| Ufone | |
| Type: | Subsidiary |
| Industry: | Telecommunication |
| Location: | Ufone Tower, Blue Area |
| Location City: | Islamabad |
| Key People: | Hatem Bamatraf GCEO & President |
| Products: | Pre Pay, Post Pay, UPaisa[1] |
| Parent: | Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd |
| Location Country: | Pakistan |
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.
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 mobile service provider in Pakistan with a subscriber base of 25 million, among which 15 million are 4G/LTE subscribers. It has a market share of 13%, the least among all four mobile operators.[2]
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.
| 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 has re-farmed their 900 MHz spectrum in Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi/Islamabad, Abbottabad, Sheikhupura and Sialkot.[3] [4]
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.[5]
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.[6]
In October 2023, Ufone announced that it enabled VoLTE across its network, making it the last network in the country to support the service.[7] Supported devices include smartphones from Samsung, Huawei and Xiaomi, among others.[8]