The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has directed Pak Telecom Mobile Ltd (PTML), the parent company of Ufone, to immediately suspend several Onic-related activities, including the issuance of new SIMs and eSIMs.
Under the regulator’s order issued on September 11, PTML must stop activating new Onic connections, accepting new subscriptions and conducting associated marketing and commercial activities, Dawn has reported.
The directive follows a legal dispute that began more than three years ago, when Ufone challenged an earlier notice issued by the telecom regulator. The latest order was issued after the company prevailed in the legal proceedings.
According to the PTA, Onic operates with its own branding, packages, mobile application, billing arrangements and customer-management systems. The regulator said these features make Onic’s business model similar to that of a Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO).
PTML is the parent company of Ufone and a subsidiary of state-owned Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd (PTCL). It has also recently completed its merger with Telenor Pakistan.
Existing Onic customers will have to be migrated to PTML within three months, according to a senior PTA official quoted by Dawn. Alternatively, PTML could seek an MVNO licence from the regulator and continue operating Onic as a separate brand.
The company has been given seven working days to submit a compliance report confirming that the activities covered by the PTA order have been discontinued.
The directive does not necessarily mean an immediate end to the Onic brand, as obtaining an MVNO licence could provide a route for the service to continue separately.
