Pakistan’s MVNO Cooperation Paradox
At the start of July, the merger between Pakistan’s Telenor and Ufone formally closed, reducing the mobile market from four national operators down to three. According to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority’s June figures, this means that Jazz holds around 36.3% market share, the merged entity, which will trade under the e& brand, around 36.0%, and Zong around 26.7%. Meaning, Jazz’s lead over the new number two is just less than half a percentage point. At almost the same time as the merger closed, the Pakistan PTA opened applications for MVNO licences. Since then, enquiries to our team have centred on which route-to-market strategy to follow, given the significant drop in the licence fee from $5m to $140,000 and some of the licensing framework arrangements that are in play. What's driving this? Usually, MVNO licensing is opened when a regulator wants to rebalance competition afterconsolidation has handed a single operator significant market power. Pakistan’s timing fits that pattern almost too neatly: the licensing window opened in late June, days before the merger closed. But the framework itself tells a different story. It carries no reference offer, no access pricing, no wholesale obligation of any kind. Whatever it is, it isn’t a remedy. The real...
