Pakistan’s telecom regulator has ordered Pak Telecom Mobile Limited (PTML) to stop selling and activating new ONIC SIMs and eSIMs, drawing a hard regulatory line around one of the country’s most visible digital-first mobile brands.

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) order covers new sales, activations, subscriptions, SIM and eSIM issuance, marketing and related commercial activity. Existing ONIC users are not being disconnected: PTML has been given three months to migrate them into its licensed operation.

That distinction matters. This is not an eSIM ban, and it is not really a story about the SIM format at all. It is about when a “digital brand” becomes independent enough in practice to be treated as a Mobile Virtual Network Operator.

The real issue

ONIC is registered as a PTML brand and uses PTML’s licensed network, spectrum and numbering resources. PTML also operates Ufone and, following the 2026 amalgamation of Telenor Pakistan, now sits at the centre of a much larger consolidated mobile business. Telenor Pakistan formally ceased to exist as a separate legal entity after the Islamabad High Court approved the amalgamation in June.

But PTA says ONIC’s operating model went well beyond ordinary sub-branding.

According to the regulator, ONIC had customised packages, a dedicated app, separate CRM and billing systems, its own customer-care journey and substantial customer-facing operations handled by another entity, DTMS. That included marketing, acquisition, KYC-related processes, SIM logistics and sales.

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There was also a revenue-sharing structure under which DTMS reportedly received 55% of relevant revenue during the first three years.

Put those pieces together and PTA’s argument becomes clearer: ONIC may use PTML’s network, but commercially and operationally it behaves much more like an MVNO.

Pakistan now has a formal MVNO framework. The policy enables virtual operators to offer nationwide mobile services under their own brands through agreements with licensed mobile operators. The initial nationwide licence fee is $140,000, and licences can run for 15 years.

That makes ONIC’s status more than a naming exercise. PTA is effectively saying: choose a lane.

What happens now

PTML has two realistic paths:

• Restructure ONIC so it is unmistakably a PTML product operating within PTML’s existing mobile-network licence.
• Keep the more independent ONIC model and obtain the appropriate MVNO authorisation.

Existing customers have a three-month migration window, but PTA has stressed that this is for customer protection, not permission to keep acquiring new ONIC users. PTML must also submit a compliance report within seven working days.

ONIC, meanwhile, has tried to calm existing customers.

“ONIC would like to reassure its customers that there is no disruption to its services and that they can continue to use them without interruption,” the company said.

READ MORE: TRAI Explores Fresh Regulations for Foreign SIMs, eSIMs Amid Security and KYC Concerns

It added:

“We remain fully committed to serving our customers and maintaining the highest standards of connectivity, service and support. Our customers remain our top priority, and we appreciate their continued trust and confidence in ONIC.”

For users, then, there is no obvious reason to panic. But anyone planning to buy a new ONIC line will need to look elsewhere unless and until the regulatory position changes.

Why eSIM regulation is getting messy

Pakistan is hardly alone in trying to decide where digital connectivity products fit inside telecom rules.

Turkey took a much tougher route in 2025, blocking access to dozens of travel eSIM providers. BTK’s position was that selling SIMs or eSIMs in Turkey facilitates electronic communications services and therefore requires the appropriate authorisation.

India already uses NOC requirements around the sale or rental of foreign operators’ international roaming SIM products and has been developing a more explicit framework covering foreign SIM/eSIM use in M2M and IoT devices.

READ MORE: Who Owns the Customer in the API Connectivity Era?

Russia has moved strongly towards identity-led SIM regulation. Rules affecting foreign nationals require tighter identity verification and link mobile contracts to subscriber and device information, making frictionless local SIM activation considerably more complicated.

Guernsey offers almost the opposite example. In July 2026, its regulator introduced a class exemption for qualifying travel eSIM services used temporarily, concluding that individual telecom licensing would be disproportionate for such a global digital product.

Same technology. Very different regulatory instincts.

Final thoughts

The interesting part of the ONIC decision is not that PTA stopped new eSIM sales. It is that regulators are increasingly looking past the logo and asking who actually controls the customer, billing, KYC, data, service operations and economics.

That matters far beyond Pakistan.

Telecom groups everywhere are launching app-first propositions designed to feel lighter, faster and more independent than the parent operator. Commercially, that makes sense. Regulators may reach a different conclusion when a “brand” has its own systems, customer relationship and revenue model.

For ONIC, the route forward is relatively clear: become more visibly part of PTML or operate under the appropriate MVNO structure.

For the wider market, the lesson is sharper. eSIM makes telecom distribution easier. It does not make telecom regulation disappear. In fact, as digital brands become easier to launch, the question of who is really providing the service is becoming harder for regulators to ignore.