A R C H I V E S
Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
| Developers of Brain Virus |
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| faisalsb |
| 08/18/03 at 03:55:47 |
| Brain Computer Services was established 21 years back in 1982. From then onwards Brain has contrived to grow into a trustworthy organization setting the pace in high computer/internet services achieving a reliable name. Brain NET (sister concern of Brain Computer Services) is serving as leading Internet Service Provider of Pakistan, principally engaged in high quality & expertly engineered Internet services. Brain NET is utilizing the latest mode of technological aids in order to set the maximum standards of quality in ISP business. Brain has successfully expanded its operations in frontiers of Pakistan History: Some ten years ago, two unknown brothers from "Chahmiran" a lower middle class area of Lahore shot to prominence as a brief message started to flash across thousand of computer screens in the USA. "Welcome to the Dungeon (c) 1986 Basit * Amjad (pvt) Ltd. BRAIN COMPUTER SERVICES 730 NIZAM BLOCK ALLAMA IQBAL TOWN LAHORE-PAKISTAN PHONE: 430791,443248,280530. Beware of this VIRUS.... Contact us for vaccination..." In no time at all, corporate America was in a fix. Unsure of what the message meant, or what its implications could be, American computer users panicked and the tiny 3.5 kilobyte virus was immediately dubbed as the first alien assault on American computer culture. As Ross Monroe of Time magazine shuttled between Singapore, Delhi and Lahore, desperately trying to figure out the size of the 'story', the architects of the Brain virus were completely unaware of their handiwork. Amjad, Shahid and Basit Alvi, the three co-directors of Brain Computer Services, were too busy trying to expand their share of the tiny but rapidly growing computer market in Pakistan to notice what their little virus had led to. "When we were contacted by Time magazine, we were extremely surprised at panic it had caused," says Basit the youngest of the Alvi brothers. " In fact, we were quite amused since the panic was totally unnecessary." That, however, was not how Time magazine had described the proliferation of the Brian virus. " Bah!" retorts Basit. "Since that episode, we have lost all faith in the western media. They quoted us out of context, put words in our mouths and did just about everything that you would expect from a cheap local publication run by one's arch rival. When we read the story we could hardly believe that it was carried in what is supposed to be the best newsmagazine in the world. It was journalism at its yellowest." Basit's contempt is not unfounded. What no American journal had the courage to admit at that time was how badly the virus had hurt America's painfully cultivated image of the world's leading copyright protector. Almost overnight, it had shown Americans to be the world's biggest copyright violators. Every time the virus found a new home in the USA, it signalled one more copyright violation by an American. The stair created by the Brain virus dies down as soon as American realized that they were only hurting themselves by calling for action against the authors. But for the Alvi brothers, it marked the beginning of one of Pakistan's most innovative computer service bureaus. It was only in 1982 that the middle of the Alvi brothers, Amjad, first came across a real PC. Before this, computers for the three brothers had only existed in flashy magazines that Amjad used to scrounge from the various kabarias in Lahore. In 1982, Sinclair, a British company, was introducing personal computers in Pakistan and since its distributors in Pakistan were mainly businessmen, there was no technical back up available. Amjad Alvi went to a small office at Empress Road, which was selling Sinclair computers, just to look at the wares and soon realised that the people in the office did not look too happy with the merchandise. The reason: too many clients had returned with machines that had stopped functioning properly and the company had no means of repairing them. Relying purely on his native intelligence and interest in electronics, Amjad offered to help and within three days he fixed the first machine. The next thing Amjad knew was that he had become a regular repair facility for Al-Khair. "We were all very excited and although we only made 3,000 rupees in all those months that we worked for Al-Khair, we were finally amongst computers," remembers Shahid. In those days, there was only two-computer vendor in Lahore, both of which were operating without any technical assistance. The Brain Computer Services soon became the only reliable installers and trouble-shooters on the home computer scene. This situation persisted till 1986, when BCS was turned into a full-fledged company and the Alvi brothers started to import their own hardware. Their reputation served them well and Amjad soon flew off to Singapore where he took up a job as a system support manager while using his free time to export computers to Pakistan. "By 1989 we were doing quite well and could finally turn to matters other than making money," says Shahid. "We had always regarded ourselves as missionaries in this business and not just profit-oriented businessmen." The first step in these "other matters" for the Alvi brothers was to provide free e-mail services to all those who purchased their hardware from them. "We started at a time when many computer users in Pakistan did