The auction of the 3G/4G top-up spectrum has been put on hold due to the four major operators’ lack of interest.
According to sources in the Ministry of IT and Telecommunication, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) contacted telecom operators to inquire about their interest in purchasing additional spectrum. However, none of the companies expressed an interest, and as a result, work on the auction of additional 3G/4G spectrum was suspended.
PTA officials have also confirmed that the 3G/4G additional spectrum auction process has been put on hold due to a lack of interest from businesses. When the formal process was started following the approval of the Auction Advisory Committee and spectrum demand was sought from the companies, none of them expressed interest in buying additional spectrum, according to PTA officials.
Initially, Telenor had agreed to buy additional spectrum.
According to sources, PTA was willing to offer spectrum for 15 years, whereas Telenor had expressed interest in buying additional spectrum for 7 years. Following careful consideration, the Sale Advisory Committee approved the 10-year auction of additional 3G/4G spectrum. This was not in Telenor’s favour because it wanted to synchronise the new spectrum with the existing spectrum because the latter was about to expire in 2029.
On August 3, 2022, the Auction Advisory Committee made the decision to put up for auction two blocks of extra 5 MHz spectrum in the 2,100 MHz ranges for a ten-year period. The government was anticipating making between $150 million and $300 million from the spectrum auction.
