YahClick Launches Satellite Broadband in Pakistan

YahClick, a UAE-based company, has completed its soft launch phase in Pakistan and announced formal launch of services. The company will be offering Ka-band satellite broadband services to provide internet at remote locations of the country.

About the service

YahClick has footprint in 28 countries, including sub-Saharan nations, across three continents. In Pakistan the company has tied up with two local partners, Supernet and ClickSat, for service provision. The company provides satellite internet for essential services such as Small and Medium Enterprises, remote VIP locations, NGOs, healthcare and education, individuals and disaster-hit areas.

In Pakistan the service is already being used by banking sector to power 154 ATMs located at remote areas of the country. In addition to that the service is also being used for education purposes. YahClick provides dedicated downlinks and uplinks with uninterrupted connectivity to make sure the customer remains connected at all times. It is especially relevant to those customers who have critical services that cannot be compromised through any service disconnection.

How does it work?

To avail YahClick service in Pakistan the user would have to approach Supernet or ClickSat. A satellite dish and modem would be needed that can be placed to receive the signals, available at both upfront cost as well as on rent. A power backup would be best to deal with any power breakdown and keep the dish active to receive. The internet can only be availed through the modem of the dish, removing the need to have extensive infrastructure for service provision and no need to have so many wires in place.

There are various plans available for the customers, from 2 Mbps speed to 7 Mbps speed, with varying data caps based on selected plan.

Equipment Cost

• 74cm Dish with up to 3 Port Modem: Around Rs. 60,000
• 74cm Dish with up to 20 Port Modem: Around Rs. 75,000
• 98cm Dish with up to 3 Port Modem: Around Rs. 75,000
• 98cm Dish with up to 20 Port Modem: Around Rs. 90,000
• 120cm Dish with up to 20 Port Modem: Around Rs. 120,000

Packages

-These rates are per month and excluding taxes

Can I use this service?

Sure, you can. But it is not like general broadband service. The shared broadband services provided by various companies is far cheaper than a satellite broadband service. Satellite broadband is very expensive and is used for critical services by various government and non-government (corporates, NGOs etc) entities at remote locations. This is also beneficial service for areas hit by disaster, since the internet infrastructure would be non-functional the satellite broadband can be used with just the dish antenna and backup power.

It is not for residential customers unless they don’t mind forking out thousands of rupees for handful of Gigabytes.

Khurram Zahid