Telenor Pakistan has approached Pakistan Telecom Authority with a request to consider the details of Ufone’s Super Ghanta offer and to term it anti-competitive due to its nature of off-net hourly calls, told us a reliable source at company.
Telenor in a communication with PTA said that Ufone is offering hourly calls between 4 AM to 5 PM for not only on-net numbers but to PTCL and Vfone numbers as well, which otherwise is not possible for any operator but the Ufone.
Our source said that Telenor emphasized that PTA should take the necessary action for the purpose of ending the price war in the industry, thus providing level playing field for all operators.
Telenor’s spokesperson has not responded to our query for the official view point.
When speaking with an official at PTA, he said that Ufone does not ask for approval before introducing any package, as it’s not SMP (Significant Market Player). He further said that now as Telenor has raised a question; we may not stop Ufone for offering anything for the reason that it’s not an SMP. PTA’s official thought that they can’t stop any operator in offering any service, until it’s not SMP.
Representatives from other cellular companies also showed their reservations over the package and said that PTA is the platform that can play a role in this situation.
