Islamabad
Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) is set to conduct the second phase of the country’s 5G spectrum auction on Thursday, where telecom operators will bid for the positioning of frequency bands already acquired in the initial round.
The second stage will involve an assignment-based auction to determine the placement of spectrum blocks in the 2600 MHz and 3500 MHz bands, with operators competing for top, mid, and low frequency positions.
Officials said if telecom companies mutually agree on the positioning of their frequency bands, the bidding process may not be required. In such a case, the PTA will directly announce the final results.
However, if operators fail to reach an agreement, a competitive bidding process will be held to determine the band positioning.
According to officials, the starting price for positioning bids will be set at $100,000, while the amount could rise to $1 million if the bidding proceeds into a second round.
The development follows the successful completion of the first phase of the 5G spectrum auction a day earlier.
In the initial round, 480 MHz spectrum was auctioned out of the total 597.2 MHz available, increasing Pakistan’s spectrum availability by 1.7 percent.
Among the telecom operators, Zong acquired 110 MHz spectrum, Ufone secured 180 MHz, while Jazz purchased 190 MHz spectrum.
The first phase of the auction generated $507 million for the government, while the PTA expects an additional $1–2 million through the spectrum positioning bids in the second phase.
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