{{refimprove|date=May 2018}} {{Infobox company | name = '''InstaPhone''' | logo = Instaphone.jpg | vector_logo = | type = [[Private company|Private]] | genre = [[Subsidiary]] | foundation = 1991<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.instaphone.com/en/about_us.asp |title=Instaphone - About us |access-date=2009-08-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080224055845/http://www.instaphone.com/en/about_us.asp |archive-date=2008-02-24 |url-status=dead }}</ref> | founder = | location_city = Islamabad | location_country = Pakistan | location = | origins = | fate = License canceled | key_people = Iain Williams, CEO | area_served = | industry = [[Telecommunication]] | products = ''InstaXcite'', ''InstaPhone Postpaid'' | revenue = | operating_income = | net_income = | num_employees = | parent = [[Millicom|Millicom International Cellular]] (former), Afreen Group (present) | subsid = | owner = | slogan = | homepage = https://www.instaphone.com| | dissolved = January 4, 2008 (License cancelled) | footnotes = }}
'''Instaphone''' was [[Pakistan]]'s first mobile communication service. It was launched by M/s Pakcom Ltd., a [[Telephone company|telecommunications company]] and the industry pioneer in the country. The company was jointly owned by M/s Arfeen and Millicom International (Luxembourg) and was acquired in its entirety by the Arfeen Group later.
== History == In 1989, the [[Government of Pakistan]] awarded licences to mobile operators. M/s Pakcom Ltd. and M/s Paktel Ltd. won the bids and were granted 15-year licences. A third company (M/s Pakistan Mobile Telecommunication Ltd) was among the competitors, but did not meet the bid requirements.
The two companies raced to launch their cellular service and "Instaphone" won the race by a few weeks, when it launched its service on 16 October 1990 with 3 Radio Base Stations. Services were offered in Islamabad the following month. The cellular mobile exchange of both operators used [[Ericsson]] model [[AXE telephone exchange|AXE-10]]. Services at Peshawar were started in April 1991 as a satellite of the Islamabad exchange, linked via PTCL network. Quetta service began as a satellite of the Karachi exchange (linked via [[PTCL]]).
Billing was post-paid with Rs.5000/- as an initial deposit. Call data was stored on magnetic tapes that were sent to UK for printing of bills and the bills were then sent to customers, a 45+-day process. This delay led many to default after running up large bills. The call rate was Rs.4/- per minute for local calls charged to both (caller and responder). Such unpaid billing was Rs. 25 Million approx in June 1993.
The company's license was cancelled by the [[Pakistan Telecommunication Authority]] in January 2008 for unpaid license renewal fees totalling $291 million.<ref name="Green&White">{{cite web|url=http://greenwhite.org/blog/2008/01/05/pta-cancels-instaphone-license/|title=PTA Cancels Instaphone License|date=January 5, 2008|publisher=Green & White|accessdate=5 April 2015}}</ref> Instaphone appealed the decision and filed a petition challenging the national Mobile Cellular Policy of 2004.<ref>[http://propakistani.pk/2009/04/15/instaphone-appeal-dismissed-by-ihc/ Instaphone Appeal dismissed by Islamabad Highcourt]. Propakistani.pk. Retrieved 15 April 2009.</ref> Both actions were dismissed by the [[Islamabad High Court]] on April 14, 2009. The court extended the deadline for payment of the outstanding license fees to 6 May 2009.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nation.com.pk/15-Apr-2009/cellular-cos-appeal-dismissed|title=Cellular co's appeal dismissed|publisher=The Nation|access-date=April 15, 2009}}</ref>
Instaphone eventually declared bankruptcy.
==Market share== Before the company's license was canceled, It was ranked at the bottom in terms of market share.
{| class="wikitable" |+ Revenue, millions [[Pakistani rupee|PKR]].<ref>[http://www.pta.gov.pk/ Pakistan Telecommunication Authority]</ref> |- | 2003-04 || 2004-05 || 2005-06 || 2006-07 |- | 3,196 || 2,693 || 1,539 || 472 |}
==Technology migration strategy== Instaphone had a unique migration strategy between [[Analog signal|analog]] service in the 1980s to the digital [[GSM]] network. Due to a lack of [[Local number portability|telephone number porting]] laws in Pakistan, Instaphone kept a large [[Digital AMPS|TDMA]] network from the 1990s up until the middle of the 2000s. Due to this rare TDMA presence, Pakistan was flooded with [[SIM lock|unlocked]] American and Canadian TDMA cellphones for Instaphone customers who were mostly business users at the time and needed to keep their established telephone numbers.
==TDMA grey market phones== Many North American standard TDMA phones showed up in [[Dubai]] en route to Pakistan, usually bonded by third parties who kept satellite offices there. The majority of these North American phones were sold on the [[grey market]] allegedly [[Money laundering|laundering]] money for the [[Organised crime in India|Indian mafia]]. Hundreds of Pakistani immigrants across North America tried to take part in this opportunity and many lost their life savings over fraudulent letters of credit. The average shipment was approximately $30,000 USD of cellphones.
==See also== * [[List of mobile phone companies in Pakistan]] * [[Communications in Pakistan]]
==References== {{reflist}}
== External links == *[https://web.archive.org/web/20070511012523/http://www.instaphone.com/ Instaphone website] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20040616132118/http://www.instaxcite.com/ InstaXcite website]
{{Mobile network operators of Pakistan}}
[[Category:Defunct mobile phone companies of Pakistan]]