ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Shaukat Tarin directed the sectors concerned to speed up the auction process of Next Generation Mobile Services (NGMS) Spectrum and complete it within by June end this year.
Chairing the 4th meeting of the Advisory Committee, through a video link on Tuesday, the minister expressed confidence that the auction would be a success and fetch significant revenues for the government. Shaukat Tarin stressed providing a level playing field so that all operators must have a fair and equal chance in the process.
There should be no compromise on the quality of services, he said and added that the end goal was to improve the efficiency of the spectrum for strengthening and expanding information technology services across the country in accordance with the vision of PM Imran for a digitally progressive and inclusive Pakistan.
The Advisory Committee unanimously approved the draft policy directives for the release of NGMS Spectrum across the country, including AJK and GB for the improvement of mobile broadband services.
Earlier, the advisory committee for the release of the Next Generation Mobile Services (NGMS) spectrum has approved the recommendations for the sale of the spectrum during the meeting, and the consultant would hold meetings with the stakeholders in the next round, and forward the brief related to the auction process.
In the next step, the consultant will forward the ‘information memorandum’ containing the details of procedures related to the auction.
The IT minister informed the committee the sale of the spectrum was the key to strengthen and expand communication/IT services across the country. The committee was briefed by the consultant for spectrum auction of 1,800 MHz and 2,100 MHz bands.
The committee was informed that the “Spectrum Auction Pakistan 2020-21” was focused on regulatory consistency for the investors and increases the mobile broadband proliferation that will also have an impact on the overall economic growth of Pakistan.
The consultant expressed the confidence that there was significant potential for the growth of broadband and telephony across Pakistan and the existing four cellular companies were eager to obtain additional spectrum to harness the growth opportunities. The consultant expressed confidence that the auction would be a success and fetch significant revenues for the government.
