Azhar Bukhari talks with Nokia Care Manager Pakistan, Reza Burney to discuss future opportunities in telecom
It is the need of the hour to enable provision of affordable mobile phones for masses. We will soon collaborate with different cellular phone companies that can offer low-cost services along with a connection to bring to our customers a mobile phone package that would give true value for money.
This was the view point of Nokia Care Manager Pakistan and Afganistan, Reza Burney while exclusively talking to The Post.
Reza said that Nokia has introduced a network of showrooms bearing the name of Nokia Care Centre to provide convenience to Nokia mobile phone users all over the country. He maintained that the facility is currently in Karachi along with other major cities like Lahore, Faisalabad, Islamabad, Multan and more where mobile phones are serviced under the vigilance of highly-skilled and experienced engineers.
He said that Nokia Care has been operative in Pakistan for the past three years. Nokia Pakistan initiated this facility to offer reliable customer service to Nokia users all over Pakistan. To date, 85% Pakistani Nokia consumers have utilized their one-year warranty given to them by different dealers and got their damaged Nokia phones fixed by Nokia Care Centre where all mobile phones are repaired under the supervision of well-experienced engineers who repair mobile phones with the help of latest software which are then returned to Nokia Care customers.
Responding to a question, Reza Burney said that those cities in which Nokia Care is not physically present, Nokia customers are entertained by using the support of a reputable, local courier company that transports the damaged phones of the area to the Nokia Care Centre located in the nearest city. Once refurbished, the mobile phones are returned to customers by using the assistance of same courier company.
He added that cellular phone companies operating in Afghanistan have signed an agreement with Nokia that would make available to Afghani consumers affordable Nokia mobile phones that come pre-loaded with a connection to facilitate easy acquiring of a cell phone which has turned into an essential in today’s world of fast-moving technology. Nokia wants to provide the same ease of acquiring a cell phone for Pakistani consumers in just the same way. To make this possible, Nokia in Pakistan is already in talks with cellular phone companies.
Reza Burney further added that Nokia devices are the first preference of Asian as well as European citizens. Keeping this in mind, a complete range of latest and beautiful Nokia mobile phones belonging to different series are available in the market and need no introduction. All Nokia Care Centre services are completely online and performance details of every Nokia Care Centre are monitored by Nokia Company itself which is great news for customers.
Answering a question, Reza Burney said that apart from warranty claims, smuggled and stolen mobile phones are never repaired or serviced in any way because Nokia Mobile Phone Company wants to maintain its high-standards and reputation all over the world. After a short verification process, we even entertain those mobile phones at our Care Centers that have no warranty claim. We check such phones and try to fix them if possible. For this particular reason, we serve thousands of customers not in Karachi but all over the country. According to an estimate, currently each Nokia Care Centre is catering around four thousand Nokia mobile phone users in a timely and efficient manner.
Speaking about stolen mobile phones, Reza Burney said that cell phones that are stolen and reported to CPLC (Citizen Police Liaison Committee) by customers are brought to the notice of Nokia Care Centre. Using the IMEI number, which is a unique number to identify a cell phone, the stolen cell phone is remotely blocked and rendered futile for usage. All the details of such stolen cell phones are maintained online by Nokia Care Centre. The entire software system of Nokia Company is kept under high security and this, in essence, is the secret of our success. He maintained that along with promptly fixing the mobile phone brought to Nokia Care Centre by Nokia Customers, we also replace mobile phone parts such as LCDs and various kinds of ICs if required. Damaged mobile phone parts are replaced by our experienced engineers who repair the cell phone and make it ready for regular use. No compromise is made on quality standards while servicing a Nokia mobile phone because Nokia is renowned world over due to the high level of consumer confidence in Nokia products and services.
“To further strengthen consumer confidence and offer greater convenience to our consumers, Nokia will soon establish state-of-the-art labs in different mobile phone markets in Karachi.” Reza maintained that the facility will be equipped with the most advanced tools to fix Nokia phones that will be collected from the mobile phone market everyday.
He said that Pakistan is amongst the top priority countries for Nokia as it is now very much on the global map and up to the mark on everything that is happening in the world.
“Therefore, in Pakistan, the price band for mobile phones may be slightly smaller but there are people who have both the money and the desire for expensive gadgets and that is what we are targeting,” he maintained.
Raza said, Pakistan is a very critical market for Nokia and with a clear market leadership, Nokia has commitment to ensure that its customers are getting quality after sales service for their devices. Nokia Care centers are striving to achieve the objective of servicing the local market with the help of trained technicians backed by company original components, he added.
Burney said that the current era is all about who has the information first. Therefore nowadays people are spending a lot of time online and since they are globally connected at one time, information is at their fingertips. He elaborated that Nokia based their strategies on consumer needs and as marketing strategies were an evolutionary process, it also constantly evolved their techniques based on what the consumers were focusing on.
He believed that the new technologically advanced and expensive products were not creating an undesirable demand in the society but were rather catering to already existent needs of the consumers.
“If we don’t do it, somebody else will,” he further expressed.
Burney said at Nokia they ensured that their products were meaningful and had context rather than being just another expensive product in the market. He said that all their staff was trained in advance to provide after-sales services and customer care.
He said that yet consumers in Middle East and Africa are very conscious about the look of the mobile than the features that were available in it. He voiced that in Pakistan, consumers were more into colors being vibrant due to the bright traditional cultures here, while he added that in Europe, consumers preferred more conservative colors such as black and white.
Burney also put in that since Pakistan was an emerging market, bulk of the consumers segment were those who purchased low cost mobile phones whereas there was also a significant segment that did nothing except make or receive calls.
“Pakistan is following the trend of any emerging country but this time with the launch of N97, Pakistan is ahead of more developed countries,” he added. The Nokia Care Manager also spoke about the pirated versions of their mobile phones that cheated the consumers of their money.
“I feel very passionate and hurt when loyal customers get deceived which also damages the company’s name,” he said. “Because the government has imposed taxes that make no sense, consumers are paying the price, for this country is infested with the grey market,” he added.
He informed that to identify an original cell phone, mobile dealers have a number displayed in their stores which reads ‘SMS warranty check’. A consumer can send in the mobile’s IMEI number to the stated SMS number which would reply back saying that it had original warranty in Pakistan, which in turn help the consumer to identify an authentic mobile phone.
Raza said that Pakistan needs to reduce duties on cell phones to encourage original products to enter the country. He also said that one way to identify a fake was if the product was being sold for half the price, then consumers should be wary of it.
To a question regarding Nokia’s investments into the country, the Care Manager stated that Pakistan was a very important portfolio for the multinational company as with a significant population, it made a lucrative consumer market.
However, Nokia already had nine plants all over the world that were fulfilling their mobile phones demand in the market.
While applauding federal government’s efforts, Burney said that it is fully committed to the development of telecom sector and has taken a number of initiatives aimed at supporting the mobile sector to leverage its strength for growth of economy and social inclusion of all sections of population.
He said that Pakistan has become a destination for investments in IT and has attracted US$ 9 billion Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) which clearly reflects the confidence of the investors.
He said that telecom sector is a high potential area as more and more people are subscribing to the mobile telephone services.
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