Interesting question, an answer to which almost every payment company associated with the mobile space is trying to answer.

Here are some thoughts on how the playing field may shape out in the near future from the players point of view, rather than any specific infrastructure or hardware point of view.

Mobile Carriers
The notion that the payment space would be controlled by the mobile carriers, is out the door. This could have been true in the SMS era where security was a concern and mobile carrier had a part to play, certainly is not applicable any longer.

Mobile carriers have can certainly serve as a launch partner, but even in this day and age, carrier exclusivity with a payment system would be looked down upon. It makes no business sense in the long run for a payments space company to have any sort of exclusivity with a mobile carrier for the long haul.

The only short-haul advantage is traction, and that too seems to be a losing argument (proposition) when you look at the playing field and how new ventures being rolled out are neutral to the idea of an exclusive tie-in with a carrier. This was different a few years ago with product launches like that of Apple, etc, but the market dynamics are very much against any sort of exclusivity.

In short, carriers have missed out.

Their only advantage today remains their customer numbers, and it would be a very hard sell for a carrier to convince a payments company that tying up with them has an inherent market advantage and revenue value (in the long run).

The tables have turned. Carriers are now themselves looking how they can provide a service to companies in the payments space (not an easy sell mind you).

Big Names in the Payments Space
Large payment space companies, read: Visa, Mastercard, American Express, PayPal, AliPay, etc. have all based their solution which by-passes the infrastructure as a mandatory part of a roll-out mechanism. The common denominator for these large companies is not the carrier by any way or means, but the underlying application that they need to run on a mobile device (i.e. the mobile OS and apps).

Five to ten years ago, it was assumed that some sort of inter-dependency would be in play with the carrier. Fast forward to present day, that is no longer true, and the common denominator is no longer the infrastructure, but the OS, vendor acceptance, traction with users and connectivity to other payment systems (for purposes of loading and off-loading money).

The mega players it seems have all discovered one thing for sure, it will not be easy being a dominant player in this field. The game changing equation introduces a few elements of surprise, namely:

• Competition from the likes of Google, Apple, Amazon, Facebook and Microsoft (a threat vector that simply cannot be ignored)
• P2P payment systems like PayPal and AliPay (in the case of the latter, you have to read up on the traction and user base AliPay is accquriing on a daily basis. Mind boggling numbers).
• Regional or domesticated payment systems: For example, in Kenya M-PESA is a dominating payment system, and in Pakistan, it is EasyPaisa, in Philippines it is G-Cash. Breaking into these markets as a competitor may not be the easiest thing to do, however, partnering up with them, would make a lot of business sense (if you an digest revenue sharing).
• Banks are not sitting idle either. At the end, your money is parked in a bank account, and banks (with their large acquiring networks, and connectivity to merchants/businesses and individuals) pose a serious barrier to entry
• Local Regulators: Banking and financial regulators see additional payments systems as a nightmare for reporting and proper correlation of funds being channeled. In countries like India, Thailand, Vietnam, UAE, Saudi Arabia, etc. the regulators are very careful (read: extreme inertia required to move into their market), when it comes to acceptance and granting rights to an external payment systems.

Banks
Banks are eyeing the mobile payment space very acutely. The biggest advantage banks have, are that they are the regulated custodian of money. Be this on the on-load side (loading or debiting payments) or off-loading (crediting payments). Any system where the money stays out of the banking circle represents a threat to the banks (hence a very strong lobby exists with the financial regulators to ensure that banks cannot be by-passed).

Banks are not oblivious to the growing segment of P2P andP2B payments that is slowly but surely growing in numbers. Most banks simply do not have the bandwidth or the reach to roll-out their own payment systems. Hasn’t happened in the previous years – I cannot think of a single banking payment product that is somewhat global and exists outside an immediate banking network or geographic region.

What will happen as far as banks and mobile payments is concerned? Banks will either partner up with the traditional players (Visa, Mastercard, etc.) and their regional mobile carriers to have a trifecta win or lose out.

