PTCL

Last updated

Pakistan Telecommunicaton Company Limited (PTCL)
Native name
پاکستان ٹیلی کمیونیکیشن کمپنی لمیٹڈ
Company typePublic
PSX:  PTC
KSE 100 component
Industry Telecommunications
Founded14 August 1947 incorporated 1995 [1]
Headquarters
Islamabad
,
Pakistan
Key people
Hatem Bamatraf (President and Group CEO)
Products
RevenueIncrease2.svgRs. 188.074 billion (US$650 million) (2023)
Increase2.svgRs. −1.375 billion (US$−4.8 million) (2023)
Decrease2.svgRs. −15.544 billion (US$−54 million) (2023)
Total assets Increase2.svgRs. 643.598 billion (US$2.2 billion) (2023)
Total equity Decrease2.svgRs. 58.180 billion (US$200 million) (2023)
Owner President of Pakistan (62%)
Etisalat (26%)
Number of employees
15,008 (2023)
Subsidiaries Ufone
UPaisa
Website ptcl.com.pk
Footnotes /references
Financials as of 31 December 2023 [2]

Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd., commonly known as PTCL, is the national telecommunication company in Pakistan. [1] [3] PTCL provides telephone and internet services nationwide and is the backbone for the country's telecommunication infrastructure. The corporation manages and operates around 2000 telephone exchanges across the country, providing the largest fixed-line network. Data and backbone services such as GSM, HSPA+, CDMA, LTE, broadband internet, IPTV, and wholesale are an increasing part of its business.

Contents

Originally a state-owned corporation, the shareholding of PTCL was reduced to 62%, when 26% of shares and control were sold to Etisalat Telecommunications while the remaining 12% to the general public in 2006 under an intensified privatization program under Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz. However, the 62% of shares still remain under the management of government-ownership of state-owned corporations of Pakistan. [4]

Leadership

In May 2021, Etisalat by e& appointed Hatem Bamatraf as president and Group CEO of PTCL. Hatem previously served as the CTO of Etisalat. [5] [6]

History

Posts & Telegraph Department

It was known as the Posts & Telegraph Department in 1949 and as Pakistan Telephone & Telegraph Department in 1962. [7]

Pakistan Telecommunication Corporation

Pakistan Telecommunication Corporation (PTC) took over operations and functions from Pakistan Telephone and Telegraph Department under Pakistan Telecommunication Corporation Act 1991. This coincided with the Government's competitive policy, encouraging private sector participation and resulting in the award of licenses for cellular, card-operated pay-phones, paging and, lately, data communication services.

Privatization Plan

Pursuing a progressive policy, the Government in 1991, announced its plans to privatize PTCL, and in 1994 issued six million vouchers exchangeable into 600 million shares of the would-be PTCL in two separate placements. Each had a par value of Rs. 10 per share. These vouchers were converted into PTCL shares in mid-1996. [7]

Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited

On 31 December 1995, the Pakistan Telecommunication (Reorganization) Act, 1996, was passed, which formally reconstituted the Pakistan Telecommunication Corporation as PTCL. [8] The act facilitated the transfer of the telecommunications business, along with its associated assets, rights, liabilities, and obligations, from the corporation to PTCL. [8] However, certain exclusions were allocated to the National Telecommunication Corporation (NTC), Frequency Allocation Board (FAB), Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), and Pakistan Telecommunication Employees Trust (PTET). [8]

As part of the reorganization process, the Government of Pakistan divested 26 percent of its PTCL shares through an initial public offering (IPO) at a strike price of PKR 30 and was subsequently listed on the Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) in 1996. [9] [10] [11]

PTCL launched its mobile and data services subsidiaries in 2001 by the name of Ufone and PakNet respectively. None of the brands made it to the top slots in the respective competitions. Lately, however, Ufone had increased its market share in the cellular sector. The PakNet brand has effectively dissolved over a period of time. Recent DSL services launched by PTCL reflects this by the introduction of a new brand name and operation of the service being directly supervised by PTCL.

A shop of Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd (PTCL) in Islamabad PTCL phone shop.jpg
A shop of Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd (PTCL) in Islamabad

As telecommunication monopolies head towards an imminent end, services and infrastructure providers are set to face even bigger challenges. The post-monopoly era came with Pakistan’s Liberalization in Telecommunication in January 2003. On the Government level, a comprehensive liberalization policy for the telecoms sector is in the offering.

