Pakistan May Be About To See An Enormous Change In The Coming Months, As The Second Largest Mobile Operator In The Country
The telecommunications industry of Pakistan may be about to see an enormous change in the coming months, as the second largest mobile operator in the country, Telenor Pakistan expresses interest in purchasing the smallest network, Ufone. The industry has deemed this a looming change and a long-awaited combination of Pakistani cellular mobile operator.
The unofficial expression of interest looks like Telenor Pakistan’s move to step closer to become the nation’s no. 1 mobile operator, stretching beyond its current focus on Azad Jammu and Kashmir, and Gilgit Baltistan.
The news was first broken on Twitter by renowned Pakistani TV anchor, Waseem Badami, as he tweeted, “A major development in Pakistan telecom sector is expected…”. However, he did not reveal the source of this information.
Industry professionals may remember the recent interview of Telenor Group’s CEO, Sigve Brekke, in which he hinted at something similar: “Telenor will continue to look for merger opportunities in Asia, including in Pakistan and on a regional basis.”
While talking to Technology Times Veteran ICT consultant Parvez Iftikhar told that “it’s very good to have these kind of mergers, as before that there is no competition in Telecom sector. After this merger better and resilient environment for competition is emergerd”.
A merger between Telenor Pakistan and Ufone would result in the former’s acquisition of approximately 72 million cellular users in Pakistan, taking the network ahead of Jazz in total market share.
Telecom mergers are becoming commonplace, as we have seen cases like Wateen and Qubee, Mobilink and Warid, and now possibly, Telenor and Ufone.