Very few banks will actually experiment with new (mobile) payment providers as their main horse. Another possible alliance banks see, which they already have a working relationship with is with MSB (Money Service Bureau) businesses like Western Union, Moneygram (see below).

Western Union, Moneygram, Xoom, Et. Al.
The money transfer businesses are also not standing still. They are alreadyactively using the mobile space to facilitate their payments using the mobile phone. Their next venture (or goal) is to be able to route it completely over the mobile network. Do note, in some instances like Easy Paisa (Pakistan), M-PESA (Kenya) G-Cash (Philippines) this is already happening.

The latter step above, can shape out as follows:

• MSB businesses are using the banks to be able to on-load / off-load money on to their (MSB’s platform)
• Use the mobile carriers to facilitiate the payments (acknowledgment, rates, transaction status, etc.)

These players have a unique ability to become big in the mobile payment space because of the following factors:

• They operate in almost all the countries (just the feedback and intelligence they have on the local market’s financial system, regulators and money statistics is an advantage as it is).
• They have experience / working-relationship in interacting with the local regulators (DFIs), mobile carriers and banks
• They represent a very significant branch of money (payments) business cycle that cannot be ignored
• They representa a perfect platform to launch pilots from in different geographic regions and then be able to roll-out services globally (based on the results of the pilot)
• Mobile carriers are already interfacing with WU, Moneygram, etc. so further roll-outs or enhancement in the payment system, ought not to be a problem.
• With banks utilizing branchless banking for the non-banked, likes of WU, Moneygram, etc. represent an ideal platform in being able to channel remittance money from one city to another, over the mobile network.

Individual Mobile Payments Companies
There are 1000s of small payment companies (small with respect to the market share they can capitalize on realistically speaking) who are already deploying very innovative solutions in the mobile payment space. Companies like Square & Swipe which have just jettisoned based on a very simple yet novel idea. They are certainly disrupting the mobile payments space whilst at the same time, working with the banks, Visa/Mastercard, etc.

Any of these smaller companies, have in themselves the potential to be become the solution of choice for the larger players. For example, imagine if Google were to acquire Square and go global with it. What would happen? In my opinion, it is this segment, these small companies from where we will truly see our emerging mobile payment space and the innovations in it. I say this because of the fact, they are more tuned to the ground realities and are much more flexible when it comes to adapting their business models to the ever changing landscape.

There is an imminent threat that the ideas of these small companies would bestolen (for lack of a better word), amplified with one of the larger carriers and rolled out.

In conclusion, it seems everyone is vying at this lucrative segment. Some will get acquired, some will go out-of-business, many will just plain quit. Most will stay and try to rough it out, go back to the drawing board many times over. Each vying for its own geographic territory and/or niche and game plan (read: business model).

The players are plenty and the market size plentiful.

The LOTR one ring to rule them all law will not apply here. You will not see any one player become the de facto mobile payment system in the world. That will just not happen, the market dynamics are against such an idea and equilibrium.

The organizers of TEDxKarachi are pleased to announce the 2nd edition of TEDxKarachi to be held on 27th May 2011. The theme of the event is Making the Impossible Possible and in the same context we have plans to assemble some interesting personalities who will come forth onto the TEDxKarachi stage and hopefully inspire us all.

Follow this website or the Facebook page to keep yourself updated leading up the event. If you are interested in attending this event then please apply here.

For many years now – I have been writing to the CEO/President of PayPal and their parent company Ebay, asking then why they are not present in Pakistan. Despite all the communication via email, faxes, and letters that I dispatch every year, I have never managed to solicit a reply from them. Not even a squeak.

Today, many campaigns are afoot on the Internet in the hopes of getting PayPal’s attention and getting them to come to Pakistan.

Some people are supposedly even in touch with PayPal through their Far East office, London office or US office. Some have claimed to have met them, each vying to bring PayPal to Pakistan. In some minor cases, some of these elements are just not playing fair and present a fair picture to PayPal. They do so because they want to do business with PayPal and get paid for it (hint: law firms), others want accolades, etc. Just for the record, I want none. I just want them to be here.

