Future of telecommunications in Pakistan? Technology Trends? Rural & Urban Divide ? and ambitious goals of telecos........... Gurus are requested to share their thoughts

Hello Shabbar, I have for many years been a science/math/tech nerd & have read many journals in print & online, & worked for 5 years in a company who manufactured multiplexer boxes for ISDN equipment; this technology became obsolete in the early 90's. For many years, I worked for a supervisor who was employed with a large Telecommunications company. Based on my readings, work experience & conversations with an insider, there are several key factors to consider: 1. What do the people want out of their telecomms service, & how much are they willing to pay for the services they expect? 2. What kind of technology is economically available that will meet the services' needs of the customers, & allow for future expansion of the service as new demands are made by users, & evolving technology? 3. How can new technology be integrated into existing telecomms infrastructure in the most economical way, & for a sustainable price? 4. What mix of compatible telecomms technologies will deliver consistent quality & reliable services, to customers in any geographical area or weather conditions? 5. What ongoing maintenance & upgrade costs are necessary to maintain the quality of the telecomms services? 6. How to implement new technology & the recycling or safe disposal of old technology, reducing the impact on the local environment, & protect the health of the customers & the telecomms industry staff? How are costs to be transferred to the customers at an affordable level? Pakistan & other countries looking to modernise their technological infrastructure, may learn from mistakes Western countries have made in the past. In the United States, the majority of the cities have problems with strong carcinogens such as hexavalent Chromium seeping into water supplies. The use of too many coal burning power plants, has ironically resulted not only in the increase of Carbon Dioxide emissions, or the release of Mercury & Arsenic into the environment, but the ash from burnt coal is radioactive. The best way to determine future trends, is to do market research & ask a random sample of potential telecomms customers: business people; professionals (doctors, dentists, paramedics, social workers, engineers, scientists, architects, accountants, lawyers); students; average Joe Blog workers; farmers; fishermen; what kind of services they would like their telecomms service provider to deliver to them. The focus should always be on the customers' needs because it's a waste of time & money to set up any kind of infrastructure nobody wants to use. In the cities based on the experience of Western cities, where older technologies are most likely to be in existence, it would be necessary to gradually replace the older technology of twisted pair copper, with either fiber optic or co-axial cables depending on cost & data bandwidth needs. A hard decision is how to allow for long term demand for more bandwidth. Some cities have opted for a copper co-axial cable network within the city & surrounding suburbs, & for long distances between cities, they opt for fiber optic or a mix of cables & microwave links, depending on terrain, or the propensity for earth quakes or flooding. Laying down cables requires stable environmental conditions, otherwise the cost of maintenance is costly. A natural disaster may cause long delays in restoring telecomms in a cable only system. Using microwave links over environmentally unstable regions, may allow faster services' restoration. These links may also recover more quickly from a natural disaster, if they are powered by solar cells & batteries. The maintenance costs may be mainly in replacing the batteries & recycling or disposal. New energy storage technologies are always in development; using solar panels' excess energy to produce hydrogen from rain water during the day, supplying hydrogen for fuel cells, or a steam turbine driven power generator. Thank You & Best Regards, Neil Ruedlinger BE(Elec)