ISLAMABAD: The government would require eight to 10 months after the issuance of a policy directive to complete the process for launch of 5G in the country in line with the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) rules.
This was confirmed by government officials and telecom industry stakeholders while talking to Business Recorder.
Federal Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication Aminul Haque has stated that the government would try its best to launch 5G by the end of June 2023 at least in major cities.
However, industry stakeholders as well as senior government officials are terming it next to impossible while some are of the view that 5G launch is difficult even by end of December 2023, keeping in mind the economic situation in the country in general and the telecom market in particular.
General elections are also expected in 2023 in the country which may further delay the launch of 5G in the country.
5G launch: 8 to 10 months would be required after govt policy directive
The Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication (MoITT) published draft policy guidelines for 5G on 15 December 2021 on its website. Based on the same, all stakeholders were consulted by the MoITT and the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) for market readiness in relation to 5G adoption in the country.
Official sources revealed that after completing the consultations, the feedback was shared with the government where industry stakeholders linked the launch of 5G with a conducive market and incentives including a reduction in GST and WHT.
First, the government would communicate to all stakeholders that it is going to launch 5G and would prepare a draft policy directive.
The policy would be approved first, by the Economic Coordination Committee of the Cabinet (ECC) and then by the federal Cabinet to be chaired by the prime minister. The approved policy would be shared with the PTA and the Frequency Allocation Board (FAB). The FAB would require to specify frequency bands, while the PTA would conduct the required process.
After getting the policy directive for auction of 5G from the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecom, the PTA would issue an RFP (Request for Proposal) for hiring of consultancy services for the auction. It would take two weeks while one additional week would be required for the advertisement and process through Embassies in countries such as the US, the UK etc. As per the PPRA rules, it would require 30 days to complete the process while in reaching this point total of two months would be required.
After the submission of bids, two weeks would be needed for technical evolution and later opening of financial bids. Further, 10 days would be required if any entity or person has an objection and then an agreement would be signed with the qualified consultant. The consultant(s) hired for the purpose will be responsible to procure the auction in a transparent, professional and profitable manner.
The consultant would require at least two months to complete the report and submit to the auction advisory committee.
After approval, it would be sent to the ECC and then to the cabinet where approval would be granted for benchmarks, prices, bands etc over six months would be required (from starting date), while reaching this point.
The PTA, after this, would publish Information Memorandum (IM) and it requires 45 days as per the rules and taking the time to over eight months. Later, auction would be held and spectrum award and payment would take 30 days. All the deadlines given are a sort of ideal situation where no objection or court intervention is included, the official added.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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