Today, people fly to Singapore,Dubai, London and even the US to open a bank account just so that they can have a PayPal account.

Most of the activity that is done on PayPal on behalf of Pakistan is done so by what I call Acquaintance-PayPaling! – i.e. using the PayPal account of your brother, sister, uncle, niece, cousin, friend, relative, associate, etc.

Coming back to topic – the present situation is – we still do not have PayPal in Pakistan. Rumor mills are abound with the reasons why PayPal is not in Pakistan. I will not go there, but perhaps try to address what in my opinion I believe is stopping PayPal from coming to Pakistan.

PayPal as you know operates in quite a few countries. In our immediate region, i.e. South Asia, large economies like Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, etc. do not have PayPal, yet countries like Rwanda, Botswana, Fiji, Panama, Sierra Leone, Tonga and Zambia have access to PayPal.

Even Yemen and Somalia have access to Paypal.

Is this fair? Certainly not!

PayPal’s reluctance to operate in Pakistan is due to Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorist activities.

It is also rumored  (I cannot confirm this), that there  is a strong Indian lobby, that very tactfully yet and with sane reasoning positions Pakistan as a country which PayPal best avoids, despite the numbers that work in favor for PayPal to operate here.

No one – on their own wants to take ownership within PayPal and convince the New Business Development Department and the Legal team that Pakistan holds the potential of a very strong market for PayPal.

Having said this, there are some genuine people in PayPal who are literally fighting a case for Pakistan. I wish them good luck and request that they read on what I have written below.

So to summarize:

1. PayPal wants to do business in Pakistan, but are hesitant due to AML and for it (PayPal services) to possibly be used for terrorist activities.
2. People in Pakistan desperately want PayPal.

There are three concerning bodies in Pakistan that PayPal needs to get in touch with:

1. State Bank of Pakistan (the central bank of Pakistan)
2. Pakistan Remittance Initiative – a semi-autonomous body within SBP that is focused on inward remittances and how to legalize them, and provide better KYC, etc.
3. FMU – Financial Monitoring Unit – the AML arm of SBP.

In an unofficial capacity I can state, that all three are willing to talk to PayPal and pacify and address their concerns which prevents them from operating in Pakistan.

Especially PRI – the folks at PRI are more than willing to sit and listen to PayPal and advice them of our laws that we have in place and to correct any misconceptions that they might have with respect to Pakistan.  They can help you get PayPal services rolled out at a National level – and under a one-window operation for PayPal.

PRI is the most pertinent body that can help PayPal and will guide you if you need a banking license or a money-exchange license, how to get incorporated (if required by SECP) how to get integrated with the two ATM switch operators in Pakistan: 1Link and MNet – I’m very sure PRI will also help PayPal with any Tax related issues / consultation with the Tax Authorities (i.e. FBR).

Sitting in a cubicle in California – things are a whole lot different when Pakistan is viewed as a potential country to do business with. It would be conniving of PayPal not to get in touch with PRI / SBP / FMU – all three which operate under the auspices of Ministry of Finance and have the hurdles addressed.

Sitting in Pakistan, you cannot fathom our disbelief that we are blatantly being ignored by PayPal  -  the silence to all the communication/campaigns is deafening.

10+ years of PayPal and no service in Pakistan is just not fair to the 20 million internet users here. We are NOT a camel country! We don’t have sand dunes and people sitting in huts squatting flies. We are not running around naked in sewers begging for water. We do have almost all the conceivable luxuries and infrastructure that is prevalent out in the West. Especially digital infrastructure.

For god’s sake, stop being obtuse PayPal and open your eyes!

