ptcl company analysis

Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited

COMPANY ANALYSIS

COMSATS Institute of Information Technology

COURSE: Seminar In Business And Public Policy

Submitted TO: Dr. Irum Khan

Submitted BY:

Sana MunirMidhat Batool

MBO-II

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SEMINAR IN BUSINESS AND PUBLIC POLICY

TABLE OF CONTENTS1 INTRODUCTION OF TELECOM INDUSTRY...................................................................3

2 PTCL – PAKISTAN TELECOMMUNICATION LIMITED................................................4

2.1 Introduction of PTCL..................................................................................................................4

2.2 Vision.............................................................................................................................................5

2.3 Mission..........................................................................................................................................5

2.4 Core Values...................................................................................................................................5

2.5 Organizational Structure............................................................................................................62.5.1 Bankers.....................................................................................................................................................6

2.6 Products & Services.....................................................................................................................62.6.1 PTCL Landline..........................................................................................................................................62.6.2 PTCL V-Fone............................................................................................................................................72.6.3 Ufone.........................................................................................................................................................82.6.4 Paknet Limited..........................................................................................................................................82.6.5 PTCL Broadband......................................................................................................................................82.6.6 Smart Services..........................................................................................................................................9

3 ANALYSIS OF EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT.................................................................10

3.1 Industrial Structure...................................................................................................................10

3.2 Market Operation......................................................................................................................11

3.3 Market Structure.......................................................................................................................11

3.4 Regulatory Environment...........................................................................................................12

4 ANALYSIS OF INTERNAL ENVIRONMENT..................................................................14

4.1 Organizational Management Cycle..........................................................................................15

4.2 Financial Aspects.......................................................................................................................164.2.1 Profitability Position...............................................................................................................................184.2.2 Liquidity Position....................................................................................................................................184.2.3 Leverage Position....................................................................................................................................184.2.4 Activity Position.....................................................................................................................................194.2.5 Dividends................................................................................................................................................19

4.3 HR Aspects.................................................................................................................................194.3.1 Training and Development.....................................................................................................................20

5 BUSINESS STRATEGIES...................................................................................................22

5.1 Fixed Line Telephony................................................................................................................22

5.2 Wireless Local Loop..................................................................................................................23

5.3 Broadband and Value Added Services....................................................................................23


6 ENTREPRENEURSHIP – INNOVATION & INCENTIVE PLANS................................25

6.1 Quality Services..........................................................................................................................25

6.2 Free Internet...............................................................................................................................26

6.3 One Stop Shop............................................................................................................................26

7 SWOT Analysis......................................................................................................................27

7.1 Strengths.....................................................................................................................................27

7.2 Weakness....................................................................................................................................27

7.3 Opportunities.............................................................................................................................27

7.4 Threats........................................................................................................................................27

8 Future of PTCL.....................................................................................................................29

8.1 Measures to achieve Set Targets...............................................................................................298.1.1 New Technology.....................................................................................................................................298.1.2 Cross Subsidization.................................................................................................................................298.1.3 Price Discrimination...............................................................................................................................308.1.4 Vertical Price Squeeze............................................................................................................................30

9 Bibliography..........................................................................................................................31

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1 INTRODUCTION OF TELECOM INDUSTRY

Since the independence of Pakistan, basic telecom services were being provided by a monopolist,

previously called as Telephone and Telegraph department (T&T). The department was being run by the

government and played multiple roles as regulator, policy maker, operator and service provider in the

country. The T & T department was later converted into a corporation. Although the corporation was

earning huge profits from the services, it was re-investing the same profits into the sector for the

provision of more telecom service but the investment was not enough.

Further, with the technological advancement, more and more telecom services were becoming available

but there was not enough money available with the corporation to install new telecom systems for the

provision of modern services. Resultantly, a digital divide prevailed in Pakistan keeping it behind its

neighbors and other comparable countries in terms of telecom access. Cellular mobile services in Pakistan

commenced in 90s when two cellular mobile telephone licenses were awarded to Paktel and PakCom

(Instaphone) for provision of cellular mobile telephony in Pakistan. Currently there are six cellular

players in the market. The Telecom Sector has contributed 2 percent towards the overall GDP growth

with revenues of over PKR 235bn.


2 PTCL – PAKISTAN TELECOMMUNICATION LIMITED

2.1 Introduction of PTCL

PTCL is the largest telecommunications provider in Pakistan. PTCL also continues to be the largest

CDMA operator in the country with 0.8 million V-fone customers. The company maintains a leading

position in Pakistan as an infrastructure provider to other telecom operators and corporate customers of

the country. It has the potential to be an instrumental agent in Pakistan’s economic growth. PTCL has laid

an Optical Fiber Access Network in the major metropolitan centers of Pakistan and local loop services

have started to be modernized and upgraded from copper to an optical network. On the Long Distance

and International infrastructure side, the capacity of two SEA-ME-WE submarine cable is being

expanded to meet the increasing demand of International traffic.

