Telenor Bluntly Misleads its Customers in Pakistan

Telenor_4G-1[3]

“We are 4G, LTE”, says a hoarding by Telenor seen in Blue Area – the busiest area of the town — just besides the Centaurus Mall flyover in Islamabad.

A commoner, after seeing the hoarding, will get the message that Telenor has started offering 4G LTE services in Pakistan and this is exactly what any cellular company would want, that is to make an early impression on next generation data services before they will be auctioned in Pakistan next year.

Along side the 4G LTE claim, a line is written in Urdu fonts saying “Humara Mobile Internet hay” (Translates: Our mobile is internet), which is further strengthening the impression that Telenor has started offering 4G or LTE services in Pakistan,

Telenor_4G-2

A closer look, however,reveals that Telenor Pakistan is using its group’s cover and claiming to be 4G, LTE network on the basis of group’s operations in Thailand, Bangladesh or elsewhere. Well, why would a company want to advertise services offered in other parts of World on the roads of Islamabad? And that too with the same logo with which it operates in Pakistan?

For example, Zong can’t claim to be a 4G network even if its parent group is offering the same in China, especially when Zong’s logo is exactly the same as of China Mobile’s logo in China. That would be a trap to mislead the customers in Pakistan.

Check below the complete capture of the hoarding:

Telenor_4G

Irfan Wahab Khan, CMO of Telenor Pakistan, last week claimed Telenor to be the most fair and transparent cellular network of Pakistan. Ironically this hoarding is convening a different message, as Telenor is Claiming on the roads of Islamabad what it is not.

Check below a slide from Irfan Wahab’s presentation – during a press briefing last week — claiming Telenor to be the most Fair and Honest network, which it appears is not true.

Telenor_Honest

This misleading hoarding — and don’t know how many similar hoardings across Pakistan — might get Telenor some customers, however, the fact remains the same that Telenor Pakistan is not a 4G or LTE network.

Though they might be ready for it, but a 4G ready network and a 4G network are two different things.

The Chairman of Competition Commission of Pakistan would have seen this hoarding while on her way to Office, and it is likely that she might take strict action against this misleading act of Telenor Pakistan.

Update

On directions of PTA, Telenor Pakistan is removing the line “We are 4G-LTE” from the hoarding.

Tech and telecom reporter for over 15 years


  • And you guys din’t notice the logo used is not of Telenor’s Pakistan but Telenor Group??

    Funny guys, you are!

  • Telenor is simply trying to stay the market leader in terms of new services and stuff. And in 4g, the game is not in their hands this time, So its an aggressive move. But a normal user is not aware of 4G,LTE and else. So this massive hoarding will just be an expense. Talking about zong, they advertise being a largest user base company of the world, as they are leading in china. Anyways, I guess its time when the CCOs, CTOs, CEOs start moving on assignments abroad. The golden time is over. And when the competition gets tough, companies like telenor try to play their cards, but in vain.

  • Dear Aamir,
    Telenor has 4G ready equipment and it will be first operator to launch 3G in Pakistan.
    I don’t see anything in saying “Hamara mobile internet hai”??
    And Zong can’t claim it because they lack marketing tactics (i am not saying, zong has NO marketing tactics),
    It all about marketing, you can see the ufone add saying “30 paisa”??? by closer look you can see it saying 30 paisa per 15 SECONDS. So, we cant say they are bluntly misleading customers.
    I hope you get the point, if not reply on this msg.
    “Telenor User”

    • Bhai devices ready doesn’t mean they are offering services in Pakistan and if other operator has devices of 5G then what would you say!!!

      Jo fact hai woh dekana chahaye ap nay suna hoga kay “Jhoot bolnay say tu maal beek jata hai magar barkat nahi rehte”.

    • whenever you do something wrong you point at other and say that they are doing it wrong aswell! the board say 4g LTE. it shouldnt have happened! it is misleading customers.

      • There’s nothing misleading here.