For good order’s sake – study us, and do your homework. We are the largest Non-Nato partner for the US in this war against terror. You really think that terrorist networks are only existing in Pakistan? they are all over the world – including UK, Germany, France, Somalia, Yemen, Rwanda, South Africa, Canada, countries where you operate. And please, do not associate the word terrorist with “Islam” or “Muslim” god knows how many home grown terrorist organizations are out there. Juxtaposing such labels on Pakistan is unfair, uncalled for and plain myopic business attitude. Radical white supremacist are gaining numbers everyday in Germany and Austria and UK, do you not consider them when you do business there? India has its own share of problems as far as terrorist organizations are concenred – including the Indian Maoist movement known as the Naxalites, but that does not stop PayPal from operating there now does it? So please think rationally when it comes to Pakistan and stop generalizing and compartmentalizing us.

Pakistani individuals and small businesses are making great strides on freelancing portals (like Elance, oDesk, RentaCoder, etc.) and other web outsourcing platforms where they deliver fantastic services.

Users here are forced to pay hefty fees associated with bank wire transfers, Western Union, 2Checkout, Liberty Reserve, Moneybookers, etc. to get paid.

The very least PayPal can do – is to get in touch with the right institutions here in Pakistan and work with them to have their issues addressed. Until and unless PayPal will not take the first step, the Government of Pakistan and its institutions are helpless, not to mention the 20 million Internet users and the nearing 100 million cellphone users. We as citizens can only do our digital protest in the hopes we get your attention – the walk you must walk!

If anyone in PayPal is reading this, please get in touch with myself, at fk (at) faisalkhan (dot) com and I shall duly put you in touch with the three institutions I mentioned. I do with without any self-servicing agenda or motive. I too like everyone else would like PayPal to be present in Pakistan.

Its been too long for us not to have PayPal and you have it within yourselves, the power, the will and determination to change that for the 20 million Internet users in Pakistan.

"Hope is not a dream but a way of making dreams become reality."

- L. J. Suenens

Islamic Graffiti, Spamming and Colloquialisms:

Warning: Ranting here. If you do not have an open mind or if your comments are out of the ordinary bordering on insult, I shall simply ignore them.

Islamic Graffiti: It’s in the elevator in my building. Even outside it. It’s in the parking garage, the empty walls, the “For Hire’ notices on the notice board, on walls, doors, alley, walkways, on billboard poles, on the new bus stops in Karachi, on the back of cars, vans, trucks, school-bags, even on the fold-out meal table on Air Blue, on new under construction houses, multi-story buildings, the TCS truck, the Shell Oil Tanker, its outside the wall of many schools, and sometimes even on the school gate itself, on police pickets.

There is no escape from it – Islamic graffiti is everywhere. It is deemed a ‘sin’ (a kafir act) to erase it or take it down.

Islamic Spamming: It’s on message boards, the email, the “SubhanAllah” “MashaAllah” “InshaAllah” emails, the tree that resembles like a praying man, the boycott Danes, boycott Unilever, don’t eat McDonalds because its ‘haram’, the Dua emails, the Islamic classes email, the Islamic redemption emails, the Islamic stories in email, the Give Sadqa email, the Give Zakat emails, the 10 wonderful things about our beautiful Prophet (PBUH), the meanings of the 99 names of Allah, the debates on YouTube on how Dr. Zakir owned some Jewish priest on Peace TV, the ‘girl’ cover your head (hijab), else you will be a lollipop enticing flies (men). There is no end to it. It in your face and with no effort required in electron duplication, its being spread by the millions on emails, message boards, mailing lists, spams, forums, blog comments, videos, podcasts, etc.

And last, but not the least, Islamic  Colloquialisms – there is not a single hour – let alone an hour – half an hour that does not go by where “InshahAllah”  “SubhanAllah” “MashahAllah” et. al. are not inserted in mid-sentences, end-of-sentences, beginning of sentences.

I for one, have nothing against Islam. I am a proud Muslim. Equally, I respect other religions as well. I think of the minorities in Pakistan – how they face each and every day. A certain colleague is Hindu – I bet if he ever said “Bhagwan ka shukar hai” or scribbled a picture of a Hindu deity on the wall, or if even daring inside of an elevator next to the Islamic graffiti what sort of a reaction that would play. Not a very positive one I can tell you.