With the promulgation of Telecommunication (Re-Organization) Act 1996, the Pakistan

Telecommunication Authority was established as the Telecom Regulatory body. Following the open

licensing policy in BUY @ PKR 45.40 accordance with the instructions of Government of Pakistan and

in exercise of powers conferred by Pakistan Telecommunication (Re-Organization) Act 1996, the basic

telephony was put under exclusivity and PTCL was given a seven years monopoly over basic telephony

which ended by December 31, 2002. The year 2006-07 in the telecom sector witnessed a phenomenal

growth in the mobile phone sector in Pakistan, which doubled its subscriber base to 60 million. The

Teledensity increased from 26% to 40%, helping to spread the benefits of communication technology

across the country. PTCL's mobile phone subsidiary Ufone's subscriber base grew by more than 87%,

from 7.49 million to 14 million.

The year also witnessed the entry of major telecom companies, most notably China Telecom and Singtel,

into the market. Restructuring and re-engineering are in their final stages along with the implementation

of ERP system. From the end customer's perspective, a major initiative was put in place in the shape of

'Broadband Pakistan' service launch as a first step towards providing its customer with more value added

service and convenience. With this offering, the PTCL not only bringing the benefit of high speed

Internet access to subscribers in major cities but will also generate new revenue streams for future growth.

The company also continued to invest in infrastructure development and addition of network capacity

with a view to enhance services and to expand its reach across the country.

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2.2 Vision

To be the leading Information and Communication Technology Service Provider in the region by

achieving customer satisfaction and maximizing shareholders' value'.

The future is unfolding around us. In times to come, we will be the link that allows global

communication. We are striving towards mobilizing the world for the future. By becoming partners in

innovation, we are ready to shape a future that offers telecom services that bring us closer.

2.3 Mission

To achieve our vision by having

An organizational environment that fosters professionalism, motivation and quality

An environment that is cost effective and quality conscious

Services that are based on the most optimum technology

"Quality" and "Time" conscious customer service

Sustained growth in earnings and profitability

2.4 Core Values

Professional Integrity

Customer Satisfaction

Teamwork

Company Loyalty

Corporate Information


2.5 Organizational Structure

2.5.1 Bankers Askari Bank Limited

Citibank N.A.

Faysal Bank Limited

Habib Bank Limited

MCB Bank Limited

National Bank of Pakistan

Standard Chartered Bank Limited

United Bank Limited

2.6 Products & Services

2.6.1 PTCL Landline

Since the deregulation of the telecom sector, a large number of foreign investors opted for

licenses in LL, LDI and cellular operations, identifying Pakistan as an emerging market. Investors

entered the market forcefully in the cellular segment, introducing heated competition for PTCL.

In this situation PTCL's counter strategy for landline service, during the year 2007-08 was aimed

to increase ARPU, acquire new subscribers and contain churn.

President

&

CEO

SEVP FinanceSEVP

HR & Admin

SEVP Corp Development

SEVP Operations

SEVP Commercial

SEVP Technical

CIO

GM North Zone GM South Zone

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To increase operations, PTCL shifted from its conventional duration based charging system to

value based options, like 'Pakistan Package' that offered 5,000 minutes for on-net nationwide

calls at Rs. 199/month. PTCL also launched 'International Plus' package to facilitate cost effective

international calls at unmatchable rates alongside offering Voice messaging and Phone n Net

services, adding more value to the landline service. To increase customers' base, 'order on phone'

was introduced, allowing customer to apply for a new connection by simply calling 0800-80800.

To tackle the churn PTCL established an outbound call center to reach out to potential customers

with an objective to attain higher level of brand loyalty.

2.6.2 PTCL V-Fone

PTCL V-Fone (WLL Service) was another major area of focus for PTCL during the year. A few

prominent measures taken in this area during the year were launching of free home delivery

service. No line rent package was launched in September 2007. In June 2008, 30 seconds billing

was introduced contributing as an effective customer retention tool. PTCL has expanded the

network to provide coverage in all large and small cities including over 10,000 villages in rural

areas of Pakistan.

As Vfone becomes the Wireless substitute to landline in un-served areas, it will be a robust line

for voice, data and fax services for use at home and in the office. In business markets it will be

positioned as the CDMA tellular extension to add trunk lines to the ever expanding business

PABXs. Vfone will be spearheading the launch of the new postpay and pre-pay tariffs with no

line-rent to meet the market demand. The tariff will include new post-pay unlimited local and

nationwide calling packages to bring traffic back to PTCL’s networks to stabilize the revenues.

After the initial launch, the Company aims to retain the momentum by offering different bundled

packages for voice to increase the subscriber base, including specifically targeting the rural areas

where copper infrastructure does not exist. On Wireless broadband front, a major upgrade of

PTCL WLL CDMA network is underway to provide Wireless broadband services in 17 major

cities by end 2007. Currently technical trial is in progress which will be followed by a pilot

project on WiMax technology. This will enable PTCL to maintain its competitive edge.

