But the news is that PTCL has once again banged the industry by launching 50MB broadband connection for beta testers, with the name “UltraNet”.
For now, network deployment is under way, and during this company is offering test account (as part of network testing) to limited home and business users in Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi.
Moreover PTCL is conducting, kind of, survey on what people really think about this new launch and is collecting their feedback before the official launch of this plan.
During a joint press conference of PTCL and Alcatel-Lucent, held today, PTCL said that home users will be offered 50 Mbps for Rs. 10,000 per month, while corporate users will be charged Rs. 20,000 per month. PTCL announced that service will be commercially launched with-in 3 months from now.
PTCL says that this high speed network in Pakistan will be first commercial use of VDSL2 technology in the telecom industry globally.
PTCL said that it will be using VDSL2 Bonding technology to provide existing digital subscriber line (DSL) customers with speeds up to 50 Mbps. The project leverages Alcatel-Lucent’s VDSL2 Bonding expertise and will be completed by the end of the second quarter of 2011.
During the conference, while commenting on this achievement Walid Irshaid – President and CEO PTCL stated
“PTCL is the first service provider worldwide to deploy a commercial VDSL2 Bonding solution that aims at doubling the bandwidths provided to its existing customers.
We are thus setting the trend in international telecoms, and are taking the broadband experience in Pakistan to the next level. Alcatel-Lucent’s VDSL2 Bonding technology and comprehensive services and network integration expertise is helping us to keep pace with the increasing bandwidth requirements of our customers, while capitalizing on the existing copper infrastructure. This will enable us to quickly deliver high-quality, high-speed and high-availability business and residential services – even in areas where it was not possible before.”
Alcatel-Lucent is providing PTCL with its Intelligent Services Access Manager (ISAM) IP access platform – which is the first platform to commercially support VDSL2 Bonding. Alcatel-Lucent will also supply Bonding-ready customer premises equipment (CPE). Alcatel-Lucent serves as the project’s master network integrator, and is providing a range of professional services – including project management, installation and commissioning, integration and technical support.
“We understand that service providers need the right tools to bridge the gap until fiber deployments have become ubiquitous. VDSL2 Bonding is an ideal approach: service providers like PTCL can almost double the speeds supported by their DSL infrastructure or expand their network’s reach. This makes it a fast and cost-effective approach to bridging the digital divide,” said Aadil Rauf CEO Alcatel-Lucent. Pakistan Ltd,. “This commercial VDSL2 Bonding project with PTCL marks the beginning of VDSL2 Bonding deployments outside of the US – where the technology is typically used to expand the reach of the copper network.”
Alcatel-Lucent is the driving force behind the world’s most advanced VDSL2 roll-outs, with customers such as Belgacom, STC, Swisscom and Telekom Austria. Our VDSL2 solution has also been deployed by competitive operators, including M-net (Germany) and South Yorkshire Digital Region (UK).