ISLAMABAD: To reinforce the standard and outreach of cellular telephony in addition to broadband companies in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), the Ministry of Data Know-how and Telecommunication (MoITT) on Thursday issued coverage directives to the regulator for the public sale of spectrum within the areas.
The federal government additionally authorised extra spectrum for the state-owned telecom operator — Particular Communications Organisation (SCO) — in AJK and GB.
The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) is anticipated to concern the Data Memorandum (IM) after receiving the coverage directive to all of the 5 mobile operators within the area.
At the moment, 5 operators are offering mobile cellular companies in AJK and GB together with the SCO, Jazz, Telenor, Zong and Ufone.
The SCO — a subsidiary of MoITT — was established in 1976 to develop, function and keep all telecom companies in AJK and GB.
The federal government set the bottom value of $0.87 million for every megahertz (MHz) in 1,800 MHz and a couple of,100 MHz band, and 16 MHz spectrum in 1,800 MHz band and 30 MHz spectrum within the 2,100 MHz have been positioned for public sale to the 4 cellular operators for 15 years.
Nevertheless, extra spectrum of 10 MHz in each the 1,800 MHz and a couple of,100 MHz bands has been authorised for SCO.
The public sale might be helpful for the governments of each the areas as a big quantity out of the public sale proceeds might be transferred to the AJK and GB Councils by the PTA.
The coverage directive by the IT ministry mentioned {that a} vital surge within the demand of cellular broadband companies has been witnessed significantly throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. “This ever-increasing reliance on mobile broadband services necessitated the demand for availability of more spectrums to meet the connectivity needs of the citizens of AJK and GB,” the ministry mentioned.
Printed in Daybreak, August 13th, 2021
