National Telecommunication Corporation (Pakistan)
Encyclopedia
National Telecommunication Corporation (abbreviated: NTC) is a government-based IT
and Telecom
services provider company in 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.
development journey for NTC began in 1996 when it was created with few local exchanges and analog
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 all over Pakistan and an analog microwave link not capable of supporting the digital transmission. To carry out its operations, it was mainly dependent on PTC infrastructure and used its transit network, international gateway
s, 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
.
As a result it had to pay substantial part of its revenues 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 initially and through Pakistan Computer Bureau. The main challenge for NTC at that time 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 privatized.
The main focus in the initial years was to develop its own basic infrastructure that included optical fiber
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 fibers from PTC in the main optical fiber backbone and equipped it with 622 Mbps 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.
network to IP
based Next Generation Network has been planned and being implemented. The 622 Mbit/s optical fiber
backbone, not able to meet the requirement of bandwidth
-hungry applications, is being upgraded to 10 Gbps DWDM based technology.
To improve the efficiency ERP
solution has been planned and under process of implementation. To gain access to NTC users efforts are being made for frequency
allocation and as a stop gap arrangement virtual WLL
connections are being provided to NTC subscribers. To provide value added service from its own platform, NTC is planning its own IN platform. Very soon NTC subscribers will be hearing NTC operators for customer relations, call booking and complaints through its state-of-the-art call center. Multi services access network
has been planned to be as close to the user on fiber as possible to extend multiple services from a single platform. Plan for replacing analog microwave
with digital is being made so that NTC can meet the requirements in case of disasters and can provide an alternate to optical fiber backbone. The co-location
facilities are being planned to facilitate new entrants in performing their operations.
NTC has traveled 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.
Information technology
Information technology is the acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual and numerical information by a microelectronics-based combination of computing and telecommunications...
and Telecom
Telecommunication
Telecommunication is the transmission of information over significant distances to communicate. In earlier times, telecommunications involved the use of visual signals, such as beacons, smoke signals, semaphore telegraphs, signal flags, and optical heliographs, or audio messages via coded...
services provider company in Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
.
History
NTC was formed in 1996 by a telecom Reorganization act through which Pakistan Telecommunication Company was split in to two companies NTC and PTCL. NTC provide telecom services to designated customers.Company Profile
The new era of telecommunication in Pakistan has brought several challenges with it, despite of the advantages it has made visible for the consumers. The most important being the challenge to keep intact the security requirements of the Government of PakistanGovernment of Pakistan
The Government of Pakistan is a federal parliamentary system, with an indirectly-elected President as the Head of State and Commander in Chief of the Pakistani Armed Forces, and an indirectly-elected Prime Minister as the Head of Government. The President’s appointment and term are...
and to protect the new players in this field from the conventional practices of the incumbent operators to protect their market share
Market share
Market share is the percentage of a market accounted for by a specific entity. In a survey of nearly 200 senior marketing managers, 67 percent responded that they found the "dollar market share" metric very useful, while 61% found "unit market share" very useful.Marketers need to be able to...
. To overcome these challenges GoP
Government of Pakistan
The Government of Pakistan is a federal parliamentary system, with an indirectly-elected President as the Head of State and Commander in Chief of the Pakistani Armed Forces, and an indirectly-elected Prime Minister as the Head of Government. The President’s appointment and term are...
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 infrastructureInfrastructure
Infrastructure is basic physical and organizational structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprise, or the services and facilities necessary for an economy to function...
development journey for NTC began in 1996 when it was created with few local exchanges and analog
Analog signal
An analog or analogue signal is any continuous signal for which the time varying feature of the signal is a representation of some other time varying quantity, i.e., analogous to another time varying signal. It differs from a digital signal in terms of small fluctuations in the signal which are...
microwave
Microwave
Microwaves, a subset of radio waves, have wavelengths ranging from as long as one meter to as short as one millimeter, or equivalently, with frequencies between 300 MHz and 300 GHz. This broad definition includes both UHF and EHF , and various sources use different boundaries...
. 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 all over Pakistan and an analog microwave link not capable of supporting the digital transmission. To carry out its operations, it was mainly dependent on PTC infrastructure and used its transit network, international gateway
International gateway
An International Gateway is a telephone number through which calls are routed to get cheaper rates on international long distance charges, or to make calls through voice over IP networks internationally...
s, transmission network, IN platform etc., to carry out its operations. The copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
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
Mobile network operator
A mobile network operator , also known as mobile phone operator , carrier service provider , wireless service provider, wireless carrier, or cellular company, or mobile network carrier is a telephone company that provides services for mobile phone subscribers.One essential...
.
As a result it had to pay substantial part of its revenues 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 initially and through Pakistan Computer Bureau. The main challenge for NTC at that time 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 privatized.
The main focus in the initial years was to develop its own basic infrastructure that included optical fiber
Optical fiber
An optical fiber is a flexible, transparent fiber made of a pure glass not much wider than a human hair. It functions as a waveguide, or "light pipe", to transmit light between the two ends of the fiber. The field of applied science and engineering concerned with the design and application of...
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 fibers from PTC in the main optical fiber backbone and equipped it with 622 Mbps 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
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
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
Being aware of the new technologies and demand for new services and converged network, NTC is in the process of upgrading and expanding its network. Migration from conventional TDMTDM
TDM is a three-letter acronym that may refer to:In Entertainment may refer to* The Dead Milkmen, punk rock band* Team Deathmatch, multiplayer mode in videogaming...
network to IP
Internet Protocol
The Internet Protocol is the principal communications protocol used for relaying datagrams across an internetwork using the Internet Protocol Suite...
based Next Generation Network has been planned and being implemented. The 622 Mbit/s optical fiber
Optical fiber
An optical fiber is a flexible, transparent fiber made of a pure glass not much wider than a human hair. It functions as a waveguide, or "light pipe", to transmit light between the two ends of the fiber. The field of applied science and engineering concerned with the design and application of...
backbone, not able to meet the requirement of bandwidth
Bandwidth (computing)
In computer networking and computer science, bandwidth, network bandwidth, data bandwidth, or digital bandwidth is a measure of available or consumed data communication resources expressed in bits/second or multiples of it .Note that in textbooks on wireless communications, modem data transmission,...
