Jazz (mobile network operator)

Pakistan Mobile Communications Limited,[3][4] doing business as Jazz, (Urdu: جاز) is a Pakistani mobile network and internet services provider in formed by the merger of Mobilink and Warid.[5][6]

Pakistan Mobile Communications Limited
Jazz
Native name
جاز
FormerlyMobilink
TypeSubsidiary
IndustryTelephony and Internet
Founded1994 as a joint venture between Saif Group and Motorola Inc.
Headquarters
Islamabad
,
Pakistan
Area served
Pakistan
Key people
Aamir Hafeez Ibrahim (CEO)
ProductsMobile telephony
Mobile banking
Revenue ₨59.439 billion (US$371.03 million) (Q4 2021)[1]
ParentVEON[2]
SubsidiariesJazzCash
Websitewww.jazz.com.pk

It provides a range of services for prepaid and postpaid customers to individual and corporate clients. It is headquartered in Islamabad, and the current CEO is Aamir Hafeez Ibrahim.

History

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 Investment Holding bought Motorola’s shares in Jazz 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 Jazz’s 100% owner.

In 2010, Russian operator Vimpelcom (now VEON Ltd.) agreed to acquire most of the telecom assets of Orascom, including Jazz, in a $6.5 billion deal, creating the world’s fifth-largest mobile network operator by subscriber base.[7][8] In November 2015, Orascom Investment Holding 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 the merger of Mobilink and Warid, Mobilink was officially rebranded to Jazz in 2017. As of February 2022, Jazz has 74 million subscribers in Pakistan, among which 35 million are 4G/LTE subscribers.[9]

Veon will buy the remaining 15% shares in Jazz from Abu Dhabi Group for 100pc ownership.[10] In March 2021, VEON completed the acquisition of 15 percent shares held by Abu Dhabi Group for US$273 million.[11]

Network

Jazz has over 12,500 active cell sites in the country, with over 25,000 kilometers of fiber-optic cables laid. Huawei, Nokia-Siemens, and ZTE are the primary vendors for networking equipment at Jazz, including Radio Base Stations, Microwave equipment and network switches. Jazz has invested over 9 billion US Dollars in Pakistan till date.[12]

In 2014, Jazz participated in the 2014 NGMS auction held by PTA, which allowed them to bid for a 3G license, and a 10 MHz block in the 2100 MHz band was allocated to Jazz.[13]

In March 2017, Jazz inaugurated their Network Operations Center (NOC) which makes use of IBM and Dell EMC products to manage day-to-day network operations and provides the company with 24x7 network surveillance.[14][15][16]

Radio Frequency Summary
Frequency Protocol Band Class Channel Width
900 MHz GSM/GPRS/EDGE 2G 2.4 MHz / 7.4 MHz
2100 MHz UMTS/HSPA+/DC-HSPA+ 1 3G 5 MHz / 10 MHz
1800 MHz LTE/LTE-A 3 4G+ 20 MHz
900 MHz LTE/LTE-A 8 4G+ 5 MHz / 10 MHz
2100 MHz LTE/LTE-A 1 4G+ 5 MHz

Jazz's participation in the 2014 NGMS Auction held by PTA allowed them to bid for the 3G license, which included a 10 MHz block in the 2100 MHz band. In July 2014, they announced that they have over 10,000 3G and 9,000 4G ready cell sites. Jazz did not bid for any LTE spectrum in the 2014 NGMS auction.

Post-merger with Warid, Jazz was able to use Warid's license allowing them to become an LTE network using a 5 MHz block in the 1800 MHz band. In May 2017, Jazz won the 2017 NGMS auction held by PTA.[17] This includes a 10 MHz block in the 1800 MHz (FDD-LTE Band 3) frequency to be used for Jazz LTE. Jazz was also awarded additional 4G spectrum on 30 June 2017 by PTA.[18][19]

LTE-A / 4G+ launch

Jazz has refarmed a 10 MHz block from its 900 MHz spectrum for carrier aggregation with their existing 1800 MHz LTE spectrum. The LTE-A network would be rolled out to cater for growing demand.[20] This makes them the third carrier after Telenor Pakistan and Zong 4G to officially launch LTE-A in the country.[21]

