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Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has reportedly announced today that Telenor Pakistan is the clear winner of its 850 MHz spectrum auction in Pakistan.
PTA had announced a 10MHz block in 850MHz band to be auctioned off at a base price of $395 million. News starting circulating around the beginning of June that Telenor had put forth their bid. No other cellular operator – Ufone, Zong or Mobilink – took part in the auctioning leaving a clear path for Telenor. At one point it was also expected for the auctioning to be temporarily called off until more bidders took part.
The news comes almost a week after news started to float that Telenor India had started 4G services in several parts of the country.There has not been an official statement from the PTA but after that it will be confirmed whether Telenor was able to grab the 4G band at base price or not.
Telenor Pakistan’s latest acquisition makes them the 3rd 4G provider in the country. The newly acquired 4G band is technology neutral and will also give a boost to pre-existing Telenor 3G services. Telenor has been successfully conducting 4G tests in Pakistan and so this new acquisition comes at a perfect time to launch their 4G network.
There hasn’t been an official word from Telenor but the service is expected to begin this year starting from bigger cities.
Source – ProPakistani
