Zong in collaboration with Buksh Foundation, a leading microfinance organization, is set to light up rural lives through the project ‘Lighting a Million Lives’ that will provide solar-powered lighting to 2 villages as a start of a long term partnership.

The initiative is a part of the TERI project that aims to provide lightning to a billion people worldwide through solar power.

Under the partnership, Zong will sponsor the establishment of Solar Charging Stations in the selected villages in Chiniot District, providing solar lanterns for the use of the villagers, which can be regularly charged at the solar-charging stations. This is the first time in the country’s history that a telecom company is investing in a clean energy initiative to provide much needed lighting to those living in the depth of darkness in rural parts of the country.

Solar-charging stations will be operated by women from the same villages which is a way of promoting women empowerment. Two female micro-entrepreneurs will be selected from each village to run these stations. They will then either rent out the charged solar lanterns every evening to fellow villagers at an affordable fee, or will sell the lanterns to individual households as per their need. Further, project will contribute to improvement of education and health standards, as has been observed in other countries where the project has been implemented.

The use of solar lanterns, over its life span of about 10 years will also result in 500 to 600 liters of kerosene not being used for kerosene lamps, eliminating about 1.5 tons of carbon emissions into the atmosphere.

About 43% (80 million people) of the total population of Pakistan lives without access to electricity. Interestingly, while some of the villages do not have electricity, their residents still have cellular connections and carry cell phones. The common practice in these areas is that one of the villagers’ collects all cell phones and goes to a nearby town with electricity to recharge these phones. By investing in the solar charging stations, ZONG is also making the process of recharging hassle free for the 2 fortunate villages.

It merits mentioning here that Zong now has more than 400 cell sites which are solar powered, the highest number for any telecom service provider in Pakistan.

At the MoU signing ceremony between Zong and Buksh Foundation for the project Mr Fan Yunjun, the CEO of Zong Pakistan stated “‘We are pleased to support Buksh Foundation on this solar energy initiative especially since this aims to address a critical energy gap in the country. We are optimistic that this collaboration, whilst addressing the energy crisis, will also enhance female employment through generating increased entrepreneurship opportunities and will hence positively impact overall socio-economic development in the country.’

Ms Fiza Farhan, Chief Executive Officer of Buksh Foundation states, ‘“This unique collaborative project will help create female empowerment in rural areas, provide a Sustainable Energy Alternative for impoverished communities, increase economic capacity of the rural areas, creating literacy about the needs for environmentally friendly energy alternates and the benefits they provide. With the help of Zong we will be able to directly impact the lives of more than 500 individuals in Chiniot District and aim to expand this scope with time.”

ZONG has announced this new handset bundle offer – ZTE Skate Data Bundle — for its prospective post-paid customers.

All existing and new postpaid customers (with any of the postpaid package) can avail ZTE Skate along with 2GB data bundle for 12 months for just Rs. 13,999.

ZTE Skate is an Android device launched by ZTE Corporation. ZTE Skate runs on Android 2.3 with 4.3 inch display, 5 mega pixels camera, EDGE/HSUPA/HSDPA, 800 Mhz CPU, 512 MB internal and 2GB external memory amongst other innovative features.

Here are other Specs for ZTE Skate:

• OS: Android OS, v2.3 (Gingerbread)
• CPU: 800MHz
• Design:
  • Dimensions: 125.9 x 67.8 x 10.4 mm
  • Weight: 120 g (4.23 oz)
• Display:
  • TFT capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
  • Size: 480 x 800 pixels, 4.3 inches (~217 ppi pixel density)
• Memory:
  • Card slot: microSD, up to 32 GB
  • Internal: 512 MB RAM
• Connectivity: GPRS, EDGE, HSDPA, HSUPA, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, Wi-Fi hotspot, Bluetooth, microUSB v2.0
• Camera: 5 MP, 2592 x 1944 pixels, autofocus, LED flash
• Battery:
  • Li-Ion 1400 mAh battery
  • Stand-by: Up to 288 h
  • Talk time: Up to 5 h

