The consultants hired by the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) to auction the 3G mobile phone licenses have engaged lawyers to take legal action over the non-payment of their fees, said a joint statement issued by the consultants. Dr. Rob Nicholls from the Australian law firm Webb Henderson; Dennis Ward, the former spectrum auctioneer for the Canadian Spectrum Management Program; and Martin Sims from the spectrum [...]

2012 remained bumpy for Telecom Sector, especially for the cellular mobile sector. Price war, lowering ARPUs, devaluating currency, energy crisis and tough economic situations persisted throughout year to give the industry a tough time. Saturating market, cellular suspensions, hard and at times vicious regulatory decisions worsened the year for telecom service providers. In such situations, here are our predictions for 2013 for Telecom and Broadband [...]

اسے اردو میں پڑھیے Reports are emerging that Information Memorandum for 3G isn’t being approved by two  members of Pakistan Telecommunication Authority and hence the whole process of 3G auction is almost halted. Member finance and member technical, who are part of PTA approving board and their consent is mandatory for the approval of IM, are seemingly not going to approve the IM because they [...]

اسے اردو میں پڑھیے Rob Nicholls, Martin Sims and  Dennis Ward – three consultants hired for procuring 3G auction in Pakistan – have finally written to media to explain their position on recent media reports concerning their appointment. In an email sent to ProPakistani, all three consultants jointly said that they had simply applied for the jobs advertised on PTA website with proper interviews and [...]

اسے اردو میں پڑھیے Pakistan Telecommunication Authority has signed an integrity pact with Transparency International Pakistan (TIP) to ensure transparency in the auction of 3G Spectrum licences in upcoming months. MoU was signed by Chairman PTA Mr. Farooq Awan and Chairman Transparency International Pakistan (TIP) Mr. Sohail Mazhar, while Federal Finance Minister Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh was also present at the occasion. TIP will observe [...]

اسے اردو میں پڑھیے When government bodies are struggling hard to pave way for 3G, mobile cellular operators are doing all the homework to get their-selves ready for 3G launch, if it is ever auctioned in Pakistan. If sources are to be believed than Mr. Farooq Awan, Chairman Pakistan Telecommunication Authority is visiting Zong’s office today to experience 3G services on Zong’s network. Zong has [...]

اسے اردو میں پڑھیے Member Technical Dr Khawar Siddique Khokhar and Member Finance Nasrul Karim Ghaznavi have reportedly denied to approve the revised Information Memorandum for 3G licenses, that government is planning to auction early next year, reported “The News”. The Information Memorandum is the document that contains the proposed auction schedule and terms and conditions for the auction. Citing unnamed sources who spoke with [...]

اسے اردو میں پڑھیے Dr Khawar Siddique Khokhar, in a letter written to Principal Secretary to the PM, the cabinet secretary, secretary information technology, has termed recently appointed three consultants for 3G auction as illegal, in violation of telecom and PPRA rules and without the knowledge (and approval) of authority. This was reported by “The News”, by saying that it has a copy of Dr. [...]

After two failed attempts in getting a consultant for 3G auction, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority has now finally selected three consultants for 3G auction, which, according to PTA’s claims, is likely to happen by mid-January 2013. In a Auction Supervisory Committee (ASC) meeting held yesterday, it was revealed that PTA has finalized the process of selection of consultant for 3G auction, told us a source with [...]

Auction of 3G license, that is long pending on cards, is likely to get delayed again as Pakistan Telecommunication Authority has failed to finalize the hiring of a consultant for carrying out 3G auction, told us a source close to the situation. Pakistan Telecommunication Authority had advertised for the need of a consultant, of an international repute, for procurement of 3G license auction in Pakistan. [...]

Etisalat, a UAE based telecom operator, has reaffirmed its confidence in Pakistani telecom market by announcing that it will definitely bid for 3G license auction, planned by Pakistan government in next few months. Ahmad Abdulkarim Julfar, Etisalat’s chief executive, in an interview with UAE based newspaper hinted that PTCL will focus on wireless broadband services in Pakistan after wining 3G license, a market in which [...]

After the suspension of Member Finance of Pakistan Telecommunication Authority last week, we are hearing the news of serious conflicts between Chairman of Authority and Member Tech, leaving almost no chance for the auction of 3G to happen anytime soon as agreement of both was necessary for carrying out the auction. Differences between Muhammad Farooq Awan, Chairman Pakistan Telecommunication Authority and Dr. Khawar Siddique Khokhar, [...]

Pakistan Telecommunication Authority is looking for services of a communication agency for the publicity and promotion of 3G license auction that it is planning later this year. An advert published in various newspaper asked communication agencies, of international repute, to submit their proposals with the PTA by October 15th, a time by when PTA is likely to have hired the consultant for the 3G auction. [...]

Pakistan Telecommunication Authority has been asked by Senate Sub-Committee on Ministry of Information Technology (MoIT) to not to allow telecom companies to participate in upcoming 3G spectrum auction that are allegedly involved in evading PKR 47 billion taxes. These directives were issued after the former Director General Large Taxpayer Unit (LTU) Islamabad and existing Member Inland Revenue Service Ijaz Hussain Shah confessed that he was [...]

Pakistan Telecommunication Authority is with empty hands, or say with no approved budget for marketing and procurement of 3G licenses auction, told us sources at the regulator’s headquarters. Sources told ProPakistani that PTA is planning to massively advertise the 3G spectrum auction in leading newspapers/magazines of the world, including Wall Street Journal, Telegraph, The National of UAE and other regional and global newspapers. However, 2012-13 [...]