Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited has announced that the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority has approved the proposed amalgamation of its subsidiaries, Pak Telecom Mobile Limited and Telenor Pakistan.
According to a notice submitted to the Pakistan Stock Exchange, the approval was granted on March 19, 2026, subject to the submission of an unconditional acceptance of the regulator’s conditions within 15 days.
The proposed merger will be implemented through a scheme of arrangement in accordance with applicable laws and regulatory requirements.
A senior PTCL official confirmed to ProPakistani that no further approval from the company’s board is required, as all necessary permissions for the takeover of Telenor Pakistan have already been obtained. The next phase will involve legal formalities, including filing an application for amalgamation in the Islamabad High Court.
The amalgamation process usually takes up to four weeks, during which authorities verify that the companies involved have no unresolved litigation related to individuals, banks, tax authorities, consumers, or other telecom operators.
Officials said the legal review will also require input from the State Bank of Pakistan, the Federal Board of Revenue, and the legal departments of both companies.
The no-objection certificate issued by the PTA allows Ufone to begin integration with Telenor Pakistan, enabling backend technical teams to start combining spectrum resources and reducing the number of telecom towers. The merged entity currently operates about 26,000 towers, many of which are located close to each other, allowing consolidation to lower operating costs.
Regulators have imposed several conditions on the integration process. Towers shared with other operators, including Jazz and Zong, cannot be shut down without approval, and franchise holders must receive at least six months’ notice before any contract termination. Existing Telenor SIM cards will continue to function on the Ufone network after the merger, ensuring service continuity for customers during the transition.
Pakistan currently has about 202 million mobile subscribers, with Jazz holding 74.19 million users and Zong 53.90 million, while the combined Ufone–Telenor entity will have roughly 72.45 million subscribers. Analysts expect this figure to decline by around 10 percent because many customers use SIM cards from both companies and may shift to rival networks after consolidation.
PTCL had signed a share purchase agreement in December 2023 to acquire 100 percent stake in Telenor Pakistan in a deal valued at around $400 million, with the transaction completed in December 2025 after multiple regulatory approvals.