Pakistan Telecommunication Ltd (PTCL) has failed to provide the DSL and IPTV services to its customers – thanks to poor and old telephone exchange infrastructure. The applicants who applied for a DSL cum IPTV connections run pillar to post to get it by fulfilling all mandatory requirements but only get disappointment from the company who has launched this service with a bang.

Interestingly, tele marketing staff of the PTCL used to call up you to get a connection of DSL and IPTV and when they convinced you for it the company asks to distance yourself from this connection as the PTCL network of your area doesn’t support the services.

It is great success of the PTCL that the applications of the DSL and IPTV were pending over one year as the company had failed to provide the service despite having a good number of customer base.

Umar Anjum lives in judicial colony in Lahore told that he had applied for DSL connection at his residence number after failure of services by the Wateen Wimax at his residence. He said the PTCL staff acknowledge his request and given him two days time. However, largest infrastructure holding company had followed its old foot prints and had not installed the DSL at his home.

“When I approached at Islamabad complaint center, the staff said the connection has approved and would be installed”, he said “on the other hand when contacted the staff of my concerned telephone exchange they simply said that the facility was not available at this exchange which is 531, 532 and some other exchanges of the area and said no DSL for you”.

This is start of the PTCL services there are many examples in one of them is Sohaib who had applied for PTCL DSL over one year ago and the company had refused to give connection. He lives in Cantonment area of Lahore which is one of the posh localities of the city, had applied for DSL student package on July 6 2009. However, DSL service manager and DE of the telephone exchange at Cant refused to provide the service, saying the telephone exchange could not be upgraded.

The exchange was built in 2001 and was based on ONU-I technology which was not fit for DSL technology. Shoaib said they also told him that some 22 PTCL exchanges under their control were outdated which could not support DSL. Shoaib said the company official instead to install DSL on existing home number has been asked to purchase PTCL-V phone or change his residential telephone number. Till to date no update on my application – thank you PTCL.

Similarly, Kashif Iqbal a resident of Samanabad area had applied for IPTV service for the company. The company had installed the DSL modem at his residence owing that it was compulsory for IPTV service. Interestingly, after installing the DSL modem the company had refused to entertain the request of IPTV owing that the network cable reaching to his house is connected through Fibre optic cable and the IPTV service was not supported on this cable. The concerned official of the company said only copper cable support the IPTV thus it would not be installed at his residence.

Here question arises that if the PTCL is unable to give DSL connection to every applicant then why should it have been running campaigns.