Telenor Pakistan

(Urdu: ‫)ٹیلی نار پاکستان‬, branded as Telenor 4G, is a Pakistani mobile data and digital
services provider , owned by Norwegian company Telenor Group.
Currently, Telenor Pakistan has a total subscriber base of 44 million[1] with 28% cellular
market share in Pakistan and more than 1,900 employees. Since its launch in 2005, the
company has made an investment of more than $3.5 billion in Pakistan and paid over
PKR 300 billion to the country's national exchequer in the form of direct or indirect
taxes.[2]

History
Telenor acquired a license for providing GSM services in Pakistan in April 2004, and
launched its services commercially in Karachi, Islamabad, and Rawalpindi on 15 March
2005; it expanded its services to Lahore, Faisalabad and Hyderabad on 23 March 2005.
Telenor Pakistan's corporate headquarters are in Islamabad, with regional offices in
Peshawar, Lahore, Faisalabad, Multan, Hyderabad, Quetta and Karachi.
The official opening of Telenor Pakistan was held in Islamabad in which former president
of Pakistan General Pervez Musharraf was the guest of honor and was attended by
Telenor delegation headed by president and CEO of Telenor Group Jon Fredrik Baksaas
along with then CEO of Telenor Pakistan Tore Johnsen. The first call at the inauguration
was made by former President Pervez Musharraf to the prime minister of Norway, Jens
Stoltenberg, who was visiting Australia at the time. Telenor Pakistan's new headquarter
named ‘345’ was inaugurated in Islamabad on 1 November 2017 by the then prime
minister of Pakistan Shahid Khaqan Abbasi. The new headquarter was built at a cost of
$80 million.[3]

Operations
Coverage
Telenor Pakistan covers more than 80% of Pakistan's population in urban and rural areas
with a network of over 11,000 cell sites of which 80% are 3G and 70% are 4G enabled.
The company has been awarded a number of projects under Universal Service Fund
(USF) of which the one currently in progress in the Broadband for Sustainable
Development (BSD) program under which more than 100 new cell sites will be
established to bring connectivity to 1.7 million in Dera Ismail Khan and Mohmand
Agency.[4] In the past, Telenor worked on USF Projects for cell site installation in
Bahawalpur-Cholistan district in 2009 and provision of 3G services in Kohistan district in
2017.[5][6]

Radio Frequency
Frequencies used on Telenor Pakistan's Network
Frequency Protocol Band Class Channel width
900 MHz GSM/GPRS/EDGE 2G 4.8 MHz
1800 MHz GSM/GPRS/EDGE 2G 3.8 / 5.8 MHz
2100 MHz UMTS/HSDPA/HSPA+ 1 3G 5 MHz
850 MHz UMTS/HSDPA/HSPA+ 5 3G 5 MHz
850 MHz LTE/LTE-A 5 4G 5 MHz
1800 MHz LTE/LTE-A 3 4G 3 / 5 MHz

Sales and distribution

Telenor Pakistan's distribution network has over 220,000 touch points across Pakistan
that include franchises, sahulat ghars and retailers that offer GSM products and
Easypaisa services. In 2017, company owned customer sales and service centers were
converted to Digital Customer Touch Points that include Self Service Booths, IVR, web
and social media customer services. [10]

Next generation mobile services (NGMS)

Telenor is the first to officially launch 4.5G (LTE Advanced) in Pakistan. It has done so
by aggregating two LTE bands, FDD-LTE Band 5 (850 MHz) and FDD-LTE Band 3
(1800 MHz), a portion of which has been re-farmed for LTE, it was previously used on
the 2G (GPRS/EDGE) network. Telenor's new LTE-A network will initially be available
in Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi and Islamabad.[7]

Launch of Voice-over-LTE (VoLTE)

After conducting trials and internal testing, Telenor Pakistan launched Voice over LTE
(VoLTE) on 29 January 2019. This makes it the first network in Pakistan to launch
VoLTE.[8]
Telenor's VoLTE in Pakistan is based on an open source platform and has been developed
in-house.
VoLTE has been rolled out to Telenor's Infinity branded smartphones officially on 4 June
2019. Support for other smartphone manufacturers will follow soon.[9]

Inauguration of New Headquarters in Islamabad

Telenor Pakistan's new headquarter '345' was inaugurated on 1 November 2017 by then
prime minister of Pakistan Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and is situated in Gulberg Greens,
Islamabad.[10]

