The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has raised concerns that the acquisition of Telenor Pakistan by the Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd (PTCL) could dampen competition within the telecom sector.
On Monday, the CCP provisionally found that PTCL’s proposed takeover of Telenor Pakistan (Private) Ltd and Orion Towers Private Ltd might significantly reduce competition in the telecommunications industry.
Pakistan’s telecom sector comprises four major operators: Jazz, Telenor, Zong, and Ufone, a PTCL subsidiary. Should PTCL acquire Telenor, Ufone and Telenor would merge, creating a combined entity as large as Jazz. This would result in only three major telecom operators remaining in the market.
PTCL, a publicly listed entity, offers a wide range of telecommunication services, including cellular mobile telephony, wireless local loop service, direct-to-home television service, and financial services, across Pakistan, Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), and Gilgit-Baltistan (GB).
The initial review (Phase-I) of PTCL’s merger application concluded that acquiring Telenor could reinforce PTCL’s dominant market position.
 has provisionally concluded that PTCL’s acquisition of Telenor could lessen competition in the telecommunications industry, leaving only three major players in the market.){kind=link}