        It’s a teaser from Telenor Pakistan.. that they are bringing 4G/LTE to Pakistan.

        And than we’ll all become part of Telenor Group.

        Ad ko sahi se samjho hypocrites

          • asal main Aamir bhai ko dukh hota hay jab set to acha wala hy lakin service available nahi hy… ha ha ha

            by the way good post to pin point misleading marketing tactics by these telcos..

        • Pakistani awam se hr koi jhoot bolta he, even hamary socalled leaders bhi electronic media aur print media me itni dhitai se jhoot bolty hen k atleast mujhy to sharam aaty he in ko leader kehty huey, phir ye to aik foreign company he. They know k wo jo marzi kahen ya likhen, is mulk me koi unhen poochny wala nahin.

    • having infrastructure does not allow you to claim something which you don’t have a license to offer .PTA should take notice and also against PTML UFone as they claims are contrary and have hidden charges

    • 4G LTE isn’t coming here now… You may have to wait another 3-5 years for 4G LTE as it is only 3G which is going to be auctioned (if auctioned!) in the next year.

    • Totally rubbish…. telenor not even in game….. and about 4G ready equipment every other operator as well ready for 4G….. there are only 3 4G licenses….. & i am sure that 1 win by ufone and other will be win by mobiilink. so there is only 1 remaining & zong and telenor have to decide who will get the other one… warid is now under PTCL umbrella so it will use the same license as of ufone…. so as i told u telenor not even in game…. & that’s it is tactic to remain in market….

    • now you may realize that zong has achieved what others were claiming to be ready for…………………….

    • wikipedia is user written material, baki networks ke details update na ki gai honge abhi tak.

      wikipedia per to bataya ja raha hay aksar wars india sath Pakistan nay start kiay, aur haar bhi Pakistan ko he hoi jab kay india ke bohat kum foj nay wars main hissa lia Pakistan ke zayada the :D

    • It’s Wikipedia, that anyone can edit. Secondly, all the networks (probably except Waird) will DEFINITELY go for 4G if they are given license. No network will be left behind. There is no doubt about it. Technically speaking, Mobilink, Zong, Ufone & Telenor have resources & capability to launch 4G anytime and it’s not a rocket science. The only hurdle is license.

  • “The Chairman of Competition Commission of Pakistan would have seen this hoarding while on her way to Office, and it is likely that she might take strict action against this misleading act of Telenor Pakistan.”

    You are right Irfan Wahab should be damn scared.

    • How is it misleading? Telenor Group has 4G. That’s all what the ad says, that Telenor Group has 4g. See the ad properly.

    • There’s nothing in the ad misleading.

      Telenor Group already has 4G and LTE around the world. And it’s a teaser for Pakistan..

      That Telenor group is bringing 4G to us.

        • Aamir sahi bole raha heh.
          These foreign companies should stop sucking the blood of Pakistani peoples.

        • Why are you acting like a little child?

          Every movie releases it’s teaser before trailer, than the final movie.

          Same thing is going to be happen here. It’s teaser from them. So brace yourself for 3G/4G/LTE.

          Do you hate telenor? :P

          • As per you analogy, Telenor should hang a hoarding with a tagline “We are making smartphones”, coz they are planing to make phones in 2030.

          • bhai in ki english to thik krwao…
            We are going for 4G LTE instead of We are at 4G LTE…

            mangni and shadi mai faraq hota hy.. teaser not allowed… lol

      • Telenor is facing serious troubles for last few months, It’s been a month now people are unable to activate their SIM cards and can’t subscribe to their desired packages. If you can’t provide basic services and packages then how it is possible for you to provide 4G here in Pakistan.

  • Every Telco in Pakistan misleads it’s customers… On a side note, the ad. is of Telenor Group not Telenor Pakistan.

    • then what the hell is Telenor Pakistan… i have been a part of it and all the business run by TP (Telenor Pakistan) instead of Telenor Group which only gets reports and profits from HQ and provides strategy guidelines instead of operational matters… use your mind too….

