Ufone

Pak Telecom Mobile Limited or Ufone (Urdu: یوفون‎) is a Pakistani GSM cellular service provider. It is the third mobile operator to enter Pakistani market. It started its operations under the brand name of Ufone, in Islamabad on January 29, 2001.

Pak Telecom Mobile Limited
Ufone
TypeSubsidiary
IndustryTelecommunication
GenreSubsidiary
FoundedJanuary 29, 2001
FounderPakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd
HeadquartersUfone Tower, Blue Area,
Islamabad
,
Pakistan
Area served
2,336 Cities
All National Highways
All Motorways
Key people
Mr. Rashid Khan, CEO(passed away 17th Dec 2020)
ProductsPre Pay, Post Pay, UPaisa[1]
Revenue Rs.25 billion PKR (2012).[2]
Rs.25 billion PKR (2012)
Rs.2.5 billion PKR (2012)
OwnerPakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd, Etisalat[1]
ParentPakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd

PTML is a wholly owned subsidiary of Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited. Following PTCL's privatization, Ufone became a part of the Etisalat in 2006.

Ufone is the smallest GSM mobile service provider and least number mobile service in terms of subscriber base of 22 million.[3] It has a market share of 13.5%, least among all four mobile operators.[4]

Ufone has appointed Rashid Khan as its CEO who was the CEO of Mobilink (now Jazz) from 2008 to 2014.

History

The company commenced its operations, under the brand name of Ufone, from Islamabad on January 29, 2001. Ufone became a part of the Emirates Telecommunication Corporation Group (Etislat) in 2006.

Radio Frequency Summary
Frequency Protocol Band Class Channel Width
900 MHz GSM/GPRS/EDGE 2G 7.6 MHz (2.6 MHz where 5 MHz refarmed for 3G)
1800 MHz GSM/GPRS/EDGE 2G 6 MHz (1 MHz where 5 MHz refarmed for LTE)
900 MHz UMTS/HSDPA/HSPA+ 8 3G 5 MHz (in select areas)
2100 MHz UMTS/HSDPA/HSPA+ 1 3G 5 MHz
1800 MHz LTE 3 4G 5 MHz

Ufone had bid on a 5 MHz block of 2100 MHz spectrum in the NGMS auction held in early 2014, however due to rising demand and lack of bandwidth to keep up, in December 2016, Ufone decided to re-farm a portion of its 900 MHz 2G network to 3G (HSPA+), and is now offering 3G over two frequencies to deal with the increasing load on the network. Ufone has only re-farmed their 900 MHz spectrum in Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi/Islamabad, Abbotabad, Sheikhupura and Sialkot.[5][6]

LTE launch

On 9 February 2019, Ufone launched its LTE network in the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi. It has done so using existing NGMS licenses. Ufone has now expanded its LTE coverage to Lahore, Karachi, Faisalabad, Peshawar, Quetta, Attock, Hyderabad, Mirpurkhas, Digri, Jhudo, Mithi, Pabbi, Multan and Nowshehra with planning to launch LTE in more cities soon.[7]

Awards

Ufone has won Best Telecommunication Service Provider Award at 2012 PAS Awards by Pakistan Advertisers Society.

See also

References
  1. http://pakistannn.com/2017/04/19/ufone-call-packages/
  2. "Ufone revenues post modest growth of 6% in 1HFY12". thenewstribe.com.
  3. "Telecom Indicators | PTA". www.pta.gov.pk. Retrieved 2020-01-01.
  4. "Telecommunications: Zong overtakes Ufone as CMOs' market share changes". The Express Tribune.
  5. "Ufone Upgrades and Doubles its 3G Network Through Spectrum Refarming". 2017-01-25. Retrieved 2017-10-19.
  6. "Ufone Upgrades its 3G Network in Karachi". 2017-03-30. Retrieved 2017-10-19.
  7. Attaa, Aamir. "Ufone is Going 4G/LTE in Pakistan". Retrieved 2019-02-09.
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