Wateen’s Triple Play and Wimax launched in DHA Lahore on limited testing basis
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Wateen is apparently launching a limited public “beta test” of their triple-play and WiMax services.
From what I gather from their website and TV tickers, here are the details.
- Voice and Video Calls
- 2 Mbps uncapped internet
- Digital TV with Pay-per-view movies
- Price Point — last I heard it was around Rs.500/mo.
The CPE details are vague, but Wateen is using Fibre-to-the-curb in DHA and a Motorola Canopy WiMax equipment, so I’d say it is going to be cheaper than the Rs.30k Fibre Router provided by Nayatel.
Interesting, but no time for analysis yet — one of my draft stories was going to talk about this before it launched, but well it has.
If anyone gets the chance to test out this service, give me a comment — I believe Qazi (one of the readers) lives there?
4:53 am
sure give me a couple of days and i would be able to dig out some info
11:14 am
I would love to read your thoughts about this service as I am planning to use wateen’s services in future dpending upon the cost and realiablity.
11:26 am
well the initial details are. that it is only available in Z block (I am in Q block so i will have to wait).
1. Equipment will be provided by Wateen free of cost on a contract for some duration(that was unknown to the person i talked)
2. Security deposit of 500 will be required.
probably in few days i will be able to get the brochure which has the package details. if some one is in Z block he can tell us about the service.
1:55 pm
500/month is cheaper than I thought it would be.
11:26 am
ok today i got a chance to visit their office after all. seems they are still in their final deployment and testing phases. at the moment they are giving services over cable (not Wimax ) in Phase IV, on free trial basis and that too if you request. proper launch is planed next month. and till now now information on tariff is decided. so another month to wait. the person i talked to earlier seems to have not much info (i dialed their help line)
keep your fingers crossed
10:06 pm
once it lands in karachi, i am getting it. i don’t even care about the costs as much as I would like to have a decent net connection for once.
6:01 am
Till now they have not contacted me at home with the promised free connection. with the number of residents they have irritated by digging up whole of the DHA. i see a very stiff competition ahead for them. world call has already slashed its rates (i saw an add that they are giving connection on 600 per month). till now the experience customer handling wise is not satisfactory for me atleast. the help line said some thing, the customer relation officer said some thing else. seems after such a long time they are not still ready to roll out connections. not a very good first impression.
8:05 am
Well, you are right about the first impression. The hole dug by Wateen people is still there un attended in D Block DHA. No info on their website regarding work. No help from helpline as well…….errrrrr…not a good impression at all overall i must say.
11:24 am
Qazi I think you have provided us more info than wateen website tells us
so thanx for that. Just one thing, any idea about the kind of CPE required for their services in DHA ? I am in D block so i guess i have to wait a bit more than lucky dudes living in phase IV
12:31 pm
Forget about that 2 Mbps bull … 256 kbps is all you get and that is not the speed you experience. The fastest download speed I get is about 35 kbps … no more than what I get with my WorldCall connection. Let’s see if it improves but I seriously doubt it as there are very few people with connections right now and the speeds will probably suffer as more people come online…
Below is my experience trying to get a Wateen connection:
Well I had no idea the service had been launched. It just so happened I came across a Wateen team fixing some wires right ouside my house (BB Block) so I walked over and asked when there service was going to be up and running? I was informed it was already available and I could have a connection if I wanted. So I got from them the number I was supposed to call and they also gave me the address of their site office in DD Block. I tried the number but got no response so I went over to the site “office” which happened to be literally on the first floor of the water tower — a room with barely enough space to fit a small desk and 3 chairs (with most of the workers sitting outside on the steps as there is no room inside).
I asked the gentleman there what one has to fo to get a connection and he told me I had to fill out a form and pay a Rs. 500 deposit. I asked for the form but was tols I could not get it and I had to wait for the sales people to come to my home. I asked him when can I expect them? I was told they are making rounds and should eventually get to your house. I told him maybe they had already been to my house when I was not there (as by now I already knew the house next door had a Wateen connection installed) so could you please ask them to come to my house as soon as possible as I really did not need a sales call but just wanted to get the process going (remember I was really excited at having a 2 Mbps connection). I was told they could not do that and I will just have to wait for when (and if) the sales team got to my house. That I found to be really strange as here is a company selling a service that has a customer wanting that service coming to their door but being told he will have to wait indefinitely for it.
