PTA invites applications for auction of 4G spectrum worth USD 295 million

Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) will hold auction for Next Generation Mobile Services (NGMS) for last spectrum (3G/4G) on May 16, 2017.

During last three years, the government has successfully completed two rounds of next generation spectrum (3G/4G) auction. In February 2017, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif constituted an Advisory Committee for the auction of the third and final spectrum which is headed by Minister of State for Information Technology and Telecommunication Anusha Rahman. The committee held a series of meetings since February to finalize the policy directive including the base price and other provisions.

PTA is now inviting applications from interested Pakistani and foreign applicants for 10MHz of spectrum in 1800MHz band (Band 3) for technology neutral NGMS across Pakistan. The base price of the paired spectrum has been set at USD 295 million.

An “Information Memorandum” has been released by PTA, inviting the existing as well as new licensees to apply in the bidding process. This Information Memorandum (IM) includes the rules, process, planned timetable and other background information to help prospective applicants.

The successful bidder of the spectrum will be given a License to establish, maintain and operate a technology neutral network and offer licensed services. The licensee will have to ensure that his/her network has no harmful interference to other licensees’ networks. The licensee will have to inform PTA about the technology being deployed for the provision of next generation mobile services before the commencement of commercial services.

In 2014, the auction for 3G/4G licenses raised $1.112 billion. In 2016, after no other telco participated in the bidding of the 850 MHz 4G spectrum, it was awarded to Telenor. Ufone remains the only company which doesn’t have the 4G spectrum. The government has earned around $1.5 billion in the last two auctions.

The 15 years’ License to use the NGMS spectrum will be awarded by means of a two-stage auction process. The timeline for NGMS auction process is given below:

For more details, click here.