ISLAMABAD: The eighth and final round of auction process for 3G licenses completed at $902.82 million in Islamabad on Wednesday without any change from the previous three rounds and a $17.82 million increase in the bids since their beginning.
The total opening price of the four lots of 3G licenses was $885 million while there was an increase of $5.9 million in Lot D and $11.92 million in Lot A at the end of the three round auction.
At the end of the auction’s first round there was no increase in the bid price whereas there was an increase of $5.9 million in the bid price of Lot D at the end of the second round.
Moreover, an increase of $5.9 million and $5.92 million in the bid price of Lot A had taken place by the end of the third and fourth rounds of the auction process.
The Chairman Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) Dr. Syed Ismail Shah said the first round of the license auction process concluded with the four competing companies agreeing to the base price of $1.3 billion.
Initially, three 10 MHz 3G licenses and two 10 MHz 4G licenses were announced for auction.
The addition of another lot of the 3G spectrum license was made in accordance with a stipulation in the information memorandum for the spectrum auction.
The auction for the 4G licenses would take place after the completion of the 3G licenses auction.
Earlier in a statement, the chairman PTA said that over 900,000 jobs generation is anticipated with the launch of spectrum, which will have multiple benefits for the economy.
The PTA expects to receive more than $1.3 billion from the auction.
The introduction of 3G and 4G spectrum in the telecom sector is expected to revolutionise the way subscribers stay connected.
4G provides even faster speeds and ultra-broadband services, putting data-intensive services such as online gaming, high definition mobile TV and video conferencing within the reach of the average consumer.
For consumers, the auction will not immediately translate into the advent of 3G connectivity on their mobile phones. In fact, the timeframe agreed upon between the PTA and mobile operators envisions 3G roll out within six months of the auction.
In the first phase, services will be available in Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar and Quetta and later on in other cities from each of the four provinces.
The second phase, which will start a year and a half after the auction, envisions the expansion of 3G services to about 80 more cities. In the third phase, which will begin about four years from now, 90 per cent of all tehsil headquarters will have access to 3G services.