So I came home and decided to go the other way. I got the number of their help line (0800-01919) and called them and was told someone will be at my house within 24 hrs. I skipped work next day and waited all day but nothing. Later in the day I called again and was told “Oh sorry — someone will be their for sure in the 24 hrs.” Foolish as I was, I waited again but got no one next day either. So, frustrated, I shot an email to support@wateen.com (or was it .net?) and cc:ed it to the president and the top Sales guy of Wateen and lo and behold I got a call in less than 5 minutes flat. I was promised someone will be at my house “in 24 hours” with the form and this time someone did show up. I filled out the form and paid the Rs. 500 fee to have cable TV, Internet and VoIP Telephony service installed. I was told the guys will be at my place for wiring “in 24 hrs” and this time too they showed up the next day and were done in about 3 hrs time (most of it was spent digging /passing the wire under the road to connect it to their main cable.
Once it was done I hooked up my tv and saw the cable tv was up and running and figured everything would be fine. They asked ne if I wanted to install the cable modem myself and I said no problem so they handed it to me and told me what my telephone mumber was going to be and left(the phone hooks up to the cable modem). They also informed me it was only going to be a 256 kbps connection.
Later in the day in installed the drivers and hooked up the modem and launched my browser to discover it asking me for my user id and password. I had none! No one had mentioned I’d need one and none had been provided!!! So I called up support and was told I’d get mine “in 24 hrs” hopefully our database would be updated. I waited and waited but no one called so the next afternoon I called again. And again I got the same “in 24 hrs” response but no follow ups.
Frustrated that something so simple was taking so long I went to their field office and was told their own net connection was down — that instills confidence — but they could hook themselves up using WiMax so they checked and I was told “Sorry our database does not have your account info” so try again “in 24 hrs.”
By now I was steaming and the next three days were spent calling the Wateen help desk but no one could explain why it was taking them so long to assign me a bloody user id and password — something that should not take more than 5 seconds. I was given every useless excuse in the book e.g. about slow inter-departmental communication, etc. but no one their could provide me with the info I needed or provide me with the contact number of someone who could.
Finally I had enough and called and talked to some supervisor explaining to him what had been going on. Of course he started with the usual “in 24 hrs” response so I told him if I did not have the info by noon I was going to rip the modem out and return it to their site office. And I was serious. And I believe they realized it too as finally I was given my user ID and password by about 12:00 and logged on successfully.
So far te experience has been OK. To get an idea of the connection speed, lets say I still cannot view a YouTube 320×240 video without having to wait
My phone line is still not working properly (I can call anyone but although I they hear me clearly I cannot understand a thing; and no one can call me as the telecom system does not recognize my number). My internet connection has gone down about three times but came back by itself and the only time I filed a complaint, the repair crew showed up after 72 HOURS!
Let’s say so far I am pretty disappointed or should I say not impressed at all. And there are other worrying signs like service interruption, etc.
1:32 pm
That is an excellent service review — thanks for posting it here!
1:29 pm
P.S. Let me recap and add a few points:
* Voice and Video Calls:
Video Calls seem far off. Unless they mean using Skype/IM or something to make those calls…By the way still no one can call my number.
* 2 Mbps uncapped internet:
Like I mentioned above, forget about 2Mbps. 256kbps is claimed but effectively a lot slower I believe.
* Digital TV with Pay-per-view movies:
I must say — at least right now — there are a lot fever ads and no annoying scrolling strips covering half the screen as in the case of the WorldCall service. 
Hope it stays that way.
The cable service might be digital but you don’t get any Video-On-Demand /Pay-per-view service as there is no cable box that goes with the service.
* Price Point  last I heard it was around Rs.500/mo.:
The deposit is Rs. 500 but I still haven’t been told what each service will cost. I was told the “tariffs haven’t been decided yet!”
