ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has ordered the Pak Telecom Mobile Ltd (PTML)/Ufone to immediately stop issuing new Onic SIMs and eSIMs, activating new connections, taking new subscriptions and carrying out related marketing and commercial activities.

The PTA order issued recently comes more than three years after the Ufone management challenged the initial notice in court. However, after winning the legal battle, the telecom regulator issued the order on Sept 11.

PTML is the parent company of Ufone and has recently merged with Telenor Pakistan. At the same time, PTML is a subsidiary of the state-owned telecom company PTCL.

The chairman of the Ufone board is the federal Secretary IT, and several government functionaries as well as an MNA belonging to the PML-N are on its board.

PTA order said Onic has separate branding, packages, a dedicated mobile app, billing and customer management systems, as well as direct customer operations. These features make its business model similar to a Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO).

A senior PTA official told Dawn on Tuesday that the existing Onic customers would need to be migrated to PTML within three months. `The other option is that PTML may obtain an MVNO licence from the PTA and continue to market Onic as a separate entity,` the official added.

The company is required to submit a compliance report within seven working days, confirming that the ordered activities have ceased.-Kalbe Ali