TechLahore

The gentleman cutting the ribbon is Mustafa Peracha, the new CEO of Wi-Tribe (Image credit: Mobilink)

The last few years have seen a profusion of WiMAX services enter the Pakistani IT market. There are already three major vendors delivering these services, including Wateen, Mobilink and #3 player, Wi-Tribe. Wateen and Mobilink are obviously huge behemoths that can subsidize their WiMAX operations, if needed, by leveraging their booming cellular telephony businesses. They are therefore in a position to invest and wait for the market to catch up. I believe this past year has actually seen some serious WiMAX adoption, though specific numbers, as always, are a little tough to come by. In this context, I’ve found it interesting how the smaller player – Wi-Tribe – would fare, absent an existing cellular business or other revenue streams to bank on.

We just heard earlier today that Wi-Tribe has actually been going through some internal changes. Their CEO has been replaced and a new man, Mustafa Peracha, is now firmly in the saddle. Mustafa comes to Wi-Tribe from Mobilink, where he was VP of their Broadband division. So he would clearly understand the broadband market and would also be privy to Mobilink’s own assessment and strategy – important benefits for Wi-Tribe.

While the change of leadership announcement was fairly generic, alluding to plans for future growth and the obligatory reference to “exciting times”, one really does wonder how Wi-Tribe is going to formulate its strategy to compete with Mobilink and Wateen, while growing in a significant and meaningful way. Are we going to see some interesting broadband value added services being delivered by Wi-Tribe? Are they looking into a content or app marketplace? Are they investigating TV/Broadband synergies with the new generation of PC-like set-top boxes? There’s clearly a lot they can do to blow the competition away, because their exclusive focus on WiMAX can be a huge advantage when it comes to clarity of vision, ability to make decisions and execute quickly, maintaining an undiluted brand and positioning themselves as the WiMAX vendor that does nothing else… and hence does WiMAX better than anyone else.

We’ll keep closer watch on Wi-Tribe and let you know if we catch something exciting coming our way!

Here’s the story from Ye Ole Biz:

Mustafa appointed as wi-tribe Pakistan’s CEO

KARACHI (May 15 2010): Mustafa Peracha has been appointed as the new Chief Executive Officer of wi-tribe Pakistan, the most reliable wireless broadband internet service in Pakistan. Effective May 1, 2010 Mustafa will be responsible for overseeing wi-tribe Pakistan’s overall business activities as well as driving future growth of the company.

Mustafa brings with him vast experience and has held various executive management positions, most recent of which was Vice-President of the Broadband and Carrier Division at Mobilink, an Orascom Telecom Company, where he oversaw all fixed business with complete P&L responsibility was also instrumental in commercially driving the growth of the GSM business.

For the rest of the article, please visit The Business Recorder

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