The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has set aside 500 MHz of spectrum for auction; however, delays in the auction are occurring due to the issue of the acquisition of Telenor by Ufone and ongoing court cases related to the spectrum.
Chairman PTA acknowledged that there are indeed internet issues in Pakistan and that running 4G and 5G without Fiber cable is not possible in the country. Currently, a total of 275 MHz of spectrum is being used nationwide, which is causing connectivity issues.
He made these remarks while chairing a meeting of the Standing Committee in the National Assembly Committee Room. The meeting was attended by committee members, including Zulfiqar Ali Bhatti, Dr. Mahesh Kumar Malani, Sadiq Ali Memon, Ahmad Saleem Siddiqui, Pullain Baloch, Sher Ali Arbab, and others.
The meeting discussed the issue of connectivity problems and the delay in the spectrum auction, particularly regarding the Ufone-Telenor merger, for which no clear decision had been made. The Standing Committee agreed to include the Ufone-Telenor acquisition issue in the agenda of the next meeting.
The Chairman of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on IT and Telecommunication, Syed Amin ul Haque, has said that, like people in other provinces, the people of Baluchistan have the full right to be connected to the digital world through mobile networks and the internet.
However, security issues pose obstacles in this regard. It is the responsibility of the Ministry of IT and Telecommunication to work with the Ministry of Interior, security agencies, PTA, and public representatives to determine which districts can be provided with broadband services and in which areas interruptions are inevitable, considering the security situation. A clear strategy should be formulated in this regard.
The Minister of IT, Shaza Fatima Khawaja, Parliamentary Secretary Sabin Ghori, Special Secretary IT, Chairman PTA, Secretary Interior, Additional Secretary Privatization Commission, Chief Executive of USF, Chief Executive of Ignite, CEO of PTCL, MD NTC, DG of CERT, and other officials were also present.
During the meeting, Federal Minister for IT and Telecommunications Shaza Fatima Khawaja provided detailed information on the Ministry’s use of funds and budget, including updates on the Islamabad IT Park and the One Patient One ID project.
Chaudhry Mudassar Naveed, Chief Executive of the Universal Service Fund, briefed the standing committee on various projects aimed at providing broadband services in underdeveloped areas. Adeel Sheikh, Chief Executive of IGNITE, presented an overview of the measures taken regarding the Cyber Security Hackathon and DG Skills programs.
Chairman Syed Amin ul Haque directed Federal Minister for IT Shaza Fatima Khawaja to immediately convene a meeting and present a report on connectivity in Baluchistan. The Chairman of PTA informed the meeting that internet services are shut down in Panjgur on the instructions of the Ministry of Interior due to the security situation.
In response, the Secretary of Interior stated that the Ministry of Interior does not direct but recommends and has written a letter to the provincial government regarding the security situation in Panjgur.
Federal Minister Shaza Fatima commented that a decision on this matter can only be made after hearing the position of security agencies.
Syed Amin ul Haque said that complaints of call drops are also common across the country due to connectivity issues, and telecom companies have become money-making machines; the PTA should further tighten the service quality standards.
IT Minister said that the internet shutdown also affects a broad agenda, as the Prime Minister is focusing heavily on a cashless economy and a digital nation. Member of the Standing Committee Dr.Mahesh Kumar Malani said that the internet is an issue for the whole of Pakistan, and without solving the internet issue, digitization is not possible. There is also no internet coverage in Karachi, and there is more than a thirty percent lack of coverage in all four provinces.
Syed Amin ul Haque further stated that the government is suffering billions in losses, and this matter needs to reach a logical conclusion. The Ministry of IT and PTA must resolve the LDI issue. A decision was also made to form a four-member subcommittee under the leadership of Sher Ali Arbab to revisit the issue of recovery of billions of rupees from LDI companies. The subcommittee will present its report to the standing committee after taking the stance of the Ministry of IT, LDI operators, and PTA representatives.
PTA Chairman Hafeez Rehman stated that the LDI case has been ongoing since 2004, with 9 operators owing more than Rs. 70 billion in dues, and there has still been no consensus on payments with LDI. Four major companies are not willing to make payments in instalments, while PTA does not have the authority to provide instalment payment facilities to LDI operators.
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We will never have 5g because of all these excuses Have some shame either make this merger or cancel this merger. All just talks that 5g launch is in June. They will never launch 5g.
It’s being delayed without any reason and clarification, there are certain connectivity issue which are needed to be resolved
Someone needs to do investigative journalism to dig in and write a detailed report as to what’s stopping competition commission from making a decision? What exactly are the causes?
Talk to some insiders and bring us some clarity please.
I suspect it’s the pending payment from eitiselat UAE since 2004 acquisition of PTCL, which amounts to almost 900Million Usd. They haven’t cleared that and CCP is lingering PTCL’s UAE bosses on.
We are missing Aamir Atta :)
it has been three years hearing about 5g and elon musk satellite launch and three new submerine cable are being added to system every august.but that august never came.
Shame on us the world is on 6G and we are still stuck on 4G
Please name that country which has rolled out 6g, or what is the name of that body which has finalised the technical specs of 6G. I’m waiting
I think with regard to service quality already providing as 4g there is no future even need of 5g in country.
Controversial opinion: We dont need 5g yet. What would we do with that much fast internet? More than 80% of the users would just watch Tiktok and Insta reels.