All devices are network locked and can only be used on ZONG Network

Terms & Conditions:

• In case customer is using prepaid plan, customer must switch to any postpaid plan to avail this offer
• 12 month 2GB data bundle (2GB every month for 12 billing cycles)
• Data consumption beyond 2GB will be charged as per default data package
• In case customer switch package plan from postpaid to prepaid after handset sale, then customer will no longer be eligible for 2GB free data promo
• Standard 6 months repair warranty, user induced damage will not be covered under warranty terms
• Customer can avail this offer on both existing and new postpaid connections
• Promo offer can be availed only on one number, number will be mapped with handset at the time of handset sale

Product Availability (Channels):

Zong said that ZTE Skate can be availed from Zong’s customer care centres or through corporate sales’ officers.

Zong has announced voice bundles with discounted rates for calling China. Dubbed as “Pak-China Friendship Bundle”, the voice bundles are aimed at those Chinese professionals working in Pakistan and Pakistanis having their business and FnF contacts in China.

Zong says that with these voice bundles customers will be offered at least 50 percent discount (as compared with usual tariff) on all calls made to China.

Offer Details:

• The Weekly and 15 Days Bundle shall be available only for Prepaid Customers.
• Pak-China friendship bundles are available to all prepaid and postpaid customers
• The customers can check the remaining minutes via *102#

How to Subscribe:

• Dial *138# to subscribe

How to Unsubscribe:

• Dial *139# to un-subscribe

Terms and Conditions:

• Subscription validity is recursive, once subscribed to a bundle the customer remains subscribed to bundle till the time he/she un-subscribes.
• Offer available on all prepaid and postpaid packages. However, Weekly and 15 Days bundles are available only for prepaid customers.
• In case of Postpaid, the first subscription of monthly bundle shall be valid till end of current billing cycle. After current billing cycle, the validity of monthly bundles shall be till end of one month billing cycles.
• Free minutes valid for 24 hours a day
• International SMS to all destination (including China) will be charged as per standard tariff
• Premium numbers are not eligible for the discount. International Roaming subscribers (own & visiting) not eligible
• Government taxes apply. All bundle prices mentioned above are Exclusive of Tax.
• In case the validity expires, the un-used minutes will be confiscated.
• Old monthly China packages will not be available for new subscriptions. The customers already subscribed on previous monthly packages will continue using it; until they unsubscribe it and manually subscribes on new package; or the previous package expires after validity period due to insufficient balance.

Zong has announced this new service called MusiCall, which will enable its customers to enjoy musical experience when they make calls to their friends and family.

This exciting service is topped by MusiCall content which is absolutely free. You can download from a treasure trove of melodious songs, inspiring instrumentals and much much more from Zong MusiCall Library without paying any charges (limited time promotion). In addition to this Offer you can also Copy free Music during the conversation. .

Zong MusiCall features are not limited here, you can also select different music for different people and play special effects during the conversation by just pressing a keypad button on your mobile phone.

Methods To Subscribe?

• Via SMS: Send Sub to 5500
• Via IVR: Dial 5500

Subscriber Eligibility:

• All packages of Prepaid and Postpaid users are eligible for this service

How To Use Zong MusiCall Service?

• Just Dial IVR 5500 to subscribe and download free content.

Detailed Mechanics:

• Once the service is subscribed customer will listen to the default Zong instruments if he did not purchase any content
• After selecting content, customer will be given the option to assign the selected instrumental/Music on his phone keys i.e. from 1 to 9 .
• Customer can enjoy Zong MusiCall by adding a prefix 55. BGM call can be connected to ON-NET, OFF-NET, PTCL as well.