And I am annoyed by all the digging that keeps going on all around DHA at the same places again and again giving no chance to the homeowners to fix up the green belt around their houses. They dug up around mine 3 times (4 if you include the time I got the connection).
Now for something scary: Those concrete enclosures that they made with split, poor-quality concrete slab tops, each time one breaks, it falls on the their — should I call it “cable-connection-box” — which is encased in a thing black plastic encasing and smashes it and guess what? every one downstream looses their connection until further repair!!! Also remember these concrete enclosures are in no way water-proof, with large open slits all around and between the two covering slabs. I am anxiously awaiting the first heavy downpour to see how they react once water gets in them. And I assure you those enclosures will get flooded …
5:38 pm
excelent review, after so much waiting and no info at all on wateen subject, you did pretty well. I hope things get improved as I myself lives in D.H.A and “was” waiting for wateen launch. Should i keep my fingers crossed
3:14 pm
Update: Surprisingly the service has been pretty stable — net outage over the last month was once only and that also for a couple of hours. I must also say that download rates are very close to 256kbps now. Cable is certainly a pleasure (comparing it to WorldCall) as half the screen is not covered bu adverts and none of those annoying time-checks every 15 minutes on every channel. Sure they are there but only the ones by the channels themselves. Regarding the phone service, still not receiving calls as my number is not recognized by any other phone service — interestingly not even by Warid…Will try and update on tariffs once I get the info.
4:11 am
Dear WateenCust!
Yaar first of all, I must salute your effort you have put forward for showing the right image of Wateen Telecom Services.
And the most important thing that you did was you sent the CC to the director and presidents.
I wish, you again compilet he whole story and send it to Wateen Senior Management.
The scary story you have told us, I believe it must be broadcasted up online… because I just simply wonder.. A company which has invested more than a 1.5 billion dollar in this business.. is doing shits! showing crippled impressions, customer disatisfactions.. too bad.
And Yes… you please keep posting your updates, this will really help us a lot, take a sneak peak at their services… and kinda stuff!
Also. I wish to ask you a question… why don’t you go up with the PTCL BroadBand Internet Service? how’s about that?
I really wish to know more from you..
Fahad!
11:37 pm
hi guys well i have heard tht WATEEN is going to commercialize during the mid of Nov.. and now they have started calling their sbscribers for tariffs and connections So, plz anyone if has any info abt tariffs then plz reply….
take care
ALLAH HAFIZ
2:03 pm
hi guys,
i’m also waiting for wateen’s wimax but they are not clearing that when they will lounching this service commercialy if anyone any khow-how abut wateen’s lounching plz rite here soon.
thanks
2:03 pm
hi guys,
i’m also waiting for wateen’s wimax but they are not clearing that when they will lounching this service commercialy if anyone any khow-how abut wateen’s lounching plz write here soon.
thanks
11:30 am
probably the first time in my life that I pretty much enjoyed reading tech-updates and reviews of telcos. been in the sector since 7 years. at ptcl we’ve recently trascended the royal treatment that was previously reserved exclusively for (ptcl broadband) modems. no more airing them cool. anyone? need reviews desperately!
12:59 pm
Salam All,
(I live in Garden Town)
About PTCL: My general opinion is, they start with a good service but with time and increase in number of users.. they don’t expand their setup, don’t follow up to complaints, don’t provide/keep any backup plans (like WorldCall does!)
I was fed up from World Call (WC) service, so i decided to go for VPTCL. Initially it was good but as long as their customer increased, the service turned out to be very much unreliable!!!
One night I had a meeting with my client in US, I wasn’t even able to brows a single page! I called 1236 to check the status. He told that net is ON but due to many users their is congestion!!! I asked him if there is any backup from their side as if I don’t meet my deadline…client will simply say me a “sorry” for all my 1000$ project/effort………………..but again the same…………….. that representative said: “I am sorry but I cant do anything for you….please try to use Internet after 1-2 hours” !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Coming to the PTCL Broadband: I applied for the service about 3 months back…..and but still there are no signs if they can provide me service! Then I tried to get my request cancelled (so that I can avail WOL broadband), they said “your request has been cancelled” ………… but when I checked my PTCL land line number’s status, its still locked for PTCL broadband service!!!!