In 2005, Government of Pakistan decided to sell 26 percent of the company to some private corporation. There were three participants in the bidding process for the privatization of PTCL. Etisalat, an Abu Dhabi company was able to get the shares with a large margin in the bid. [12] In June 2005, Etisalat won the 26% of PTCL shares along with management control of the then telecom monopoly for US$2.6 billion. As of 2019, Etisalat has held back $800m amount over a property-transfer dispute with the Pakistani government. [13]

The government's plan of privatizing the corporation was not welcomed in all circles; countrywide protests and strikes were held by PTCL workers. They disrupted phone lines of institutions like Punjab University Lahore along with other public sector institutions. [14] [15]

Financial and Operational performance

Year endedRevenue (PKR million)Operating income (PKR million)Net income (PKR million)Total assets (PKR million)Total equity (PKR million)
31 December 2014 [16] Increase2.svg81,513Decrease2.svg8,012Decrease2.svg5,207Decrease2.svg179,574Decrease2.svg92,144
31 December 2015 [17] Decrease2.svg75,752Increase2.svg13,272Increase2.svg8,760Increase2.svg180,378Decrease2.svg86,218
31 December 2016 [18] Decrease2.svg71,420Decrease2.svg10,201Decrease2.svg6,835Decrease2.svg180,109Decrease2.svg83,013
31 December 2017 [19] Decrease2.svg69,757Increase2.svg12,845Increase2.svg8,350Increase2.svg186,158Increase2.svg84,952
31 December 2018 [20] Increase2.svg70,100Decrease2.svg10,757Decrease2.svg7,422Increase2.svg196,044Decrease2.svg83,571
31 December 2019 [21] Increase2.svg71,548Decrease2.svg9,331Decrease2.svg6,347Increase2.svg209,994Increase2.svg87,751
31 December 2020 [22] Increase2.svg71,804Decrease2.svg8,493Decrease2.svg6,030Increase2.svg223,600Increase2.svg94,010
31 December 2021 [23] Increase2.svg76,853Increase2.svg9,682Increase2.svg6,874Increase2.svg245,735Increase2.svg99,653
31 December 2022 [24] Increase2.svg83,444Increase2.svg13,513Increase2.svg9,053Increase2.svg305,160Increase2.svg108,054
31 December 2023 [25] Increase2.svg96,267Increase2.svg13,906Increase2.svg9,391Increase2.svg387,602Increase2.svg117,368

Products

Voice

PTCL provides fixed-line telephone services across Pakistan.

Vfone network shutdown

Wireless voice services used to be provided through PTCL's CDMA2000 network, which was broadcast over the 1900 MHz WLL frequency under the 'Vfone' brand name, however, the network was shut down on 31 August 2016 nationwide to allow the spectrum to be re-farmed for PTCL's 'CharJi' LTE service.

Internet

PTCL offers three different types of fixed-line broadband across 2,000 cities* in Pakistan with plans ranging from 2 Mbit/s to 250 Mbit/s. [26]

*PTCL's FlashFiber is currently only offered in 70 cities. [27]

Wireless

PTCL also offers TDD-LTE based Wireless Broadband under the 'CharJi' brand name with coverage in over 70 cities. Service is only available through their provided mobile hotspot device. [28]

PTCL announced the termination of CharJi services across several cities in Pakistan effective 30 June 2024. Existing customers are being given an option to migrate to Ufone. [29]

Ufone is a wholly owned subsidiary of PTCL, it also the fourth and the smallest cellular provider in mainland Pakistan. It provides GSM, HSPA+ and LTE services over the 900, 1800 and 2100 MHz bands.

Television

In addition to voice and data services, PTCL also offers digital TV services based on DVB-IPTV under PTCL Smart TV brand name. [30] PTCL users can also stream live TV using the Smart TV smartphone application. [31]

Anti-competitive practices

PTCL has been involved in anti-competitive practices several times in the recent years, particularly in the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi.