-hungry applications, is being upgraded to 10 Gbps DWDM based technology.
To improve the efficiency ERP
Enterprise resource planning
Enterprise resource planning systems integrate internal and external management information across an entire organization, embracing finance/accounting, manufacturing, sales and service, customer relationship management, etc. ERP systems automate this activity with an integrated software application...
solution has been planned and under process of implementation. To gain access to NTC users efforts are being made for frequency
Frequency
Frequency is the number of occurrences of a repeating event per unit time. It is also referred to as temporal frequency.The period is the duration of one cycle in a repeating event, so the period is the reciprocal of the frequency...
allocation and as a stop gap arrangement virtual WLL
WLL
WLL can refer to:* Wireless local loop* West London Line, a railway line in London.* With Limited Liability, referring to limited liabilitiy companies * Whole Lotta Love, song by the band Led Zeppelin...
connections are being provided to NTC subscribers. To provide value added service from its own platform, NTC is planning its own IN platform. Very soon NTC subscribers will be hearing NTC operators for customer relations, call booking and complaints through its state-of-the-art call center. Multi services access network
Access network
An access network is that part of a telecommunications network which connects subscribers to their immediate service provider. It is contrasted with the core network, which connects local providers to each other...
has been planned to be as close to the user on fiber as possible to extend multiple services from a single platform. Plan for replacing analog microwave
Microwave
Microwaves, a subset of radio waves, have wavelengths ranging from as long as one meter to as short as one millimeter, or equivalently, with frequencies between 300 MHz and 300 GHz. This broad definition includes both UHF and EHF , and various sources use different boundaries...
with digital is being made so that NTC can meet the requirements in case of disasters and can provide an alternate to optical fiber backbone. The co-location
Colocation centre
A colocation centre or colocation center , is a type of data centre where equipment space and bandwidth are available for rental to retail customers...
facilities are being planned to facilitate new entrants in performing their operations.
NTC has traveled 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
Government of Pakistan
The Government of Pakistan is a federal parliamentary system, with an indirectly-elected President as the Head of State and Commander in Chief of the Pakistani Armed Forces, and an indirectly-elected Prime Minister as the Head of Government. The President’s appointment and term are...
in achieving its objectives.
Services
NTC is currently providing the following services to its customers.- Telephone
- Basic TelephonyTelephonyIn telecommunications, telephony encompasses the general use of equipment to provide communication over distances, specifically by connecting telephones to each other....
- Calling CardCalling CardCalling Card is the sixth studio release by Irish singer/guitarist Rory Gallagher. A 1976 release, it was his second of four albums released on Chrysalis Records in the 1970s. Deep Purple/Rainbow bass guitarist Roger Glover co-produced with Gallagher: it was the only time that Gallagher worked...
- Integrated Service Digital Network
- Basic Rate InterfaceBRIBRI is a three-letter abbreviation with multiple meanings, as described below:* Bank Rakyat Indonesia* Banque des Règlements Internationaux, Bank for International Settlements * The IATA airport code for Bari Airport in Italy...
- Primary Rate InterfacePrimary rate interfaceThe Primary Rate Interface is a standardized telecommunications service level within the Integrated Services Digital Network specification for carrying multiple DS0 voice and data transmissions between a network and a user....
- Supplementry Services
- Network Solutions for valued
- Multi-Services Data Network:
- Web Hosting facility
- Electronic mail platform
- Dial-up Internet Access, DDP, ISDN
- Co-Location
- Virtual Private Networking
- Video Conferencing facility
- Broadband Internet Access
- IntranetIntranetAn intranet is a computer network that uses Internet Protocol technology to securely share any part of an organization's information or network operating system within that organization. The term is used in contrast to internet, a network between organizations, and instead refers to a network...
Solutions - RadioRadioRadio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
/WirelessWirelessWireless telecommunications is the transfer of information between two or more points that are not physically connected. Distances can be short, such as a few meters for television remote control, or as far as thousands or even millions of kilometers for deep-space radio communications...
NetworkingComputer networkA computer network, often simply referred to as a network, is a collection of hardware components and computers interconnected by communication channels that allow sharing of resources and information....
Solution - Leased Line Services
- Customized Data Solutions
- Transmission Services:
- Dark FiberDark fiberA dark fiber or unlit fiber is an unused Optical fiber, available for use in fiber-optic communication.The term dark fiber was originally used when referring to the potential network capacity of telecommunication infrastructure, but now also refers to the increasingly common practice of leasing...
- Media (Junction)
- Co-Location:
- SpaceSpaceSpace is the boundless, three-dimensional extent in which objects and events occur and have relative position and direction. Physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually consider it, with time, to be part of a boundless four-dimensional continuum...
, Dishes/Antennas, Power SupplyPower supplyA power supply is a device that supplies electrical energy to one or more electric loads. The term is most commonly applied to devices that convert one form of electrical energy to another, though it may also refer to devices that convert another form of energy to electrical energy... - ServersServer (computing)In the context of client-server architecture, a server is a computer program running to serve the requests of other programs, the "clients". Thus, the "server" performs some computational task on behalf of "clients"...