News
Telenor deposits over $73m for 3G licence
By Ahmad Ahmadani
ISLAMABAD: After the successful bidding process for the auction of 3G and 4G licences last week, Telenor has deposited more than $73 million in Pak rupees with the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), while Zong informed the regulator that it will pay the remaining amount in US dollars during the next few days.
Sources in telecom sector told Daily Times that the next generation mobile services may step into Pakistan during the next few days, as two out of four auction winners – Zong and Telenor – are likely to get licences of the next generation mobile services during the ongoing week. The remaining auction winners – Mobilink and Ufone – are also expected to get licences during this week or in the start of the next week.
“Telenor on Monday deposited 15 percent of the base price of $295.05 million – above $44million – to meet the condition of the licence,” a senior official at the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication said on the condition of anonymity.
According to estimates made so far by the corners concerned, the PTA would earn $1.112 billion – $902.11 million from the auction of 3G and $210 million from the auction of 4G spectrum licences.
Speaking at the auction, State Minister Anusha Rehman said that auction of 3G spectrum would not translate into the advent of 3G connectivity on mobile phones immediately, as timeframe agreed upon between the PTA and the cellular mobile phone operators (CMOs) for rolling out the 3G technology would be within six months after the conclusion of this auction.
It is worth mentioning here that initially, services of 3G technology would be available in the federal capital and four provincial headquarters in the first phase, while they would be available in other cities of each province at a later stage.
Similarly, the second phase would envision the expansion of 3G services to about 80 more cities of the country a year and a half after the auction, while 90 percent of all tehsil headquarters would have access to 3G services in the third phase about four years from now.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk