Wi-tribe rolls out in Pakistan

On June 30, WiMAX operator Wi-tribe announced the official launch of its wireless broadband service in Pakistan, its largest market to date. The launch phase will include the cities of Karachi, Islamabad, Lahore, and Rawalpindi.

“Today, a new milestone is achieved in the evolution of Wi-tribe and the realisation of our vision to become one of the top 20 telecom players by 2020,” commented Sheikh Abdullah Bin Mohammed Bin Saud Al-Thani, chairman of Qtel Group. “Following our launch in Jordan, Pakistan marks a major stepping stone towards our expansion strategy and our intention to leverage the scale and strengths of Qtel Group in order to deliver the latest technologies to our customers and continue to enhance services across our operations.”

Wi-tribe is a focused and dedicated consumer wireless broadband provider that will offer instant connectivity with applications tailor-made and simplified to accommodate the needs of every customer. The Wi-tribe service will deliver broadband Internet access through the ‘plug in and play’ option offering speeds of 256Kbps, 512 Mbps, and 1 Mbps.

There are already a number of established WiMAX players in Pakistan, including Wateen Telecom and Mobilink Infinity. Wi-tribe’s launch comes on the back of its acquisition of a 75 per cent stake in Burraq Telecom in May 2007. Burraq is an established operator licensed to offer a full range of telecommunications services across Pakistan, including long distance international and wireless local loop.