CMPak

China Mobile Pakistan (CMPak) is a 100% subsidiary of China Mobile, a Chinese state-owned enterprise. China Mobile bought the company from Millicom via an acquisition of a license from Millicom to operate a GSM network in Pakistan.

CMPak has invested more than US$ 700 million in the telecom sector in Pakistan and an additional US$ 800 million will be invested till the end of year 2008.

History of Paktel

Paktel is a mobile telecommunication company in Pakistan

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

. It was the first company granted a license to carry out cellular phone services in Pakistan, set up by Cable & Wireless

Cable & Wireless

Cable & Wireless Worldwide PLC is a global telecommunications company headquartered in Bracknell, United Kingdom. Cable & Wireless specialises in providing communication networks and services to large corporates, governments, carrier customers and resellers...

. It carried out AMPS

Advanced Mobile Phone System

Advanced Mobile Phone System was an analog mobile phone system standard developed by Bell Labs, and officially introduced in the Americas in 1983, Israel in 1986, and Australia in 1987. It was the primary analog mobile phone system in North America through the 1980s and into the 2000s...

 services until 2004, when the company launched GSM services as well. Paktel's main competitor is Instaphone

Instaphone

Instaphone was a telecommunications company in Pakistan and the pioneer of cellular industry in Pakistan. The company was initially owned by Millicom International and was acquired later by the Arfeen Group....

. However after the launch and rapid success of Mobilink

Mobilink

Pakistan Mobile Communications Limited, better known as Mobilink GSM, is a telecommunication service provider in Pakistan. The company is Pakistan's leading cellular operator with a subscriber base of 31.5m and market share of 31% in October 2010....

 in 1998, both services lost market share. In 2003, Millicom

Millicom

Millicom International Cellular, also known as Tigo, is a mobile phone network provider in America and Africa. Based in Luxembourg, the company provides mobile services in 14 countries. With operations across Central America, South America, South-east Asia, and Africa, using GSM, CDMA and TDMA on...

 Corporation, who at that time were majority owners of Instaphone

Instaphone

Instaphone was a telecommunications company in Pakistan and the pioneer of cellular industry in Pakistan. The company was initially owned by Millicom International and was acquired later by the Arfeen Group....

, bought Paktel for a sum rumoured to be $1 from Cable & Wireless. Millicom installed a new management team headed by John Tumelty, former CEO of Instaphone, and Chief Financial Officer David Ordman. In January 2007 Millicom sold Paktel for $284 million to China Mobile.

Sale of Paktel to China Mobile and Rename to CMPak

On January 22, 2007, Millicom International Cellular S.A. stated that it would sell its 88.86 percent stake in Paktel Ltd. to China Mobile for $284 million, which includes the repayment of intercompany debt. The sale implies an enterprise value

Enterprise value

Enterprise value , Total enterprise value , or Firm value is an economic measure reflecting the market value of a whole business. It is a sum of claims of all the security-holders: debtholders, preferred shareholders, minority shareholders, common equity holders, and others...

 for Paktel of $460 million, Millicom said in its press release. Merrill Lynch advised China Mobile on the transaction.

On 4 May 2007, Paktel was renamed to CMPak.And then, on 16 May 2007, China Mobile announced that it had upped its stake in CMPak to 100%.

Moreover, PTA (Pakistan Telecommunication Authority) has announced that it may resolve the frequency issue with China Mobile, as it was one of the main reason for pullout by Millicom International Cellular S.A.

CMPak has now rebranded Paktel to Zong

ZONG

ZONG is the first international brand of China Mobile, launched in Pakistan in 2008. The company is often cited as China Mobile .In October 2011, ZONG signed a three-year partnership deal with the English football club Manchester United F.C....

See also

• List of mobile network operators in Pakistan

External links

• Official site Zong
• Pakistan Telecom Watch Dog: Pakistan Telecom Authority (PTA)