I was stuck what to do with all these ….”—-”………so I thought to use WC again and called them to give me a connection on urgent basis (try to visit me today evening after my office hours) and they said ok. Before coming back to home, one of my friend told that WiMax is available in GT also. I called WC and said to wait (don’t come to get my order confirmed) and I ll let you know later to get your connection.
Then I called Wateen sales person.
He told that the tariff was still not final but tentatively it is 850/- for 256kbps (with 2000 security deposit for CPE) and bla bla……and this is enough for a home user :-S
I said ok, do give me your service and get my connection (256/512/1024) decided when your tariff comes. After about 3-4 days’ effort and calls, at last he was at my home to get the form filled and to get my home coordinates!
I was given a hope to get the connection installed within 3-5 days but its gonna about 15-17 days that no hope from them EVEN after so many calls !!
At last, one day they told that the tariff has again changed and its now 1600/- for 512kbps and there would be a contract for a year and bla bla. I again asked them to give me facility and we will decide package when your tariffs officially comes…..
(Remember they already have given many connections without choosing any package, just because tariffs yet to be finalized and they are in their testing period)
9:55 am
is it actully 500 rupees a mont for 2mbps, and you dnt pay anything else, thats massively cheap.
i thought it was over 5000
12:50 pm
well its 500 PM for 256K net and cable TV. its just a test trial and official rates will be announced *later*
11:37 am
hi guys well the latest news abt Wateen TELEcOM is tht they have launched their servies for corporate users in november already and will be launching their services for home user in december……take care
RK!
2:27 pm
Hi guys!
all of u r very exited abt wimax.here is the rate list
512kbps with 10Gb for Rs2250
512kbps with 4Gb for 1050 with 2Gb Rs650
1Mb with 2gb for 750, with 4gb Rs 1150, with 10 Gb RS 2350
wiat for next
3:19 pm
Ok, thanks but what about device?
Rent?
or
Security?
or else?
Brief about that too plz.
12:03 am
hi friends,
at least wateen has been lounched but the thing is a domestic user will not be able to enjoy this service coz the first time intallation is too much which is about to 10000 rps.may be i’m rowng but i feel this too much because all dsl companies are offering free installations and free modems so we will have to think about this,if they have(wateen)expended thier money for this technology so this is his own headache i think wateen shouldn’t suck our blood as a vampire.
1:12 am
Salam Everyone !!!!!!!!!
i am from peshawar. wimax service is launched here and i went to their office to clarrify the package 1 and package 2
i think package 1 was good
because
in it the installation is free, modem , cpe
and also u r given a choice to pay the bill in monthly cheques or at one time which is 17999/- full but in cheques 1350/- for each month but at the start u have to pay 3,000 which is included in 1799
but the cheques are to be signed and given on that time, meaning u r bound to pay for 1 year.
but here’s the benefit ur download speed is reasonable 512 kbps and also no monthly deposits again and u will have unlimited downloads.
i think its really goood
1:52 am
however wateen is advance and fast network, i also like warid’s fastest data transfer speeds compared to slow ufone and mobilink, and telenor between.
10:19 am
Ah….i got totally confused…..Do they supply dsl seperatly and if they supply can any one tell me the charges they apply each month….[:s]…plz reply soon…..
11:02 am
Hey folks me confuse too here infact very confuse…
o: what is wateen tripple play….. i also have heard about the Wateen DSL…. what packages they have and what are their tarrifs…. i have search there website for the tarrifs and packages but find nothing for the DSL line… they are only promoting one thing on their website that is the WiMax..
CAN ANY ONE PROVIDE ME WITH THE TARRIFS AND THE PACKAGES OF WATEEN’S DSL…?
11:10 am
yeah when i visited their website there was nothing except wimax……And when i went to dsl broadband packages and tariffs there was nothing but COMING SOON…..
