Draft rules would let PTA make dominant mobile operators share their networks

Pakistan's IT ministry has drafted rules that would let the telecom regulator force a dominant mobile operator to open its network to rivals. The Telecommunication Competition Rules, 2026, published in draft in early October, give the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) the power to require national roaming from any licensee with significant market power (SMP).

National roaming lets a subscriber of one operator use another operator's towers where their own network has no signal. Pakistan's 2015 telecom policy already envisaged it for SMP operators on fair and non discriminatory terms.

What the regulator could order

Under the draft, the PTA could impose roaming where it is needed to promote competition, help networks expand, protect consumers or use telecom infrastructure more efficiently. Terms would have to be fair, reasonable, transparent and non discriminatory. The regulator would decide the technical feasibility, operational scope and duration of each arrangement.

Enforcement powers are broad. The PTA could issue directions, require corrective measures, impose proportionate obligations and start proceedings under the relevant law. It could also settle disputes between operators, weighing market efficiency, consumer welfare, proportionality, technical feasibility and the effect on competition. The PTA could also issue guidelines, determinations, frameworks or directions to carry out the rules, and disputes under the framework would be adjudicated by the authority in accordance with the law. Applications under the rules would carry fees set in a schedule to the rules, replacing the earlier wording of "reasonable fees".

Who counts as dominant

The draft rules do not set the threshold themselves. Recent PTA proposals suggest a market share of 25 percent as an initial trigger for assessing significant market power. The authority would also look at market concentration, spectrum holdings, control of essential infrastructure, financial strength, network effects and barriers to entry.

The proposals arrive as the industry consolidates, spectrum holdings concentrate and 5G deployment widens. The ministry ties the roaming power to wider coverage, better use of existing infrastructure and more consumer choice.

Overlap with the CCP

The draft says the rules would operate without prejudice to the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) under the Competition Act, 2010. That line matters because the ministry, the PTA and the CCP have long disputed who regulates competition in telecom. The Islamabad High Court has previously held that the CCP has overarching jurisdiction over competition matters.

The text remains a draft, and no comment period or effective date has been stated.