    • then what the hell is Telenor Pakistan… i have been a part of it and all the business run by TP (Telenor Pakistan) instead of Telenor Group which only gets reports and profits from HQ and provides strategy guidelines instead of operational matters… use your mind too….

  • Thats a Telenor Group Writer Sahab not Telenor Pakistan. Plus every company has a right to highlight their core businesses whether it comes in their local domain or not.

    If not, mention the law section/policy.

  • You are a thick headed moron! It’s Telenor Group advertisement with the logos of DiGi (Malaysia 3G operations), DTAC(Thailand 3G operations) and Grameenphone (Bangladesh recently launched 3G operations) clearly visible. Its this kind of bleak mentality that has lead to such dismal state of Pakistan!. To pin down your argument further under what authority has PTCL been campaigning for 3G EVO services since past 3 years when 3G services have never been launched in Pakistan. CCP has been sleeping all along so get a doze of sanity before writing crap up!

  • Why does it sound like this article is written by a cry-baby, or being funded by Telenor’s competitors?

  • No 4G licenses have been issued by PTA yet. Hence, it is lying and cheating by Telenor to say so. Telenor’s CMO should be taken to task for this. This has proved that westerners are cheats also. It’s just a matter of how you catch them. gorey koi dudh key dhuley huey nahin. majority of the problems in this world are because of corrupt whites.

    • Patriot I can partially agree with you, majority of problems are because of unfair treatment of west. but we are not discussing international politics here, we are discussing a western multinational who opt Pakistan out of 255 countries to invest billion of $ in Pakistan, who deploy their network in far flung area of the country, who bring state of the art technology to the country, who is responsible for thousand of jobs to un employeed youth of this country, who create lot of business opportunities and indirect employment opportunties, who is first in many ways in Pakistan Mobile market e.g. first to offer EDGE on all base stations, first to launch convenient recharging through easy load, first to offer mobile banking in Pakistan…………………………………….. And now they are all set to become 1st LTE operator of the country, they are first operator to make their network LTE/4G enabled.
      Yes we should give such company a lesson which they remember for longer period of time so that they never think again to come to country where no other international investor wanted to come.
      We don’t deserve such companies and latest technologies RIP.

    • Dear , the upcoming AUCTION of the the spectrum is TECHNOLOGY Independent , Meaning that its upto the operator what technology they implement. That being said the GSM license was technology independent too( I dont know why these companies have to buy new spectrums? )

  • Telenor Group is an organization whereas Telenor Pakistan is their product. An organization can not be “4G LTE Network”. It’s the product (Telenor Pakistan, Telenor Thailand) that can have this attribute. It’s just like saying that Unilever makes your skin smooth (referring to a product of Unilever) or PepsiCo is 100% pure water (referring to Aquafina). Hence, this ad is misleading. If they had claimed that Telenor Network is “4G compatible” or “4G ready”, it would’ve been fair.

  • Not arguing against the Telenor misleading advertisement, but ads like Mobilink’s ‘fastest mobile internet’ are equally misleading. They show people watching TV and movies on Edge! -_-

  • It’s quite unfortunate that bloggers have taken the same route as our traditional media achors who instigate viewers for “mirch masala” and personal ratings!

    You have conveniently ignored the main message of “Hamara internet hai, sub kay liay” and the super sized pictures of varied cultures and nationalities along with international logos only to create a stir. What a shame! If the international logos, pictures and “Telenor group” signage were absent I would have taken any of your spiteful comments seriously.

    Highly irresponsible and immature piece coming from a person of your calibre.

    • Logos for all their operations are same and hence no way to differentiate.

      Please look at this as a commmon man, and not as a Telenor employee.

      • Why was my comment and SECP link to Telenor Pakistan Pvt. Ltd. deleted? It’s a public service by SECP for Company name search.

