Paktel

Paktel (Urdu: پاکٹل‎) was the pioneer cellular operator of Pakistan. It was the first ever company granted license to carry out cellular phone services in Pakistan, set up by Cable & Wireless. It carried out AMPS services until 2004 when the company switched to GSM technology.

Paktel offered only mobile telephony service to its 2 million subscriber base. As of 2007, Paktel was ranked fifth mobile player of Pakistani market owing to low subscriber base and market share. After the completion of its acquisition by China Mobile, Paktel was rebranded on April 1, 2008.

History

Cable & Wireless launched commercial service Paktel in 1990. Paktel was granted a license in early 1990 to operate a cellular telephone network throughout Pakistan. It was the first company granted a free license to carry out cellular phone services in Pakistan. It carried out AMPS services until 2004.

Paktel Mediation and Billing System was developed by a team consisting of Syed Ahmed Ali, Nadeem Usmani, Wasay Farooqi, and Ali Korani. Millicom owned Instaphone merged as its competitor in the late 1990s and began to dominate the market share. With the launch of Mobilink and its rapid success in 1998, both Instaphone and Paktel floundered and lost their dominant market share. It was followed by the acquisition of Cable & Wireless owned Paktel by Millicom, the majority owners of Instaphone.