there are 5 packages in all as follows

i One Hundred

This is the lowest package the good thing about this is the very low sms rate only 20 paisa which is a good deal, call rates in this are not as low which is fair keeping in mind that this has the lowest line rent.

i Four Hundred

This package has a four hundred line rent, the difference from the first package is addition of free minutes (for mobilink calls only). But surprisingly the sms costs for this jumps to 75 paisa.

i Nine Hundred

This moves the line rent a bit up again adding 100 mb of gprs plus the 900 mobilink to mobilink calls. the call rate to mobilink numbers drop to 0.75 rupees per minute

i Fifteen Hundred

This is just below the most expensive package the major difference is dropping call rate to mobilink calls to 50 paisa, another change is that at this level the call charges to other operators is reduced by 25 paisa to stop at 1.25 Rupees a minute, also added is 250 mb of data plus the sms rate goes down as well to 50 paisa

i Unlimited

This is the most expensive package and there are two versions within it too. The premium one adds conference call and other vas free in the package. If we look at this package it is not as expensive as it looks. for any other package if you add black berry and gprs it is 1000 Rs a month, plus the fact that this is the only package which is offering generous 1000 free minutes to other operators which it self would be about 1000 rs this might come down a lot, for some one doing lots of calls and heavy blackberry and gprs usage it should be a good deal.

Conclusion

Though mobilink has changed some packages but over all still it is on the expensive side, comparing the unlimited from mobilink to the one of warid, warid’s Unlimited is 4000 rs monthly, which when you add blackberry and gprs comes to 5000 (but not all users want unlimited blackbery and gprs usage ) its giving unlimited calls on network unlimited sms plus the 1000 free minutes to other operators. The 100 rs package is an interesting one and might win them some customers as it has a very attractive sms rate plus the low monthly package only zong has a low monthly package of 100 rupees for warid its lowest is 250 rs package.

Will this change in tarrif work we will have to wait and see.

I was delighted to see this on the home page of wi-tribe. They have finally started showing signs of a launch.

on the contact page there are Addresses for offices in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad some thing which tells us this will be launched in these major cities first

Also the drop down for contact also emphasizes this concept.

Package details are as follows, I am sure they will introduce more packages as they go ahead currently only 2 speeds are offered each with its own relative download limit

PTCL Recently launched EvDO Services under the brand Broadband on the Go. This comes in direct competition with Worldcall EvDO services launched a little while back.

Though PTCL Service is only offering PCMCIA* based devices for usage (Shutting of most of the desktop users) and a single package at the moment, but its availability in all three major cities (Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad ) plus an option to get a connection from city and ability to use in any will be attractive for a lot of user. for package details please read on.

Currently PTCL is offering only one package with a standard rate (the CSR did not have info regarding the exact connectivity speed). On their site they claim data rates upto 3 Mb/sec which is a tall claim and can only be verified after people have purchased it. Charges for subscription are as follows.

There are two subscription modes, one in which you buy the PCMCIA card and other in which you rent it.

Packages

Package 1

You will get the PCMCIA Device in this package and unlimited download limit. speed is standard for now i.e there are not different packages for speed/bandwidth

Package 2

PCMCIA Device will be property of PTCL and you pay the rental. Unlimited download limit. speed is standard for now i.e there are not different packages for speed/bandwidth

The plus points.

• Good package rates

  at 2000/2500 which ever you choose you are getting speed on the upwards of 1Mbps plus unlimited down loads in comparison worldcall package of 1Mbps (Only available in Karachi) costs 2500 and you have to buy the device separately

• Billing in phone bill

  This alone will be a feature worth mentioning as it saves a lot of hassle of going to some sale point to pay for the connection and recharge. with PTCL online billing now available for PTCL Bill plus integration with most banking system a customer can pay bill with a lot of convenience.

• Roaming

  The availability of service in 3 major cities plus the ability to roam with the service will be very attractive for people on the go, it will allow you to stay in touch where ever you go.

The negatives

• Device

  The PCMCIA card will be a problem for a lot of users specially the ones wanting to use this in their desktop, plus the inability to easily use the same connection across different systems will be a problem, i hope PTCL comes with the USB Device soon. Also there is no Wifi version or router type device meaning people wanting to share a connection at home will have a problem, Worldcall provides a wifi router device for 6000 Rs.

• Single Package

  There are no low priced packages the minimum being the 2000 Rs if you buy the PCMCIA Card, in comparison worldcall has 1200 Rs and 1800 Rs for 256kbps and 512kbps packages respectively allowing people with lower budgets to get this service.

Conclusion

this has an ability to become an attractive service specially for business community if they execute it well the rates and other options are good only major issue being the PCMCIA Device.

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* PCMCIA Card goes in a slot available on most laptops, please consult your laptop manual or vendor for info.

I have limited the bandwidth brackets to the most popular ones you can go to the websites of the ISP to get in depth details of all the packages being offered by them. some are offering packages of 128 k (not included in table) where as there are ISPs which are offering combination of different caps at lower prices.

Specially COMSATS have packages for broadband and DSL different for cities like Abbotabad, Sialkot, Peshawar and Islamabad, And they have some very pricey packages for unlimited bandwidth and dedicated bandwidth.

For all of these Providers you will have to check for availability of their service in your area, most of these provide this information on their websites but it has to be really searched. If you need some detailed info let me know in comments and I will try to pull it out for you.

Most widely available service is obviously being offered by PTCL because of their large coverage area and existing infrastructure, where as most ISPs are mostly limited to urban cities. Wimax based ISPs like Wateen and Mobilink infinity will probably spread to rural areas with wireless coverage.

There are also EVDO services launched by Worldcall and recently PTCL but they are more suited to mobile users. Will be covering about them soon till then use the reference below to suit your budget
Click on the following link to see the table

Feel free to drop any comments we would love to hear about your experiences with these ISPs, I will add a poll to rate them soon, time permitting.
UPDATED (Rate your ISP Here)

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