The Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunications has devised strategic plans and guidelines for the launch of 5G in the country, proposing that various institutions should start working in this direction in their respective areas.
The Ministry’s Policy Guidelines suggest that the Ministry of IT, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA), Frequency Allocation Board (FAB), Ministry of Finance, and Ministry of Health should work on the launch of 5G.
Guidelines propose that for the launch of 5G, phase-wise availability of at least 840 MHz for international mobile telecommunication in low and mid-bands should be made by the end of 2024 or the first half of 2025.
PTA, as proposed in the Guidelines, will appoint a reputed consultant to make recommendations to the Government of Pakistan on issues like investment-friendly spectrum auction design, per MHz spectrum price determination in US dollars or Pakistan rupees, payment terms, installment plan, IMT/5G Spectrum Block sizes, and minimum bandwidth per operator in line with international best practices. A consultant will also finalize recommendations on the number of operators, tenure of licenses, and incentives for auction winners.
After recommendations from PTA, PEMRA, FAB, and other stakeholders, the Ministry of IT will finalize the spectrum reframing framework for IMT bands. A Spectrum Reframing Committee composed of stakeholders should be formed in line with telecom policy 2015.
According to the plan, the Ministry of Finance in consultation with all stakeholders should finalize incentives, which could in fact be reflected in the finance bill 2022.
All relevant stakeholders including the Ministry of IT, Ministry of Finance, PTA, and FAB are expected to work in parallel for the conduct of spectrum auction in 2023. The hiring of the consultant firm and recommendations by it should be finalized by December 2022. All stakeholders and the government should lock the commercial launch target by the 1st quarter of 2023.