Ufone had submitted a bid of $279 million for a 9MHz block in a 1800Mhz band, and since there were no other operators participating in the auction process, the total proceeds from spectrum auction will stand at $279 million.
This was stated by General (Retd.) Amir Azim Bajwa during a press briefing at the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority headquarters moments ago.
This will generate a revenue of USD 279 Million (excluding advance tax). The government will receive a 50% upfront payment of Rs. 23.44 Billion within 15 days; out of which 20% of the said amount i.e Rs. 9.38 Billion has already been received on 9th September 2021. The remaining 50% will be paid in 5 equal annual installments.
The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) established basic pricing of $31 million for 1MHz in the 1800MHz band and $29 million per 1MHz in the 2100MHz band.
General Bajwa stated that only Ufone had entered the auction and that it would receive the spectrum at the base price.
Ufone will be granted a license that includes additional network rollout responsibilities and Quality of Service criteria to protect consumers’ interests.
The Chairman of the PTA stated that the organization has established specific key performance indicators (KPIs) to assure the quality of service and standards of the country’s telephone and internet services. He added that a minimum benchmark speed for wireless internet is now established at 4Mbps and that operators would be required to provide (at the very least) 4Mbps speed on their 4G networks.
It should be noted that the new standard of 4Mbps speeds will be in effect in six months.
The PTA Chairman stressed that operators that fail to fulfill the basic quality of service criteria would face penalties, which will apply to all operators in Pakistan.
According to General (Ret.) Bajwa, the PTA will undertake monthly QoS studies to verify that all operators meet minimal quality and coverage standards.
The PTA Chairman stated that all operators were consulted during the development of the Information Memorandum (IM) for the spectrum auction and that the PTA had made all efforts to ensure that the conditions for the operators were as easy as possible.
