National Telecommunication Corporation (Pakistan)
| File:NtcLogo.jpg | |
| Company type | State Owned Telecom Operator |
|---|---|
| Industry | Telecommunication |
| Founded | 1995 |
| Headquarters | NTC Headquarters, Sector G-5/1, Islamabad, Pakistan |
Area served | Pakistan |
| Services | Telecommunication and data based services |
| Owner | Government of Pakistan |
| Website | Home Page |
National Telecommunication Corporation (abbreviated: NTC) is a government-based IT and Telecom services provider corporation in Pakistan
History
NTC was formed in 1996 by telecom Reorganization act through which Pakistan Telecommunication Company formerly TNT (Telephone and Telegraph) was split into two companies NTC and PTCL. NTC provides telecom services to all Govt. departments and at residencies of government employees across Pakistan.
Company profile
The new era of telecommunication in Pakistan brought several challenges for the Govt. of Pakistan. The most important being the challenge to keep intact the security requirements of the Government of Pakistan and to protect the new players in this field from the conventional practices of the incumbent operators to protect their market share. To overcome these challenges GoP established National Telecommunication Corporation (NTC) in January 1996 under the Telecom Reorganization Act 1996. The main objective was to have an infrastructure independent of all other operators that can be used for the purpose of government communication and as an alternative support for the operators entering the market.
Developments
The ongoing infrastructure development journey for NTC began in 1996 when it was created with few local exchanges and analogue microwave. However, today NTC has developed its own infrastructure to an extent where it can be called an independent IT and telecom operator capable of meeting the challenges of the deregulated environment and meeting the objectives for which it was created.
NTC started its operations in 1996 with only 5 local exchanges spread across Pakistan and an analogue microwave link not capable of supporting digital transmission. To carry out its operations, NTC was dependent on PTC infrastructure and their transit network, international gateways, transmission network, IN platform etc., to carry out its operations. The copper network in the access provided to NTC was not sufficient to cater for its subscriber base and meet the required quality of service parameters. NTC had no arrangements for direct interconnect with cellular operators.
Naturally NTC had to pay a substantial part of its revenue to PTCL for 3rd party termination. Data Services being essential demand of NTC customers could not be met due to non-availability of infrastructure. Billing of NTC customers was carried out through PTC and through Pakistan Computer Bureau. The main challenge for NTC was to reduce this dependency on other operators to minimum as soon as possible to fulfill its obligations and to sustain itself in the deregulated environment in which PTC was to be privatised.
The main focus in the initial years was to develop its own basic infrastructure that included optical fibre transmission backbone, transit network, billing system and multi services data network (MSDN) beside expansion of its switching network to un-served areas to cover as much of its subscriber base as possible. It purchased 2 fibres from PTC in the main optical fibre backbone and equipped it with 622 Mbit/s SDH system. It expanded its exchanges in different cities to gain access to its customers along with laying of copper cable. These exchanges were converted into transit exchanges to provision long distance services on NTC network and to have direct interconnects with cellular and other operators.
The establishment of NTC MSDN was a major milestone, achieved in 2001 which enabled NTC to provide multiple data services such as dial-up, DSL, Web hosting and internet etc. to its customers. Another milestone achievement in national history is placement of Pakistan education & Research Network (PERN) project. The project is providing 155 Mbit/s international connectivity to 59 universities connected all over Pakistan. The billing system was developed in first 4 years which made it possible for NTC to do its own billing.
Future projects
Aware of the new technologies, demand for new services and converged network, NTC is in ever upgrading and expanding its network. Migration from conventional TDM network to IP based Next Generation Network has been planned and is being implemented. The 622 Mbit/s optical fibre backbone, not able to meet the requirement of bandwidth-hungry applications, is being upgraded to 10 Gbit/s DWDM based technology.
In order to improve corporate efficiency ERP solution is being rolled out. To gain access to more subscribers, efforts are being made for frequency allocation and as a stop gap arrangement and virtual WLL connections are being provided to NTC subscribers. NTC is planning its own IN platform to provide value added service from its own platform. Soon NTC subscribers shall be introduced to NTC operations for customer relations, call booking and complaints through its state-of-the-art call centre. Multi services access network has been planned to be as close to the user on fibre as possible to extend multiple services from a single platform. NTC has planned to upgrade legacy analogue microwave links to digital interface that may serve as an alternate to optical fiber backbone in case of natural disasters. co-location facilities are being planned to facilitate new entrants in performing their operations. The corporation has invested heavily in landline copper networks over the years. It is expected that NTC will become one of the leading suppliers of industrial copper and rubber in the foreseeable future. NTC has come a long way in developing its infrastructure in lines with the technological and market trends. NTC is determined to provide an infrastructure required to meet its objectives and to support the nation and GoP in achieving its objectives. NTC is committed to phasing out its TDM based switches across Pakistan and replacing them with Next Generation (NGN) IP networks.
Services
NTC is currently providing the following services to its customers.
- Telephone
- Basic Telephony
- Calling Card
- Integrated Service Digital Network
- Basic Rate Interface
- Primary rate interface
- Supplementary Services
- Network Solutions for valued subscribers
- Multi-Services Data Network:
- Web Hosting facility
- Electronic mail platform
- DDP, ISDN
- Co-Location
- Virtual Private Networking
- Video Conferencing facility
- Broadband Internet Access
- Intranet Solutions
- Radio/Wireless Networking Solution
- Leased Line Services
- Customized Data Solutions
- Transmission Services:
- Dark Fiber
- Media (Junction)
- Co-Location:
External links
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