Staff Report
ISLAMABAD:
Major telecom operators have declined to submit bid for additional spectrum while Ufone has submitted its bid to acquire the spectrum till the expiry of a deadline given by Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) in this regard.
According to sources, only Ufone has submitted a bid for an additional spectrum auction while Telenor, Zong, and Jazz did not participate in the bid to increase the speed of the internet due to the high price set by the government.
“Major telecom firms did not participate in the bidding process as the government had set a bid price for the additional spectrum in the dollar before the auction of spectrum which discouraged the telecom operators from participating in the bid,” said sources.
They added that Ufone has emerged as the single operator to participate in the spectrum auction as no foreign or local operator has submitted its bid for the auction of the said spectrum.
As per sources, since no other operator except Ufone has shown interest in getting the additional spectrum so it is expected that Ufone will get the additional spectrum at base price.
Sources were of the opinion that Jazz, after it obtaining Warid’s spectrum, was probably not in need to have any additional spectrum while Zong and Telenor have not participated in the auction ostensibly because the PTA could not convince them to participate in the auction for additional spectrum.
Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) under the provisions of Pakistan Telecommunication (Re-Organization) Act, 1996 and policy directive issued by the government, had earlier invited applications from interested Pakistani and foreign applicants/bidders for auction of spectrum in 1800 and 2100 MHz bands. And, PTA published Information Memorandum on 5th August 2021, and the deadline for the interested operators to submit their applications and sealed-bid with pre-bid deposits was due on September 9, 2021.
It is pertinent to mention that the base price for 2×1 MHz (1 MHz paired) spectrum in 1800 MHz was fixed at USD 31 million while the base price for 2×1 MHz (1 MHz paired) spectrum in 2100 MHz was set at USD 29 million.
A spokesman of PTA said,” Once all formalities are completed details shall be announced.”
