IT Ministry Moves Policy Directive for Testing 5G Services in Pakistan

It appears that Pakistani government in general, and Ministry of IT in particular, is going to continue its particular focus to keep the telecom industry on the growth trajectory. This is particularly important as the government has already held three successful transparent commercial auctions of frequency spectrum during its tenure.

Now, in a major development, Ministry of IT and Telecom has moved a Policy Directive for consideration of the Federal cabinet to enable Pakistan to test New and upcoming technologies including the Fifth Generation (5G) mobile communications.

If approved, Pakistani operators will be allowed to test 5G technology on their networks and prepare themselves for the deployment as soon as 5G technology will be available for commercial roll-outs.

Minister Anusha Rahman has firmly promised — while speaking at various events in the past — to make Pakistan one of the first countries to test, trial and launch the Fifth Generation (5G) Mobile technology.


Also Read: Pakistan to Hold 5G Spectrum Auction in 2021: Anusha


5G is the next big evolution which will enable new ground breaking data rates and revolutionize the customer experience for services / applications compared to what is available today.

5G is currently under the research and development phase worldwide and it is expected to be standardized by ITU-R (International Telecommunication Union Radio-communication Sector) in 2019.

In line with its 2015 Telecom Policy and its commitment for providing state of the art services to the people of Pakistan, MoIT has embarked upon a new journey with this directive to PTA.

As per the draft proposal, PTA / FAB (Frequency Allocation Board) will identify / set aside appropriate bandwidth in the frequency spectrum blocks currently under consideration for 5G. Testing entities will be allowed access to such frequency blocks for testing purposes only.

PTA will roll-out such test trial facility for the new technologies through a regulatory framework to be issued in line with the Section 8.14 of the Telecom Policy 2015 for Temporary Test and Development Licenses/Authorizations within three months.

The regulatory framework shall include criteria for the provision of the test licenses, conditions, duration and other terms and conditions of reissuing the test licenses on expiry.


Also Read: Zong Looking Forward to Test 5G with First Group of Global Operators


To continue the spirit of inclusiveness of all stakeholders in new and innovative ventures PTA will engage all the concerned organizations such as telecommunications operators, equipment manufacturers and research & development institutes for a successful execution of 5G trials.

The working to be set up for execution of this policy will also recommend further suitable frequency bands if required in view of future technology/standards development as well as other technical and logistical requirements for the trials.

To keep the transparency of the process and to apprise the public about developments ensuing from such technology test and trials will be regularly published in the annual report of the Authority.

While releasing the policy directive for consideration of the Cabinet Minister of State for Information Technology Ms. Anusha Rahman said that The Ministry has stayed committed to accelerated digitization through proliferation of broadband and particularly Mobile broadband.

Keeping the focus we shall ensure that Pakistani nation stays at the cutting edge of technology and the Policy directive is meant to ensure and showcase the continued commitment.

5G is expected to a big catalyst in taking Pakistani ICT market and usage to a whole new level for the benefit of economy and masses, she added.


  • Brace yourself for “3G/4G toh thek se chalta nahin aur Yeh 5G launch karyn gay” type comments.
    Kabhi toh khush ho jaaya karo.

    • Exactly, Jazz bought extra spectrum, and Zong are converting all their sites to 4G by this year’s end… Eventually na shukray log kahain ga Zone nay tho kar diya, ab Telenor aur baaki log kab karain gay

      • koi bta sakta hy k Jazz ny jo new spectrum purchase kia hy woh kab system mein shamil karay ga
        abhi tak jazz walo ny Jazz logo k sath 4G bhe nahi likha

    • 5G tou abhi khayali pulao hai per lagta hai DTH bhool gaye hain sub, Government or cable mafia ka muk mukka ho chuka. Is liye koi progress nahi DTH main.

      • DTH is territory of PEMRA and Ministry of broadcasting. There are cases on PEMRA chairman and Media is blackmailing him over non DTH auction. And MoBroadcasting is defending PANAMA on media right now.

    • zafar bhai zong aor ufone k merge honay k koi chances hain ?? kia Telenor apna 3G spectrum reform kar raha hy new cities mein else than Rawalpindi Islamabad
      aor jazz new cities mein 4G launch kar raha hy kia???jazz ny jo new spectrum lia hy woh system mein kab shamil karay ga ??? please reply if possible

      • There is no news of any merger right now. May be anything happened after couple of years.
        Telenor already using 10 MHz 3G all over Pakistan (5 MHz each of band 1 and 5). But they are refarming 3 MHz out of 8.8 MHz 1800 MHz 2G for 4G in Islamabad and Karachi right now. No news for other cities yet.

        There is no news of PTA handing over new spectrum to Jazz yet. Once available spectrum could be utilise within weeks.

