Ufone had submitted a bid of $279 million for a 9MHz block in a 1800Mhz band, and since there were no other operators participating in the auction process, the total proceeds from spectrum auction will stand at $279 million.
This was stated by General (Retd.) Amir Azim Bajwa during a press briefing at the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority headquarters moments ago.
This will generate a revenue of USD 279 Million (excluding advance tax). The government will receive a 50% upfront payment of Rs. 23.44 Billion within 15 days; out of which 20% of the said amount i.e Rs. 9.38 Billion has already been received on 9th September 2021. The remaining 50% will be paid in 5 equal annual installments.
The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) had set a base price of $31 million per 1MHz for the 1800MHz band, and $29 million per 1MHz for the 2100MHz band.
General Bajwa confirmed that only Ufone had come forward to partake in the auction and it will get the spectrum at the base price.
License will be issued to Ufone which includes enhanced Network rollout obligations and Quality of Service standards to ensure consumers interest.
The Chairman of the PTA said that it has set certain KPIs to ensure the quality of service and standards of the telephony and broadband services in the country. He stated that a minimum benchmark speed for wireless internet is now being set at 4Mbps, and it will be mandatory for operators to offer (at the very least) 4Mbps speed on their 4G networks.
It may be recalled that the new benchmark of 4Mbps speeds will be effective six months from now.
The Chairman of the PTA emphasized that the operators that fail to meet the minimum quality of service requirements will be penalized, and this will be applicable to all the operators in Pakistan.
General (Retd.) Bajwa said that the PTA will conduct regular QoS surveys to ensure that all operators fulfill the minimum quality and coverage requirements.
The Chairman of the PTA claimed that all the operators had been consulted during the preparation of the Information Memorandum (IM) of the spectrum auction, and said that the PTA had taken all the measures to ensure that the conditions for the operators are eased to the maximum extent.