I converse with colleagues in Muslim countries and equally with colleagues who are Muslim in Non-Muslim countries, but I do not encounter it “as much” as I do so in Pakistan. Why is that? Can you imagine our Missionary teachers telling us “By the Grace of Jesus Christ our Lord’s savior – your Child is excelling in school” – I am sure that would have knee-jerk reaction of a lot of people fainting in disbelief.

Need I remind our citizens of the “White” in our Flag that is equally prominent. The White represents the Minorities in Pakistan.  Do we do justice to them by so much in your face Islam? Sure  – proponents argue you can tend to look the other way, or have I forgotten that the country is an “Islamic Republic of Pakistan”. No I have (sadly) not forgotten that.

I have never witnessed so much religious advertising in my life in – for any faith, as much as there is in Pakistan for Islam. The few non-Muslim countries I have travelled to, have such a moderate approach towards religion (all religions), and the few Muslim countries I have visited have not only a moderate, but also a tolerant and ‘balanced’ approach towards religion.

Why must we exemplify ourselves as more holier than thou? Can others not see that this is our downfall in an economically driven world? With religion division causing even more hatred and violence. Interpretations (each by its own faction, sect, head) are further fueling the situation and people are so oblivious to what is right or wrong. They unilaterally absorb anything that is fed to them under the tag of religion? Are we so obtuse in our thinking and vision?

I love my religion. But I am sure, a Christian loves his too. A Zoroastrian loves his and a Hindu loves his equally – and they all consider themselves Pakistanis equally. So I thought. Ask around with your close friends / colleagues / family who belong to the minority, and they will tell you how ‘threatened’ they feel about Islamization that is happening in Pakistan and the pace of its propagation onto everything they see, touch, hear, smell and taste. Do we honestly want to have a Pakistan of “Muslims” only and everyone else get the fuck out? I for one – think not. So then why this Islam mashing in your face daily!

Why can we as professionals not have a conversation without bringing religion into it? I do not see the ERP or Core Banking Software saying “SubhanAllah” when a check is cashed or when an inventory sale happens? So then why must we have bank tellers, account managers indoctrinated into this Islamization lingo?

We abhor Jews – yet use their technology (stop using the Intel processor if you hate the Jews and amongst many other millions of things). We chant Anti-West slogans and chest thumping in synchronous beats on Anti-American agendas – yet we continue to love and use their methods, inventions and products.

Why cannot we let religion be the personal entity it is and not brazenly advertise it to everyone else. Why must we try to convert everyone who is not a Muslim and if a Muslim tries to convert into any other religion – we want to kill him. Why must we declare Jihad on the Americans and West and not declare Jihad on poverty, education, child labour, women’s rights, farming, skills alleviation, etc.

Why do we burn tires and break windows and chant slogans of death on the top of our lungs when some with a pen writes something to piss us off, and yet on the other hand when a woman gets gang-raped – it is just another news item. Wouldn’t you be enraged if that were your wife / mother / sister / daughter?

Why must we stay silent when people are murdered by our very own – in our acts of enragement? Why must we decide to ‘burn’ someone for what their views are on religion? Imagine if the West had a fatwa (equivalent) or law that would demand mobs to ‘burn’ a person who converts from Christianity to Islam – how would you feel?

Why don’t the Islamists of our country wage the Holiest of Holy Wars against beggary and the vicious monsters who butcher children and disfigure them permanently to induce them into the beggary trade?

Why cannot we collectively just like we do on a Juma prayer – decide for once to clean the very areas we work and live in?

I don’t have answers for these questions – but I tell you a few things in closing why it does not happen.