VoLTE testing

Jazz has tested VoLTE over its network with its partners Huawei and Nokia, announced in a press statement. It is the first operator in Pakistan to prepare for the launch of VoLTE in the country.[22]

As of January 2022, Jazz has rolled out VoLTE across its network, with supported devices including Samsung, Huawei, Oppo, Vivo and Jazz Digit branded feature phones.[23]

5G Trials

In January 2020, Jazz had reported that they had successfully carried out 5G trials with reaching speeds of 1.5Gbps. These trials were carried out on the 2.6 GHz spectrum.[24]

Subsidiaries

JazzCash
Main article: JazzCash

Jazz had partnered with Mobilink Microfinance Banking to make an entry into the branchless banking market, initially launched under the MobiCash brand name, it was later changed to JazzCash. It is a direct competitor to Telenor's Easypaisa. It allows users to pay bills, send and receive money and purchase top-ups for prepaid mobile numbers.

Branding

Jazz appointed Ertugrul Ghazi famed Esra Bilgic as its Brand Ambassador.[25]

References
  1. "Financial statements of VEON Holdings B.V" (PDF). veon.com. 28 February 2022. p. 16. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
  2. https://veon.com/our-markets/ourmarkets/
  3. "PAKISTAN MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS LIMITED". opencorporates.com. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
  4. "Pakistan Mobile Communications Ltd.: Private Company Information". bloomberg.com. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
  5. Junaidi, Ikram (2017). "Mobilink, Warid become Jazz after merger". Dawn.com.
  6. Ali, Samana (January 9, 2017). "Don't call me Mobilink, I am Jazz now".
  7. "Vimpelcom reportedly close to USD7 billion Sawiris merger". www.commsupdate.com.
  8. "VimpelCom and Orascom merge to create new mobile superpower". Mobile World Live. 26 October 2010.
  9. "Telecom Indicators - PTA". Pakistan Telecommunications Authority. September 2021. Retrieved 22 October 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  10. Desk, News (2020-09-29). "Veon to buy remaining shares in Jazz for 100pc ownership". Profit by Pakistan Today. Retrieved 2020-09-30.
  11. Ali, Kalbe (March 23, 2021). "VEON acquires Dhabi group stake in Jazz for $273m". DAWN.COM.
  12. "Our Business Network Advantage - Jazz". Jazz. Retrieved 2017-03-12.
  13. uzidon (2014-04-23). "3G/4G Licenses Auction Concludes, Raising $1.112 Billion the Process". TechJuice. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
  14. "Jazz inaugurates its state-of-the-art Network Operations Center". 2017-03-10. Retrieved 2017-03-11.
  15. Webmaster (2017-03-11). "Jazz inaugurates network operations centre". Pakistan Observer. Retrieved 2017-03-11.
  16. "Jazz's state-of-the-art NOC becomes operational". Retrieved 2017-03-11.
  17. "PTA Notifies Jazz as the Winner of 4G Spectrum Auction". 2017-05-19. Retrieved 2017-05-20.
  18. "Jazz wins 4G spectrum licence for $295m - The Express Tribune". The Express Tribune. 2017-07-01. Retrieved 2017-07-01.
  19. "Jazz Officially Awarded 4G Spectrum After it Paid 100% License Fee". 2017-06-30. Retrieved 2017-07-01.
  20. Release, Press (14 March 2019). "Jazz Achieves 140 Mbps in 4G Testing". Retrieved 2019-03-14.
  21. "Jazz Careers". jobs.jazz.com.pk. Retrieved 2021-05-06.
  22. "Jazz to Soon Enable VoLTE Across its Network". 2017-05-30. Retrieved 2017-05-30.
  23. "Volte - Jazz". jazz.com.pk. Retrieved 2022-02-08.
  24. Oliver, Dan (6 January 2020). "Pakistani operator Jazz trials 5G in Islamabad". 5Gradar. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
  25. "Esra Bilgic is now brand ambassador for Jazz 4G". INCPak. 2020-07-31. Retrieved 2020-08-01.
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