Govt rejects USD263m offer to end PTCL dispute

Pakistan’s government has rejected an offer from UAE-based e& (formerly Etisalat) to settle a long-standing dispute over the privatisation of Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL). The Express Tribune writes that the government turned down an offer from e& that would have seen the group pay USD263 million to end the dispute. As noted by TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database, the e& purchased its 26% share in PTCL – plus majority voting rights – for USD2.6 billion in 2005, agreeing to pay the total over a five-year period. The final payment of USD800 million remains outstanding, however, and the two parties have spent the last decade negotiating a settlement. The privatisation deal had included an agreement for the state to transfer to PTCL 3,248 properties, and e& initially withheld the final payment pending the completion of these transactions. Whilst the bulk of the properties have since been transferred, a small number cannot be completed due to a variety of complications and errors, as such, subsequent discussions have centred around the valuation of the outstanding properties.