Because …

• Religion in Pakistan is a Business
• Religion in Pakistan is about Control
• Religion in Pakistan is about Votes
• Religion in Pakistan is about Money
• Religion in Pakistan is about Power

Clean Streets, Educated Minds, Religious Tolerance and Harmony, Strict Laws and Follow through against Rape, Child Labor, Beggary, defy all the five points above.

I hope somewhere – somehow – we will stop having double-standards when it comes to religion. Stop being judgmental, stop being myopic, stop being obtuse, be more harmonious, be more tolerant, be more open-minded, be more forgiving and be less selfish. “InshahAllah” (“Ameen”) .

I’ve just restored my blog and moved it to a new super-duper Cloud hosted infrastructure. Just bear with me for a day or two while I get the new themes & plug-ins installed and up and running.

I would be a teaching a brief introductory course on Internet Marketing (for Beginners). Below is a related video that answers some of the questions as to what the course is about.

To sign-up for the course, visit Personality Quotient.

“Sorry I can’t get to the phone right now because my girlfriend and I br /are doing our favorite thing together. Personally I like doing it up br /and down, while she likes doing it side-to-side r-e-a-l slow… So br /I’ll get back to you when we finish brushing our teeth.” p style=”font-size: 10px;” a href=”http://posterous.com”Posted via email/a from a href=”http://babushka99.posterous.com/answering-machine-saying”babushka99′s posterous/a /p

So much loving the weekend…. I wish we had like 4-5 of them back-to-back! p style=”font-size: 10px;” a href=”http://posterous.com”Posted via email/a from a href=”http://babushka99.posterous.com/saturday-654″babushka99′s posterous/a /p

Despite all what plays inside of you, I love the most! Happy Birthday Pakistan.

Pakistan Zindabad! Pakistan Paindabad!

I won’t go into debate, most of them are self explanatory.

