ISLAMABAD ( KHIZRA ZAHEER )
Obviously, it’s not amusing to walk the Pakistan’s minefield of often confusing broadband ISP choices, where usually internet speeds vary due to a multitude of often opaque factors and service quality repeatedly fails to go with expectations.
So, choosing the right broadband ISP for you can sometimes seems a bit like swimming with sharks where you’re never pretty certain which one will end up biting you first. The quality of customer support and Internet speeds that vary due to a variety of dense factors, are also significant cause of frustration.
These days, affordable ISPs, are dime a dozen in this aggressively competitive market, but consumers who go this route must remember that paying less often acquires to sacrifice in the quality of customer support and service (especially broadband speeds). But if you do have to incise your budget and want to reduce the risk of problems then you should have to search for better internet options, just remember that even a good ISP will struggle to resolve problems if the fault exists within your own home.
However, with increasing need of more invasions of multimedia and break-through services; the need for a reliable and high-speed internet connection got further boosted. Whether it is accessing of professional/personal emails or browsing Facebook/Twitter to keep in touch with friends and family; one cannot bear to have a slow or uneven internet connection even for a few moments.
Out of a multitude of broadband ISP choices in Pakistan, I have faced several disruptions that are hard to bear to have them in my online job. It was like that no ISP cares about the customer services. Speed aside; it’s the continuous break downs and the monotonous customer services that infuriate mainly.
Here is an outlook of some of the findings:
Wateen
Offering basic broadband package starting from 10 GB, Wateen is one of the leading ISP but likewise they often suffer from complaints. However, they focus on their customer support but by far, connectivity speed needed improvement overall.
Pros:
• Reasonable Price
Cons:
- Router lacks seamless coverage.
- Unlimited download package for just sometime.
Qubee:
Qubee is another provider like Wateen that scores reasonable performance, although far from perfect but average customer support. It has been found that they usually attract proportionally the lowest level of complaints among the biggest players but seamless speed can’t predict all time due to lesser coverage in far areas of cities. However, at some time, it seems like to sacrifice service quality for either lower price or more data/volume buckets.
Pros:
• Price (good for the speed)
Cons:
• Confusing Traffic Management Policy
• Upload speeds not quite as good as some rival packages.
WiTribe
Coming across to witribe leads my chase for a reliable internet connection finally ended. Being a leading Internet Service Provider, WiTribe runs as a largely independent business and this is clear to see in all the awards and praise they receive; particularly for customer service.
With assorted packages, they tend to adopt a budget conscious focus for their packages, but unlike some of their competitors, one can also take broadband as a standalone service. Despite being the second largest service provider after PTCL, wi-tribe gets more inscriptions for its service quality.
However, their Customer care team always goes out of their way to resolve issues and prompts updates regularly. It’s worth pointing out that witribe often slashes their prices in half and sometimes has other special offers running, thus customers will often pay a lot less than the standard pricing.
Pros:
• Good Speed
• Customer Support
• Additional Services
• Included router
Cons:
- Upload speeds lacks some times.
PTCL
However, Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited is ahead with widest broadband availability having 70% coverage of more areas and 80% of market share than other ISPs but at times, its broadband speed got interrupted with some technical issues. Though as compared to the past, their customer services have improved a lot but still in certain situation it needs to be further improved in term of problem early resolution and response time. On the other hand, sometimes, the delay in problem rectification and customer care response becomes a nuisance.
However, broadband prices tend to start at Rs.500 per month in the name of Economy package which is easily affordable.
Pros:
• Price
• Unlimited Usage
Cons:
• Email support can be slow
Verdict:
From overall piece, it could be concluded that to get good speed, one first needs to make a right decision to choose an ISP. So, if you want your internet up-and-running at all times and desire to get finished with work without any interlude, choose your broadband service provider smartly!