Today’s meeting of the Auction Advisory Committee will be presided over by Finance Minister Miftah Ismail. The committee will complete its recommendations for the auction of 3G/4G top-up spectrum.
According to Ministry of IT and Telecom (MoITT) sources, the government intends to auction off an additional 3G/4G spectrum to produce revenue of Rs. 40-50 billion.
Following quality-of-service issues, a major operator showed interest in buying an additional spectrum, prompting further investigation.
According to sources, an additional 18 MHz of spectrum was saved due to non-participation in the previous auction by all players.
The federal government is thinking about auctioning off at least 5-10 MHz of spectrum at the base price.
The purchase of a 5 MHZ spectrum has the interest of an existing operator.
The market assessment report, spectrum supply, and demand, and PTA’s recommendations for the distribution of available spectrum for NGMS in Pakistan will all be examined and evaluated by the advisory committee.
The committee will authorize the spectrum auction if it finds the PTA report and the IT Ministry’s briefing to be satisfactory.
The advisory group will charge PTA with selecting a consultant to help with the spectrum auction.
Yesterday, a high-level meeting was held at the Ministry of IT and Telecom prior to the meeting of the auction advisory committee. It was presided over by the Additional Secretary in charge, Mohsin Mushtaq.
Senior members of the Frequency Allocation Board (FAB), PTA, and Ministry of IT and Telecom were present during the meeting.
PTA briefed attendees on the market assessment report, while FAB informed them on the spectrum that was available.
The impact of the strengthening currency and operators’ interest in the auction were also topics of discussion at the meeting.
An advisory group was established by the federal government of Pakistan in October 2020 in preparation for the auction of the next-generation spectrum.
In March 2021, the auction advisory committee was changed to include representatives from AJ&K and GB.
The advisory committee was reconstituted by the coalition administration in July 2022.
Along with the Minister of Finance, the Minister of IT and Telecom, the Minister of Economic Affairs, the Minister of Science and Technology, the Secretary of Finance, the Secretary of IT & Telecom, the Secretary of Law & Justice, the Chairman of Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), the Executive Director of the Frequency Allocation Board (FAB), the Representative of Army General Headquarters, the Director General Tech of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), and a Member Legal of the MoITT are also present.
Prior to this, Pakistan held spectrum bids for NGMS in 2014, 2016, 2017, and 2021 in accordance with federal government policy directions.
According to sources at MoITT, the dollar’s fluctuation at the time is the most concerning development because the rupee’s value is steadily declining.
The government should first stabilize the dollar since holding an auction in such a scenario is not an easy decision.
To read our blog on “ECC approves Committee’s formation to manage 3G/4G Spectrum auctions,” click here.
