We remember that PTCL offered its Free Unlimited Internet almost a month and half ago. The move by PTCL disfigured dial-up ISP businesses in the country, and they had no other option but to seek PTA for any solution.
It is told that there went plenty of hearings and discussions over the issue. After detailed discussions and deliberations, a new model for dialup ISPs is being emerged wherein all ISPs will provide free dialup access to the customers. ISPs would advertise/market their service on service quality, customer support, etc., and access would be open for all PTCL phone users to connect to Internet using any ISP’s username and password.
PTCL would charge one local call for every 20 minutes for Internet users and this revenue would be shared between PTCL (30%) and ISPs (70%).
In case of calls originating from outside area codes, this revenue share would be reversed, PTCL 70% and ISPs 30%. Long distance Internet calls (from area codes where ISPs are not located) would still be charged at the cost of local call/20 minute.
There would be no scratch cards for the ISPs and customers would be billed in their PTCL’s monthly bill for a local call of 20 minutes duration.
This would mean Rs. 6/hour of dialup Internet for the users. Currently, the Internet scratch cards are being sold at Rs. 2 to 4/hr. With one local call per hour, the expense of users was around Rs. 5-6/hr. Industry standard (in Pakistan) duration of Internet calls is 20 to 30 minutes. So for the users, there would be hardly any change in the charges. Users would also have more choices to use any ISP they like and would be billed in PTCL’s bill at the end of every month.
This new regime is expected to be announced within next few days.
Complete Story Via: PAkGrid
