In a Wednesday press conference in Islamabad, Pakistan’s caretaker minister of information technology, Dr. Umar Saif, announced plans to have the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) hire a consultant to oversee the sale of the country’s 5G spectrum.
According to the minister’s statement, the federal cabinet has approved the 5G spectrum auction, and a Spectrum Auction Advisory Committee, chaired by the minister of finance and consisting of representatives from the ministries of information technology and industry, has been established to oversee the auction.
The minister predicted that the introduction of 5G will “revolutionise Pakistan’s telecommunications landscape” since it would make 300 megahertz of spectrum available. To guarantee a trouble-free and productive spectrum auction, the PTA will soon hire a consultant.
Sharing of telecommunications infrastructure, he said, has also been approved by the cabinet.
Dr. Saif explains that by agreeing to share tower space, telecom companies can reduce the cost of running and maintaining their networks.