In 2006, PTCL terminated Nayatel's E1 link at their colocation facility despite Nayatel fulfilling all the requirements as per their interconnect agreement. [32]

In November 2010, LINKdotNET (part of Mobilink, now Jazz) and Micronet Broadband in a complaint to PTA, accused PTCL of charging excessively high prices for bandwidth to other ISPs, whilst subsidizing its own DSL tariffs. [33] [34]

Again in 2016, PTCL and Bahria Town were both involved in preventing other ISPs from laying fiber infrastructure in, effectively giving PTCL a monopoly for voice, data and TV in Bahria Town. [35] The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) issued a show-cause notice to Bahria Town for abusing its dominant position. After the case was heard, a fine of 2 million PKR was imposed on Bahria Town and CCP ordered them to allow Nayatel and any other potential entrants to lay their fiber infrastructure, allowing healthy competition in the ISP sector. [36]

On 14 February 2024, Nayatel submitted a complaint with PTA alleging that PTCL was actively blocking Nayatel IP addresses as Nayatel terminated their bandwidth agreement directly with PTCL due to price gouging. Nayatel instead opted to purchase PTCL bandwidth through Telenor Pakistan and Zong CMPak who were authorized by PTA to resell to other licensees, as this was more cost effective for Nayatel. However, PTCL refused to allow Nayatel's traffic to pass through its network since the bandwidth was purchased through a reseller. [37] [38]

Phone number format change

PTCL had started with 10 digit numbers for landline telephones. The first three (in case of smaller cities, 4 or 5) signified the area code (e.g. 042 for Lahore) and the rest (7 for large cities, 6 or 5 for smaller ones) were the subscribers number. Due to the large demand for landlines in Lahore and Karachi, in 2009, PTCL decided to increase the 7-digit subscriber numbers to 8-digits, adding "9" before existing Government numbers and "3" before the others (e.g. the number 042–7878787 before 2009, was changed to 042–37878787). [39]

5G trials

PTCL successfully carried out 5G trials in February 2021 and achieved download speeds up to 1.7 Gbit/s in their testing environment. [40]

Acquisition of Telenor Pakistan

After Telenor ASA announced in November 2022 that they would leave the Pakistani market, [41] the sale of Telenor Pakistan to PTCL was announced in December 2023. Subject to regulatory approvals, PTCL will acquire a 100% stake in Telenor Pakistan for US$ 493 million. [42] [43]

See also

Related Research Articles

Nepal's telecommunication network has increased over the years significantly, with the number of telephone users reaching 40,789,198 as of 14 May 2019.

Telecommunications in Pakistan describes the overall environment for the mobile telecommunications, telephone, and Internet markets in Pakistan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Etisalat</span> Emirati multinational telecommunications company

e&, formerly branded as Etisalat, is a UAE state-owned telecommunications company. It is the 16th largest mobile network operator in the world by number of subscribers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ufone</span> Pakistani cellular service provider

Pak Telecommunication Mobile Limited, doing business as Ufone, is a Pakistani wireless network operator headquartered in Islamabad. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited. Following PTCL's privatization, Ufone became a part of Etisalat by e& in 2006.

Yettel Bulgaria is the largest mobile network and the third largest fixed telecommunications company in Bulgaria. The company was founded under the name "Cosmo Bulgaria Mobile" in 2001 by OTE and operated under the brand name "Globul" until 2014. In 2013 it was bought by Telenor and changed its name. In August 2018, the company was acquired by PPF, a Czech private investment fund. The company continued to use the Telenor brand until 1 March 2022, when it was renamed to Yettel Bulgaria. In February 2024, the company was acquired by e& (Etisalat), and the merger was approved by Bulgaria's competition watchdog. However the branding of Yettel has not yet been changed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pakistan Telecommunication Authority</span> Telecom regulator

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) (Urdu: ‎مقتدرہِ ٹیلی مواصلات پاکستان) is the telecommunication regulator of Pakistan, responsible for the establishment, operation and maintenance of telecommunication systems and the provision of telecommunication services in Pakistan. Headquartered in Islamabad, PTA also has regional offices located in Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, Quetta, Muzaffarabad, Rawalpindi, Multan and Gilgit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Telenor Pakistan</span> Telephone operator company

Telenor Pakistan (Pvt.) Limited is a Pakistani wireless network operator headquartered in Islamabad, Pakistan. Khurrum Ashfaque is the current chief executive officer (CEO).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Internet in South Africa</span>

The Internet in South Africa, one of the most technologically resourced countries on the African continent, is expanding. The internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) .za is managed and regulated by the .za Domain Name Authority (.ZADNA) and was granted to South Africa by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) in 1990. Over 60% of Internet traffic generated on the African continent originates from South Africa. As of 2020, 41.5 million people were Internet users.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DTAC</span> Thai telecommunication company

Total Access Communication Public Company Limited is a GSM mobile phone company in Thailand. It is the nation's third largest GSM phone company, after AIS and True. DTAC is owned by Norwegian company Telenor both directly and indirectly, and both companies share the same logo. As of 31 December 2011, DTAC had 23.2 million subscribers with a market share of subscribers at around 30 percent. As of 2019, the company has 20.642 million mobile subscriptions and 3904 employees. It is listed on the Singapore Exchange and the Stock Exchange of Thailand.