1. 3-years mandatory induction for males into the armed forces upon reaching the age of 18. Same would true hold for women (but for 2 years only). Front-line for 1 year. Saves us massive amounts of money and melts down the different ‘types’ into one – a patriotic Pakistani and not a superficial Pakistani.
2. Identity card would NOT be made for anyone who has not enrolled into the mandatory service. No one gets exempted or buys his/her way out. No one.
3. Reduce Armed forces HR count by 20% – become more efficient. Why we need to be in the Top 5 or Top 10 – when we are burning money every year. We don’t need a bigger Army/Navy/Air-Force, we need a leaner one!
4. Reduce Armed forces budget by 20% (yeah, times are tough, try a little friendly diplomacy).
5. 5% additional tax on cigarettes – goes towards Education. I’d like to see someone bitch about this.
6. 5% additional tax on gasoline – goes towards Education.
7. Don’t ask how – trim other areas you have to – make the education budget at least 85 Billion Rupees (we can CERTAINLY find a way to do this). $1 Billion per year on education is not a bad idea itself. Lets get foreign investment in this sector alone.
8. Let PIA go bankrupt. While we are at it, the Government should only own the post office if they really need to hold on to anything, everything else, put it under the auctioneer’s hammer.
9. Abolish permanent service in the Government (Federal/provincial, state, council, etc.) People need to learn to live in a society that is dynamic. Permanent jobs leads to de-pasteurizing the very institution and decreases efficiency of which there is a serious lack.
10. All school/college graduates (no exceptions) must have taken a course and successfully graduated in a Computer language. Fortran, Machine language, COBOL and BASIC do NOT count.
11. One-day of the week – Wednesday, introduce public transport day only. Private cars must pay the equivalent of a very high-carbon tax to be on the road that day.
12. Reintroduce Foreign Exchange (Non) Bearer Certificates. Whiten your money, 2% tax, no questions asked.
13. Introduce a scheme backed by Gold – in a joint-venture with a Swiss Bank with sovereign guarantee to allow NRPs (Non-Resident Pakistanis) to invest their Dollars, Euros, Pounds, Dirhams and Riyals here in Pakistan for up to 1 year will full repatriation f funds allowed.
14. Remove all forms of Police protection to MNAs, MPAs, Ministers, Judges, Federal Ministers. Only President / Prime Minister can have it. All throughout Pakistan, no person can have any sort of an escort of Police or any other agency. No one. Especially the Police themselves.
15. Reduce the working week for Government down to 5 days.
16. Establish an oversight committee in the National Assembly to question what the Intelligence agencies are doing, include responsible non-parliamentarians in it.
17. Establish an oversight committee – more or less like a People’s Court to find out what your MNA/MPA is doing. Their pay shall be directly proportional to both their attendance in the assembly, availability in their office in their home constituency and their active participation towards the better of Pakistan. They each should have a blog with a ticket order system to lodge complaints and to see the follow up done on those complaints.
18. Introduce land reforms. No person can own more than 200 acres. This includes institutions (Hello Army, Railways and State Life)!
19. Double the Yield-Per-Acreage on your land, and take 0% tax on the increase. However, your existing farming area that you are cultivating cannot be reduced in size.
20. Establish a tax free industry with a maximum of 10% raw material allowed to be imported to innovate solutions in Solar Energy, Water Desalination and Water purification and filtration using the indigenous resources available in Pakistan.
21. Do your Ph.D, publish a paper in an international journal, get Rs. 10 Million worth of tax-free benefits should you decide to stay and work in Pakistan. You are allowed to sell this ‘tax’ deduction to any business after one year.
22. Buy 1 computer and donate to the schools (via a very civilian monitored / NGO monitored program) get tax benefit of Rs. 100,000. Do 2, tax benefit of Rs. 150,000, and for each additional computer you donate, get a tax benefit receipt from FBR worth Rs. 50,000. Computer has to be on the prescribed list (old PIIIs will not do).
23. Hold a Masters/Ph.D from abroad? Teach – and get a tax benefit and a grant. This is directly tied into the funds you will receive from the investors who would like to invest into the education sector in Pakistan.
24. Upgrade the railways and introduce monorail. Not just in one city, but throughout Pakistan. Use steel in construction of over-passes for monorails, fast urban transportation is very much needed.
25. Build more dams. Lots of them. Dams require geologists, physicists, engineers (civil, mechanical, electrical, fluid mechanics, etc.) architects, MBAs, construction workers, blue-collar / white-collar, 10,000s of jobs can be created over the next 2 decades.

Two guys go hunting. Jerry has never gone hunting while Joe has hunted all his life. When they get to the northern Wisconsin woods, Joe tells Jerry to sit by a tree and not make a sound while Joe checks out a deer stand.

After he gets about a quarter of a mile away, Joe hears a blood-curdling scream. He rushes back to Jerry and yells, “I thought I told you to be quiet!”

Jerry says, “Hey, I tried. I really did. When those snakes crawled over me, I didn’t make a sound. When that bear was breathing down my neck, I didn’t make a peep. But when those two chipmunks crawled up my pants leg and said, ‘Should we take them with us or eat them here?’ I couldn’t keep quiet any more!”

As we plan to have (InshahAllah) various small data-center locations all over Pakistan, there arose a question as to what to name them? In the West, datacenters have a very tech name associated with them, like Digital Realty, Equinix’s IBX (Internet Business Exchange), Datamart, Databank, etc. We wanted to be different. Not just for the sake of being different, but different as in authentic and ethnic.

So, we have decided to name our small data-centers after the Karakoram Range, in particular the peaks. The First one we are initiating is going to be called K2 (i.e Mount Godwin Austin), and henceforth as we keep naming them, we will keep assigning the names of the Karakoram peaks to them.

The reasoning behind naming them after our majestic mountain peaks is because they are one great asset of this country. They are our primary water supply, they can easily be cited as the nature’s greatest wonders, and also offer us various forms of natural protection. The same sense goes into our data-center. It’s our (i.e. our company’s) greatest asset, it’s our valued resource and in some manner, our peak.

So – with this – once the data-center is ready for business, we shall aptly christen it as K2.