Zain Omantel International (ZOI), an international carrier that delivers a unified, AI-ready network across the Middle East and beyond, and Zong, a leading mobile network operator in Pakistan, have partnered to expand voice interconnect and roaming services between the Middle East and Pakistan.
The partnership builds on an existing interconnect relationship where ZOI carries Zain Group and Omantel retail Pakistan traffic for Zong. The two companies say they will grow their cooperation across voice and mobility services and move towards consolidating roaming under a single group framework to simplify operations and strengthen commercial alignment across the corridor.
As the partners explain, 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, operating one of the industry’s most expansive international network infrastructures.
ZOI is an international carrier that provides unified, AI-ready digital infrastructure in MENA and across the world. It provides international voice, roaming, IP and capacity services to carriers, hyperscalers, mobile network operators, neoscalers and a range of network-centric businesses.
ZOI carries more than 10 billion international voice minutes across 200 roaming countries. It has the number one ranked ASN IP network in the Middle East and investments in more than 22 subsea cable systems globally.
As Sohail Qadir, Chief Executive Officer at ZOI points out: “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.”
Traffic between the Middle East and Pakistan continues to grow, driven by retail demand and cross-border mobility. ZOI and Zong say they will standardise how they manage voice and roaming traffic across the Middle East–Pakistan route. They aim to simplify interconnect processes, align roaming governance, and improve service stability as volumes continue to grow.