All 5 Foreign Consultants Qualify for 5G Auction in Pakistan

All of the five international consultants qualified in technical bids for providing consultancy services to the government of Pakistan in the 5G spectrum auction/release of IMT Spectrum for the improvement of Next Generation Mobile Broadband Services in the country. The financial bids of the five firms would be opened on October 3, 2024, official sources confirmed to ProPakistani. The government is planning to complete the 5G spectrum auction latest by April 2025. Five international consultants/ firms had submitted their technical and financial bids which included; Aetha Consulting Limited; Detecon Consulting FZ-LLC; Frontier Economics Limited; Kom Konsult (Private) Limited; and National Economic Research Associates Inc. Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) undertook a detailed evaluation of the technical in accordance with the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) rules. PTA had short-listed 10 international consultants/JVs/firms who had submitted expressions of interest (EOI) for providing services to the government of Pakistan in the 5G spectrum auction/release of IMT Spectrum for improvement of Next Generation Mobile Broadband Services in the country. As many as 11 international consultants/JVs/firms had submitted EOI, which also included a JHK Construction company, which according to sources submitted EOI by mistake as it is a construction company. PTA dropped JHK company and short-listed other 10 companies. The consultant will advise on needed policy actions and reforms for increased infrastructure investment, broadband proliferation, and business/sector sustainability and growth. Compare Pakistan’s existing cellular/IMT spectrum assignments with regional practices and accordingly highlight the gap and suggest phase-wise auction of paired spectrum in 700 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz bands and unpaired spectrum in 2300 MHz, 2600 MHz, 3500 MHz bands. Per MHz spectrum price determination for spectrum bands mentioned in (b) above in USD and PKR with future projections of the next 3 x years using both demand and supply side models, along with the innovative payment options like flexible/ dynamic installment plan. Scenario-based various options for per MHz price vis-à-vis payment terms, rollout obligations, etc. Suggest recommendations based on international standards to limit human exposure to electromagnetic fields and mitigation techniques related to health hazards specifically in denser 5G networks. Further a report on the valuation of spectrum including base price in USD and PKR for paired spectrum in 700 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz bands and unpaired spectrum in 2300 MHz, 2600 MHz, and 3500 MHz bands with future projections for the next 3x years.