Telenor Pakistan Merger Cleared by Islamabad High Court

The Islamabad High Court has approved the amalgamation of Telenor Pakistan into Pak Telecom Mobile Limited (PTML), operator of the Ufone brand, concluding one of Pakistan’s largest telecom transactions after more than two years of regulatory and legal approvals.

Justice Khadim Hussain Soomro issued the order on June 30, 2026, with PTCL disclosing the decision to the Pakistan Stock Exchange a day later. The court found the scheme met all legal requirements, was fair to shareholders and creditors, and was not contrary to the public interest.

Why Telenor Sold

Telenor’s exit forms part of the Norwegian group’s strategy to focus on markets where it has stronger long-term growth prospects. Pakistan had become an increasingly challenging market because of low average revenue per user, high spectrum costs, and limited opportunities for further consolidation.

PTCL majority owned by UAE-based Etisalat Group (e&), stepped in as the buyer.

Deal Value Still Unconfirmed

Public reporting on the transaction value remains inconsistent. Figures ranging from approximately NOK 5.3 billion (around $547 million) to about $400 million have circulated, but neither has been conclusively verified through a primary PTCL, Telenor Group, or SECP filing.

Until a primary filing confirms the amount, the exact value should be treated as unconfirmed rather than repeated as fact.

The Regulatory Path

Reaching this point required clearing three separate approvals. The Competition Commission of Pakistan cleared PTCL’s acquisition of 100% shareholding in Telenor Pakistan and Orion Towers in October 2025, subject to competition safeguards.

CCP Chairman Dr. Kabir Ahmed Sidhu said the commission had weighed market structure, concentration, and efficiencies before granting clearance, and the approval carried a five-year independent compliance monitor plus restrictions on related-party transactions.

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority followed with technical approval in March 2026, setting conditions on tower and infrastructure sharing, relevant given the combined company inherited roughly 26,000 towers, many in overlapping locations, and requiring franchisees to receive at least six months’ notice before contract termination.

With secured creditors of both companies filing no-objection certificates and an IFC consortium separately clearing the deal through the SECP, the Islamabad High Court granted final approval. Telenor Pakistan will now be struck off the Registrar of Companies, its assets and obligations fully absorbed into PTML.

Market Impact

Beyond combining two operators, the deal reshapes Pakistan’s telecom market by creating a second operator almost equal in subscriber scale to Jazz. The enlarged customer base and network assets could strengthen its ability to invest in 5G deployment, though regulators are expected to keep close watch on competition and consumer outcomes.

Existing Telenor SIM cards and numbers are expected to continue working throughout the transition as integration proceeds in phases.

According to PTA data for May 2026, Pakistan had more than 206 million mobile subscribers:

Jazz: 36.42% market share
PTML (Ufone + Telenor, combined): 35.91% market share
Zong: 26.62% market share

The merged company now commands a combined market share just behind Jazz’s, placing it ahead of Zong, while the two brands continue operating separately on the network side during the integration phase.

Subscriber Overlap and Expected Churn

The combined subscriber base is roughly 72–74 million on paper, but a senior Ufone executive has said the real number could fall by close to 4 million as customers holding SIMs from both networks consolidate onto a single connection, some shifting to Jazz or Zong rather than staying with the merged operator.

What PTCL Is Saying

PTCL President & CEO Hatem Bamatraf described the merger as “a defining moment” for the company and for Pakistan’s telecom sector. He thanked the government and the institutions involved for their support throughout the process, credited customers’ trust in both Ufone and Telenor for carrying the companies through the transition, and praised employees for the work that made the milestone possible.

He said the combined operator’s ambition going forward is to deliver products and services that set a new benchmark for digital experience in Pakistan.

The Branding Question

The branding question remains unsettled. It has not been officially confirmed by PTCL or e&, but multiple outlets citing sources close to the integration plan have reported that the combined company is expected to eventually drop both the Ufone and Telenor names in favor of e&’s global brand, consistent with how the Abu Dhabi-based group has consolidated its other markets under one identity.

No timeline has been given, and both networks are expected to continue operating under their existing names through at least the rest of 2026 while network integration continues.

With the legal process complete, attention turns to execution: rationalising overlapping infrastructure, managing churn from duplicate SIM holders, and positioning the merged operator for investment in next-generation networks following Pakistan’s first 5G spectrum auction.

Whether the deal delivers stronger competition and faster 5G rollout will depend largely on how smoothly that integration unfolds over the coming months.