      • what a lame excuse :P If you cant see the difference then what are you making fuss all over here…promoting non issues on your blog to earn some traffic.
        For a common man like you, “humara mobile internet hai sab kay liyea” and if you can read small script 4G and without understanding cultures depicted behind it then you are simply a troll.

    • “We” (that includes Telenor Pakistan as per definition) can’t be used and shouldn’t have been used with a term “We are 4G”.

      Its simple angraizi mam.

      • And where do you see Telenor Pakistan written in this ad??? Its simple use of your eyes i guess rather than Angeraizi

    • Hello there Ms. Conformist, nice to see you! Meet Mr. FreedomofSpeech and Miss. RightForOpinions. Apparently you guys haven’t met!

      • And I guess you have yet to meet Mr. Common Sense … Apparently you don’t know where to find him :D

    • I bought their PTCL Evo and Nitro both, none of them got maximum speed they always stuck on 1.5 MB… In some areas they are getting upto 3 to 5 mbs.

  • So they are saying that they are providing 4Glte with 10 MB per second download speed…. :D :P :P

  • I have just noticed that people on ad are mostly Pakistanis. Plus ad shows Pakistani landscape, along with rickshaw in it. I have specially checked it coz I thought may be they would have left in the 4G LTE text in graphic designed for their foreign network but that is not the case.

    The ad was designed for Pakistani market and 4G LTE part of graphic was deliberately put in. I was also listening the telenor ad on my car;s FM while on my way home, they were claiming the all other operators are fraud and we have the most fair packages. But now here they are claiming false things. They must be sued for false advertisement by other operators or its consumers.

    • Oh na karo yaar…rickshaw sirf pakistan mein hoota hai!!! Bari news di hai aap nay boss … India, Bangladesh, bhutan, thailand, china mein pata nahi rickshaw jaisi koi cheese chalti hai but haan you are right rickshaw sirf pakistan mein he hoo saktay hain. Rickshaw Pakistan ki qoomi transport hai na :p ….. moron

    • A rickshaw is also used in Bangladesh and Thailand. “We are 4G LTE” under the Telenor Group logo, there are four logos: Telenor, dtac, Grameenphone, Digi. So, there is a bit of smoke and mirrors.

  • Yeh inhon nr bilkul sahi explain kiya hai
    Only Pulse
    Telenor Group is an organization whereas Telenor Pakistan is their product. An organization can not be “4G LTE Network”. It’s the product (Telenor Pakistan, Telenor Thailand) that can have this attribute. It’s just like saying that Unilever makes your skin smooth (referring to a product of Unilever) or PepsiCo is 100% pure water (referring to Aquafina). Hence, this ad is misleading. If they had claimed that Telenor Network is “4G compatible” or “4G ready”, it would’ve been fair.

  • i saw this add too while signal was red and then i said. ” PTA laaney deta ha tmy LTE”

  • I’m confused about all the white-knighting for Telenor Pakistan vs. Telenor Group. Does that really make a difference? That 60 feet sign is out there for me to see, you to see (who know the difference) and also for the hundreds of thousands that don’t! What they know is “3G” was coming, but they’re saying “4G”! 3 is lesser than 4. Telenor wins. If that’s not malafide intention, I don’t know what is! Oh, wait. Just recalled “sharait o zawabit lagoo hain!”

      • Interpretation: The gigantic advertisement is not just intended to be viewed by people who know the difference between Telenor “Group” and Telenor “Pakistan”. It’s a public advertisement and the majority of its audience doesn’t know the difference between the two entities. That, my friend, is an intent to deceive the public at large.

        P.S.: White-knighting: coming to the rescue unnecessarily.

          • How is clarifying a comment expressing an opinion insecure? I think you’re angry because you misunderstood the last line to be an attack on you.

          • Like it or not, the billboard is a bit misleading in its spirit. They could have put a note that “Not in Pakistan”.

  • Its a Telenor “group” adv. not for Telenor Pakistan! and putting up an advertisment like should make us believe that at least they are ready for bringing up new tech. in pakistan as soon as the licsence is given, they are even more upgraded then other telco’s.