The Internet in Pakistan has been available since the early 1990s. Pakistan has over 140 million internet users, making it the 7th-largest population of internet users in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WorldCall</span>

WorldCall Telecom Limited is a Pakistani telecommunication and multimedia service provider based in Lahore, Pakistan. It is listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange.

The Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication, abbreviated as MoITT) is a Cabinet-level ministry of the Government of Pakistan concerned with Information Technology and Telecommunications.

3G mobile telephony was relatively slow to be adopted globally. In some instances, 3G networks do not use the same radio frequencies as 2G so mobile operators must build entirely new networks and license entirely new frequencies, especially so to achieve high data transmission rates. Other delays were due to the expenses of upgrading transmission hardware, especially for UMTS, whose deployment required the replacement of most broadcast towers. Due to these issues and difficulties with deployment, many carriers delayed acquisition of these updated capabilities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Special Communications Organization</span> Pakistani telecommunications organisation

The Special Communications Organization (SCO) is a Pakistani public sector organization operated by MoIT&T. SCO plays a role in providing telecommunication services in Azad Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan to almost 1.7 million people, a quarter of the total population. It operates its digital financial services under the brand name S-Paisa.

Pakistan's next generation mobile spectrum auction for the electromagnetic spectrum's licenses was held on 23 April 2014 by Pakistan Telecommunication Authority.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jazz (mobile network operator)</span> Pakistani telecommunications company

Pakistan Mobile Communications Limited (PMCL), doing business as Jazz, is a Pakistani wireless network operator headquartered in Islamabad.

Nayatel is an Internet Service Provider (ISP) with its headquarters located in Islamabad, Pakistan. It was founded in 2006 and is currently led by CEO Wahaj-us-Siraj.

Cyber Internet Services Private Limited, typically referred to as Cybernet is a B2B Internet service provider (ISP) based in Karachi, Pakistan. It is a subsidiary of the Lakson Group of Companies.

