Breaking Confirmed: Pakistan to Auction Three 3G and Two 4G Licenses in April

Exactly like we reported yesterday, Government of Pakistan has announced that it will hold auctions for 3G and 4G licences this April.

The proposal that was submitted by 3G consultants – details of which are available here – has been approved by Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, Prime Minister of Pakistan.

Ishaq Dar, the Finance Minister, while speaking with media personals confirmed that government has decided to go with simultaneous auction of three 3G and two 4G licenses by April 2014.

Mr. Dar confirmed that a 3G license of 10Mhz block from 2100Mhz band will cost $295 million, while a 4G license of 10Mhz from 1800Mhz band is priced at $210 million.

Dar said the government would be looking for full payment, or a 50 per cent payment with the rest to be paid in five equal instalments over five years, with an interest rate of three per cent.

More details about the auction are likely to get revealed in the Information Memorandum that is likely to surface with-in couple of weeks.

Mr. Dar said that consultants will now finalize the draft for IM after the approvals from Prime Minister.

Experts have welcomed government’s decision for auctioning 4G spectrum as well.

While it is valid that operators might see 4G spectrum not viable at this point in time. However Pakistan offers undeniable potential to first mover in 4G services with over 97 percent population that is currently without any broadband.

With auctioning of 4G licenses, Pakistan will rank amongst the couple of dozen countries that currently have 4G services, against over 160 countries that have already 3G networks working there.

Not to forget that 3G networks might not offer more than 2Mbps speeds to end users, while 4G operators can offer upto 100Mbps speeds on their networks.
Source: ProPakistani

[3G in Pakistan] IM for 3G to be Ready by Mid February 2014

3G / 4G LTE Network in Pakistan 2014 

Pakistan Telecommunication Authority will be done with the preparation of Information Memorandum for 3G/4G spectrum auction by second week of February 2014, sources familiar with the development confirmed ProPakistani.

For those who don’t know, Information Memorandum or IM for 3G will be a detailed document with all the information required for mobile phone operators for participation in next generation spectrum auction.

Spectrum pricing, criteria for participation in auction, any limitations, prerequisites, modalities and all other relating information will be added in the IM before making it public.

Auction of third generation telecom licenses is planned around March 2014, as mentioned by Anusha Rehman, Minister State for Telecom and IT, as well.

During the while, 3G Consultants have already consulted all stakeholders to note their opinion, sources told ProPakistani. All kind of efforts are being made to make sure that nothing unplanned or unpleasant happens before, during or after the auction.

Sources said that industry’s concerns about keeping the base price low is being evaluated, but it can’t be ZERO and it has to be something greater than ZERO, said a high-level official while speaking with ProPakistani.

In a related news, PTA has developed a dedicated section for Spectrum Auction to keep all stakeholders informed about different stages of auction process.

This newly revealed section can be accessed through PTA official web-sitewww.pta.gov.pk.

Spectrum Auction section of PTA website has contents regarding progress on spectrum auction. This step has been taken in view of providing latest online information to those internet users, who want to know about new developments regarding upcoming auction.

They can access latest online information regarding activities, decisions, policies, on upcoming spectrum auction through a simple click.

The website also carries messages of IT Minister for State Ms.Anusha Rahman and Chairman Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), Dr.Syed Ismail Shah.
Source : Propakistani
Via : Propakistani