Ufone
Pakistani cellular service provider
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pak Telecommunication Mobile Limited, doing business as Ufone, is a Pakistani mobile network operator headquartered in Islamabad. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited. Following PTCL's privatization, Ufone became a part of Etisalat by e& in 2006.
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.jpg) Ufone Tower in Islamabad | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Telecommunication |
| Founded | 18 July 1998 |
| Headquarters | Ufone Tower, Blue Area, |
Key people | Hatem Bamatraf (Group CEO & President) |
| Products | ONIC, UPaisa |
| Revenue |  Rs. 75.423 billion (US$270 million) (2023) |
 Rs. -34.668 billion (US$−120 million) (2023) | |
| Rs. -24.614 billion (US$−88 million) (2023) | |
| Total assets | Rs. 234.087 billion (US$840 million) (2023) |
| Total equity | Rs. 7.223 billion (US$26 million) (2023) |
| Parent | Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd |
| Website | ufone |
| Footnotes / references Financials as of 31 December 2023[update] [1] | |
Ufone has a subscriber base of 29 million as of January 2026, among which 20 million are 4G/LTE subscribers. It has a market share of 13% and just over 10,000 cell sites, the least among all four mobile operators.[2][3]
History
Ufone was founded in July 1998 and began operations in January 2001.[4]
Rashid Khan was appointed acting CEO of Ufone in August 2017.[5] Rashid Khan, president and CEO of both Ufone and PTCL, died in December 2020.[6]
By 2017, Ufone was the only company in the Pakistani telecommunications market that did not have 4G data services. It launched 4G in August 2019.[7] In 2019, PTCL and Ufone were merging a number of their departments.[8]
In 2021, it purchased its own 4G spectrum license for US$279 million.[7]
Radio frequency summary
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, in December 2016, Ufone decided to re-farm a portion of its 900 MHz 2G network to 3G (HSPA+) to increase network capacity.
Ufone has re-farmed their 900 MHz spectrum in Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi/Islamabad, Abbottabad, Sheikhupura and Sialkot.[9][10]
PTML Ufone won 2x9 MHz of 1800 MHz in the 2021 NGMS auction held by PTA, bringing its total spectrum in the band up to 15 MHz which will be used for improvement of its existing 4G services.[11]
4G launch
On 9 February 2019, Ufone launched its 4G network in the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, utilizing its existing NGMS licenses. By 2019, Ufone had expanded its 4G coverage to Lahore, Karachi, Faisalabad, Sialkot, Peshawar, Quetta, Attock, Hyderabad, Mirpurkhas, Digri, Jhuddo, Naukot, Mithi, Pabbi, Multan, and Nowshera, and had outlined plans to launch 4G in additional cities as well.[12]
5G launch
Ufone participated in the 2026 NGMS Auction, acquiring 180 MHz of total spectrum, consisting of 120 MHz in the 3.5 GHz band and 60 MHz in the 2.6 GHz band.[13]
Voice over LTE (VoLTE)
In October 2023, Ufone announced that it enabled VoLTE across its network, making it the last network in the country to support the service.[14]