Federal Secretary Ministry IT and Telecom (MoITT), Sohail Rajput, chaired a meeting on 5G technology in Islamabad on Wednesday.
The meeting was attended by CEOs and representatives of all four telecom operators, members of telecom, and other ministry officials.
Proposals regarding the launch of 5G in the country were discussed during the meeting and the Secretary MoITT said that it wants a flexible 5G license because 5G technology will benefit Pakistan and its people. The government intends to launch 5G in the country by 2023, according to the MoITT.
The main purpose of the consultation is to determine how to materialize 5G and make its launch a complete success. All the telecom operators had already shared their remarks about the draft policy guidelines. On the other hand, the Ministry does not want to repeat the previous mistakes and envisions a win-win situation for all.
Sources said that representatives of the telecom companies asked the MoITT to resolve the telecom industry’s issues before the launch of 5G. The government has increased taxes on telecom consumers, which has reduced their spending on the Internet and telephony. 5G technology needs fibrillization, infrastructure development, and much more, so the government will have to take steps to make its best business case, and perhaps begin with reducing the taxes on the telecom sector.
MoITT agreed with the points taken up by telecom operators in the meeting, as per the sources. Its officials said that the federal government has already constituted an advisory committee for the launch of 5G.
The ministry also assured the industry representatives that it will arrange for the telecom operators to meet with the Minister of Finance soon.