PTA is Working on Auctioning 3G/4G Spectrum in Azad Kashmir and G&B

Pakistan Telecommunication Authority has hinted that auction of next generate 3G and 4G spectrum for AJK and Gilgit and Baltistan is on the way in near future.

Without giving a timeline or any details, a relatively vague statement posted on PTA’s said:

 The process for Next Generation Mobile services Award has already begun and soon people of AJ&K and GB will enjoy the high speed wireless broadband services in their areas.

For those who don’t know, 3G and 4G spectrum auction held in April 2014 didn’t include AJK and Gilgit and Baltistan regions.

PTA, in response to a ProPakistani question recently, had said that Kashmir Council will have to approve the request from regulator that had asked AJK government’s consent for allowing operators to start 3G and 4G services in the regions.

It is still unclear if 3G and 4G spectrum in AJK will be auctioned through fresh bidding or already operating players will be granted spectrum as per their respective spectrum block sizes against a flat fixed fee.

For GSM licenses, back in 2005 when a massive earthquake had hit the northern areas, all Pakistani cellular operators were given service extension to offer cellular services in AJK at a fixed fee.

PTA said that this decision will be based upon policy directive from MoIT, which will be issued after the consent of Kashmir Council.

Below is complete statement issued on PTA’s website:

In Pakistan, currently five cellular mobile operators i.e. Telenor Pakistan, Pakistan Mobile Communication Limited (PMCL/Mobilink), PTML (Ufone), Warid Telecom and China Mobile Pakistan (CMPak) are providing services using GSM, UMTS and LTE technology.

In Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJ&K) and Gilgit Baltistan (GB), there are six cellular mobile operators i.e. Mobilink, Telenor, Ufone, CMPak, Warid and Special Communication Organization (SCO) are providing services in the said area.

The operators have covered most part of the AJ&K and have also extended services to main localities of GB.

Now, as a result of this, mobile services with data facilities are available in far flung mountainous areas of the country.

The process for Next Generation Mobile services Award has already begun and soon people of AJ&K and GB will enjoy the high speed wireless broadband services in their areas.

The post PTA is Working on Auctioning 3G/4G Spectrum in Azad Kashmir and G&B appeared first on .