Cellular spectrum auction in AJK, GB fetches $30.3 million for PTA

ISLAMABAD: The first-ever cellular spectrum auction for next generation mobile services in Azad Jammu & Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan on Tuesday fetched $30.3 million revenues.

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority announced that all the four major cellular mobile operators, including Telenor Pakistan, Ufone, and Zong participated in the bidding process, which concluded on Tuesday at the PTA Headquarters, Islamabad. However, except for Jazz, the remaining three companies won a certain portion of the available spectrum.

The statement quoted Federal Minister for Information Technology & Telecommunication Syed Aminul Haque as saying, “Successful companies will deposit 50 percent of the total amount within one month.”

In the category of electronic auction, two cellular services operators CMPak (Zong) and PMCL (Jazz) participated for 1800 MHz band. After 18 rounds of electronic auction, Zong was declared as the winner of 10 MHz (2 blocks of 5 MHz each) against the price of $14.398 million. In addition, Telenor, Ufone and Zong also made successful bid for 1.2 MHz in 1800 MHz band.

As for the 2100 MHz band, Telenor Pakistan returned successful for a spectrum of 15 MHz against the set base price. It is pertinent to mention that the PTA completed the auction process with the assistance of reputable consultant JV Telconet/ Frontier Economics. The government constituted the Auction Advisory Committee in October 2020 under the chairmanship of the finance minister. The PTA initiated fair and transparent spectrum auction process under the policy directive issued on August 11, 2021.The addition of this spectrum will help cellular services operators to provide better data and voice services in the two regions currently being focused on the promotion of tourism.