2.6.3 Ufone


(Pakistan Telecom Mobile Ltd) a wholly-owned subsidiary of PTCL commenced its operations

on 29th January 2001 as a GSM 900 service provider. Since the outset, it has expanded its

coverage and customer base at a rapid pace and established itself as one of the leading cellular

service providers in Pakistan. Ufone is now considered to be one of the most active, aggressive

and innovative players in the mobile sector of Pakistan.

The growth of the cellular industry is a direct result of the successful implementation of the

telecom deregulation and cellular mobile policy by the Ministry of IT and Telecommunications

(MOIT&T) and the support, guidance and timely enforcement of regulatory process by the

Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA).

Ufone's operational performance has been very encouraging despite stiff competition in Pakistan

telecom market which has led to reduction of prices to bare minimum level. Ufone managed to

improve its revenue and operating profit by 35% and 47% respectively, as compared to the last

year through aggressive policies and exercising strict control over expenses.

2.6.4 Paknet Limited

Paknet was incorporated in year 2000 for providing internet related services in the country is

being wound up. However, PTCL has developed its own voice, data and video infrastructure and

services. Paknet's operations have been closed and liquidator appointed for completing the

formalities involving the company closure. All customers, assets, liabilities and capital stand

transferred to PTCL in accordance with the special resolution passed in General Meetings.

2.6.5 PTCL Broadband

The first major product initiative taken towards a changing PTCL during the year 2006-07, was

the launch of PTCL’s Broadband service under the theme of ‘Broadband Pakistan’ by the Prime

Minister of Pakistan. The service was launched on PTCL’s new state of the art Broadband

infrastructure that was added to our network during the last three quarters of 2007 with the initial

capacity of over 100,000 subscribers.

PTCL achieved unprecedented success as it added over 10,000 customers within the first 120

days of its launch while historically it had taken four years collectively for all the other operators

to achieve 30,000 customers in Pakistan! The hallmark of PTCL service was the removal of the

traditional barriers such as the upfront costs of installation and customer premises equipment and

added bandwidth download. This high customer take up also reflected on the Company’s trusted

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image in the eyes of the nation. The service is already available in the five largest cities of

Pakistan and will be expanded into another dozen cities during the coming year.

2.6.6 Smart Services

In March 2008, PTCL introduced a trial service that put PTCL on the path of a paradigm shift.

Branded under 'PTCL Smart Line', the service included Interactive Television, Broadband and

voice Telephony all at the same time on PTCL's telephone line. The 'Smart TV', for the first time

offered TV viewers the power to control the TV channels interactively. This included the ability

to rewind and pause live TV channels, block / unblock any TV channel for parental lock and

search through video on demand content. The Commercial launch of the PTCL Smart Line

services across the three largest cities in Pakistan was arranged on the 14th of August 2008 which

will be expanded to the other cities during the course of the year.


3 ANALYSIS OF EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT

Pakistan followed a gradual approach to liberalize its telecom market. During 1990s, as a first step,

market was opened for value added services and competition was introduced in cellular mobile sector as

four licenses were issued (Mobilink, PTML, Paktel and Instaphone). The government monopoly was

retained in fixed line services, however, PTCL legal monopoly ended with effective from 31 st December

2002. The government announced Telecom Deregulation Policy and Cellular Mobile Policy in 2003 and

2004 respectively. The telecom regulatory, issued new licenses for Long distance International (LDI) and

Local Loop Fixed (LLFixed), Wire Local Loop (WLL) and Cellular Mobile. With the issuance of new

licenses the market is now open for full competition in all segments of the sector.

3.1 Industrial Structure

Pakistan’s telecom sector has finally begun moving and looked set for an era of phenomenal growth. The

sector has witnessed tremendous growth in recent years with Teledensity depicting major expansion after

deregulation. The primary purpose of deregulation of the sector was to encourage healthy competition

while providing better quality products and services to customers on lower prices as well providing best

technology available worldwide.

Current Teledensity in Pakistan has expanded exponentially from 4.3 percent in 2002-03 to stand at 48.4

percent in 2006-07 with currently standing at over 52 percent, with better services and competitive rates.

Also, increasing inflow of foreign investment in the telecomm sector has resulted in the introduction of

new cut throat technologies for provision of various telecom services including cellular, wireless and

internet services. In recent times, the focus has increasingly shifted from Fixed Lines to Cellular and

Wireless Fixed Lines (WLL), with better portability and convenience. WLL has shown an improvement

from 0.7 percent to 1.1 percent in 2006- 07 from last year with subscribers of 2 mn.

Cellular segment remained the vital player with increase in total Teledensity contributing 48 percent. In

the urban markets introduction of Broadband internet services by various Telecomm giants such as PTCL,

WorldCall and Wateen has further benefited the consumers to access timely information over the internet

with competitive rates. The broadband penetration however has not depicted as much growth as expected

growing with 3.5mn subscribers in 2007 against 2.4mn subscribers in 2006. PTA estimates broadband

subscribers to grow to over 5mn by 2010. WorldCall has initiated cable television services with PTCL

expected to follow suite by providing IPTV services through its Triple Play services, ensuring

diversification of products and services. Recent conducive environment provide by PTA has resulted in

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increased FDIs in the sector with investments of USD2.7 bn during the last five years making it the

largest recipient of highest FDI during the past few years. The future for telephony lies amongst

unexplored rural regions of Pakistan with all major telecom operators looking forward to tap these

markets with a major contribution by WLL and Cellular segments due to cheaper installation costs. With

healthy competition instigating lower local and international tariffs and availability of alternative services

has progressively benefited the consumers overall.

