Telenor is Bringing an International Music Streaming Service to Pakistan and More!

Telenor Pakistan recently celebrated Customer First Day 2014, an event which was designed to encourage communication between the customers and the company via feedback. Michael Foley, Telenor Pakistan’s CEO took an active part in the proceedings of the event and also hinted at several new programs that the company aims to introduce in the country.

Telenor in Collaboration with… Deezer?

Telenor CEO recently revealed that they were in talks with an International Music Streaming Company so that they could bring the service to Pakistan. While no names were revealed, he did hint that it was an International Company and not a neighboring one (that leaves out Saavn and Gaana). So why are we cautiously optimistic that this Music service could be Deezer? In April 2013, Telenor partnered with Deezer, one of the largest music streaming services with 26 mil. users in more than 180 countries in order to make it accessible to ‘regions in Asia’. One could therefore, speculate that Telenor Pakistan is finally gearing up to bring the service home.

With a Music Streaming Service, Telenor can hope to make a small dent in piracy and curb illegal music downloads as users will be able to listen to local and international music on the go, online and offline with the streaming service. Given the 3G availability, Telenor’s plan may see success.

An Online Payment Gateway Based on Easy Paisa

Easypaisa, Telenor’s mobile banking service, is easily a market leader. Since its launch, the transactions made on the platform have crossed a whopping $3 billion (almost 1% of Pakistan’s GDP). With 3G this is likely to grow further. Given the room for growth, Telenor is all set to introduce an Online Payment Gateway which will be available to EasyPaisa Account Holders and will be linked with 1-Link, the ATM inter-bank payment network. Actual details regarding the service are still scant but the company is likely to launch it at the end of the year.

Naya Aghaaz and Open Mind Pakistan

Telenor also announced that it will be launching two new programs, Naya Aghaaz and Open Mind Pakistan. The former is designed to give women a chance to make a career comeback while the latter will focus on training the disabled. With the new programs, the telecom company hopes that it can make a difference in the society.

Clearly, just providing the telecom service is no longer enough. Telecom companies need to do more in order to retain old customers and attract new ones. Telenor companies in Pakistan have always been fiercely competitive and with 3G posing new possibilities, the competition is going to go up a notch.

Image credits: Haris Nadeem