Zong commenced operations as Paktel by Cable & Wireless in 1991. It was the first company granted a free license to carry out cellular phone services in Pakistan. It carried out AMPS services until 2004, when the company launched GSM services.
In 2003, Millicom Corporation, who at that time were majority owners of Instaphone, bought Paktel from Cable & Wireless. Millicom installed a new management team headed by John Tumelty, former CEO of Instaphone, and Chief Financial Officer David Ordman.
