Ufone, Telenor seek rebranding of merged telecom company, file application with PTA

ISLAMABAD: The new management of Ufone and Telenor Pakistan has decided to rebrand the merged telecom company and has filed an application with the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) in this regard, it emerged on Monday.

Earlier this month, the Telenor Pakistan was formally amalgamated into Pak Telecom Mobile Limited (PTML) — the legal name for Ufone — after final approval by the Islamabad High Court (IHC).

Sources in Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd (PTCL) confirmed that the name of the new merged company would be “e&”, signifying that the merged telecom entity is under UAE-based state-owned company Etisalat.

PTCL had already written a letter to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) seeking a new brand name for the merged company, while the telecom regulator responded that a notification from the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) was required regarding the names of the directors of the merged entity.

Similarly, the PTA had also responded to a letter written by PTML regarding the registration of the new brand, directing the company that an SECP notification was essential.

“Ufone is a brand of Pak Telecom Mobile Limited (PTML), and as Telenor Pakistan has been amalgamated into it, there could be a change in PTML directors,” said an official of the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunications, adding that a notification regarding any change or no change in the board had to be issued by the SECP.

The letter available with Dawn shows that the PTA directed PTML that the launch and advertising of any new brand could not be carried out without an SECP notification.

PTCL has been bifurcated as per the decision of the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) regarding the merger of Telenor Pakistan into PTCL.

As per the bifurcation, PTCL and its other subsidiaries have been separated from the mobile telecommunications business.

The government holds around a 62pc stake in PTCL, while 26pc of shares and management control are held by Abu Dhabi–owned telecom giant Etisalat — which has recently rebranded as “e&” (Etisalat and). The remaining 12pc shares are held by private investors through the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX).

However, a senior official of the IT Ministry told Dawn that giving the brand name “e&” to the merged company — Ufone and Telenor — could face serious legal objections, as it would still be a subsidiary of PTML.

“PTML is a subsidiary of PTCL — a state-owned enterprise — and PTML is not under Etisalat,” the official said, adding that, legally, this could amount to a copyright violation of an international brand, or the merged telecom company would have to pay a royalty fee to Etisalat. He further said that PTCL was already paying profits to the UAE-based company despite the fact that the PTCL group had been making losses for a long time. ...