A woman looks at her mobile phone next to a 5G sign. Photo: Reuters
ISLAMABAD:
The government has ruled out any delay in the Fifth Generation (5G) telecom spectrum action and said that it will be held as per schedule on Tuesday morning as mock exercises with all the three participants – Jazz, Zong and Ufone – have been successfully completed.
During a background briefing on Monday, Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication Shaza Fatima said that efforts had been made to ensure that all the three stakeholders could benefit from the spectrum auction.
As most of the demands of telecom companies have been accepted, they will benefit from a reduction in the financial burden. On the other hand, the government will get some money via the spectrum sale and consumers will enjoy fast and reliable internet across the country.
“At present, only 274 megahertz (MHz) of spectrum is running the whole system in the country, leading to network challenges,” she said, adding, “The first priority of the government is to enhance the quality as well as coverage area of 4G, while 5G services will also commence after the auction.”
The government is offering around 600 MHz of spectrum and four new bands have been introduced in the latest auction, while telecos are bound to acquire at least 100 MHz each.
“With a minimum of 300 MHz to be acquired by the telecom companies, the availability of spectrum in the system will be doubled; as a result the current issues being faced by the consumers will largely be resolved,” the IT minister said.
To ensure that all the three telecom operators enter the 5G service, the spectrum auction policy has made it mandatory for the participants to acquire 3,500 and 2,600 MHz bands as these are essential for 5G.
While the 700 MHz band is being offered for the first time, it is essential for long-distance coverage and will help provide basic telephony services in scarcely populated areas. Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) Chairman Hafeezur Rehman told the briefing that the auction would be conducted through digital means and the three telcos had expressed their satisfaction over the auction process and the software being used for it.
“There is no objection from any of the three telecom companies regarding the software,” he said, adding that there was no need for a new telecom company in Pakistan and several technical policies introduced by the PTA would help introduce telecom services in local and remote areas.
