cross-border telecom connectivity between the Middle East and Pakistan is set to expand after Zain Omantel International (ZOI) and Zong, a subsidiary of China Mobile Pakistan, agreed to broaden their cooperation. The partnership focuses on voice interconnect and roaming services and builds on an existing interconnect relationship. The companies are positioning the move as a push to simplify operations, strengthen commercial alignment, and improve service stability along a high-volume route as of 3: 00 PM ET.
Deal centers on voice interconnect and roaming consolidation
ZOI and Zong said their new partnership expands voice interconnect and roaming services between the Middle East and Pakistan, extending an arrangement already in place. Under that existing setup, ZOI carries Zain Group and Omantel retail Pakistan traffic for Zong.
Now, the two companies plan to grow cooperation across voice and mobility services and move toward consolidating roaming under a single group framework. The stated goal is operational simplification and tighter commercial alignment across the corridor, alongside efforts to strengthen performance as traffic volumes rise.
Immediate reactions: Executives stress quality, governance, and scale
Sohail Qadir, Chief Executive Officer at ZOI, framed the partnership as a quality and growth play tied to market importance and a governance reset.
“This partnership reflects our focus on quality mobility services and enabling customers growth. Pakistan is a strategically important market for the Gulf region. By aligning with Zong and the wider China Mobile ecosystem, we are strengthening service quality, simplifying governance and creating a scalable model for voice and mobility services across one of the region’s highest volume routes, ” Qadir said.
From Zong’s side, Khurram Ishaq, Head of International Business at Zong, emphasized reliability and responsiveness as core needs for international expansion.
“ZOI is a trusted partner that understands our operational and commercial priorities. It delivers consistent, high quality mobility services across the Middle East and provides the reliability and responsiveness we need to support our international growth. This partnership gives us confidence that our customers benefit from stable interconnect performance and a framework built for scale, ” Ishaq said.
Quick context on the corridor and company footprints
Traffic between the Middle East and Pakistan continues to grow, driven by retail demand and cross-border mobility, the companies said. As part of the collaboration, ZOI and Zong plan to standardize how they manage voice and roaming traffic across the Middle East–Pakistan route, including simplifying interconnect processes and aligning roaming governance.
Pakistan is one of South Asia’s largest telecommunications markets with more than 200 million mobile subscribers nationwide. Zong serves over 53 million subscribers and operates one of Pakistan’s most extensive 4G networks; its parent company, China Mobile, is the world’s largest mobile operator by subscriber base, serving over 1 billion customers globally and operating an expansive international network infrastructure.
ZOI described itself as an international carrier providing unified, AI-ready digital infrastructure in MENA and globally, offering international voice, roaming, IP, and capacity services to carriers and network-centric businesses. it carries more than 10 billion international voice minutes across 200 roaming countries, has the number one ranked ASN IP network in the Middle East, and holds investments in more than 22 subsea cable systems globally.
What’s next: Standardization steps and operational streamlining
The companies’ next steps focus on execution: standardizing management of voice and roaming traffic on the Middle East–Pakistan route, simplifying interconnect processes, and aligning roaming governance under a single group framework. The push is designed to improve service stability while volumes continue to grow, with the partnership framed as a scalable model for voice and mobility services moving forward as of 3: 00 PM ET.
