The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the federal cabinet on Tuesday approved the process for the auction of 600 MHz spectrum within two months, with an aim to rollout 5G internet in 5-6 months.
The ECC also approved a Rs. 20 billion bailout package for holding company Pakistan International Airlines Investment Limited to discharge $4 million tax liability against Roosevelt Hotel, New York, and other domestic loan liabilities.
In a video statement, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb and Information Technology Minister Shaza Fatima Khwaja said the new spectrum auction would be completed by early February. It would be 10 times larger than the 60MHz auctioned over all past auctions combined, they said, noting internet congestion was a major constraint to the nation’s digitization transformation.
Aurangzeb said the National Economic Research Associates had prepared recommendations for the spectrum auction in line with similar auctions in other countries, including process, pricing mechanism, auction and implementation strategies. He said the success of digitization, digital inclusion and financial inclusion required faster, cheaper and better processes, and unsold spectrum was directly translating into economic losses.
Similarly, Fatima said the ECC decision required the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to complete all spectrum auctions by the end of January or early February because Pakistan was behind regional competitors due to the unavailability of spectrum capacity. She said Pakistan’s 245 million population had access to only 274MHz spectrum compared to 600MHz available to the 175 million people of Bangladesh, citing this as the primary reason for internet traffic congestion.
“This means we are using two lanes for traffic which requires eight lanes … your internet does not work and you face challenges,” she explained, claiming the upcoming auction would improve 3G and 4G services and enable the launch of 5G, facilitating the entry of international operators. Under the terms of the auction, she said, all spectrums must be rolled out within 4-6 months, with the public anticipated to see service improvements by mid-next year.
The I.T. minister said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif would soon inaugurate Connect 2030, mandating the government to ensure minimum connectivity available to users is 100 Mbps over the next five years.