ISLAMABAD: The brand new administration of Ufone and Telenor Pakistan has determined to rebrand the merged telecom firm and has filed an software with the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) on this regard, it emerged on Monday.
Earlier this month, the Telenor Pakistan was formally amalgamated into Pak Telecom Cell Restricted (PTML) — the authorized identify for Ufone — after last approval by the Islamabad Excessive Court docket (IHC).
Sources in Pakistan Telecommunication Firm Ltd (PTCL) confirmed that the identify of the brand new merged firm could be “e&”, that means that the merged telecom entity is beneath UAE-based state-owned firm Etisalat.
PTCL had already written a letter to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) searching for a brand new model identify for the merged firm, whereas the telecom regulator responded {that a} notification from the Securities and Alternate Fee of Pakistan (SECP) was required relating to the names of the administrators of the merged entity.
Equally, the PTA had additionally responded to a letter written by PTML relating to the registration of the brand new model, directing the corporate that an SECP notification was important.
“Ufone is a model of Pak Telecom Cell Restricted (PTML), and as Telenor Pakistan has been amalgamated into it, there could possibly be a change in PTML administrators,” stated an official of the Ministry of Info Know-how and Telecommunications, including {that a} notification relating to any change or no change within the board needed to be issued by the SECP.
The letter out there with Daybreak reveals that the PTA directed PTML that the launch and promoting of any new model couldn’t be carried out with out an SECP notification.
PTCL has been bifurcated as per the choice of the Competitors Fee of Pakistan (CCP) relating to the merger of Telenor Pakistan into PTCL.
As per the bifurcation, PTCL and its different subsidiaries have been separated from the cell telecommunications enterprise.
The federal government holds round a 62pc stake in PTCL, whereas 26pc of shares and administration management are held by Abu Dhabi-owned telecom big Etisalat — which has lately rebranded as “e&” (Etisalat and). The remaining 12pc shares are held by non-public traders by way of the Pakistan Inventory Alternate (PSX).
Nonetheless, a senior official of the IT Ministry advised Daybreak that giving the model identify “e&” to the merged firm — Ufone and Telenor — may face severe authorized objections, as it could nonetheless be a subsidiary of PTML.
“PTML is a subsidiary of PTCL — a state-owned enterprise — and PTML isn’t beneath Etisalat,” the official stated, including that, legally, this might quantity to a copyright violation of a global model, or the merged telecom firm must pay a royalty price to Etisalat. He additional stated that PTCL was already paying earnings to the UAE-based firm even though the PTCL group had been making losses for a very long time.