Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd
Encyclopedia
Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) is the largest telecommunication company in Pakistan
.
The company provides telephony services nation-wide and is the backbone for country's telecommunication infrastructure despite arrival of a dozen other telecommunication comanies, including giants like Telenor
and China Mobile
. The company operates around 2000 telephone exchanges across the country, providing the largest fixed line network. Data and backbone services such as GSM, CDMA, Broadband Internet, IPTV, wholesale are an increasing part of its business.
Originally fully owned by the Government of Pakistan
, this holding has since 2006 been reduced to 62%, when 26% of shares and control was sold to Etisalat
- and the remaining 12% to the general public.
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 award of licenses for cellular, card-operated pay-phones, paging and, lately, data communication services.
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.
In 1995, Pakistan Telecommunication (Reorganization) Ordinance formed the basis for PTCL monopoly over basic telephony in the country. The provisions of the Ordinance were lent permanence in October 1996 through Pakistan Telecommunication (Reorganization) Act. The same year, Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited was formed and listed on all stock exchanges of Pakistan
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 the 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.
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 telecoms sector is in the offering.
In 2005 Government of Pakistan decided to sell 26 percent of this company to some private corporation. There were three participants in the bet for privatization of PTCL. Etisalat
, a Abu Dhabi based company was able to get the shares with a large margin in the bet. Government's plan of privatizing the corporation were not welcomed in all circles; countrywide protests and strikes were help by PTCL workers. They disrupted phone lines of institutions like Punjab University Lahore along with public sector institutions were also blocked. Military had to take over the management of all the exchanges in the country. They arrested many workers and put them behind bars. The contention between Government and employees ended with a 30% increase in the salaries of workers.
based on GSM 800/1900 technology, is also a wholly owned subsidiary of PTCL. In addition to these services, PTCL also offers some of the worlds first commercial HD TV services based on IPTV
with the brand name of Smart TV
and home surveillance and alarm over broadband under the brand name iSentry. PTCL is also part of the consortium of three major Submarine communication cable networks: SEA-ME-WE 3, SEA-ME-WE 4 and I-ME-WE
.
Pak Telecom Mobile Limited (PTML) is a wholly owned subsidiary of PTCL, listed as a public limited company in the year 1998 and provide cellular mobile services in Pakistan under the brand of Ufone
. Though the company was listed in 1998, it commenced its commercial operations in January, 2001.
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
.
The company provides telephony services nation-wide and is the backbone for country's telecommunication infrastructure despite arrival of a dozen other telecommunication comanies, including giants like Telenor
Telenor
Telenor Group is the incumbent telecommunications company in Norway, with headquarters located at Fornebu, close to Oslo. Today, Telenor Group is mostly an international wireless carrier with operations in Scandinavia, Eastern Europe and Asia, working predominantly under the Telenor brand...
and China Mobile
China Mobile
China Mobile Limited is a Chinese state-owned telecommunication company that provides mobile voice and multimedia services through its nationwide mobile telecommunications network, the largest of its kind in the world...
. The company operates around 2000 telephone exchanges across the country, providing the largest fixed line network. Data and backbone services such as GSM, CDMA, Broadband Internet, IPTV, wholesale are an increasing part of its business.
Originally fully owned by the Government of Pakistan
Government of Pakistan
The Government of Pakistan is a federal parliamentary system, with an indirectly-elected President as the Head of State and Commander in Chief of the Pakistani Armed Forces, and an indirectly-elected Prime Minister as the Head of Government. The President’s appointment and term are...
, this holding has since 2006 been reduced to 62%, when 26% of shares and control was sold to Etisalat
Etisalat
Emirates Telecommunications Corporation, branded trade name Etisalat is a UAE based telecommunications services provider, currently operating in 18 countries across Asia, the Middle East and Africa...
- and the remaining 12% to the general public.
History
From the beginnings of Posts & Telegraph Department in 1947 and establishment of Pakistan Telephone & Telegraph Department in 1962, PTCL has been a major player in telecommunication in Pakistan. Despite having established a network of enormous size, PTCL workings and policies have attracted regular criticism from other smaller operators and the civil society of Pakistan.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 award of licenses for cellular, card-operated pay-phones, paging and, lately, data communication services.
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.
In 1995, Pakistan Telecommunication (Reorganization) Ordinance formed the basis for PTCL monopoly over basic telephony in the country. The provisions of the Ordinance were lent permanence in October 1996 through Pakistan Telecommunication (Reorganization) Act. The same year, Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited was formed and listed on all stock exchanges of Pakistan
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 the 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.
In 2005 Government of Pakistan decided to sell 26 percent of this company to some private corporation. There were three participants in the bet for privatization of PTCL. Etisalat
Etisalat
Emirates Telecommunications Corporation, branded trade name Etisalat is a UAE based telecommunications services provider, currently operating in 18 countries across Asia, the Middle East and Africa...
