The PTCL leadership change that many in Pakistan’s telecom industry had been watching for finally landed in early July 2026, triggered directly by the legal completion of the Ufone-Telenor merger. In the space of a fortnight, PTCL got a new CEO, a reshuffled board, and a fundamentally different role inside Pakistan’s telecom market. Here is a clear breakdown of what happened, who is now in charge, and what it means for subscribers and the sector.
How the Telenor-Ufone Merger Made the PTCL Leadership Change Necessary
The groundwork for this governance shake-up goes back to December 2025. PTCL formally completed its acquisition of 100 percent of Telenor Pakistan on December 31, 2025, bringing the Norwegian operator fully under its corporate umbrella. The next step was merging Telenor Pakistan into Pak Telecom Mobile Limited (PTML), which trades as Ufone.
The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) approved that amalgamation on March 19, 2026, after which the Islamabad High Court (IHC) issued the final statutory order on June 30, 2026. That court order was the last legal hurdle. From July 1, 2026, Telenor Pakistan ceased to exist as a separate legal entity, and its network, spectrum, staff, and subscribers moved fully into PTML.
This legal split was not just a paperwork exercise. The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) had attached a firm condition to the whole deal: PTCL and the merged mobile entity must have entirely separate boards, management teams, and financial accounts. That meant the people who had been running both sides of the group at once had to choose a lane, and the PTCL board had to be rebuilt from scratch.
The PTCL Leadership Change in Detail
Hatem Bamatraf Moves to Lead PTML
For five years, Hatem Mohamed Bamatraf served as President and CEO of both PTCL and Ufone. Once the merger was legally done, that dual role ended. Bamatraf moved across to head PTML, the new combined mobile operator now commonly referred to as Ufone 5G. His exit from PTCL on July 2, 2026, was the event that formally triggered the PTCL leadership change at the top.
Mohammad Nadeem Khan Takes the CEO Chair
PTCL’s board initially appointed Mohammad Nadeem Khan as interim CEO for 14 days, effective July 2, 2026. The appointment was disclosed in a notice to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX). That short window gave the board time to assess the fit, and on July 14, the board confirmed Khan as the company’s permanent Chief Executive Officer.
Khan is not an outsider brought in to fix things. He joined Ufone as Chief Financial Officer in 2003, a role he held for a full decade. In 2017 he was elevated to Group Chief Financial Officer for both PTCL and Ufone, where he led financial strategy through major corporate changes including the Telenor Pakistan acquisition. He has nearly 30 years of corporate experience, spent more than 20 of those inside the PTCL Group, and sits on the board of U Microfinance Bank.
Choosing the group’s own long-serving CFO as CEO signals that the board wanted continuity and institutional memory at a moment when PTCL is navigating its biggest structural change in years. This PTCL leadership change reflects a deliberate choice to steady the ship rather than bring in an outsider while the company finds its new identity as a standalone fixed-line and ICT services provider.
Two Directors Leave, Two New Faces Join the Board
The executive reshuffle was matched by changes at board level. Khaled Hegazy and Marwan Bin Shakar both resigned from PTCL’s Board of Directors with effect from July 1, 2026. In their place, Mohamed Dukandar and Sabri Ali Yehya joined the board on the same date. After these changes, PTCL’s board now has nine members. Zarrar Hasham Khan serves as Chairman, alongside Khalifa Al Shamsi, Anad Khan Cheema, Imdad Ullah Bosal, Jawad Paul Khawaja, Lamia Lemkecher, Nazih El Hassanieh, Mohamed Dukandar, and Sabri Ali Yehya.
What PTCL Looks Like Now as a Standalone Company
The merger has fundamentally repositioned PTCL. It is no longer the parent of a big mobile business. Instead it owns PTML as a subsidiary, but the CCP requires that subsidiary to be run at arm’s length with no shared management. PTCL’s own business is now focused on fixed broadband, fibre networks, enterprise and government ICT services, data centres, and submarine cable systems.
Under the new PTCL leadership change, Khan has outlined clear priorities: modernising the wireline network, expanding fibre coverage across Pakistan, growing the business-to-business (B2B) segment, and building out digital services. PTCL also plans to keep investing in broadband infrastructure and submarine cable systems to support Pakistan’s wider digital economy.
One coverage gap that most post-merger reports missed is the subscriber risk on the mobile side. A senior Ufone executive noted that around 4 million out of roughly 74 million combined subscribers of the merged PTML could switch to other networks in the coming months as the Telenor and Ufone operations fully integrate. This churn risk sits with PTML, not with PTCL, but it does affect the broader group’s performance numbers that investors will be watching.
What This Means for Pakistan’s Telecom Market
Pakistan now has three major mobile operators instead of four. The combined PTML holds about 35.91 percent of the mobile subscriber base, putting it just behind Jazz which leads with 36.42 percent, and well ahead of Zong at 26.62 percent. Pakistan had more than 206 million mobile subscribers by the end of May 2026, according to PTA data.
For ordinary users, both Telenor and Ufone SIMs continue to work normally during the integration period. PTML has said services will not be interrupted as the two networks merge their frequencies and systems. The longer-term benefit is expected to be better coverage, a stronger spectrum portfolio, and faster rollout of 5G services. There are also reports that the combined entity will eventually drop both the Ufone and Telenor brand names in favour of the parent group’s global identity.
For PTCL subscribers on fibre and broadband, the leadership transition is relevant because it signals a sharper strategic focus. With mobile operations handled separately under PTML, PTCL’s new CEO and board can concentrate fully on fixed-line services, a market where PTCL holds a strong infrastructure position but has faced competition from growing fibre players. Mobile package prices in Pakistan also rose by up to 33 percent recently after PTA approval, which you can read about in our report on mobile package price increases in Pakistan.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is the new CEO of PTCL?
Mohammad Nadeem Khan is the new permanent CEO of PTCL, confirmed by the board on July 14, 2026. He previously served as Group Chief Financial Officer of PTCL and Ufone for nearly a decade, and has been with the PTCL Group for over 20 years.
Why did PTCL’s leadership change after the Ufone-Telenor merger?
The Competition Commission of Pakistan required PTCL and the newly merged mobile entity (PTML) to have completely separate boards and management teams. This meant the executives who previously ran both PTCL and Ufone together had to split, forcing a full reshuffle of PTCL’s top leadership.
What happened to Hatem Bamatraf after leaving PTCL?
Hatem Bamatraf, who led PTCL and Ufone as President and CEO for five years, moved to head PTML, which is the new combined Ufone-Telenor entity now operating as Ufone 5G. He did not leave the PTCL Group entirely but shifted to lead its mobile subsidiary.
Who is on PTCL’s new board of directors?
PTCL’s nine-member board is chaired by Zarrar Hasham Khan. The other directors are Khalifa Al Shamsi, Anad Khan Cheema, Imdad Ullah Bosal, Jawad Paul Khawaja, Lamia Lemkecher, Nazih El Hassanieh, Mohamed Dukandar, and Sabri Ali Yehya. Mohamed Dukandar and Sabri Ali Yehya are the two newly appointed members who replaced the outgoing Khaled Hegazy and Marwan Bin Shakar.
