Here's what PTCL needs for Telenor acquisition

With the acquisition of Telenor Pakistan (Pvt) Ltd by Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) Group grappling with regulatory challenges, the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has presented a few conditions ahead of making the final decision.

Having previewed CCP's conditions for PTCL's purchase of Telenor and Orion Towers, Business Recorder noted that the conditions included Section 3 of the Competition Act which addresses the abuse of its dominant position and might as well prevent PTCL from exploiting its superior standing in Long Distance International (LDI) business.

Practices, involving a firm's dominant position, that anyhow impede, reduce or distort fair competition are strictly prohibited to be undertaken under Section 3 of the Act.

These practices revolve around low production or sales, unjustified price hikes, pricing disparity between different customers, overpricing, refusing to deal, and boycotting or excluding any other undertaking from producing, distributing or selling goods, or providing any service.

Notable among the sector-specific conditions shared by the CCP is a thorough evaluation of the transaction’s effect on major telecom submarkets, including LDI, Local Loop Operators (LLO), telecom infrastructure, mobile network operators and domestic leased lines and IP bandwidth.

The was also learned that the merger of PTCL and Telenor would bring significant changes to market shares across various telecom sectors, as the buyer, currently owning 50.5% of the retail LDI, fixed-line market, will have 61% shares of the LDI market after the Telenor acquisition takes place.