Pakistan is Finally Set to Auction 3G Licenses

3G License Auction in Pakistan

After the appointment of Chairman and Members of Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, the government of Pakistan is all prepared to auction 3G licenses in Pakistan.

The government, in this regards, has finalized the policy directive for the auction of long awaited 3G licenses in the country.

As per information that we have got, a high-level committee has been formed to expedite the auction process.

Pakistani consumers have been waiting for 3G networks to get better data connections over mobile phones for years. Earlier in 2011-12, at least two efforts for auction 3G licenses failed due to various reasons.

Even now the auction has been made possible through a Supreme Court order that directed the government to immediately appoint Chairman and Members for early auction of 3G. After which the appointments were made in almost a rush.

It merits mentioning here that new telecom licenses, such as 3G spectrum, can’t be auctioned without PTA chairman and members.

As soon as the appointments were made, activity for auction of 3G licenses went high. Chairman  PTA and Minister IT and Telecom has already briefed the senate’s standing committee on Telecom and confirmed that policy directive has been finalized.

Minister further told the senate body that a high-level committee – constituted by the Prime Minister himself – will approve the policy for further proceedings on the auction.

This special committee is chaired by federal minister for finance, while members include Ms. Anusha Rahman, Minister for Information Technology & Telecom, Akhlaq Ahmad Tarar, Secretary (IT & Telecom), Syed Ismail Shah interim chairman PTA and others.

The realization of 3G auction can take at least three more months.

In its next step, after the approval of policy directive (which is likely during current week), PTA will hire a consultant to prepare IM for the auction of 3G spectrum. Later on this IM will be floated and telecom companies (local and international) will be given around one month to prepare themselves for the auction bidding.

Experts say that bidding for 3G licenses is likely to take at least three to four months from now.

Anusha Rehman, Minister for IT and Telecom, during a briefing to media yesterday said that at least four telecom companies operating in Pakistan have shown serious interest in acquiring 3G licenses. Along with local operators, government is also hoping that foreign operators will take part in the bid.

Pakistan government is eyeing USD 800 million to USD 1 billion from the auction.

It is likely that government will auction three 3G licenses, with a base price of USD 210 million. Local and International companies will be invited for the bid, with a possible ban on defaulting telecom companies. However, final details for the participation criteria and pricing of spectrum will be revealed after the finalization of IM.

Tech and telecom reporter for over 15 years


  • GSM spectrum in $297m and 3G for only $210m. then why it was delayed for two years. better to implement it in Zardari’s era.

    • Fikr Na Bhai G..!!! Sab Kuch AYe Ga Pakistan Main..!! Sabr Ka Phal Metha Hota Hai

      • han aye ga to sub pakistan main. peeeeeeeeeeeer bohat late. jub dunya isay waste material samaj k choor choki hoge

        • Sir aap ny Bilkul Theak kha hai kjab Bahar k mulakon main Cheezon ko waste kar diya jata hai to wo pakistan main aa kar phir shohrat pa laiti hai.yeh un ky liye waste pr hamray liye nai cheez hai.

          • Is k ilawa yeh Magarmach Hukmran pakistan main kuch aany hi nhi dy gay, kuon k in ko to Rishwat Kilai jati hai, Aur ptcl 3G kabhi mutarif nhi hony dy ga, kyun k jab 3G aya to PTCL walon ka Boriya Bister GOl. Aur yeh kabhi Ptcl hony nhi dy ga.

    • If 3G comes no body will buy Etisalat and PTCL 3rd Class tab. USB that needs power to broadcast 3G internet. Simply keep one phone and use internet via tethering like people doing in other world.

      • Hold down dude it isnt that easy, first the price will be too high and then data usage limit or may be they will strick with tethering like they had in US, so lets wait and see but it will be much better than ptcl so called 3G devices.

  • Do I need to repeat myself? Or will you just refer to that article you posted with all my comments about 3G in it? LOL showing serious interest and actually buying a license are 2 different things. Logically, who would be willing to spend 210mil for a license in a country where you get Rs.80 when you recharge Rs.100 and then lose more money in taxes when you use your phone. Not to mention the service charges.

    The need of better data speeds in a country which has approx 10 mil data users on mobile sounds a little absurd. Out of the 75% mobile penetration in Pakistan, this accounts to hardly 3 or 4% of the total population if my calculation is correct. I see almost all the companies trying to push data services to the masses for at least the last 2 years but the uptake hasn’t really taken off.

    • Stone. I know these companies have invested millions of dollars in upgrading their network. i-3 telenor spent more than $700million. And yet ready to spend $700million for 3G.

      3G a definite yes for Telecom.

      • The network upgrade was a must and a pre-planned thing not only from Telenor but Mobilink and others as well. It was not due to the 3G auction though. They had reached end of life on their networks and had severe capacity issues. Being the top 2 companies in Pakistan, they had no choice but to modernize the network. That not only increased the capacity but also meant the latest hardware in terms of technology. 3G still remains a iffy kind of situation.

        • Dont Chinese Vendors supply all operators with equipment that can enable 3G for free of charge?

    • I wanna up this comment more than a billion times… only one here that makes sense if u ask me!

      • yar first thing is our BTS are not properly upgraded to 3G and you are talking about 4G LTE think about it thanks to china HUAWEII and ZTE they screwed every thing

    • Lol. Are you even serious? I respect your opinion, but let alone 4G, I am even sceptic about 3G. I wonder how much time is it going to take for 3G to develop a mainstream adoption. The rates for 4G packages start at $30 per month with a cap of 500MB internationally. How many people in Pakistan can afford the likes of such packages here at home right now? Not much, I guess.

