Web Desk: Telecom regulator has ordered Pak Telecom Mobile Limited (PTML), the operator of Ufone, to immediately stop new sales, SIM and eSIM issuance, activations, subscriptions, marketing and other commercial activities of its digital telecom brand ONIC.
The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) ruled that ONIC’s operating model falls within the country’s Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) regulatory framework and cannot continue in its current form without the required authorisation.
The regulator, however, has allowed PTML three months from the date it receives the order to migrate its existing ONIC subscribers to PTML.
The concession is limited to protecting current customers from an abrupt loss of service. It does not permit PTML to continue ONIC’s commercial activities during the transition period.
PTA also directed PTML to submit a detailed compliance report within seven working days, confirming that the affected operations have been stopped and outlining the steps taken to implement the order.
The authority said ONIC goes beyond a conventional brand operated by a licensed mobile network.
Although PTML owns the ONIC brand and provides the underlying network, spectrum and numbering resources, the regulator found that the service functions as a separate digital-focused proposition.
The PTA cited customised packages, dedicated customer relationship management and billing systems, digital platforms and separate customer-care arrangements as factors behind its determination.
The regulator also pointed to the role of DTMS, a separate entity involved in several customer-facing and commercial activities. These include marketing, customer acquisition, know-your-customer processes, SIM distribution, sales and customer support.
The PTA also considered the financial structure between PTML and DTMS.
Under a Build-Operate Services Agreement, DTMS receives 55% of relevant revenue during the first three years, with its share scheduled to decline later.
According to the regulator, the combination of these commercial and operational arrangements gives ONIC the characteristics of an MVNO under the 2025 policy framework.
Beyond the question of ONIC’s regulatory classification, the authority also identified concerns involving several areas of telecom operations.
These include customer administration, SIM issuance and KYC procedures, billing and CRM systems, access to subscriber information and call-detail records, lawful interception, data localisation and security.
The regulator also examined quality-of-service obligations, disaster recovery, business continuity, mobile number portability and arrangements involving third-party service providers.
PTA said PTML had not fully demonstrated independent verification of disaster-recovery and high-availability testing, including recovery time and recovery point requirements and service-level agreement performance.
The authority also said some arrangements involving DTMS had not been completely submitted for regulatory review.
Under the decision, PTML can now pursue one of two regulatory paths.
The company can restructure ONIC so that it clearly operates as a PTML product or brand under the company’s existing mobile network operator licence. This would require removing elements that give the service the characteristics of an independently operated MVNO.
Alternatively, PTML can retain the current model by securing the appropriate MVNO licence under the applicable regulatory framework.
The decision comes as Pakistan seeks to develop its digital telecom and MVNO sector under a newer regulatory framework.
The 2025 MVNO Policy Framework replaced the earlier 2006 guidelines and reduced the initial national MVNO licence fee to $140,000. That compares with the $5 million initial licence fee prescribed under the 2012 regulations.
The revised framework is therefore expected to have a significant bearing on how digital-first telecom businesses structure their operations in Pakistan.
The regulatory dispute over ONIC began in June 2023, when PTML informed the PTA of plans to introduce the digital service.
The product was designed to target digitally oriented consumers through an app-based customer experience, initially focusing on Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Rawalpindi and Faisalabad.
The PTA subsequently questioned how ONIC was presented to consumers, raising concerns that its branding could make it appear to be an independent telecom company rather than a service operated by a licensed cellular operator.
The regulator directed PTML to clearly disclose its relationship with the company and, in August 2023, ordered it not to launch ONIC until the required information had been submitted and assessed.
PTML challenged the regulator’s direction before the Islamabad High Court.
In February 2026, the court converted the petition into a representation and sent the matter back to the PTA, requiring the regulator to issue a reasoned decision.
PTML later argued before the authority that ONIC was simply its digital brand and did not constitute a separate telecom operator or MVNO.
The company maintained that its agreement with DTMS was an outsourcing and managed-services arrangement and stressed that PTML retained control of subscribers, numbering resources, spectrum and regulatory obligations.
The PTA rejected that interpretation, saying the substance of the commercial and operational arrangements pointed to an MVNO-type structure.
As a result, the regulator has ordered ONIC’s commercial operations to cease immediately, while making clear that any future continuation of the service will require the necessary regulatory approval.
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