Easypaisa
Main article: Easypaisa
In 2008, Telenor acquired majority shares of Tameer Microfinance Bank Limited for its
mobile financial services project.[11] They named the branchless banking service
"Easypaisa" and launched it in October 2009.[12] Easypaisa was Pakistan's first
branchless banking deployment.[citation needed] Later 'Mobile Wallet' was introduced
where normal Telenor Pakistan subscribers could now open a mobile account and make
transactions themselves using their cellphones. Easypaisa was cited by CNN as the
"model to follow" in launching mobile banking services.[13]
Easypaisa is Pakistan's first and largest mobile money service and third largest in the
world (according to CGAP), catering to over 18 million customers. It currently has over
75,000 agents across Pakistan. In October 2014 Telenor Easypaisa introduced several
types of accounts at different levels.[14]
Tameer Bank was acquired by Telenor Group in 2016 to become Telenor Microfinance
Bank and Easypaisa became a part of the bank. ANT Financial Group which owns the
global payment platform Alipay, acquired 45% stake in Telenor Bank for $184.5m in
March, 2018.[15]

Digital ecosystem
Telenor Pakistan started off as a cellular service provider in 2005, but has diversified its
offerings. Telenor Pakistan offers a number of 4G-enabled handsets including Telenor
Infinity E3, Telenor Infinity E2 and Telenor Infinity A2.[16] The company also provides
its customers branded mobile handsets from Samsung, Apple and Motorola, in addition to
4G MiFi and 4G Wingle[17] and 3G broadband devices such as 3G Wingle.[18] The
company launched Digital Customer TouchPoints in the form of kiosks.[19]
Telenor Velocity is Pakistan's first telco-led accelerator.[20]
Telenor Pakistan has entered into partnerships with various stakeholders. Telenor
Pakistan collaborated with UNICEF to implement digital birth registration through
cellular devices. Telenor Pakistan has collaborated with the government on various
initiatives that include rehabilitation of middle level public schools in Punjab,
establishing an Open Mind Pakistan Assistive Technology Training Center to assist
people with disabilities, and creating services to support the agriculture sector through its
Connected Agriculture Platform for Punjab (CAPP) and Khushaal Zamindaar
("prosperous landlord") programs to facilitate farmers to improve yields & alert farmers
to unfavorable weather conditions.[21]

Awards
Telenor Pakistan has won a number of awards. In 2011, it won the Prime Minister of
Pakistan Trophy for Largest Foreign Direct Investment (Telecom Sector) which was
awarded by the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industries.[22]
Telenor Pakistan and Tameer Microfinance Bank's Easypaisa won the Shaukat Khanum
Social Responsibility Award in 2011.[23] Easypaisa also won the Best Mobile Money
Transfer Entrant of the Year Award at the Mobile Money Awards in 2011. In 2012,
Easypaisa was declared as the third largest mobile money service by the Consultative
Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP).
In 2014, Easypaisa won the Best NFC/Mobile Money Product or Service and Best
Mobile Product or Service for Women in Emerging Markets awards at the 19th GSMA
Global Mobile Awards in Barcelona, Spain.[24] Telenor Pakistan was named the Best
Place to Work in Telecom Industry by Engage Consulting and PSHRM in 2017.[25]
At the 2018 Pakistan Advertisers Society (PAS) Awards, the company won Best in
Telecommunications and Best in PR awards for its campaigns.[26] Telenor Pakistan was
awarded the "Best Practice Award" by Center for Global Inclusion at the Diversity and
Inclusion Conference 2018

key information
Type Allmennaksjeselskap Traded as OSE: TEL

Industry Telecommunications

Founded 1855, 1970

Headquarters Fornebu, Norway

Key people Sigve Brekke (President and CEO), Gunn Wærsted (Chairman of the
Board)

Products Fixed line and mobile telephony, internet, digital television, IT services,
IPTV

Revenue NOK 131.40 billion (2016)[1]

Operating income NOK 46.50 billion (2016)[1]
Net income NOK 2.80 billion (2016)
[1] Total assets NOK193.755 billion (end 2014)
[2] Total equity NOK68.505 billion (end 2014)
[2] Owner Government of Norway (54%)
Number of employees 35,121 (end 2014)
[2] Website www.telenor.com