        • bundle of thanks
          but zafar bhai agar Telenor 10Mhz py 3G dy raha hy tu Telenor ki speed etni slow q hy
          jab k jazz aor zong bhe 10MHz py 3G dy rahay hain jazz aor zong ka 3G tu kaafi stable aor fast hy
          phir Telenor ka 3G bahot slow aor unstable q hy

          • The reason is Jazz and Zong have full 10 MHz spectrum within band 1 (2100 MHz). So they deployed dual carrier HSPA+ for 3G which could only be possible with 2 contiguous 5MHz chunks (means straight 10 MHz chunk which both companies have). DC-HSPA+ have double capacity and speed than simple 5 MHz HSPA+.

            Telenor do use 10 MHz for 3G but with different bands which are 5 MHz each of band 1 2100 MHz and band 5 850 MHz. So they deployed 3G as single carrier on both frequencies. They are using 10 MHz total but whenever user connect to their 3G, He either connected to 5 MHz 2100 or 5 MHz 850 but always on 5 MHz only. This removed congestion on Telenor 3G but never helped them in terms of speed. DC-HSPA+ might have become possible now with different bands as per 3GPP standards but it might cause handset compatibility issues, an only possible reason Telenor is not opting for it.

            • @@disqus_f4KOfxsOH9:disqus In which cities Telenor have deployed 3G on 850 Mhz band?

                • @Z@disqus_f4KOfxsOH9:disqus Btw Zong and Jazz should also offer 3G/4G services at lower frequency like 900Mhz.Both have got plenty of spectrum their.

                  • Zong is using 900 MHz fod 2G because they have refarmed their full 1800 MHz fod 4G. Their 4G is now on 15 MHz.

                    • @disqus_f4KOfxsOH9:disqus Thats amazing but 900 Mhz would provide better indoor coverage especially in Hilly Areas.

                    • Zong’s 2G 1800 MHz spectrum is in line with their new 10 MHz 4G spectrum. So now they have 16 MHz contiguous spectrum in band 3. They have deployed 15 MHz for 4G and 1 MHz for 2G. So their 4G is very strong due to 15 MHz. 900 MHz might be good for coverage but most of the devices in market lack band 8 support when all devices support band 3.

  • 60~70% Area main abhi Ufone ne 3G nahi diya or Zong ne 5g bhi de dena hai
    poor network Ufone

  • Zong 4G was best in 2015 now its shit with frequent disconnections and slow browsing speed even on 4 or full signal.

  • Guys don’t get your panties in a bunch. 5G has no deployment standards as of now and given the requirements, it ain’t happening for at least a couple of years yet. In our case – may be 10-15 years.

    • Agar Nawaz Sharif k bachay yeh kaam shuru kar dain tou? Phir tou it’d be a matter of few months as they already are fastest prosperous record holder kids of this country.
      They made billions at the age when kids learn to wash their bums.

      • Tou phir it would be idiots who buy into their promise in a couple of months and this time they will select Cayman Islands or Switzerland to hide their scam money because my boy, the technology is being standardized. After that, they will launch devices. After and only after you have the devices can the technology be rolled out. It will be initially very expensive like all new technologies are. Then after a few more years go by, the use case for telecom companies would be feasible.

        Matlab mere masoom dost NS ka daddy ye kaam shuru karey ya uske bachay, abhi boht time hai. Agar un ke bacho se takleef hai to ap ka problem hai, mera nahi – take it up with them.

            • Using ‘my boy’ and ‘mere masoom dost’ sounds more like in the category of ‘being condescending’ rather than what it was intended to be i.e sarcastic.

              But whatever cover however you want it to now.

              • O Bhae. Looks like I’ll have to spell it out for you. My comment was sarcasm. My initial reply to ZAB was condescension. My responses to you are sheer resignation and boredom at having to explain myself in such detail that hopefully after this there will be no doubt whatsoever to my meaning. Happy? Now shoo. Ali’s papa has to work on his car.

  • Jazz kab officially 4G launch karay ga jo Spectrum jazz ny abhi purchase kia hy woh kab system mein shamil karay ga???? abhi tak tu jazz ny jazz 4G ki advertisement bhe nahi ki
    aor Ufone k Telenor ya zong k sath merge honay k chances hain ?

  • This is great news. Lots of developing countries have announced their preparation for 5G testing phase soon. Pakistan should not sit behind and let this opportunity pass. They should go for it and enable the citizens to reap the benefits of this tech as soon as possible. Time for action.

    • 2G officially khatam ho jaye ga, maybe next year end tak, zong jis tarah network expand kar raha hai to next year se zong sirf 3G and 4G ho jaye ga.

    • Her claim about bringing paypal to pakistan has proved to be a pie in the sky. tall claims, zero results :(


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