CMPak Limited, doing business as Zong (), is a Pakistani mobile data network operator, owned by

China Mobile China Mobile is the trade name of both China Mobile Limited and its ultimate controlling shareholder, China Mobile Communications Group Co., Ltd., a Chinese State-owned enterprises of China, state-owned telecommunicationsStrait deals ''The Econ ...

. It is the first overseas setup of

through acquisition of a license from

Millicom Millicom International Cellular SA is a Luxembourgish fixed line and mobile telecommunications services provider operating in Latin America operating under the Tigo brand. Its main shareholder is Xavier Niel, a French billionaire who owns 40% of ...

to operate a GSM network in Pakistan in 2008. It is Pakistan's second-largest mobile service provider with a subscriber base of 51 million, among which 39 million are 4G/LTE subscribers. With over 14,000 4G enabled sites across the country, it has a market share of 26% among cellular operators in the country.

History

Zong commenced operations as Paktel by Cable & Wireless in 1991. It was the first company granted a free license to carry out

cellular phone A mobile phone or cell phone is a portable telephone that allows users to make and receive calls over a radio frequency link while moving within a designated telephone service area, unlike fixed-location phones ( landline phones). This radi ...

services in Pakistan. It carried out AMPS services until 2004, when the company launched GSM services. In 2003,

Corporation, who at that time were majority owners of Instaphone, bought Paktel from Cable & Wireless. Millicom installed a new management team headed by John Tumelty, former CEO of Instaphone, and Chief Financial Officer David Ordman. On 22 January 2007, Millicom International Cellular S.A. stated that it would sell its 88.86 percent stake in Paktel Limited to China Mobile for $284 million, which includes the repayment of intercompany debt. The sale implies an

enterprise value Enterprise value (EV), total enterprise value (TEV), or firm value (FV) is an economic measure reflecting the market value of a business (i.e. as distinct from market price). It is a sum of claims by all claimants: creditors (secured and unsecure ...

for Paktel of $460 million, Millicom said in its press release. Merrill Lynch advised China Mobile on the transaction. On 4 May 2007, Paktel Limited was renamed to China Mobile Pakistan. On 16 May 2007 China Mobile announced that it had increased its stake in CMPak to 100%. On 1 April 2008, Paktel was rebranded to Zong.

Network

China Mobile Pakistan has invested more than US$2 billion so far to build up network infrastructure in Pakistan since 2008. It will invest US$1 billion in next two to three year for next generation service roll-out. Zong has built the third-largest cellular network in the country with over 10,000

base stations Base station (or base radio station, BS) is – according to the International Telecommunication Union's (ITU) Radio Regulations (RR) – a " land station in the land mobile service." A base station is called '' node B'' in 3G, '' eNB'' in LT ...

. To go green, Zong has installed solar powered cell sites in various locations. It has country's largest solar power telecommunication network. Zong 4G1

Its cellular towers are mostly installed inhouse yet it also utilizes B2S towers provided by Tawal, E.co, and Infrashare. Its network base stations, microwave links, IT support and transmission towers are maintained and provided by ZTE Pakistan. Zong currently uses

GSM The Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) is a family of standards to describe the protocols for second-generation (2G) digital cellular networks, as used by mobile devices such as mobile phones and Mobile broadband modem, mobile broadba ...

UMTS The Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) is a 3G mobile cellular system for networks based on the GSM standard. UMTS uses Wideband Code Division Multiple Access, wideband code-division multiple access (W-CDMA) radio access technolog ...

HSPA+ HSPA may refer to: * High Speed Packet Access, a mobile broadband technology * Hawaiian Sugar Planters' Association Education * High School Proficiency Assessment * Humphrey School of Public Affairs, an American public policy school * Hunte ...

and

LTE LTE may refer to: Science and technology * LTE (telecommunication) (Long-Term Evolution), a mobile telephony standard ** LTE Advanced, an enhancement ** LTE Advanced Pro, a further enhancement * Compaq LTE, a line of laptop computers * Leukotrie ...

technologies.

