Warid Telecom (Pakistan)

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Warid Telecom International Ltd.
Type	Private
Founded	2005
Headquarters	Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan
Key people	Marwan Zawaydeh, CEO
Industry	Telecommunication
Products	Telephony, EDGE, GPRS, GSM
Website	Warid Telcom Pakistan

Warid Telecom International Ltd. is a Pakistani telecommunication company based in Lahore, Pakistan.It is wholly owned subsidiary of Warid Telecom International LLC which is the part of an Abu Dhabi based consortium led by His Highness Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahayan, a Member of the Royal Family of Abu Dhabi, and the Honorable Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research of the United Arab Emirates.

In 2004, Warid Telecom International LLC, purchased a license for operating a nationwide mobile telephony network, (WLL) and long distance international (LDI) for $291 million US dollars and was the first venture of Warid Telecom International LLC.

Warid Pakistan launched its services in May 2005. Within 80 days of launch Warid Pakistan claims to have attracted more than 1 million. users^[1]. According to Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, currently Warid Telecom has 14.39 million subscribers as of March 2008. It is ranked as the fourth largest operator in Pakistan. Warid Pakistan claims it has the largest "post-paid" subscriber base in Pakistan.

On June 30th, 2007, Singapore Telecommunications Limited (SingTel) and Warid Telecom announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement subsequent to which SingTel will acquire a 30 per cent equity stake in Warid Telecom for an estimated $758 million — valuing the company at an enterprise value of $2.9 billion.

In June 2008, Warid Telecom annouced it will invest $1.5 billion by end of this year and $2.5 billion by end of 2009 to expand and modernize it's network in Pakistan^[2].

1 Zahi and Zem
2 Network Technology
3 See also
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Zahi and Zem

Warid Pakistan provides both post-paid and pre-paid connection plans. The post-paid plan is branded and marketed across the country under the name Zahi Post-paid, which means leader or royalty. The pre-paid segment is branded and marketed as Zem Pre-Paid.

Zahi-Post-paid and Zem Pre-paid user enjoy various value added services(VAS), such as SMS, MMS, GPRS, 64K SIM, Dual SIM product, Corporate packages for product advertising via SMS, and a host of other features.

However International Roaming is available to its Zahi(post-paid) users as of March 2007. For pre-paid customers, International Roaming is also available. (Selected Countries)

Warid has been one of the highest contributor in development work carried out in the quake hit areas of Pakistan after the devastating event of 8th October 2005, furthering their stance of 'We Care'.