3:39 pm
check this out people
http://www.wateen.com
for full details of tariff and services
8:06 pm
Come on Yaar aaap kahan wateen .com ke peechay parhay huwe ho…. wahan per kuch bhi nahin hai EXCEPT WIMAX
2:08 pm
Well, that experience about trying to get Wateen installed was posted by me as WateenCust. Here’s more about my experience since then:
Things worked out pretty OK for a while. I did get service troubles for a few hours on occassion but I could live with that. But then my worst fears were realized. My first bad experience was when after the rains the service went
dead and it took wateen a week toget it going.Of course they would not give me any feedback on what was wrong, always asking me for my mac address on every call (why don’t they have a field for it in their database?) Eventually I found out from their field staff that had moisture got in the cable box outside (the one from which cable comes into my home — I don’t know what is the correct term for it). That certainly was not comforting as those boxes have been put below ground level in usually open holes so I can expect a lot of problems after rains.
Anyways, the new trouble began about a month ago on a somewhat happy note. I got a call from Wateen informing me in advance that my service would be down from 11 am to 7 am that day as they had some upgrading to do. And I thought “Oh so nice of them to tell me in advance!” Well my connection stayed active that day but went out the next but did not come back. Repeated calls to Wateen always got me answers like “It will be fixed in 2 hrs or 4 hours” I tried to be very patient but finally I got very angry when told one time too many “The service will be up in 2 hours” and told the Wateen person that I know it was a lie and the service won’t be up in 2 hours and to please tell me when my service will be really up? I was told it would take another week. I ask them when they knew the service would not be up for another week why did they keep lying. I was told it was their orders. Well, after another week my connection was up again but that lasted no more than 2 days.
For the last month I have been experience a lost connection EVERY 2 TO 5 MINUTES. The customer service continues to give me BS — that is, when I can get through which seems impossible these days — about checking my cables or “you did not log out properly.” The field engineers did come by 2 weeks ago and when confronted did admit they had a problem in the whole area with modems continuously resetting but that they had fixed the problem. Well, it stayed fixed for no more than 2 hours and I am still constantly loosing my connection (4 times so far typing this message alone). I have been unable to get through to Wateen support and seriously considering getting some other ISP — maybe even go back to WorldCall for it certainly was bad but not this bad…
P.S. Remember, this also means you Wateen phone line goes out at the same time as well. It is not much use anyways since most phone systems even not don’t recognize wateen prefixes so you cannot receive phone calls (yes, most people having even Warid SIM cannot call my number). It is also true you cannot call their own helpline from their phone line. It will not let you dial 111 or 0800 numbers… this bad…
TV cable has had no problems at all in these 6 months
4:04 am
Can any one tell me the charges which have to be paid per month…..i mean for the service….
1:51 pm
Its pretty ecnomical – Much better then DSL or World Call – cable internet.
3:54 pm
Let me just share our experience with wateen.
We got a corporate package and gave a post-dated check for the installation and other charges. It worked fine for a while and then the quality started to drop. It was exactly same as already mentioned by @nota above. I would also add that their technical support SUCKS! They wouldn’t receive calls first, and when they did they said we are working on the problem or they would say that they think there is a problem at our end and a technical team would come shortly to fix it – of course, the technical team would never come.
So we cancelled the check, asked them to take their equipment back as we don’t want to spend our energies running after them.
Wateen is badly managed, marketed, and launched service. Do NOT buy it until you know at least five people who are satisfied users of wateen! And don’t fall into the trap of cheap rates, because you’ll really get what you pay for (may be not even that!).
8:34 pm
Very true Ammar!
1:46 pm
(kashif_nust@hotmail.com)I got the wateen connection and have very bad experience. SOme one mentioned that the he emailed and cc d to senior managment. Can anybody tell me the email address of their senior management.
Ammar
Can you please tell me how u managed to get ur cheques back, and what i need to do to get rid of wateen now.
2:00 pm
salaam,
i got wimax wateen’s connection i am enjoying i feel it is better than dsl no one can say that it is bad in my openion
9:00 pm
Bad experience with wateen, too many calls and emails to them ….finally they areed to give me my money back,or make the connection batter …..they will have to, as i have their modem worth 22000$
look like their network is week in many areas.