How to control Volume during the Zong MusiCall

• Customers can easily control the volume of the music during Zong MusiCall and can end the music as and when he wants
  • To increase volume press ‘#’ key.
  • To Decrease volume the ‘*’ key.
  • ‘0’ key will mute the Music playing in the background during the Zong MusiCall
  • By pressing ‘0’ key again will re-activate the MusiCall service
• Zong MusiCall Service also allows the customers to add sounds effects after listening to lots of content by dialing 5500 IVR
• The content list will be continuously updated for maximum customer appeal & engagement

Copy Favorite Music

• Zong MusiCall service allows the user to copy the music of other MusiCall users by just pressing the “*” key during the call
• Initially party A and Party B needs to be subscribed on Zong MusiCall in order to copy music

Zong MusiCall Pricing:

• For Prepaid Subscription Charges: Rs. 0.5+Tax per Day
• For Postpaid Subscription Charges: o Rs. 15+Tax per Month
• IVR Charges to 5500: Rs. 2+Tax per Minute
• Content Download: Initially FREE for Limited Time Offer
• Zong MusiCall Tune Copy: Initially FREE for Limited Time Offer
• SMS to 5500: Rs. 2+Tax/SMS
• Call Charges with prefix 55: Will be charged as per the package plan (Prepaid & Postpaid)

How to Unsubscribe:

• Type Unsub and Send it to 5500 ( 2+Tax)
• Dial IVR 5500 for un-subscription by following the easy instructions

Terms and Conditions:

• Calls with prefix 55 will be charged as per package plan
• If customer is subscribed to LBC,Sixer Offer and Free Minutes his BGM On-net Call will not be charged and he can enjoy music as much as he can as per the subscriber offered .
• Service available for both Prepaid and Postpaid users.
• Service is not applicable for International calls & Roamers
• After using the service for a month, if customer do not have the service subscription fee for next one month he will be unsubscribed
• If customer is not subscribed to Zong MusiCall Service and want to initiate a Zong MusiCall by dialing 55 before the required number, call will not be initiated and customer will be prompted to press 1 to subscribe the service.
• Prepaid customers cannot purchase monthly bundle.

Zong has announced the winners of its Carnama offer.

Through this offer the telecom giant has rewarded 5 fortunate subscribers with brand new Honda Civic cars and 40 subscribers with motorbikes.

Names of the winners were selected by conducting a lucky draw, which was carried out by CEO Mr. Fan Yunjun accompanied by CCO Mr. Sajid Mahmood and Executive Director Mr. Usman Ishaq.

To be eligible for the prize all that one had to do was to consume a minimum balance of Rs 200 plus tax till 25^th November.

Zong has launched a brand new service through customers will be able to buy Zong’s SIMs through official website of Zong.

After confirming the booking online, customers can collect their SIMs from authorized Franchisees and Customer Service Centres them selves.

The latest service has been launched to facilitate new customers after PTA directives that physical SIMs cannot be obtained from retailers. Therefore now SIMs booked through website can be collected from the nearest CSC or Franchise.

In addition to above, ZONG is also providing opportunity to customers for SIM order booking at Call Centre, CS Centre, Franchise and Retailer.

Moreover new numbering series of 03111XXXXXX and 03110XXXXXX has been introduced and customers can get the number of their choice booked out of the above mentioned series at retail.

Customers can make a maximum of five bookings against the same ID. Upon submission of the booking request, a ticket number will be generated. Customer has to keep a record of this number as he or she will be requested to present this along with a copy of CNIC at the time of SIM handover.

For booking your number online, head to this URL: http://115.186.182.11/mbyn/

Zong has announced the availability of its Mini Internet Bundle, with which customers can enjoy daily Mobile Internet Bundle that comes with 4 MB of data download/upload limit at a daily rental of Rs. 3.99 (including taxes).

Bundle Details:

• Daily Charges: Rs. 3.99
• Daily Limit: 4MB
• Validity: 1 Day

How to Activate:

• Type ‘sub’ and send it 5909

How to De-activate:

• To unsubscribe from the package; Type ‘unsub‘ and send it to 5910

Terms

• The package is available on all prepaid Zong customers on all Commercial packages.
• Fair usage policy of 4MB applies on per day basis.
• After the consumption of free resources, customers will be charged as per default packages.
• To re-subscribe, customer needs to unsubscribe first from the existing package.
• Other bundle customers need to unsubscribe first before subscribing to this package.
• Activation and De-activation is completely free.