Radio frequency summary

Next generation mobile services

On 23 April 2014, Pakistan concluded the auction for the next generation of mobile spectrum. Zong paid $516 million for a 10 MHz spectrum in the 2.1 GHz frequency range for 3G and a 10 MHz spectrum in the 1.8 GHz frequency range for 4G, making it Pakistan's first 3G and 4G operator.

LTE Advanced (4G+)

Zong has refarmed 5 MHz of its 2100 MHz 3G spectrum for 4G. They are currently deploying (via carrier aggregation) 15 MHz of Band 3 (1800 MHz), and 10 MHz of Band 1 (2100 MHz) for

LTE-A LTE Advanced, also named or recognized as LTE+, LTE-A or 4G+, is a 4G mobile Cellular network, cellular communication standard developed by 3GPP as a major enhancement of the LTE (telecommunication), Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard. Three tec ...

5G Testing

As of August 2019, Zong is the first of three mobile network operators in Pakistan to successfully conduct 5G trials. In the trial, speeds of up to 1.14 GB/s were achieved.

Number scheming

Zong uses the following numbering scheme: +92 3 1 N₁N₂N₃N₄N₅N₆N₇N₈N₉ Where, 92 is the ISD code for Pakistan and is required when dialing outside the country, 3 is the mobile access code, and 1 is the prefix for Zong allocated by

Pakistan Telecommunication Authority The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) () is the telecommunication regulator of Pakistan, responsible for the establishment, operation and maintenance of telecommunication systems and the provision of telecommunication services in Pakis ...

. Omitting +92 would require 0 instead to represent local call, hence 031 is the general prefix and N₁N₂N₃N₄N₅N₆N₇N₈N₉ is the subscriber number.

Zong Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH)

Zong plans to launch

Fiber-to-the-Home Fiber to the ''x'' (FTTX; also spelled "fibre") or fiber in the loop is a generic term for any broadband network architecture using optical fiber to provide all or part of the local loop used for Last mile (telecommunications), last mile tel ...

(FTTH) Broadband internet. Initially the service will only be available in select areas of Karachi.

Marketing

Stores

Zong operates 22 customer service centres, 305

franchises Franchise may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Media franchise, a collection of related creative works, such as films, video games, books, etc., particularly in North American usage * "Franchise" (short story), a 1955 short story ...

, and 190,000

retail Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is the sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholes ...

customer points nationwide.

Slogans

At the time of its launch in 2008, China Mobile Pakistan ran the

advertising campaign An advertising campaign or marketing campaign is a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme which make up an integrated marketing communication (IMC). An IMC is a platform in which a group of people can group their ide ...

for Zong with the tagline 'Say it all' (). China Mobile Pakistan ran advertising for Zong with new tagline 'A New Dream' (). In February, the company announced its new tagline is "Let's Get Digital".

Products

Zong offers prepaid, postpaid, ladies, and youth plans. The postpaid, ladies, and youth plans are branded as bizXcess, Flutter, and Circle. Moreover, it also offers data plans and branch-less banking.

Mobile banking

Timepey

Timepey was the mobile banking service offered by Zong in association with Askari Bank Limited from late 2012. Timepey lets users pay utility bills, transfer money to specified recipients anywhere in the country, deposit and withdraw cash and carry out account transfers.

PayMax

Discontinuing Timepey in 2017, Zong relaunched its mobile financial services with a new brand "PayMax" in association with Askari Bank Limited. PayMax lets users pay utility bills, transfer money to specified recipients anywhere in the country, deposit and withdraw cash and carry out account transfers.

References

External links

* {{Mobile network operators of Pakistan China Mobile Mobile phone companies of Pakistan Telecommunications-related introductions in 2008 China–Pakistan relations Pakistani subsidiaries of foreign companies Internet service providers of Pakistan Companies based in Islamabad