ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Tele­communication Authority (PTA) has approved the merger of Telenor Pak­i­stan with Pakistan Tele­comm­unication Company Ltd (PTCL), though it imposed strict conditions to prevent abuse of market power and to bind the new entity to invest in upcoming spectrum auctions.

The PTA believes these measures are necessary to ensure fair competition in the telecom sector, particularly given PTCL’s dominant market position.

In line with an earlier decision by the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP), the PTA has also treated PTCL and its mobile arm Ufone (Pak Telecommu­nication Mobile Ltd, PTML) as separate legal entities, barring any cross-subsidy bet­ween them and requiring the maintenance of separate........

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