Junaid I. Khan President and CEO of Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited

Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) is the nation’s largest telephone company with roughly five million fixed phone lines and one of the country’s most successful cellular operators, Ufone. It is also Pakistan’s premier internet service provider. In June of this year, the long awaited privatization of 26% of the government’s 88% share of the company was successfully carried out. The winning bid was made by Etisalat of the United Arab Emirates for $2.5 billion. With net profits of $489 million in 2004 and share values that have risen 56% in the past year, PTCL looks set to continue with the remarkable growth it has experienced throughout the past five years, with the new guidance and experience that Etisalat will bring to the table.

PTCL President Junaid I. Khan says that the government’s decision to privatize the company is a show of its commitment to creating strong market-oriented policies in the country. “With this privatization, the government has put its money where its mouth is,” he remarks. “The government decided to privatize a company like PTCL that has been extremely successful and profitable when the most commonly accepted wisdom is that you privatize companies that are not making money. This move speaks volumes about this administration’s willingness, support and encouragement of private investors from Pakistan, as well as foreign investors who come into this lucrative sector.”

“Privatization will transform PTCL into a more agile player that can be even more customer focused”

PTCL has an impressive infrastructure throughout Pakistan. Nearly all of its network is digital, with a strong fiber optic backbone, and it is the country’s main international service provider. With fixed line density still only at 4% in a country of 150 million people and projected growth of fixed line telephony expected at 12% per year between 2005 and 2010, PTCL is set to expand substantially in the years to come. In order to combat increased competition from the deregulation of the country’s telecom sector, PTCL plans to maximize volume growth and to continue to improve its operational efficiency and customer service. In the short term, the company is planning to expand its branches throughout the country, as well as the number of customer service centers it operates.

PTCL is putting in place aggresive internet and rural telephony expansion strategies.

“I believe that privatization will transform PTCL into a more agile player that can be even more cust-omer focused,” obs-erves the head of the company. “We are still leading the country in various technologies, and we are taking a very aggressive position in terms of our growth. This is especially true in the areas of rural telephony and internet expansion.”

PTCL has been accessing rural areas through its wireless local loop (WLL) network, V, the largest in the country, currently reaching nearly 150 Pakistani towns and cities. The company plans to reinforce this with another WLL project that will create an additional three million connections within the next two years. With this, PTCL will maximize its customer base and capture the potential of WLL in rural areas and villages on a larger scale.

Babar Khan President and CEO of Ufone

PTCL’s 100%-owned mobile subsidiary, Ufone, is making great strides in the nation’s cellular telephony market. Launched in 2001, Ufone now has coverage in all Pakistani cities, as well as in many rural areas of the country. Ufone also experienced incredible growth during 2004, increasing its customer base by one million subscribers in the last six months of the year as a result of a new aggressive marketing campaign, and upping its market share by 9% during the same period. “Primarily what we did was refocus our commercial approach,” explains Babar Khan, President and CEO of Ufone. “We launched a campaign to reposition our brand in the market to make it more vibrant, fun and family-oriented. We went out determined to capture market share and we succeeded in doing so.” Meanwhile, Ufone continues to emphasize its service quality, something it has been known for since day one. According to the head of the company, its connectivity is the best in the Pakistani market today.

Ufone has also developed a name for itself by providing innovative services and for being on the cutting edge of technology. It was the first Pakistani mobile services provider to offer six months of free incoming calls along with the lowest GSM pricing in the market. It was also the first to offer high-speed data transfer. Ufone boasts a WAP speed of up to 36kbps and is the only company in the market that offers multi-media messaging. Babar Khan states: “This is certainly something that plays a key role when it comes to corporate customers and people who need to use data on the move. It gives Ufone an image that not only is the company very competitively priced, but it also offers the most advanced technology.”