Ufone

Pak Telecommunication Mobile Limited or Ufone is a Pakistani GSM cellular service provider. It is the third mobile operator to enter Pakistani market. It started its operations under the brand Ufone, in Islamabad on January 29, 2001.

Ufone
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryTelecommunication
Founded29 January 2001 (2001-01-29)
HeadquartersUfone Tower, Blue Area,
Islamabad
,
Pakistan
Key people
Hatem Bamatraf GCEO & President
ProductsPre Pay, Post Pay, UPaisa[1]
ParentPakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd
Websitewww.ufone.com

PTML is a wholly owned subsidiary of Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited. Following PTCL's privatization, Ufone became a part of Etisalat by e& in 2006.

Ufone is the smallest mobile service provider in Pakistan with a subscriber base of 25 million, among which 14 million are 4G/LTE subscribers.[2] It has a market share of 13%, the least among all four mobile operators.[3]

History

The company commenced its operations, under the brand name of Ufone, from Islamabad on January 29, 2001. Gen. Pervez Musharraf, President of Pakistan had inaugurated the service on that day.

Radio Frequency Summary
Frequency Protocol Band Class Channel Width
900 MHz GSM/GPRS/EDGE 8 2G 2.6 MHz / 7.6 MHz
900 MHz UMTS/HSDPA/HSPA+ 8 3G 5 MHz
2100 MHz UMTS/HSDPA/HSPA+ 1 3G 5 MHz
1800 MHz LTE/LTE-A 3 4G 15 MHz
2100 MHz LTE/LTE-A 1 4G 5 MHz

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.[4][5]

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.[6]

4G launch

On 9 February 2019, Ufone launched its 4G network in the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi. It has done so using existing NGMS licenses. Ufone has now expanded its 4G coverage to Lahore, Karachi, Faisalabad, Sialkot, Peshawar, Quetta, Attock, Hyderabad, Mirpurkhas, Digri, Jhuddo, Naukot, Mithi, Pabbi, Multan and Nowshehra with plans to launch 4G in more cities soon.[7]

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.[8] Supported devices include smartphones from Samsung, Huawei and Xiaomi, among others.[9]

See also
  • List of telecommunication companies in Pakistan

References
  1. "Ufone Call Packages - Hourly, Daily, Weekly & Monthly Packages". Archived from the original on 2017-07-30. Retrieved 2017-07-30.
  2. "Telecom Indicators | PTA". www.pta.gov.pk. Retrieved 2020-01-01.
  3. "Telecommunications: Zong overtakes Ufone as CMOs' market share changes". The Express Tribune. 3 May 2014.
  4. "Ufone Upgrades and Doubles its 3G Network Through Spectrum Refarming". 2017-01-25. Retrieved 2017-10-19.
  5. "Ufone Upgrades its 3G Network in Karachi". 2017-03-30. Retrieved 2017-10-19.
  6. "Press Release". Pakistan Telecommunication Authority. 10 September 2021. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
  7. Attaa, Aamir. "Ufone is Going 4G in Pakistan". Retrieved 2019-02-09.
  8. "Ufone 4G Introduces VoLTE for HD Voice & Video Calling Experience Over 4G Network". ProPakistani. 2023-10-19. Retrieved 2024-03-07.
  9. "Ufone VoLTE - Ufone 4G". Ufone. 2023-10-19. Retrieved 2024-03-07.
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