KARACHI: Pakistan’s telecom company, Ufone, has secured its largest syndicated financing facility jointly led by the MCB Bank Limited (agent bank), Allied Bank Limited (ABL), Bank of Punjab (BoP), National Bank of Pakistan (NBP), and the United Bank Limited (UBL) to fund the acquisition and rollout of its 4G services across Pakistan, a statement said.

PTCL and Ufone president and Group CEO Hatem Bamatraf signed the agreement for the syndicated financing of Rs21 billion at a ceremony held in Islamabad, which was also attended by MCB Bank president Imran Maqbool; Group Head, Corporate Finance and International Banking, MCB Bank, Shoaib Mumtaz; Allied Bank president Aizid Razzaq Gill; Chief, Corporate and Investment Banking, Allied Bank Owais Shahid; Head Investment Banking, Bank of Punjab, Mr.Umer Khan, Mr. Abid Kitchlew Divisional Head C&IBG, National Bank, and Farooq Ahmed Khan, Group Head Corporate and Investment Banking, United Bank Ltd.

Ufone has recently been awarded 4G Spectrum licence as a result of competitive bidding during the spectrum auction held by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority.

The company’s investment in 4G spectrum will go onto enhancing its network capacity and readiness, besides delivering superior connectivity and user experience to its customers.

Bamatraf expressed his gratitude to the banking consortium for the timely financial support and said: “The financing solution will go a long way in bringing high quality mobile broadband services to the people of Pakistan. It will improve the quality of network services and usher in a host of socioeconomic opportunities for growth and development for our customers.”

He also said: “It is a mutual goal that both Pakistan’s banking and telecom industries are working to achieve to create shared value for the communities we serve.”