3:35 pm
kashif, we cancelled the wateen check (you have to write a letter to the bank manager to cancel check # … ) so it probably bounced when they tried to get it encashed.
8:48 pm
@kashif: Try these emails:
To: support@wateen.com
cc:tariq.malik@wateen.com, tayyab.shafi@wateen.com, shahid.miah@wateen.com, furqan.qureshi@wateen.com, jahangir.ahmad@wateen.com, aqib.zulfiqar@wateen.com, junaid.qureshi@wateen.com, ali.irfan@wateen.com, naila.aziz@wateen.com, athar.jamal@wateen.com
They seem to have a new expanded management team — which might be bad news because all these new people will not have a clue right of what is going on and will be too busy trying to impress their new bosses instead of solving problems the customers are having…
P.S. My connection is still dropping after every 2 minutes. Add to that the load-shedding and you can imagine the great broadband experience I am having
1:55 pm
Thanks Nota
for the email addreses, it worked and i got the reply in 10 minutes, lets see what they gona do.
kashif_nust@hotmail.com
9:47 pm
My wateen (cable) internet is going down after every 10 – 15 min for the past 3 weeks !!
Wateen support is no where to be found!!
I have lost all my confidence in Wateen!!
11:14 am
Wateen – especially tripple play (the package which makes the most sense when it comes to buying!) has started to suck more by the day!! Throughly check the service before actually paying for it Tripple play is free these day and its disconnecting after every 4 mins interval exact !!
5:55 pm
Just to differentiate between WiMaX and Triple Play Service Project…
Wateen is operating on two platforms wired and wireless. Wired network involves fiber in the core and coaxial cable at customer premises. You can also call this as HFC ‘Hybrid Fiber Coaxial’ Platform. Wireless involves fiber in the core and wireless towers that route data to wireless modems at customer premises; also known as WiMAX. So, firstly there are two platforms HFC and WiMAX.
On HFC, you can access cable TV, Broadband Internet and Telephony services making it a Triple Play Service Offering. Since HFC network is available only in DHA, Lahore; so Triple Play Services are only available in this part of the region.
On WiMAX, you can access Broadband Internet and Telephony only; hence making it a dual play service offering. WiMAX services are available nationwide. But a customer needs to be in a certain signal range to avail the WiMAX services.
The Internet speeds offered currently by them are 128 Kbps to 512 Kbps. However, WiMAX tech. allows connection upto 2 Mbps, in contrast to HFC which allows connection upto 6 Mbps or more. I believe the momemtum in the market is shifting towards higher speeds and soon we will see telcos coming up with 2 or 3 Mbps connections.
As for telephony, except for Ufone incoming calls from all other operators are operational. However, since mobile operators have increasing number extensions i.e. 0300, 0301; there might be issues still pending.
As for cable, only analog TV services are available as for now. Pay-per-View, digital TV, Video on Demand etc services will be available only when Digital TV services will come online. And it seems that Wateen will go ahead with expanding analog service first before taking any major step ahead with digital; since it involves high setup costs.
WiMAX packages have been available since December, and have been subject to change from time to time. Since the tech. is relatively new and in stage of infancy, wimax modems are very expensive; somewhere in the range of $250-$350. Under these circumstances, it becomes a hugh challenge for WiMAX to be successful in a country like Pakistan where average revenue per user (ARPU) is less than $8 per month for Internet. The only way to penetrate is to subsidize the modem device to customer, which by the looks of their offering seems true!
HFC services have been on testing basis since May and word has it that they will start charging their customers in the upcoming months. So far, there hasnt been any tariff information coming from Wateen. So lets keep our fingers crossed…
They have a tough journey ahead in DHA… keeping in view Worldcall Price Slashes and Decling After Sale Support Satisfaction level of customers….
6:53 pm
Ahmad (If i deciphered your name correctly) that was an excellent analysis
7:49 pm
Whats Wateen’s take on torrents?
9:37 am
hmm some one had an email address from wateen rep which was working, maybe that gentleman can send him link of this post so he can come here and present his part of picture