announced the commercial launch of Mobilink Infinity, a wireless broadband and telephony service for residential and enterprise consumers based on the mobile WiMAX standard, 802.16e-2005 (Rev-e).

Mobilink Infinity went live on October 22 in Karachi, Pakistan’s financial capital and major business center. In its very first week, the service attracted several thousands of subscribers. Mobilink, a member of the Orascom Telecom group, estimates that the service will attract 50,000 subscribers by year-end.

“When choosing a partner for the Karachi commercial launch, time-to-market and product readiness were key decision-making criteria,” noted Zouhair A Khaliq, the President and CEO of Mobilink, adding, “We saw Alcatel-Lucent as one of the most advanced WiMAX players. The maturity of their technology and the quality of their support have been excellent throughout the project.”

Commenting on the initiative, Naeem Y. Zamindar, Vice President & Head of Broadband Business Division at Mobilink, said, “Mobilink Infinity is all about making high speed internet and telephony over WiMax as accessible through our plug and play, affordable, customer friendly service. We’re offering our subscribers high-quality and reliable connectivity that has the potential to revolutionize their lives.”

Because Mobilink Infinity is built upon Alcatel-Lucent’s innovative and state-of-the-art mobile WiMAX Rev-e technology, Mobilink Infinity subscribers benefit from easy, affordable and always-on connectivity to the Internet, with fast downloads and smooth audio and video streaming; they can also enjoy high quality voice calls. Calls can be made using a regular phone or PC interface.

Alcatel-Lucent has supplied a comprehensive WiMAX Rev-e solution including both fixed and nomadic terminal devices from various CPE partners, thanks to its Open CPE program, which is designed to ensure service provider customers have the widest possible range of interoperable end-user devices. The Alcatel-Lucent WiMAX network leverages existing sites and equipment in Mobilink’s GSM network, helping to optimize deployment economics.

“With voice telephony seeing tough competition, WiMAX presents an excellent way to generate additional revenue, all while providing a level of service that subscribers truly appreciate,” noted Vincenzo Nesci, president of Alcatel-Lucent’s activities in the Middle East and Africa, “We have a long relationship with Mobilink and Orascom, and we are pleased to have helped them launch this service in Karachi.”

Mobilink and Alcatel-Lucent will provide further details on how this advanced service was deployed and how it is being received by the first subscribers with a live media web cast during the upcoming WiMAX Forum Congress Latin America 2008 December 2-4.

About Mobilink:

Mobilink, a subsidiary of the Orascom Telecom Group is a leading cellular service and market leader in Pakistan with a customer base of over 30 million subscribers.

The company has successfully achieved a record subscriber growth of 40 % in 2007 and with over 7,500 cell sites, has coverage in over 10,000 cities, towns, and villages, through out Pakistan. International roaming is available in over 130 countries with more than 300 partner operators, and the company’s investment to date, is over US$2.5 billion. It directly employs over 5,000 people, and facilitated through an integrated technology infrastructure, has the largest distribution network of over 200,000 retail outlets across Pakistan. The company is a carrier-class nationwide connecting service with its 6,500 kilometers fiber optic backbone, and is leading the Mobile Commerce revolution with its first lifestyle application, “Genie” which enables customers to pay utility, telephone bills and top-up prepaid credit through their mobile phones.

Through The Mobilink Foundation, the company’s corporate social responsibility program contributes significantly in the areas of health and education. The company is also the official cellular service of the Pakistan Cricket Board and the leading BlackBerry communication services provider in Pakistan.

About Orascom Telecom

Orascom Telecom is a leading international telecommunications company operating GSM networks in seven high growth markets in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia. Orascom Telecom operates GSM networks in Algeria ("OTA"), Pakistan ("Mobilink"), Egypt ("Mobinil"), Tunisia ("Tunisiana"), Iraq ("Iraqna"), Bangladesh ("Banglalink"), and Zimbabwe ("Telecel Zimbabwe"). In Pakistan, Mobilink has 30 million subscribers.

Orascom Telecom had over 61 million subscribers as at June 2007. Orascom Telecom owns 19.3% of Hutchison Telecommunications International Limited, a leading telecommunication services provider operating in seven countries.

Information Source:    Alcatel-Lucent

Image courtesy of Mobilink website