not even know what e-mail was. Some even refused this facility because they simply could not believe its low operating cost. They thought we were trying to con them," recalls Shahid. E-mail soon caught on in the Lahore and the next step for the Alvi brothers was the Internet. Needless to say, they were among the first Internet providers in Pakistan and their current projects is to extend the Internet facilities to 10 major and 20 small cities of in Pakistan with the help of Pakistan Telecom. "Our aim, indeed our mission, is to spread Internet as far as we can," says Basit. "We are trying to make it as cheap as possible." Critics, however, point out that their service is by no means the cheapest on the market. However, this mission may be difficult to realise in the near future, because of the utterly whimsical duty structure that the Pakistani authorities have developed for computers. To bypass the need for a reasonably powerful computer if one is to surf the net, the Alvi brothers are setting up an Internet research center which, to begin with, will have 20 terminals for researchers. It will operate like a library with its regular members entitled to use it whenever they need to. The scheme sounds a little like the cybercafe in the West and the Alvi brothers are certain that it will catch on in Pakistan as well. "Our experience has taught us that the Pakistanis are very good at understanding technology. They are a great people to take to new technologies provided one can get them going." Once their cybercafe is underway the next step on the Alvi brothers' agenda will the Intranet, an exclusively Pakistani facility which all subscribers can surf free of cost. Towards this end, they have started working on E1 Internet line in a joint venture with Singapore Telecom as their Internet backbone, which will bring this facility to another 10,000 Pakistanis. "But we must keep one thing in mind," warns Shahid. "No matter how hard we work on spreading the net, the real job can only be done by the government. Unless the government takes it upon itself to turn the net into a premier mode of communication for Pakistanis, any number of private concerns will only be able to do that much." Branch Network: Brain NET is serving as Pakistan's Largest Internet Network comprising of 17 major cities including Lahore, Karachi, Mardan, Multan, Rawalpindi/Islamabad, Sheikhupura, Sialkot, Gujranwala, Peshawar, Abbottabad, Sahiwal, Rahim yar khan, Faisalabad, Sargodha, Kohat, Quetta, Dera Ismail Khan. The company is expanding under the co-operation with the PTA (Pakistan Telecommunication Authority), adding new products and services to its range and targeting at the high end of the market. FREE roaming: Brain NET is offering free roaming facility in 450 major cities. This means that Brain NET subscribers can use their same Internet account in all above mentioned cities with same user name and password with no change in setting and no extra charges. 100% Digital 56K service: Brain also took the credit for announcing 100% digital Internet Services first ever in Pakistan. Brain has installed state of the art latest siemens trans-express SDH optical fiber system release 2 between Mustafa Town exchange and Brain NET premises for carrying multiple 2Mbit streams. Now no copper medium is involved between PTC network and Brain Network. This will give Brain users to enjoy true digital service along with all forthcoming services like ISDN (Integrated Subscribers Digital Network). In this type of connection user is connected to the telephone exchange on a copper wire. Brain NET is connected to exchange on 100% digital media via 2Mbit streams using fiber optic to Brain's digital access server. This signal from user are again analog and are converted to digital form by the telephone exchange The exchange send that digital signal to the Brain NET's exchange in digital format. Now, as the link between telephone exchange and Brain NET is on fiber optic no further conversion is required. So the telephone exchange forwards that signal directly to the ISP in digital form which lapse time and thus giving high speeds upto 56Kbps. E Commerce: E-commerce (electronic commerce or EC) is the buying and selling of goods and services on the Internet, especially the World Wide Web. Brain is also proud to announce the first Pakistan based web site which is e-commerce ready. Now you can pay your Internet bills using your credit card while sitting in front of your PC. This is not just another billing option Brain is offering for our current customers but it's the first step in developing a trend for web based shopping malls. Now our exporters can get the benefit of web not only in terms of presentation of their products but now they can sell their services and products in actual using web. It's an opening to a new market where billions of dollar transactions are going on in daily basis. Brain is offering the similar online payment facility to other business and specifically exporters. ISO9000: Brain is working on ISO-9000 guidelines in order to get certification. This also best portraits the commitment of higher management for ensuring the quality standards. We are ready. Ready to take on unique business challenges, ready to deliver quality results, on time, within budget, project after project. We are ready to deliver beyond all expectations. And above all, we are ready for the future. http://www.brain.net.pk/aboutus.htm |
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