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

After the acquisition of Telenor Pakistan, Ufone (PTML) will operate as a separate entity from PTCL with its own board and CEO.

Ufone has a subscriber base of 31 million as of July 2026, among which 22 million are 4G/LTE subscribers. It has a market share of 13% and just over 10,000 cell sites, the least among all four mobile operators.

History

Ufone was founded in July 1998 and began operations in January 2001.

Rashid Khan was appointed acting CEO of Ufone in August 2017. Rashid Khan, president and CEO of both Ufone and PTCL, died in December 2020.

By 2017, Ufone was the only company in the Pakistani telecommunications market that did not have 4G data services. It launched 4G in August 2019. In 2019, PTCL and Ufone were merging a number of their departments.

In 2021, it purchased its own 4G spectrum license for US$279 million.

Radio frequency summary

Ufone had bid on a 5MHz block of 2100MHz spectrum in the NGMS auction held in early 2014, however due to rising demand, in December 2016, Ufone decided to re-farm a portion of its 900MHz 2G network to 3G (HSPA+) to increase network capacity.

Ufone has re-farmed their 900MHz spectrum in Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi/Islamabad, Abbottabad, Sheikhupura and Sialkot.

PTML Ufone won 2x9MHz of 1800MHz in the 2021 NGMS auction held by PTA, bringing its total spectrum in the band up to 15MHz which will be used for improvement of its existing 4G services.

Post-merger spectrum allocation

PTA granted technical approval for merging and integration of networks on 19 March 2026, allowing Ufone to begin utilizing spectrum that is currently in-use by Telenor Pakistan.

4G launch

On 9 February 2019, Ufone launched its 4G network in the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, utilizing its existing NGMS licenses. By 2019, Ufone had expanded its 4G coverage to 16 cities, and had outlined plans to launch 4G in additional locations as well.

3G sunset

Ufone began sunsetting its 3G services in June 2025, refarming the allocated spectrum to 4G. As of February 2026, it had sunset its 3G services in most urban centers of Pakistan.

5G launch

Ufone participated in the 2026 NGMS Auction, acquiring 180MHz of total spectrum, consisting of 120MHz in the 3.5GHz band and 60MHz in the 2.6GHz band.

Voice over LTE (VoLTE)

In October 2023, Ufone announced that it enabled VoLTE across its network, making it the last network in the country to support the service.

Merger with Telenor Pakistan

In December 2025, PTCL completed its acquisition of Telenor Pakistan, along with its spectrum allocation licenses and cellular network.

On 19 March 2026, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority gave their technical approval for the merger between Ufone and Telenor Pakistan allowing both companies to begin integration of systems and spectrum.

On 1 July 2026, the Islamabad High Court approved the merger between Telenor Pakistan and Pak Telecommunication Mobile Limited (Ufone).

As part of the integration between both networks, Ufone has migrated to the Telenor '345' headquarters building in Gulberg Greens, Islamabad. Hatem Bamatraf, who previously served as the Group CEO for both PTCL and Ufone will now lead the MergeCo as the new CEO. PTCL will operate as a separate entity with its own board and CEO.

See also

• List of telecommunication companies in Pakistan

References