Zong brings to its valued customers yet another appealing offer that will encourage them to put their unused Zong SIMs back and receive 100 on-net minutes & SMS absolutely free for eight weeks plus a chance to win return air tickets to Dubai & Thailand!

After 4 successful reconnection campaigns, Zong is all set to launch its 5^th one. Zong’s objective is to devise a smart business strategy to welcome all those subscribers who have not used their Zong SIM since 10^th November 2012.

Launch Date: 13^th December, 2012

Subscriber Eligibility: All prepaid subscribers that have not used their Zong SIM since 10th November, 2012.

Qualification process:

• Customer from the locked base needs to send ‘Y’ to short code 2244 to get instant free minutes and SMS. No re-charge is required to get free minutes.
• However, if you want to take part in lucky draw for winning air tickets to U.A.E (4 Tickets) and Thailand (4 Tickets), customers will have to recharge a cumulative credit of  Rs.100/- or more during the campaign month.

Offer:

• Any customer from the locked base, as per criteria mentioned above, will get the following upon sending SMS to short code 2244:

• Free 1000 Minutes (On-Net)
• Free 1000 SMS (All Networks)
• Validity of free resources for 7 days (Every week)

Free resources are distributed over a period of 8 weeks as per below mentioned

• Week 0: 200 On net minutes, 200 SMS (Both On net & Off net)
• Week 1: 100 On net minutes, 100 SMS (Both On net & Off net)
• Week 2: 100 On net minutes, 100 SMS (Both On net & Off net)
• Week 3: 100 On net minutes, 100 SMS (Both On net & Off net)
• Week 4: 100 On net minutes, 100 SMS (Both On net & Off net)
• Week 5: 100 On net minutes, 100 SMS (Both On net & Off net)
• Week 6: 100 On net minutes, 100 SMS (Both On net & Off net)
• Week 7: 100 On net minutes, 100 SMS (Both On net & Off net)
• Week 8: 100 On net minutes, 100 SMS (Both On net & Off net)

How to Activate

• Simply reinsert your unused ZonG SIM as per the above locked period & send Y to short code 2244.

How Will Be Charged

• Since this is a reconnection campaign, there are no charges associated with it this offer.

Other Information:

• Customer can check the remaining free minutes by Sending and SMS P to 102
• This offer is for existing customers only, and not valid for new and MNP customers
• Off net calls would be charged as per price plan
• Free minutes and SMS doesn’t require any credit reload, however, a recharge of Rs. 100 is required to take part in lucky draw for winning air-tickets.

Zong, in collaboration with Askari Bank, has today officially announced the commercial launch of its mobile financial services called “Time Pey”.

Timepey users will be able to pay utility bills, transfer money to specified recipients anywhere in the country, deposit and withdraw cash and carry out account transfers.

Zong claims that user convenience has been kept as the foremost consideration in developing this new service. Users do not have to be ZONG customers or even be mobile phone subscribers. As such the service offers complete flexibility to anyone who wishes to avail essential financial services without the need to open a bank account.

Speaking at the launch event, the CEO of ZONG, Fan Yunjun said,

“The launch of the Timepey branchless banking service is truly a major development that will benefit millions of people. This use of modern technology to provide efficient, secure and convenient financial services to the public also has a strong corporate social responsibility angle, as the service will result in several socio-economic benefits, particularly for the low and middle income segments, as for rural and peri-urban segments of society, who are generally not reached by traditional banking. This service is effectively a paradigm shift with far-reaching impact.”