, a Abu Dhabi based company was able to get the shares with a large margin in the bet. Government's plan of privatizing the corporation were not welcomed in all circles; countrywide protests and strikes were help by PTCL workers. They disrupted phone lines of institutions like Punjab University Lahore along with public sector institutions were also blocked. Military had to take over the management of all the exchanges in the country. They arrested many workers and put them behind bars. The contention between Government and employees ended with a 30% increase in the salaries of workers.
Products
In addition to wireline line operations, PTCL also provide fixed line service through its countrywide CDMA based WLL (Wireless Local Loop) network, under the VFone brand name. In the Internet segment, PTCL provides fixed broadband through conventional copper wire & FTTC and wireless broadband based on EvDO Rev A,B,C technology with the brand name of EVO.Ptcl has also introduced a 3G tab. In the cellular segment, the second largest cellular provider in Pakistan, UfoneUfone
Ufone GSM is a Pakistani GSM cellular service provider, It's one of five GSM Mobile companies in Pakistan, and is a subsidiary of Pakistan Telecommunication Company. After the privatization of PTCL, Ufone is now owned by Etisalat. Ufone has a subscriber base of 20.23 million as of September 2010.-...
based on GSM 800/1900 technology, is also a wholly owned subsidiary of PTCL. In addition to these services, PTCL also offers some of the worlds first commercial HD TV services based on IPTV
IPTV
Internet Protocol television is a system through which television services are delivered using the Internet protocol suite over a packet-switched network such as the Internet, instead of being delivered through traditional terrestrial, satellite signal, and cable television formats.IPTV services...
with the brand name of Smart TV
PTCL Smart TV
PTCL Smart TV is an IPTV service in Pakistan owned by Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited that was launched on 14 August 2008. The service is currently available in 17 major cities including Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Faisalabad, Bahawalpur, Peshawar, Sialkot,...
and home surveillance and alarm over broadband under the brand name iSentry. PTCL is also part of the consortium of three major Submarine communication cable networks: SEA-ME-WE 3, SEA-ME-WE 4 and I-ME-WE
I-ME-WE
I-ME-WE is a submarine communications cable system between India and France. The design capacity is 3.84 Terabits per second. It has been operational since 2009...
.
Company Profile
PTCL is the largest telecommunications provider in Pakistan. PTCL also continues to be the largest CDMA operator in the country with 0.8 million V-fone customers. The company maintains a leading position in Pakistan as an infrastructure provider to other telecom operators and corporate customers of the country. It has the potential to be an instrumental agent in Pakistan’s economic growth. PTCL has laid an Optical Fibre Access Network in the major metropolitan centres of Pakistan and local loop services have started to be modernized and upgraded from copper to an optical network. On the Long Distance and International infrastructure side, the capacity of two SEA-ME-WE submarine cable is being expanded to meet the increasing demand of International traffic.Subsidiary
- Pak Telecom Mobile Limited
Pak Telecom Mobile Limited (PTML) is a wholly owned subsidiary of PTCL, listed as a public limited company in the year 1998 and provide cellular mobile services in Pakistan under the brand of Ufone
Ufone
Ufone GSM is a Pakistani GSM cellular service provider, It's one of five GSM Mobile companies in Pakistan, and is a subsidiary of Pakistan Telecommunication Company. After the privatization of PTCL, Ufone is now owned by Etisalat. Ufone has a subscriber base of 20.23 million as of September 2010.-...
. Though the company was listed in 1998, it commenced its commercial operations in January, 2001.
See also
- EtisalatEtisalatEmirates Telecommunications Corporation, branded trade name Etisalat is a UAE based telecommunications services provider, currently operating in 18 countries across Asia, the Middle East and Africa...
- List of dialling codes of Pakistan
- National Telecommunication CorporationNational Telecommunication Corporation (Pakistan)National Telecommunication Corporation is a government-based IT and Telecom services provider company in Pakistan.-History:...
- Previously part of PTCL. - PTCL Smart TVPTCL Smart TVPTCL Smart TV is an IPTV service in Pakistan owned by Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited that was launched on 14 August 2008. The service is currently available in 17 major cities including Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Faisalabad, Bahawalpur, Peshawar, Sialkot,...
- Telephone numbers in PakistanTelephone numbers in PakistanCountry code: +92International call prefix: 00Trunk prefix: 0-Fixed numbers:Area codes in Pakistan are from two to five digits long; the smaller the city, the longer the prefix. All the large cities have a two-digit code....
- UfoneUfoneUfone GSM is a Pakistani GSM cellular service provider, It's one of five GSM Mobile companies in Pakistan, and is a subsidiary of Pakistan Telecommunication Company. After the privatization of PTCL, Ufone is now owned by Etisalat. Ufone has a subscriber base of 20.23 million as of September 2010.-...
- Wholly owned cellular subsidiary of PTCL