The National Assembly Standing Committee on IT and Telecom met recently under the chairmanship of Amin-ul-Haque. During the session, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) delivered a comprehensive briefing on the upcoming 5G spectrum auction. The process is moving forward smoothly, and major telecom operators are already locking in their spots.
Bidding Deadline & Major Participants
Tomorrow, February 27, marks the final deadline to submit bids. However, the country’s top telecom companies are not waiting around. All three active operators, Jazz, Ufone, and Zong, will participate in the bidding process.
Furthermore, the PTA Chairman confirmed that these three operators have already deposited their bid money. Each company submitted a mandatory pre-bid guarantee of $15 million.
Spectrum Details & Upgraded Speeds
The official 5G auction will take place on March 10. The PTA will offer a total of six bands, and four of these are entirely new spectrum bands.
According to DG Licensing PTA, Aamir Shahzad, this auction will directly benefit current mobile users. Consequently, existing 4G download speeds will jump to 20 Mbps. Ultimately, PTA officials emphasized that enhancing the overall quality of service remains the core objective of this entire process.
Before reaching this stage, the PTA hired a consultant and consulted stakeholders. Afterward, the government issued a policy directive, prompting the PTA to release the Information Memorandum.
5G Auction Logistics & Firewall Controversy
Currently, an advisory committee is actively overseeing the auction matters. On March 10, the physical auction will occur at a local hotel in Islamabad. Meanwhile, the operational control room will be fully established at the PTA office.
During the briefing, the committee also touched upon the shutdown of the social media firewall. Committee Member Sadiq Memon directly asked if authorities intentionally suspended the firewall ahead of the 5G auction. Instead of addressing the controversy immediately, the Committee Chairman instructed members to take the complete 5G briefing from the PTA Chairman first.
Overall, the Committee Chairman noted that the smooth progression of the 5G auction is a highly positive development for the IT sector.
