ISLAMABAD: The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet has reportedly downgraded the role of Minister for Information Technology and Telecom, Syed Amin ul Haque, a representative of MQM (Pakistan), in a panel tasked to decide the auction for unsold Next Generation Mobile Services (NGMS), i.e., 5 G broadband.
The decision was taken by the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet on September 9, 2020.
The ECC appointed Prime Minister Advisor on Finance and Revenue, Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh head of the Advisory Committee in place of Aminul Haque and excluded National Accountability Bureau (NAB) from the composition of proposed committee.
Sharing details, sources said, (MoIT&T) noted that the spectrum auctions for NGMS in Pakistan were conducted in 2014, 2016 and 2017 under the policy directive issued by the Federal Government; according to which MoIT&T. 30 MHz paired spectrum in 1.9/2.1 GHz, 20 MHz paired spectrum in 1.8 GHz band and 7.38 MHz paired spectrum in 850 MHz band were auctioned and assigned to cellular mobile operators. Consequent to the auction and issuance of licenses, 3G/4G mobile broadband services were launched by cellular operators which triggered growth of mobile broadband services in Pakistan. At present, Pakistan has over 80 million mobile broadband users. With rapid growth and escalating demand of mobile broadband services, the onset of COVID-19 pandemic had further increased the utilization of data due to adoption of online platforms by businesses, educational institutions and the general public.
This had led to the requirement of more spectrum so that operators may expand their services and meet the quality of service requirements as a regulatory compliance. At present, unsold spectrum in 1800 and 2100 MHz bands was readily available for release through auction in Pakistan.
The Prime Minister in a meeting held on July 28, 2020, directed to proceed with availability of additional spectrum for mobile services. Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication further stated that all previous exercises for the release of NGMS spectrum had been conducted through an auction under the oversight of an Advisory Committee constituted by the Prime Minister. On similar lines, it was proposed that an Advisory Committee for the release of unsold spectrum for Next Generation Mobile Services may be constituted with the following composition: (i) Federal Minister for Information Technology & Telecommunication (Chairman);(ii) Advisor to Prime Minister on Finance;(iii) Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives( iv) Secretary, Finance Division;(v) Secretary, IT & Telecom Division;(vi) Secretary, Law & Justice Division;(vii) Chairman, PTA;(viii) Executive Director, Frequency Allocation Board (FAB);(ix) representative of GHQ;(x) representative of NAB.;(xi) Member (Telecom), MoIT&T (Committee Secretary) and; (xii) Any other person that Committee may wish to co-opt.
Terms of Reference (ToRs) of the Advisory Committee are as follows: (i) to examine and evaluate the market assessment report and recommendations of PTA for release of maximum NGMS spectrum in Pakistan;(ii) to examine and finalize the policy directives for the Federal Government for release of NGMS spectrum in Pakistan and; (iii) to oversee the release process to be conducted by PTA. After a discussion, the ECC approved the ToRs and Advisory Committee with the following construction; (i) Advisor to Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue (Chairman); (ii) Federal Minister for Information Technology & Telecommunication; (iii) Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives; (iv) Federal Minister for Industries and Production; (v) Adviser to the Prime Minister on Commerce and Investment; (vi) Secretary, Finance Division; (vii) Secretary, IT (Sr Telecom Division); (viii) Secretary, Law & Justice Division; (ix) Chairman, PTA; (x) Executive Director, Frequency Allocation Board (FAB); (xi) representative of GHQ; (xii) Member (Telecom), MoITT (Committee Secretary) and (xiii) any other person that Committee may wish to co-opt.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020
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