The Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL), a behemoth already accused of crushing competition for decades, is now attempting to swallow a major rival in a move that regulators fear will create an unassailable monopoly, strangling consumer choice and innovation in the Pakistani telecom sector.
Read More: Once a Telecom Giant, Now a Burden: PTCL Sinks Further into Losses
Internal documents from a high-stakes review by the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP), briefing which was officially submitted to the Senate Standing Committee on IT and Telecom, reveal a damning picture of PTCL’s tactics: deliberate obfuscation, a history of anti-competitive collusion, and a blatant disregard for regulatory oversight. The proposed 100% acquisition of Telenor Pakistan is not just a business deal; it’s a potential death knell for a fair market.
Secrecy at the Highest Levels: Who is Really Calling the Shots?
The CCP’s alarming findings found a receptive audience in the Senate Committee. Incidentally, during the committee meeting, the Chairperson of the Committee, Senator Palwasha Khan, expressed profound concern that PTCL was refusing to disclose the names of the board members at both the PTCL and Ufone boards.
This stunning lack of transparency at the highest level of governance directly fuels the CCP’s central fear: that PTCL and Ufone, despite having separate licenses, operate as a single entity with a joint management, facilitating illegal cross-subsidization. Senator Khan’s questioning underscores that PTCL’s culture of secrecy isn’t just a problem for regulators; it’s a red flag for the highest legislative bodies overseeing the sector.
A Pattern of Predatory Behavior
The CCP’s investigation, now in the hands of Senators, lays bare PTCL’s modus operandi. The company, already a dominant player in both upstream (infrastructure) and downstream (consumer services) markets, has a proven record of abusing its power.
Most damning is the reference to a recent ruling by the Competition Appellate Tribunal (CAT), which on August 11, 2025, upheld the CCP’s decision to penalize PTCL and 13 other LDI operators for collusive practices. The CCP has already recovered a staggering PKR 70 million in penalties, a clear testament to PTCL’s anti-competitive DNA.
“This is not a company coming to the table with clean hands,” a source within the CCP stated. “This is a repeat offender asking for the keys to the entire kingdom.”
Deliberate Obstruction and a “Functus Officio” Farce
Frustration boils over in the CCP’s timeline of PTCL’s obstructive conduct. When asked for critical information—like its investment plans to prove the merger would create efficiencies—PTCL delayed for months.
The arrogance peaked in February 2025. When the CCP rightfully sought more details, PTCL’s lawyers had the audacity to claim the Commission was “functus officio”—meaning its legal authority had expired—and outright refused to cooperate. The CCP immediately rejected this absurd legal maneuvering, but the message was clear: PTCL believes it is above the law.
The information PTCL did provide was deliberately unusable. The company submitted Regulatory Separated Accounts in a “highly technical format with multiple missing links” that were “not decipherable.” This mirrors the secrecy surrounding its board members and was a deliberate strategy to hide the very cross-subsidization between PTCL and its loss-making mobile arm, Ufone, that the CCP fears.
The Looming Monopoly: A “MergeCo” Nightmare
The core of the CCP’s concern is stark: this merger will “strengthen PTCL’s already dominant position” and create a new, highly concentrated mobile market player, internally referred to as “MergeCo.”
PTCL already controls over 33% of the nation’s long-haul optical fiber cable, a critical infrastructure. Combining this with Telenor’s mobile network creates a vertically integrated giant with the ability and proven inclination to marginalize competitors by charging exorbitant rates or offering preferential treatment to Ufone.
The presentation warns the transaction could “magnify entry barriers, reduce competitive pressures, and ultimately restrict consumer choice and innovation.” The so-called “efficiencies” and “reduced costs” PTCL promises are labeled as potentially illusory, likely never to materialize for the average Pakistani.
A Regulatory Body Pushed to the Brink, Now with Political Scrutiny
With the case now formally before the Senate Standing Committee, the pressure on both the CCP and PTCL has intensified. The CCP is left with stark options: outright prohibition, or approval with stringent conditions that PTCL has shown little willingness to accept.
Given PTCL’s history of challenging regulators in court and its newfound refusal to even disclose its board members to Senators, there is little faith that the company would abide by any conditions. The question is whether the CCP, now with the spotlight of parliamentary oversight, will have the fortitude to block a deal pushed by a state-owned enterprise that operates in the shadows. The evidence is overwhelming. All that remains is to see if the regulator will stand its ground or capitulate to a corporate bully that even the Senate is struggling to pin down.
The Verdict: PTCL’s acquisition of Telenor isn’t a pathway to progress; it’s a hostile takeover of the market itself. The CCP’s dossier, now amplified by concerns in the Senate, presents an open-and-shut case of a predatory player aiming for total dominance. Approving this merger would be a catastrophic failure of regulatory duty, condemning Pakistani consumers and businesses to a future of higher prices, fewer choices, and stalled innovation.
