The management of Ufone and Telenor Pakistan submitted an application to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to rebrand their newly merged telecom business. The proposed new brand name is “e&”, aligning with the branding used by the UAE state-owned telecom operator Etisalat.
This development comes after Telenor Pakistan was formally incorporated into Pak Telecom Mobile Limited (PTML), the legal entity behind Ufone, following the final approval by the Islamabad High Court earlier this month. PTCL, which oversees PTML, had previously reached out to the PTA to secure approval for this new brand identity. In response, the PTA has indicated that a notification from the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) concerning the directors of the combined entity is required. The regulator reiterated this requirement in response to a separate query from PTML about the registration of the new brand.
An official from the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunications disclosed that since Telenor Pakistan has been merged into PTML, adjustments to PTML’s board of directors might be necessary. The SECP must issue a notification confirming whether there has been a change or if the board composition remains unchanged.
Documents indicate that the PTA informed PTML that launching or advertising any new brand is contingent upon receiving the aforementioned SECP notification.
Following the decision by the Competition Commission of Pakistan on the merger, PTCL has been split such that PTCL and its other subsidiaries have been dissociated from the mobile telecommunications sector.
The government retains approximately 62% ownership of PTCL, while Etisalat holds a 26% stake and management control. The remaining 12% of shares are owned by private investors through the Pakistan Stock Exchange. Notably, Etisalat recently rebranded itself as “e&”.
However, a senior official at the Ministry of IT cautioned that adopting the “e&” brand name for the merged Ufone-Telenor entity could lead to legal challenges, as the business would remain a subsidiary of PTML. They elaborated that PTML is a subsidiary of PTCL, a state-owned enterprise, and not directly under Etisalat’s umbrella. This could potentially result in copyright infringement issues involving an international brand unless the merged entity agrees to pay a royalty fee to Etisalat. The official also noted that PTCL has been remitting profits to the UAE-based company despite PTCL group’s sustained financial losses.
