Cabinet to Approve Policies for NGMS Spectrum Auction Next Week

The federal government is likely to approve the policy directive for the auction of Next Generation Mobile Services (NGMS) Spectrum in Pakistan, Azad Jammu & Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan on July 27, 2021, Sources told Propakistani that ECC’s last meeting gave approval to the policy directive for the auction of NGMS Spectrum in Pakistan and AJk & GB, and the cabinet will rectify the decision after Eid-ul Adha. Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) is likely to complete the spectrum auction process during the first quarter of the current fiscal year 2021-22, sources added. Sources further said that the government will raise more than $1 billion through auctioning of the spectrum. ALSO READ HBL Islamic Banking Becomes the First to Introduce Islamic Merchant Acquiring in Pakistan Recently, a committee under the chair of Dr. Ishrat Hussain in its recommendations also allowed both options for payment in installments in US dollar at markup rate of LIBOR+ 3% per year, as well as in Pak Rupees. Markup rate of one year may be fixed at KIBOR+7% in case of payments in installments in Pakistani rupee, whereas for transactions related to licensing renewal fee, the licensee should choose payment currency at the License signing stage as it would set the basis for markup calculations. Once decided, the payment currency would lock for the full payment tenor. It is worth mentioning here that the government had constituted an Advisory Committee on the release of NGMS Spectrum in Pakistan for the improvement of Mobile Broadband Services amid Covid-19. ALSO READ Faisalabad International Airport Gets A New Air Traffic Control Complex Later, not only the composition and TORs of the same Committee were revised but the regions of AJK & GB were also included. The committee was tasked to examine and evaluate the market assessment report and recommendations of PTA for the release of maximum NGMS Spectrum in Pakistan, Azad Jammu & Kashmir, and Gilgit-Baltistan. In addition, it was also asked to examine and finalize the policy directives for the federal government for the release of the NGMS spectrum in Pakistan and AJK & GB. Besides, the mandate of the committee was to oversee the release process conducted by PTA.