Zong, becoming the third cellular company to launch mobile financial services, has announced that it will debut branchless banking with following services:

• Mobile Account
  • Level 1 Account
  • Level 2 Account
• Person to Person Funds Transfer
• Bill payment
• Mobile Balance Top Up
• Business Solution:
  • Salary Disbursement Solution
  • Business to Consumer Payment Solution

Salary Disbursement Solution

This Solution is said to be an end to end Salary disbursement mechanism for organizations of all sizes. Through this product any organization can automate the process of salary payments of their employees. The pre-defined amount is transferred to the Timepey Accounts of the employees on the exact date of salary transfer instantly; the employees will receive an SMS as soon the funds are transferred to their Timepey accounts.

Zong says that this is the safest way of salary disbursement for the organization and the employee where there is no involvement of cash. To get cash the employee can visit and Timepey Agent location and perform a cash withdrawal transaction. All the other benefits and features of the Timepey Account will also be available to the employee.

Business to Consumer Payment Solution

This service will enable organizations to send money by Timepey to many people who may be widely dispersed. The service targets organizations that would like to do:

• Promotional payments
• Field staff disbursements
• Dividend payments
• Support Payments

Timepey Mobile Account

To get your own Timepey account, all you need is to open a Timepey account for the service. You can open for your Timepey account at any of our authorized Timepey Account opening locations countrywide.

Timepey Mobile Accounts are actual bank accounts and work just like a normal bank account. This service is available for existing and new ZONG customers. Timepey Mobile Account can be opened from any ZONG Sales and Service Centers, ZONG Franchise or Askari Bank branch.

Using Timepey Mobile Account ZONG customers will now be able to pay bills, transfer money and use many more services from their own mobile phones, anytime, anywhere. Once a Timepey Mobile Account is opened, users can go to any of the any of the Timepey shops and Askari Bank branches in Pakistan to Deposit Cash into or Withdraw Cash from their Timepey Mobile Account.

Service Charges for Person to Person Funds Transfer:

Zong is offering funds transfer service in following four modes:

• CNIC to CNIC
• Mobile Account to CNIC
• Mobile Account to Mobile Account
• CNIC to Mobile Account

Before going into details for transaction charges of Mobile Accounts, let’s compare service charges for CNIC to CNIC fund transfers:

All prices include taxes

Here are service charges for other services:

• Utility Bill Payment: Free
• Mini Statement: Free
• Balance Enquiry: Free
• Timepey Account Opening (Level – 0): Rs. 58
• Timepey Account Opening (Level – 1): Rs. 58
• Cash Deposit (For Timepey Account Holders: Free

Limits for Mobile Accounts:

• Level Zero Account:
  • Limit Per day: Rs 15,000
  • Limit Per Month: Rs. 25,000
  • Limit Per Year: Rs. 120,000
  • Maximum Balance Limit: Rs. 100,000
• Level One Account
  • Limit Per day: Rs 25,000
  • Limit Per Month: Rs. 60,000
  • Limit Per Year: Rs. 500,000
  • Maximum Balance Limit: Unlimited

Timepey Agent Locations:

Zong said that it is starting branchless banking services with 3,000 Timepey outlets, throughout the country.

Timepey Agent Locations include:

• ZONG Customer Service Center
• ZONG Franchises
• Askari Bank Branches
• Timepey Shops/retail shops

Zong has announced the winners of its Carnama offer, said a statement issued by the firm.

Through this offer the telecom giant has rewarded 5 fortunate subscribers with brand new Honda Civic cars and 40 subscribers with motorbikes.

Names of the winners were selected by conducting a lucky draw which was carried out by CEO Mr. Fan Yunjun accompanied by CCO Mr. Sajid Mahmood and Exec. Dir Mr. Usman Ishaq.

Lucky winners will be contacted by the company, says the statement. To be eligible for the prize all that one had to do was to consume a minimum balance of Rs 200 plus tax till 25^th November.

ZONG has rewarded its customers and business associates through various means in the past as well. Through their recent scheme Karoron ka 10 Offer, the telecom company turned around life of an individual by awarding him the prize money of Rs. 10 million in addition to many other cash prizes of different denominations.