ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The Caretaker Federal Minister for IT and Telecommunication Dr. Umar Saif and the Chairman Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) Major General (retd) Hafeezur Rehman held a meeting in Islamabad on Tuesday, and decided that the auction of 5G will be held within next 10 months.
In the meeting, matters related to telecommunication, 5G auction and spectrum were discussed in detail.
The interim IT minister said that all the hurdles in 5G auction will be removed on priority basis, adding that issues relating taxation, teledensity and Spectrum will be addressed.
Dr. Umar Saif said that effective measures will be taken for the provision of quality services to masses. He vowed to facilitate people through 5G auction.
نگراں وفاقی وزیر آئی ٹی ڈاکٹر عمر سیف سے پی ٹی اے چئیرمین میجر جنرل(ریٹائرڈ )حفیظ الرحمان نےان کے دفتر میں ملاقات کی۔ ملاقات میں ٹیلی کمیونیکیشن، فائیو جی آکشن اور اسپیکٹرم کے حوالے سے تفصیلی گفتگو ہوئی۔
“اگلےدس ماہ میں فائیو جی کو آکشن کر دیا جائے گا،” ڈاکٹر عمر سیف@umarsaif pic.twitter.com/4xHfWYQ0mj
— Ministry of IT & Telecom (@MoitOfficial) August 29, 2023
It is pertinent to mention here that Pakistan ranks very low in terms of quality of service for cellular users (79 out of 100 globally by the Inclusive Internet Index).
One of main reasons for this is the lack of investment in the telecom infrastructure. Our telecom operators only have 274 MHz Spectrum currently to serve the 7th largest number of telecom users in the world. For comparison, a single telecom operator in Australia (Optus) uses over 345 MHz.
Therefore, in order to afford better services to our citizens, we must ensure immediately improvement in 4G infrastructure and accelerate the rollout of 5G in Pakistan.
The meeting was also attended by the Additional Secretary MoITT Ms. Aisha Humera Moriani and the Director General Wireless Muhammad Jahanzeb Rahim.