The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has shortlisted ten international consultants, joint ventures (JVs), and firms from those that submitted expressions of interest (EOI) to assist the government of Pakistan with the 5G spectrum auction and the release of IMT Spectrum. This initiative aims to enhance Next Generation Mobile Broadband Services across the country.
Initially, eleven international consultants, JVs, and firms submitted EOIs. Among them was JHK Construction Company, which mistakenly submitted an EOI despite being a construction firm. Consequently, PTA excluded JHK and shortlisted the remaining ten entities.
The government targets completing the 5G spectrum auction by April 2025, according to reliable sources.
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The shortlisted international consultants and firms include:
- Aetha Consulting Ltd & Specure GmbH
- Coleago Consulting Limited
- Communicators Globe (Pvt.) Ltd and Cenerva Limited
- Detecon Consulting FZ-LLC
- VTT Global NE&S
- Frontier Economics Limited
The terms of reference (ToRs) for these consultancy firms encompass developing a strategy to optimize the release of IMT Spectrum. This strategy aims to foster technology-neutral Next Generation Mobile Broadband Services, tailored to Pakistan’s economy, society, and telecommunications market while adhering to international best practices.
Key objectives of the consultancy include ensuring regulatory consistency for investors, facilitating mobile broadband expansion, and ensuring the telecommunications sector’s future sustainability with a focus on socio-economic development. The consultants will also conduct a spectrum valuation for available bands, with future projections to promote economic growth and incentivize foreign investment. This will involve considering the impact of past auctions and renewals, international best practices, and other relevant factors.
Additionally, the ToRs include developing 5G launch and implementation models based on international and regional best practices, specifically tailored to potential use cases for Pakistan. The consultants will identify viable monetization models and design investment-oriented spectrum auctions to enable both existing operators and new entrants to acquire maximum IMT spectrum, thereby enhancing ICT infrastructure and broadband services in Pakistan.
The consultants will provide recommendations on necessary policy actions and reforms to boost infrastructure investment, broadband proliferation, and sector sustainability and growth. They will compare Pakistan’s existing cellular/IMT spectrum assignments with regional practices, highlight gaps, and suggest a phase-wise auction of paired spectrum in the 700 MHz, 1800 MHz, and 2100 MHz bands, and unpaired spectrum in the 2300 MHz, 2600 MHz, and 3500 MHz bands.
The ToRs also require determining the per MHz spectrum price in USD and PKR for the mentioned bands with future projections for the next three years, using both demand and supply side models. Consultants will explore innovative payment options like flexible or dynamic installment plans and present scenario-based pricing options alongside rollout obligations.
Moreover, the consultants will recommend standards to limit human exposure to electromagnetic fields and suggest mitigation techniques for health hazards, particularly relevant to dense 5G networks.
The final deliverable will be a report on spectrum valuation, including the base price in USD and PKR for the specified bands, with future projections for the next three years.
