The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has stopped the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) from granting approval for the proposed rebranding of Ufone as “e&”, saying the matter is a reserved issue between the governments concerned and can only be approved by the two governments.
The PTA chairman, responding to media questions, revealed that the commission had directed the regulator not to proceed with approval of the proposed change in Ufone’s brand name following the merger of Ufone and Telenor Pakistan.
The chairman said the matter involved commitments between the two governments and, therefore, could not be decided solely at the regulatory level.
The development comes as the government has yet to take a final decision on the proposed rebranding of Ufone as “e&”, with consultations among relevant authorities still under way.
The issue was discussed during a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Information Technology and Telecommunications, chaired by Senator Palwasha Khan.
The IT Ministry secretary said Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited had submitted an application to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority seeking permission to change Ufone’s brand name to E&.
The consultation process is currently underway, with different opinions emerging from the Competition Commission of Pakistan and the PTA, the secretary said.
The secretary added that discussions on the proposed rebranding were continuing and that no final decision had been made.
The proposed rebranding followed PTCL’s acquisition of Telenor Pakistan and its subsequent amalgamation into Pak Telecom Mobile Limited, the legal entity behind Ufone, after regulatory and court approvals. The merged company sought to replace the Ufone brand with “e&,” the global identity of PTCL’s UAE-based strategic shareholder, Etisalat.
However, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority put the branding exercise on hold, directing PTML to complete the required legal and corporate formalities, including notification from the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan.
The proposal also faced questions within the government over whether PTML, as a subsidiary of PTCL, could adopt the “e&” name and whether the change could create legal, copyright or royalty issues.
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