  • amazed at the intellect level of all those in the discussion here, and more so at the intellect of the editor of this blog for actually taking this up? (especially whn i can c a TELENOR GROUP AD on this very page, the irony of it all)
    …having a slow day r v admin?.no wonder this country is doing down the drain, we can all sit and b high and mighty abt our exalted ideas, and go abt penalizing and condemning organizations without even using our OWN head! its easy to jump on the bandwagon , but do plz use ur mind….and for starters….any1 figured out tht the complete message is on both sides of the picture, not jst the one side as mr amir the all knowing has jst picked on……
    and on a side note, whats the “expert opinion on the “3G” written on every sim being sold by ufone since 2011? no one noticed that? or was everyone waiting kay admin raises tht so tht every1 has their 2 mins of fame

    plz, seriously, every1, go solve the troubles u have in ur life, and GET A LIFE!

    • Judging the intellect level of everyone in the thread… blaming others to be high and mighty. Make up your mind buddy! Good point about ufone though!

  • I see a lot of Telenor employees commenting and defending themselves. Sad. Why can’t you just admit the ad is misleading us Pakistani people?

    There is no way we could get 4G (not even 3G) until telecos get license for it.

  • I see a lot of Telenor employees commenting and defending themselves. Sad. Why can’t you just admit the ad is misleading us Pakistani people?

    There is no way we could get 4G (not even 3G) until telecos get license for it.

  • So good news from Telenor as we will see 4g directly launched in Pakistan after 2g. Just after getting license they will launch it.

  • I think there’s been a late afternoon memo circulated at Telenor offices today. Employees, employees everywhere! ;)

  • yar jaha yasir qader jesa member telecom lag jae. jis ko Farooque awan na director telecom lagaya tha wha kon pochnay wala ha. abi ye banda jo pemra me junior level par tha aj memebr telecom bana hoa ha or illegaly board me b ha ptcl k or usf or r&d ka. loot machi ha har taraf. jisko madam nawa z da. koi merit nai ha.jisko chahay MD laga do jis ko chao oper kar do jis ko chaho ignore kar do jisko chaho terminate kar do. under nagri chopat raj

  • mujh ko tu apni pakistani awaam ke samj he nhi aa rhe koi bol rha k warid sirf 2 cites mein hai koi keh rha hai ads theak hai koi bol rha theak nhi. Telenor ko mein kuch es tra dhkta ho, ak tu telenor walo na service center khtam kr dya phr boht saray employ ko farg kr dya, aur app ks tra k pakistani ho, pakistani web hai urdu bolo kro. suhkriya

  • whatever this post is about i damn care but @aamir7:disqus get what he wants…. traffic :P

  • Aamir Bhair…as usual, Telenor’s Communication and Digital Media departments are sleeping. They are busy making their bosses happy or are on vacations usually because Telenor is the best place which let’s women take as many leaves as they want. The two departments are busy telling their management lies about what happens outside in social media, and normal media. Irfan Wahab is a good man, perhaps, too good a man to do anything about anything.

    Aslam Hayat is too busy to even care about what kind of team their communication department is building. Soon we will see another ‘PR Expert’ joining. Lol!

  • Telenor’s new network in Pakistan in 4G ready, all they want is license to turn it on like they did in Malaysia, Thailand, Sweden, Norway, Hungary and many other countries. I dont understand this fuss as the ad clearly shows it is from Telenor group and logos in the bottom clearly says dtac and Digi among others wheer 4G is already running.
    Author should have used prudence before making an issue out of non issue

    • Tipu I totally agree with you, Telenor is the first and only Pakistan mobile operator with LTE enabled network, if Government of Pakistan award them 4G license today, they can start their services from tomorrow. Other operators may don’t like this and trying to make non issue an issue.

  • Telenor might be a good network, but it’s the worst company when it comes to customer care support: for instance; call to their helpline took an average 10 minutes to be able to talk to an agent and in most cases the support agent unable to assist, secondly, they dont have any customer care online (beside a facebook fan page I think) nor they have an E-care portal for the customers as of now.

