The current consultant’s report at net present value will be used in the auction for a period of ten years, the Auction Advisory Committee (AAC) has unanimously concluded.
During a recent committee meeting chaired by Finance Minister Miftah Ismail, it was decided to put the 2100 MHz spectrum up for sale in a 5, 5 MHz bandwidth for ten years.
According to insiders, a current operator has been requesting spectrum for 7 years, and the committee has agreed to put the spectrum up for auction for 10 years. Because the spectrum is auctioned for 15 years and the consultant’s report determined the cost for 15 years, there is no precedent in the past for auctioning a spectrum for 10 years. The terms governing the length and cost of the 10-year spectrum auction will need to be modified.
According to sources, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) objected to the 7-year spectrum auction during the meeting and stated that the price should be set in accordance with the 15-year period of the auction. However, some officials argued that the auction should be held for 10 years and the PTA should set the price using an earlier consulting study because there is a need for an operator.
Officials from the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunications (MoITT) claim that although the committee examined the topic of the 10-year auction, the details of what was decided upon will only become public when the minutes have been made public.
On the direction of the committee, PTA will take the process forward and further meetings of the committee will be held on the matter. The spectrum auction will be conducted in accordance with the Telecommunication Act 1996 and will not violate the law to benefit any operator.
