The China Mobile has sought the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) consent to swap the Paktel mobile company name as CM-Pak, the name under which the company intends to operate, sources told Business Recorder on Thursday.
The China Mobile that took over Paktel from Millicom International after paying dues has now formally requested the regulator for change of Paktel's name, said an official of the PTA when contacted. He said that the PTA was approached by the China Mobile with the application that it wanted to operate under the name of CM-Pak, but added no decision has been taken so far.
China Mobile has pumped in $700 million in the Pakistan telecommunication sector since taking over the management control of Paktel. The company will invest $2 billion in the next three years (till 2009) to expand its network, an official of the Paktel told Business Recorder when approached by this scribe.
The entire investment, he said would come from China and no loan would be taken from banks in Pakistan adding that the company has submitted its investment plan to the regulator.
Paktel, which owed $29 million to the PTA on account of ILF, was not allowed to wind up its operation without clearing the dues and her parent company, Millicom International, was asked to pay the dues before wrapping up operations in Pakistan. In January 2007, the China Mobile struck a deal with the Millicom International to take over Paktel. It is leant that the CM-Pak was busy in hiring vendors to expand its network to become an active market player like other cellular operators with over 40 million subscribers.
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