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Imran Anwar is a pioneer in several Internet related areas. Among his most notable achievement was establishing Pakistan's Internet email system.
Brief History of .PK ccTLD, IMRAN.PK, Internet Email In Pakistan.
IMRAN.PK was the pioneer and founder of Internet and email in Pakistan, the first ISP in the then-newly formed .PK ccTLD (country code top level domain). The .PK domain was co-founded and isco-owned by Imran Anwar with his friend and neighbor from Lahore, Ashar Nisar. The .PK domain was envisaged as being a private sector provider of services to promote Internet in Pakistan and every effort was made to keep the government and the telephone monopoly out of it. This remains true to this day.
Imran Anwar's role as pioneer, first ISP, co-founder of .PK domain, is well established in media and documents in various countries. .PK ccTLD is now managed by PKNIC, an entity owned and run by Ashar Nisar and Imran Anwar.
IMRAN-NET was established in Pakistan as the first ever ISP, which provided email with local numbers in Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad, Peshawar and Sialkot. NARGIS, the front end system for this service, was named in memory of the late Mrs. Nargis Anwar, the beloved mother of Imran Anwar. NARGIS was also an acronym for NETWORK ACCESSED REGIONAL & GLOBAL INFORMATION SERVICES.
As cheaper Internet access became available in Pakistan, Imran Anwar understood the high capital requirements and highly competitive nature of the business landscape taking shape. He decided not to pursue ISP opportunities. His decision was the subject of several news stories and his op-ed article on this topic, in the respected and popular Far Eastern Economic Review, can be found at this site.
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