3.2 Market Operation

Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited, or PTCL, keeps callers connected from Karachi to

Islamabad. The communications services provider offers consumers and businesses with basic landline,

DSL broadband, interactive television, and IP telephony services. The company also provides wholesale

services such as traffic routing and call termination to other carriers. PTCL's subsidiaries include wireless

phone services provider Pakistan Telecom Mobile, which operates as Ufone. In 2006 Emirates

Telecommunications (Etisalat) acquired a 26% stake in PTCL and assumed management control of the

company.

Demand is driven by technological innovation and by growth in business activity. The profitability of

individual companies depends on efficient operations and good marketing. Large companies have big

economies of scale in providing a highly automated service to large numbers of customers, and have the

financial resources required building and maintaining a large network. Smaller companies can compete

effectively only in small markets or by providing specialty services.

Top PTCL Competitors

China Mobile

Orascom Telecom

Telenor

3.3 Market Structure

Wireless Local Loop (WLL) is growing at a rate of about 100 percent per annum as its teledensity has

reached to 1.34 percent by end of December 2007. The quarterly addition of WLL subscriber is

approximately 0.14 million on an average.

PTCL is leading in terms of traffic on WLL in Pakistan, which has about 54 percent market share of total

traffic of WLL segment. Two major players, PTCL and Telecard have lost market share in WLL traffic in

http://www.hoovers.com/telenor/--ID__99502--/free-co-factsheet.xhtml

http://www.hoovers.com/orascom-telecom/--ID__120303--/free-co-factsheet.xhtml

http://www.hoovers.com/china-mobile/--ID__54846--/free-co-factsheet.xhtml


quarter ending December 2007 when compared with the same quarter of the last year. PTCL share came

down to 54 percent from 57 percent while Telecard share in total traffic has come down to 22 percent

from 30 percent. WorldCall has gained 100 percent and its share reached to 22 percent at the end of 2007

compared to the same quarter last year.

PTCL, the incumbent operator in fixed line in Pakistan has also emerged as market leader with 57 percent

market share followed by Telecard and Worldcall with 19.6 percent and 20.2 percent market share at the

end of December 2007.

Great Bear International share is reported to be 3 percent, while Wateen Telecom share is 0.2 percent,

which started their services during the quarter. PTCL has gained over 1 percent market share compared to

the same quarter of last year while Telecard added over 5 percent market share during this period. Great

Bear International though a smaller shareholder in WLL market but its share is increasing due to its

quality of service as it reached to 3 percent as compared to 2 percent in December 2006.

It is believed that fixed-line tele-density will recover with WLL taking off due to its cost effectiveness

and in particular this technology suits for the hilly areas and far-flung regions in the country. The

estimated WLL per line cost is around US$ 100-150 in comparison to wire line cost which still remains to

be more than US$ 250-350 per line.

PTCL has already covered over 11,500 cities/towns/villages while other major operators like Worldcall,

Telecard and Greatbear are increasing their coverage too.

WLL system is used when low to medium subscribers densities are located apart from each other and

deployment of primary or secondary copper network is difficult. WLL system is best suited for rural, sub

urban areas and very congested metropolitan areas.

3.4 Regulatory Environment

The local telecom market has altered significantly since the creation of PTA as an independent regulatory

agency and had enjoyed sizeable success to open up the local market to competing operators. With the

governments deregulation policies, Etisalat, the UAE based telecom player being the highest bidder

emerged as the buyer of the 26 percent share in PTCL in April 2006. PTCL, despite being a giant, had to

face many bottlenecks in its operations with such large network.

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PTCL has recently taken an initiative to right size itself by introduction of VSS for its employees where

about 28000 employees are accepted under the scheme. Introduction of various diversified products and

services to sustain its market share, Implementation of ERP solutions to provide integration of various

departments through acquisition of SAP software and state of the art billing and customer service

software, translates PTCL’s long term goals of operational effectiveness into practice. The telecom giant

PTCL has observed cutthroat competition from various service providers after the implementation of the

deregulation policies by the PTA. However, through the vast infrastructure and being the carriers’ carrier,

PTCL with diversification of its various services has enjoyed well-built position and posses immense

potential for growth, while need for telecom services is on rise as economy continues to grow on the right

track.

The telecom De-regulation and Cellular Mobile Policies announced by the Federal Government place

certain obligations on Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) to facilitate market

liberalization. PTCL is bound to comply with these obligations within a stipulated time frame. These

obligations are of paramount importance for successful implementation of the policy and failure or any

deviation thereof may result in substantial damage to the deregulation process/liberalization program.

Similarly Defense, NTC and SCO also depend on PTCL for many facilities. Therefore, PTCL has

important obligations towards Defense of the country and other existing operators. In addition, PTCL has

been declared SMP operator. Under the status of SMP also, PTCL has certain obligations. PTA, as

regulator, has to ensure that new management of PTCL fulfils all these obligations.


4 ANALYSIS OF INTERNAL ENVIRONMENT

Being a public limited company whose majority shares are controlled by the Government of Pakistan,

PTCL is responsible to provide telecommunication services in the country on affordable prices while

ensuring that the telecom services become accessible throughout the country. Since exclusivity of PTCL

has ended on 1st Jan 2003, the telecom sector of Pakistan has entered into a new era and PTCL is slowly

moving towards competition in the basic telecom services. The company’s policy objectives are as

follows:

Increase service choice for all consumers of telecom services at competitive and affordable prices

Increase private investment in the telecom sector and encourage local telecom

manufacturing/service industry

Enhance long run benefits to the Government’s financial position by expanding the taxable

revenue base.

Accelerate expansion of telecom infrastructure to extend telecom services to unserved and

undeserved areas.

Encourage fair competition among service providers, while maintaining leadership in the telecom

sector

Maintain consistency with the Pakistan IT and internet promotion policy of low prices for

Bandwidth and Internet access.

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4.1 Organizational Management Cycle

The cycle above describes the Organizational Management process at PTCL. Yellow blocks describe the

core functions of the Company performed at all levels in the Organization. Blue Blocks are the Strategic

functions which are performed at the Strategic level only.


4.2 Financial Aspects

The structural adjustments undertaken by the company in response to the increased competition and

substitution impact of mobile expansion has adversely hit the profitability of PTCL in the short run. The

first quarter of FY'08 recorded a drop in profitability of PTCL, as the company's profit after taxation

declined 41.5% over the three months period to September 2007, as compared to the same period last

year. Sales revenue dwindled during three months period, reaching Rs 14.4 billion, compared to Rs 16.9

billion last year, depicting a decline of 15%. A 6% rise in operating expenses as a result of high

provisioning against doubtful debts and infrastructure development for high speed DSL connections,

combined with a 32% increase in financial charges, provided a further blow to the bottom line.

Consequently, operating profit declined 46%. However the effect on net profit was somewhat diluted by a

14% increase in non-operating income of the company so that the company posted profit after tax of Rs

3.01billion, compared to Rs 5.15 billion in1Q'07.

At the end of first quarter, the company stock was trading at a P/E ratio of 18.20. As illustrated by the

graph, the stock has performed remarkably well relative to the market. The stock has shown consistent

performance over the three months, dropping only slightly as the rest of the market dipped sharply during

August. As a consequence of the fading sales revenue for the period, the profit after tax of the company in

FY06 declined by 21.91% over FY05. The net profit margin has also been declining since the FY'04 and

the trend persisted in FY06. The decline in profit margin may be attributed to a 5.25% increase in

operating expenses for the year.

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Fig Below: 5 years Financial Analysis of PTCL


4.2.1 Profitability Position

PTCL posted a net profit of Rs 15.64 billion (EPS Rs 3.07) in FY07 against last year's figure of

Rs 20.78 billion. The declining trend in profitability continued during the financial year ended

June 30, 2007 due to structural adjustments brought about in the telecom sector by competition.

Although PTCL maintained its leading market share in the fixed line, there was a decrease in

revenues by 5.5% mainly due to substitution impact of mobile expansion. There was also an

increase in operating expenses by 11.7% mainly due to prudent provisions for doubtful debts and

long term systematic improvements in operations and customer services.

In spite of decline in profit, the PTCL managed to increase its operating cash flows to Rs 35.54

billion compared to Rs 35.19 billion last year. Considering the cash requirements for restructuring

and development plan, the company declared a final dividend of Rs 2.00 per share for the

financial year ended June 30, 2007. The total revenue for FY 2006-07 stood at Rs 65.28 billion

against Rs 69.09 billion of FY 2005-06. The decrease in revenue was mainly in the domestic

segment due to competition and reduction in tariffs. However, PTCL is making all efforts to

boost revenue by improving customer service and launching new services to turn around the

situation.

4.2.2 Liquidity Position

The liquidity position of the company suffered a setback in FY06. This trend has been witnessed

despite increasing current assets, as current liabilities grew more sharply. The short term

borrowings of the company have been mounting for the last few years and this has contributed to

the current trend of the current ratio. It may be noted that the company holds large amounts of

cash and bank balances compared to the other companies in the business. This may provide an

edge to the company over its competitors. Although the liquidity stance of the company is fairly

satisfactory at the moment, but a continuation of the current negative trend may spell trouble for

the company.

4.2.3 Leverage Position

The debt ratios showed a decreasing trend in the FY07. The debt to asset ratio of the company

had declined considerably in FY05 but the trend reversed in FY06, declining again in FY07. It is

important to note that the company maintains a largely unleveraged capital structure, with the

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current trend in debt ratios bought about largely by changes in current liabilities of the company.

This was brought about mostly due to a decline in current liabilities of the company in FY05 and

an increase in the same in FY06. The absence of the dividends payable portion of current

liabilities in FY05 and its coming back online in FY06 was an important contributor to the trend.

Further, the FY06 also saw an increase in short term borrowings of the company, complemented

by increases in other components of current liabilities. Increases in assets, mainly arising from

higher cash and bank balances, could not prevent the trend of the debt ratios.

4.2.4 Activity Position

The DSO of PTCL witnessed an upward trend throughout the period under analysis, except in

FY05 when an improvement was marked. The ratio jumped up considerably in FY06, completely

nullifying the effect of the decline in FY05, and exacerbating the already long collection period of

the company. However, DSO showed a decline in FY07 showing that management of PTCL is

constantly striving for improvement and enhancement despite stiff competition. As a result, the

operating cycle has also decreased in FY07. The total assets turnover and sales to equity ratio of

the company also declined in the FY'06 as revenues shrunk during the period. Sales/equity

declined with the increase in equity of the company.

4.2.5 Dividends

PTCL has had a history of paying out significant portion of its earnings to its shareholders.

However, with huge cash requirement for Voluntary Separation Scheme, PTCL is unlikely to

announce any cash payout during FY08. Therefore, once the ongoing process of VSS is through,

which requires a cash outflow of PkR23.2bn, dividend payout is likely to resume to its initial

levels.

4.3 HR Aspects

The transformation from a legacy public sector organization into a responsive and competitive enterprise

in the deregulated era could not have been possible without implementing a forward looking Human

Capital development and management strategy. One of the most important objectives of this new strategy

was to optimize the workforce which was implemented by offering the voluntary option of separating

from PTCL in exchange for financial compensation. Around 29,920 employees opted to pursue other

career opportunities after accepting terms of voluntary separation from PTCL.


The VSS marked the single largest most successful exercise in the history of Pakistan. In the highly

challenging marketplace, PTCL HR wing stepped forward to facilitate the emergence of new Corporate

Culture by becoming Equal opportunity employer, inducting fresh blood from the market, improving the

way PTCL runs and reducing the number of employees having outdated skill set. The Training &

Development wing of the HR Department also organized a comprehensive six months “Urgent Training

Needs” program in technical and managerial fields to enhance soft skills. An MoU was also signed with

Etisalat Academy to benefit from their experience in training programs.

Healthy improvements have been made in the area of Recruitment and Retention as the whole

recruitment process has been redefined to cope with the changing business requirements. Detailed

facilitation programs have been initiated for the orientation of newly hired employees. PTCL employees

have been provided excellent international placement opportunities across various Etisalat International

Business Operations.

4.3.1 Training and Development

The role of training and development in a service involved organization is many times more in

comparison with what it has in a manufacturing involved organization. This role becomes more

significant in a situation where the need to transform organizational culture is identified as the

most glaring problem and the most difficult impediment on the way to organizational growth.

PTCL employees are a great asset not only for the company but also for the country. Their

marvelous potential is yet to be exploited. Their skills need to be developed, their expertise need

to be updated for which training and development department is at their disposal to cater to their

training needs.

At PTCL, training and development team would never miss an opportunity to contribute towards

the betterment of the company. Training and Developments is playing an essential role in

changing PTCL from a government sector organization to corporate sector company. PTCL

consider every employee of the company as our customer and firmly believe that meeting their

expectation would help us achieve customer satisfaction. We look forward to your input for

making our endeavors more effective. The Training and Development has a clear road map of

activities and is committed to provide high quality trainings for the development of every single

employee.

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5 BUSINESS STRATEGIES

As part of the Company’s vision of maintaining and growing its position as the leading ICT service

provider and a profit leader, a five year Strategic Master Plan for the Company, with defined corporate

KPI targets, timelines and ownerships was developed by the PTCL management. Defining yearly targets

on market shares for various voice and data services, introduction of a corporate KPI based performance

measurement system, Restructuring of the organization, formulation of IPTV, Triple Play and converged

services, migration to an end to end IP based network, Investment strategies such as Assets Management

for risk diversification and improved Return on Investments, were all part of the master plan. The five

year master plan will be reviewed and updated on an annual basis.

PTCL chose August 14th, the Independence Day, to launch its new logo and theme of ‘feel the

difference’. To support the new spirit and to reinforce its commitment, PTCL offered ‘free’ nationwide

calls to the people of Pakistan. The traffic on 14th August 2007 jumped to 4 times the level on a similar

holiday to give credence to our hypotheses that the ‘good old telephone’ Company is still the trusted

landmark of the people of Pakistan. This unprecedented response to free calls on 14th August was a heart

warming experience as it reassured the faith of our customers in our services, making us even more aware

of our responsibilities towards putting our customer first.

5.1 Fixed Line Telephony

PTCL’s fixed line segment has witnessed decline in numbers in 2006-07 as against last year with a

decrease of 452K lines during the past year. The market for the FLL segment has least amount of

penetration primarily due to the major inclination towards cellular and wireless segments by users.

PTCL’s fixed line potential is anticipated to remain stable with its having the largest network, coverage

and better quality service as compared to WLL and cellular networks. The fixed line segment is


anticipated to cater the needs of the business community at large and as expected is to be driven by the

country’s future economic growth.

5.2 Wireless Local Loop

PTCL’s WLL segment has depicted immense amount of growth, nevertheless at a slower pace than

expected. It started its service from the northern regions slowly moving towards the metro cities using its

CDMA wireless technology. WorldCall and Telecard were the other major operators that introduced the

WLL services using CDMA2000 and CDMA technology to cater the needs of its customers. Telecard

started its operations from Karachi, flowing into Baluchistan region while WorldCall initiated its

operation in Lahore in Jun 2005 with aim of rollout its network to update its capacity to 1.5 mn

subscribers in the years to come. PTCL has been facing stiff competition however with vast presence and

infrastructural facilities across Pakistan, has the potential to outrun its competitors in the segment.

5.3 Broadband and Value Added Services

PTCL through diversification and assorted products and services could retain its fundamental presence in

the Telecom Sector. Introduction of DSL Broadband services across major cities with plans to include

more cities in times to come will enhance the revenue base of PTCL. Stiff competition from other cable

based broadband service providers and local cable operators still persists. PTCL’s broadband services

were introduced in Jun 2007 with free installation service with an initial capacity of 100,000 subscribers

by providing services in the five largest cities and had a decent start by adding over 10,000 subscribers

within the first few months of its operations depicting PTCL’s brand recognition. Furthermore, with the

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introduction of WLL segment, Phone N Net, IPTV, VMS and Carrier Services is expected to bring

product leadership in the sector.


6 ENTREPRENEURSHIP – INNOVATION & INCENTIVE

PLANS

6.1 Quality Services

In order to have sustainable business performance in the highly competitive environment of the Telecom

industry, PTCL has to deliver highest quality services to its customers. Quick provisioning of PTCL

services brings lot of value to the customers which not only guarantees more revenues but creates

goodwill for the company.

In the backdrop of this situation, PTCL management is taking key initiatives in different business areas.

One important move aimed at improving the Sales and Customer satisfaction is to boost the morale and

motivation level of our employees.

An Incentive Plan has been worked out to present substantial cash rewards to the employees performing

beyond the specified benchmarks. This will be the start of an era where the rewards shall be linked with

the performance and achievement of targets.

While the first phase focuses on front end of the Supply chain, it would subsequently be expanded to

other segments of the organization like Fault management, WLL and IP TV etc. Important features of this

plan are:

Implementation would be highly transparent, with zero tolerance for abuse.

It would cover Installation/Provisioning of Telephone (wire-line) & Broadband connections.

Rewards would be applicable to all the channels of request for installation/ provisioning of

connections.

Rewards against Installation/Provisioning are subject to receipt of the amount of first monthly bill

through B&CC.

Rewards against Installation/Provisioning of telephone connections are strictly subject to the fact

that the whole process completes within a span of 03 days (from service request registration to

the final service activation).

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6.2 Free Internet

PTCL proudly presents Free Internet facility for its landline valued customers. All PTCL landline

subscribers can now experience the best dial up speeds with unlimited internet usage during night hours

from 10:00pm to 07:00am. Furthermore subscribers can also avail up to 100 hours of free dialup internet

on monthly basis from 0:700 am to 10:00pm every day.

Offer/ Package Details:

Free unlimited dialup internet will be available from 10pm to 7am in the morning every day.

For day time users (7am to 10pm) PTCL is offering up to 100 free hours on monthly basis to

entire subscriber base.

Customers exceeding 100 hours in a month (during day time from 7am to 10pm) will be charged

as per existing tariff of Rs. 6/Hour.

6.3 One Stop Shop

Customer service is a series of

activities designed to enhance the level

of customer satisfaction – that is, the

feeling that a product or service has

met the customer expectation. High

standard customer service is an integral

part of PTCL’s customer value

proposition. As part of strategy PTCL

has invested huge some of money to

improve the environment & efficiency of its service centers. With all together

complete change in outlook, services to customers & facilities available, these

centers are called “One Stop Shop”. They are aimed to provide better services to

our valued customers for sales of products and after sales services.

These “OSS” are nine in number and are in Major cities of Pakistan. By the end of

this year there will be 19 OSS operational in 11 cities of Pakistan. Customer

feedback about services standards at these OSS is very positive; these centers help

us to provide better service to our customers.


7 SWOT ANALYSIS

7.1 Strengths

Largest operational network and infrastructure within ICT (Information & Communication Technologies) segment.

An integrated Monoply Market leadership in Local loop, Wireless local loop (WLL) and Fixed telephony. PTCL (Ufone) is market challenger in GSM segment Ufone is performing well though Warid and Telenor are tough competitors. PTCL, Ufone’s

profitability increased by 49.2 percent to Rs 977 million in 1H/FY07 as compared to Rs 655 million in the corresponding period last.

