Pakistan 3G merger call: FT

By Farhan Bokhari in Islamabad

Published: March 16 2010 02:00 | Last updated: March 16 2010 02:00

Pakistan's telecoms market will have to consolidate before the government can even consider a planned push into third-generation technology, according to the head of the only European operator in the country.

Telenor, the Norwegian telecoms group, said that there was not enough profit per phone user to justify having five mobile groups in Pakistan and operators would have to consider mergers or acquisitions in order to see significant growth.

Jon Eddy Abdullah, Telenor Pakistan's chief executive, told the Financial Times: "Most markets are [divided between] three players. Three seems a very good number. Five is too many."

Telenor entered Pakistan five years ago and is the second largest cellular phone operator after Mobilink, a subsidiary of Egypt's Orascom Telecom . Pakistan's other operators are Ufone, Warid Telecom and Zong.

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