      I think it’s good to test 3G for now and see how things work out for it. Besides, our government is never going to skip 3G because this translates into a loss of millions.

  • I will not believe them until there is 3G connection available to buy in the Market.They are saying things like that for a long time now.

  • The Govt should award 5 3G licenses – three in 2.1GHz and two in 800 MHz spectrums. While 3G has been rolled out globally, the business case and ROI has disappointed operators as they have lacked revenue generating applications and services. As an example, 3G penetration in India is only 8%, so it would be fool hardy to assume that operators in Pakistan will make any money, but a good start nonetheless. A wider 3G base will help educate the masses and operators alike, while preparing them for LTE.

  • everythings a rush here, they ‘dont’ work in the office time. like my ptcl exchange person responsible for installing my ptcl smart tv, always cancels my order from the exchange, and the 1236 support says has been declined, and i keep re-ordering, until he receives some higher orders hes gona sit his ass in the exchange keep annoying customers.

  • 3 to 4 Month Abhi Bhi 3G Aany Main Darkaar Han , …!!! Wah..!!! Kis Zamany Ki Baat Karty Ho, Dil Dukhany Ki Baat Karty Ho…!!!! Kye Bata Sakta Hai Agr 3G Aye To Nowshera Main Aye Gi?

    • Pehlay Lahore Karachi Islamabad.
      Phir Fasalabad, Peshawar, Gujranwala, Bahawalpur, Hyderabad, Multan Main Aay Ga!!
      Phir Quetta, DG Khan, Muzafarabad, Etc..
      Subse Pehlay Punjab Ki Cities Cover Hoongi Kunke Punjab Main Sub Se Zaida Parhey Likhay Log Hain, Aur Zaida Ameer Log Bhi Punjab Main Hain..
      Subse Zaida 3G Supported CellPhones Bhi Punjab Main Hain!!
      Phir Sindh Aur Peshawar Ki Cities Cover Hongi.
      End Main Baluchistan Ki!!
      Ye Koi 2-3 Saal Lagain Ga Poora Pakistan Cover Karney Main!!

  • supreme court must take notice on the issue in connection with policy directive on establishment of international and Cross border telecommunication links issued on 22-Dec-2011 by Syed Ismail Shah. As a consequence thereof national exchequer have suffered huge financial loss.

  • 3G Chooro 4G Aana Chiya!!
    Ajeeb Bewaqoof Ha Ye Log..
    O Bhai Khuda Ke Liya Pehlay 3G To Istemal Karlo!!
    3G Ka Passay Tum Logon Se Diya Nahi Janey, Bohot Mushkil Se Tumlogon Ne 1MB Student Package Lagwaya Huwa Ha..

  • 3G auction can take at least three more months —- 3 Month ban on VoIP apps interesting

  • What we do of 3g when everything youtube dailymotion skype viber whats app etc etc is/will ban.

    • Bhai Jaan Internet Connection Apka 1Mbps Student Package Ha.
      Jubke 3G Ki Speed 3.3Mbps Ha!!
      To Batao 1GB Data Ke Sath 3.3Mbps Speed Ka Apse Starting Main Kam As Kam 1000/Month Lain Ga. Phir Ap Ne Kehna Ha Itna Mehnga.. Is Se To Aacha Ha Main WiFi Istamal Karoon 1000/Month Main Unlimited To Ha Na.
      Ab Aainda Se Apne ProPakistani Pe Aa Ke Aasi Baatain Nahi Karni.. Shabash!!

  • lol. it must get launched asap cz keeping a 3G,4G,LTE supported smartphones in Pkt proves that people like me are like idiots.
    /:

  • It is still not understandable that why Ministry of IT is not uploading its all previous and current policy directives on their website. Even within ministry things are happening in isolation and people within ministry are not aware of the things within ministry. Ministry should share such information on their website and also upload the million dollar studies and consultancies in the past. Ministry of IT have conducted lot of consultancies and studies on telecenters , e learning, ipv6 and spectrum management. But they do not share it with others because they do not have capability as well as they do not want to loose their monopoly.

  • Consultancy study of Telecommunication Union on spectrum management should be readily available on the web to share with all stakeholders.These services have been procured as a result of heavy contribution not just taken as forgranted. There have been people in past who have been running their own consultancies out of these studies and MOIT has just dump these documents in their files.

  • Take it positive, before installing it he is giving u hard time, after installation he will never come to resolve ur complaint and ull endup paying for the service which u never used and then when finally ull decide to cancel the service then they will ask you for everything which was in the box, and if u fail to match everything means everything tie clip as well they will keep charging u line rent.

  • It is still not understandable that why Ministry of IT is not uploading its all previous and current policy directives on their website. Even within ministry things are happening in isolation and people within ministry are not aware of the things within ministry. Ministry should share such information on their website and also upload the million dollar studies and consultancies in the past. Ministry of IT have conducted lot of consultancies and studies on telecenters , e learning, ipv6 and spectrum management. But they do not share it with others because they do not have capability as well as they do not want to loose their monopoly.

  • Consultancy study of Telecommunication Union on spectrum management should be readily available on the web to share with all stakeholders.These services have been procured as a result of heavy contribution not just taken as forgranted. There have been people in past who have been running their own consultancies out of these studies and MOIT has just dump these documents in their files.

  • wait and see on 23rd of this month auction will be held..and its a good news..why all of us looses our hope dont loose your hope..


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