References

  1. 1 2 Company Profile of Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) on Financial Times (UK newspaper), Retrieved 9 December 2017
  2. ↑ "PTCL Annual Report 2023" (PDF). Ptcl.com.pk.
  3. ↑ PTCL and Netflix sign collaboration agreement Dawn (newspaper), Updated 31 October 2016, Retrieved 9 December 2017
  4. ↑ "'Etisalat eager to resolve $800m payment issue'". Dawn.
  5. ↑ Ahmed, Ali (24 May 2021). "PTCL appoints Hatem Bamatraf as Chief Executive". Brecorder. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
  6. ↑ "About PTCL". ptcl.com.pk. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
  7. 1 2 TLTP (29 July 2020). "Telecom infrastructure ready to support 5G networks: PTA chief". Profit by Pakistan Today. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  8. 1 2 3 "PTCL: PAKISTAN TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMPANY LIMITED - Analysis of Financial Statements Financial Year 2005-3Q'10". Brecorder. 20 August 2010.
  9. ↑ "Pakistan gears up for major IPO since 1996". gulfnews.com. 9 October 2003.
  10. ↑ "Let market forces determine strike price". Business Recorder.
  11. ↑ "MEED | PAKISTAN: Investors go for PTC".
  12. ↑ "Pakistan takes Etisalat's $2.59 billion PTCL bid" The Indian Express (newspaper), Published 21 June 2005, Retrieved 9 December 2017
  13. ↑ "Privatisation gone sour: Govt signed agreement to transfer PTCL properties 'which don't exist'". Dawn. 2 January 2019.
  14. ↑ "KARACHI: PTCL workers on strike against privatization". DAWN.COM. 26 May 2005. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
  15. ↑ "Hundreds of striking telecom workers detained". gulfnews.com. 14 June 2005. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
  16. ↑ "PTCL Annual Report 2014" (PDF). PTCL. 31 December 2014. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
  17. ↑ "PTCL Annual Report 2015" (PDF). PTCL. 31 December 2015. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
  18. ↑ "PTCL Annual Report 2016" (PDF). PTCL. 31 December 2016. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
  19. ↑ "PTCL Annual Report 2017" (PDF). PTCL. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
  20. ↑ "PTCL Annual Report 2018" (PDF). PTCL. 31 December 2018. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
  21. ↑ "PTCL Annual Report 2019" (PDF). PTCL. 31 December 2019. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
  22. ↑ "PTCL Annual Report 2020" (PDF). PTCL. 31 December 2020. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
  23. ↑ "PTCL Annual Report 2021" (PDF). PTCL. 31 December 2021. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
  24. ↑ "PTCL Annual Report 2022" (PDF). PTCL. 31 December 2022. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
  25. ↑ "PTCL Annual Report 2023" (PDF). PTCL. 1 May 2024. Retrieved 6 May 2024.
  26. ↑ "Unlimited Internet Packages | Internet Bundles". ptcl.com.pk. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
  27. ↑ "Coverage - PTCL Flash Fiber". PTCL Flash Fiber. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
  28. ↑ "Coverage - PTCL CharJi". PTCL CharJi EVO. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
  29. ↑ "Charji to Blaze". ptcl.com.pk. Retrieved 6 May 2024.
  30. ↑ "Better than Cable - PTCL Smart TV". www.ptcl.com.pk. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
  31. ↑ "Smart TV App". www.ptcl.com.pk. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
  32. ↑ "Claim under the Interconnection Dispute Resolution Regulations" (PDF). Pakistan Telecommunication Authority . 6 March 2007. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
  33. ↑ "Determination on Anti-Competitive Practices of PTCL in the Broadband Market" (PDF). ISPAK. 18 November 2011. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
  34. ↑ Hassan, Taimoor (10 March 2024). "Is PTCL throttling one of its competitors through anticompetitive practices?". Profit by Pakistan Today. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
  35. ↑ "CCP issues show-cause notice to Bahria Town for abuse of dominance". The Nation. 4 August 2016. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
  36. ↑ "Competition Commission imposes Rs 2m fine on Bahria Town". Profit by Pakistan Today. 7 February 2017. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
  37. ↑ Gardezi, Ahsan (20 February 2024). "PTA Asks Nayatel, PTCL, Zong and Telenor to Resolve Bandwidth Dispute Within 3 Days". ProPakistani. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
  38. ↑ Siraj, Wahaj (21 February 2024). "Might tries to be right, Internet is no exception". www.linkedin.com. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
  39. ↑ "PTCL shifts numbers from 7 to 8 digit series". The Nation (newspaper). 25 June 2009. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
  40. ↑ "PTCL Group conducts successful 5G trials". Profit by Pakistan Today. 11 February 2021. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  41. ↑ Nair, Dinesh; Chan, Vinicy; Baigorri, Manuel (9 November 2022). "Telenor Kicks Off Sale of $1 Billion Pakistan Business". Bloomberg News . Retrieved 14 December 2023. Telenor ASA is pushing ahead with plans to sell its operations in Pakistan, which could be valued at about $1 billion, people familiar with the matter said.
  42. ↑ Sadozai, Dawn com | Irfan (14 December 2023). "PTCL to acquire Telenor's Pakistan operations". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  43. ↑ Mjaaland, Ola (14 December 2023). "Telenor selger datterselskap i Pakistan for 5,3 mrd: – 18 vellykkede år" [Telenor sells daughter company in Pakistan for 5,3 billion [NOK]: – 18 successful years]. NRK/NTB (in Norwegian Bokmål). Archived from the original on 14 December 2023. Retrieved 14 December 2023. Det er klart at det har vært krevende 18 år, ingen tvil om det. Men på den andre siden har vi gitt 45 millioner mennesker en mobiltelefon. Vi har også greid å bygge en kultur som har gjort at vi har blitt lagt merke til. [...] [Brekke] nevner blant annet at selskapet innførte svangerskapspermisjon 6 måneder som den første noen gang i dette markedet, og at ingen andre selskaper i Pakistan har så mange kvinner som jobber hos seg.[It clearly has been 18 demanding years, no doubt about that. But on the other hand we have given 45 million people a mobile phone. We have managed to create a culture which has caused us to be noticed. [...] Brekke mentions among other things that the company was the first in the [Pakistani] market to implement a 6 month maternity leave, and that no other company in Pakistan employs as many women as them.]
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.