Mobilink: история пакистанского мобильного оператора до слияния с Jazz

the mobile network operator that existed before the merger

Mobilink was the trade name of Pakistan Mobile Communications Limited (PMCL), a mobile operator in Pakistan providing a range of prepaid and postpaid voice and data telecommunication services to both individual and corporate subscribers. In 2017, Warid Pakistan merged with Mobilink to form Jazz, under which the company now operates. Mobilink's head office was in Islamabad, and its last president and CEO was Aamir Ibrahim, who became the CEO of Jazz. The network claims to have been the first GSM based mobile operator in South Asia.

Formerly known as Mobilink, the company was founded in 1994 as a joint venture between Saif Group and Motorola Inc. In February 2001, Egypt based Orascom Telecom Holding bought Motorola’s shares in Mobilink to become the majority shareholder with 69% control. Then in June 2007, Orascom further purchased the remaining shares under Saif Group’s control to become Mobilink’s 100% owner. In 2010, Russian operator Vimpelcom (now VEON Ltd.) agreed to acquire most of the telecom assets of Orascom, including Mobilink, in a $6.5 billion deal, creating the world’s fifth largest mobile network operator by subscriber base. In November 2015, Vimpelcom announced the 100% acquisition of Pakistan’s Warid Telecom, a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi Group. Completed in July 2016 after due approvals, the first ever local telecom company acquisition created a combined subscriber base of 50 million. Following this merger, Mobilink was officially rebranded to Jazz in 2017.

Mobilink along with Haier Mobile division has launched co branded handsets including feature phone, smartphones, and tablets.

Mobilink has partnered with Waseela Microfinance Bank to mark its entry into the branchless banking segment. With Mobicash, customers have access to the simplest way to conduct their financial transactions, related to paying bills, sending/receiving money within Pakistan, purchasing top ups for their cell phones (Pre paid).

LINkdotNET (an Orascom Subsidiary) commenced its operation in Pakistan by acquiring two already existing Internet Service Providers (ISPs) named as World Online (WOL) Telecom Limited and Dancom Online. LINKdotNET merged the resources of these two companies and by putting in more investment launched its operations officially on 2 February 2008. It was offering its services in more than 130 cities in Pakistan and in two years this company raised its customer base up to 35,000. LINKdotNET provided services for both home and commercial users and was the second largest broadband service provider in Pakistan after PTCL (Pakistan Telecommunication Limited).

Under the brand name of Infinity, Mobilink had started its WiMAX services in major cities of Pakistan.

Despite having the 66% of Mobilink GSM business share, in April 2001, Orascom (GTH) took over management control of the company. As the market leader, Mobilink serves approximately 38.1 million customers and has a 28% market share (as of March 31, 2014).

On March 30, 2000, Mobilink was 66% acquired by Orascom Investment Holding. Orascom has mobile telephony holdings in a number of countries in Africa and the Middle East.

The Mobilink Foundation is a registered non profit organization, which provides support for the local community not only financially but also through dedicated volunteer hours. Being a philanthropic organization, it is purely based on employee volunteerism. No administrative costs or overheads are incurred age the organization and therefore, every single penny that is donated to Mobilink Foundation goes directly into making a difference on the ground.

The Mobilink Foundation Torchbearers clock an average of 4 to 5 dedicated hours per person per month during official working hours. On average the volunteers spent more than 4,500 hours in 2012 in community service initiatives.

Mobilink also provides free services like access to Wikimedia Foundation's Wikipedia Zero. Free Facebook is also available with no photos on Mobilink.

Mobilink previously announced its merger with Warid Tel in November 2015. The case was under review at Pakistan telecommunication authority. After scrutiny PTA finally approved the merger on 24 May 2016. In January 2017, Mobilink CEO, Aamir Ibrahim, stated that the Warid brand name would be history, and both companies would be re launched under the 'Jazz' brand name. After the acquisition of Warid now Mobilink joins the 4G service provider in Pakistan.