    • They should increase their call center agents, come on Telenor in order to get billion of dollars revenue, please invest few million in approving new headcount. and more call agents seats.

  • I am the the user of Telenor Services and i found it great in providing quality and honest services to their customers.
    This board is just to show that they will be the 4G LTE Services provider in the near future.

  • I can only say haha ha pro pakistani sm
    all thoughts, i suggest when u dont know the reality dost bug about Mr. Amir

  • author kay saath saath, Nokia 3310 istemaal karnay walay tamaam commentators say Telenor ki jaanib say dilli maazarat!

      • Their swap is completed and now they should optimize their network for better quality of service. Where is the watchdog PTA, now you get a new chairman. Chairman sb. show your presence conduct fresh QOS survey with 3 months notice to all operators.

  • Dears,
    The issue isn’t Cellular Operators adopts such attitude, but the Command & Control Authority “PTA” seems to be Money Tool of Govt. now; which has only concerns to Money Grab in Terms of Taxes & %age Money On ( Call Centre/ Services/Operational Chrgs) increasing Month Basis by Cellular Operators.
    I’ve Query to PTA why such charges impose on Re-charge, answer from Cellular Operators & PTA is similar “Currency Fluctuation, Economical Instability ( Off-Air Services During Ashura & Special Events), Electricity/ Fuel Prices) covers from these Charges.
    @ it is concluded PTA is On Board on these issues with Cellular Operators as their Body Guard Shield. Govt will find all those Illegal Ways with Legal SRO’s Umbrella to grab money from Public to sustain economic conditions.
    Customer Care & Services still a BIG Question MARK!!!! in Pakistan.
    Look at the situation of this Govt. after 200+ days in power,still can’t take decision to auction 3G License in Pak; PTCL offered with Brand EVO already illegally Operated in Pakistan, %age already shared with Ex & Current Govt to sustain PTCL In Market. According to Economical Analysts 3G License auction may affect on %age money given to Govt. by PTCL (On Evo Products), also cause a delay.
    After this, If Telenor advertise 4G LTE, i think its a normal exercise. :) Cheers!

  • galti se print hogya hoga yr, wese bhi konsa 4g hojai ga ,,,kehne or bolne me kuch farq samjho yaro

  • Most poor customer care service i have ever seen from Telenor side not in small city even in Karachi, Shara-e-Faisal, Nursery Center and same attitude in Corporate service. What we can expect in small cities/towns?

  • 4 company names (All offering 4G Services) and their local cultures shown in the logo…and then written in big n bold “Humara mobile internet hai sab kay liyea”…then Telenor GROUP. Any thing else that i am missing and you have noticed for such a big issue???
    Writer i’m sure if you ever get a chance in “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader” you’ll embarrass yourself on the very first question.

    If you had any professionalism rather than yellow journalism or call it typical “gali ki massi” then you could have started a simple discussion…Is Telenor bring 4G ??
    Oh but sponsored and paid posts are always mirch masalay wali na…kabhi write a article on your deceptive blogging as well.
    If Allah nay izat di hai(propakistani) tou use it for constructive purposes rather then playing with others name for the sake of your pocket.

  • if telenor provide 4G (GGGG) so my second credit goes for Telenor Pakistan. my firsrt credit goes for PTCL and Evo

  • Another cheap shot by admin, i think you are running out of genuine stories so last not least, hit the road, take snaps and create fuss for nothing. grow up please and be professional.

  • another blunt by TP after bold confession of balance stealing activity since long. thier recent drive on balance drop is basically their confession of deceiving customers since long. 100 choohay kha k billi…………..

  • well! thanks for bringing into our notice firstly, these connections might providing such facility for some vip numbers or red zone area lol. i don’t want to remove the the 4g lte line besides they should provide g4 instead indeed,goes for all connection.


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