Competitors still depend on PTCL network either directly or indirectly Experienced Telecom Resources

7.2 Weakness

Not been able to nurture its growth around customer services oriented strategy Internal organizational and business processes issues Monopolistic culture has further added to its complexities Paknet, the internet service provider arm of ptcl continues to incur losses due to poor managment

and lack of network optimization Ptcl-v, the fixed wireless phone service is poor Over employment & low productivity. Slow decision making including external interferences. Corporate culture akin to government departments.

7.3 Opportunities

Low teledensity of pakistan. Have vast infrastructure and real estate assets which can be leveraged further. Global connectivity reliability has been improved. PTCL is expanding the long distance and

infrastructure side through spreading out two sea-me-we submarine cables.. Partnership with new entrants in a deregulated environment. Scope for efficient/cost effective operations.

7.4 Threats

Increased competition in long distance continues to exert pressure. VOIP use is increasing despite ambiguous and discriminatory policies

http://telecompk.wordpress.com/tag/voip/

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Exposure to market competition Migration to Cellular Networks Ability to Attract & Retain Quality Professionals Reduction in International Settlement Rates


8 FUTURE OF PTCL

Going forward PTCL is poised to align itself in to a more customer friendly and commercially oriented

organization. This will be achieved through improved customer experience, offering better quality of

service, and introducing new products and emerging services to satisfy specific market segment needs

besides consolidating its leadership position in fixed line business. The customer interfaces will be fully

empowered to achieve corporate objectives. Automation and simplification of internal process,

optimization of operational expenditure, migration of services to Next Generation Networks,

enhancement of national backbone infrastructure, expansion of robust and resilient IP infrastructure and

proliferation of broadband services are few of the milestones for the way forward.

8.1 Measures to achieve Set Targets

The management of PTCL has been adequately preparing itself to face the forthcoming challenges of

deregulated environment. Appropriate structural changes have either been initiated or these are underway.

To face the challenge, a new Marketing and Business Developing wing headed by a Member with

appropriate organizational structure has been made functional with a view to expanding business and

taking good care of the customers. Some other initiatives are as follows:

8.1.1 New Technology

Prior to the start of the competition, PTCL should be well equipped with new technologies,

billing, marketing & customer care infrastructure, skilled trained professionals with focus to win

business and earn customer loyalty.

8.1.2 Cross Subsidization

PTCL is providing range of services i.e. Fixed Line, Cellular Mobile and Internet etc. As the

world experience shows, incumbent can engage in cross subsidization which means that price of

one market may be increased above the cost and use the surplus revenue obtained from this

market to subsidize the lower prices in other markets where more competition is faced. Analyzing

PTCL position against this experience and seeing the prevailing competition environments of

Pakistan, it can be safely concluded and seeing the prevailing competition environments of

Pakistan, it can be safely concluded that cross subsidization is not possible in Cellular Mobile and

ISP markets. However, in Fixed Line segment, there is a real possibility of cross subsidization.

PTCL can lower rates of line rent, installation charges and local calls and correspondingly

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increase rates of NWD and International out bound traffic/maintain present level/ lower the prices

but still remain on the higher profit margin side. Alternatively as part of overall business strategy,

it can offer different packages i.e. residential and corporate customers, rural and urban and

economy groups etc. within each package the prices can be cross subsidized. This practice can

have adverse effects on the growth of other licenses particularly those not having vertical

integration. This abuse can be controlled through license conditions and accounting separation

which will determine the existence of cross subsidization.

8.1.3 Price Discrimination

In order to retain and even expand the market share, PTCL can resort to price discrimination. This

can be between users of own network and other operators networks. For example PTCL may fix

different rates for intra-network calls and inter-network calls. Lower rates of intra-network calls

will be strong temptation for customers to remain stuck with PTCL instead of switching over to

other choice operators. This practice will be a restraint for other operators, hence will be

considered anticompetitive.

8.1.4 Vertical Price Squeeze

PTCL can increase the price of upstream input (local access). It monopolizes, and keep the

downstream services (ISPs, DSL and Payphones etc.) price same. The effect would be reduction

or elimination of the profit of downstream service providers because their margins would be

squeezed. To increase the squeezing effects, PTCL can also reduce downstream price of its own

services. To control price discrimination, the regulator can impose wholesale cost imputation

requirements.


9 Bibliography

For successful completion of this project we have utilize different available resources, from which we

have obtain required data. These resources lie in both digital and analog form. Most of the information is

obtain from Internet, while a visit to company is also made to get further information. We are thankful to

company management who had welcome and cooperate with us. Resources which are consulted discussed

below:

Resources

o Company’s website - www.ptcl.com.pk

o Company Annual Reports

o Magazine Business Economist

o Google.com

o Economic survey of Pakistan

o Businessrecorder.com

o Security and Exchange Commission of Pakistan

o Kse.com

o Yahoofinance.com

o PTA Reports

ptcl company analysis

Documents