The GSM Association has welcomed Pakistan’s recently concluded multi-band spectrum auction as a major step toward the country’s fifth-generation mobile rollout and long-term digital development, highlighting the significance of timely spectrum allocation and sound policy design in enabling sustainable investment in next-generation telecommunications infrastructure. The auction, which concluded this week, allocated 480 megahertz of spectrum across four frequency bands, specifically 700 megahertz, 2.3 gigahertz, 2.6 gigahertz, and 3.5 gigahertz, to Jazz, Ufone 4G, and Zong CMPak Limited.
The allocation has raised Pakistan’s total assigned mobile spectrum from 274 megahertz to 754 megahertz, nearly tripling the country’s previous spectrum holdings and substantially strengthening the technical foundation available to operators for deploying both fifth-generation services and enhanced fourth-generation networks. The GSM Association noted that expanding mid-band spectrum is particularly essential at this stage, as the mid-band frequencies serve as what the industry commonly refers to as the sweet spot for fifth-generation deployment, offering an effective balance between coverage range and data capacity that makes them well-suited for both urban high-demand environments and broader geographic reach. Beyond enabling fifth-generation services, the additional spectrum is expected to meaningfully improve the performance and capacity of existing fourth-generation networks, which continue to serve the majority of Pakistan’s mobile subscribers.
The GSM Association also drew attention to several policy measures that it credited with contributing to the successful outcome of the auction. These included the decision to price spectrum in Pakistani rupees rather than foreign currency, which reduces exchange rate risk for operators and supports more sustainable long-term investment planning. The setting of conservative reserve prices was also acknowledged as a measure that encourages genuine investment rather than speculative bidding, and the maintenance of open consultation between the government and industry stakeholders throughout the process was cited as a positive precedent for regulatory engagement. The association specifically acknowledged the contributions of Federal Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication Shaza Fatima Khawaja, the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication, PTA, the Frequency Allocation Board, and the Spectrum Advisory Committee for adopting a forward-looking approach that has positioned Pakistan to accelerate its digital transformation, foster innovation, and expand access to mobile broadband and digital services across the economy.
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