ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan plans to issue its first licences for third-generation (3G) mobile telecom services in October, hoping to generate nearly $1 billion through an open auction, government officials said on Thursday.
The fifth-largest cellular market in Asia -- behind China, India, Indonesia and Japan -- had more than 107 million mobile users in April, almost 65 percent of all Pakistanis.
"A committee of the cabinet has agreed in principle to launch 3G services as soon as possible without any conditions," a senior official of the Ministry of Information Technology, which is handling the project, told Reuters.
The Economic Coordination Committee is expected to green-light the auction in the first week of August. The auctions are expected to be held in mid to late October, another official said.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, as they are not authorised to speak to the media, said the number of licences to be issued would depend on the availability of 3G spectrum.
"For instance, if we have 30 Mhz, it could be three licences of 10 Mhz each. If we have 20 Mhz, then it will be two licences," one official said.
Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) will advise the ministry of the available spectrum in August.
Pakistan's existing operators include Mobilink, a unit of Egypt-based Orascom Telecom, Norway's Telenor and Warid Telecom, a joint venture between Abu Dhabi Group and SingTel Group, according to the PTA website.
Mobilink leads the market by 32.96 million subscribers, followed by Telenor at 26.06 million, according to PTA data. Other operators include Zong of China Mobile Communication Corporation and Ufone, owned by the Emirates Telecommunication Corporation Group, Etisalat.
Pakistan
Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan (Urdu: اسلامی جمہوریۂ پاکِستان) is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a 1,046-kilometre (650 mi) coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west,India in the east and China in the far northeast.[7] Tajikistan also lies very close to Pakistan but is separated by the narrow Wakhan Corridor. Strategically, Pakistan is located in a position between the important regions of South Asia, Central Asia and the greater Middle East.[8]
The region forming modern Pakistan was the site of several ancient cultures including theneolithic Mehrgarh and the bronze era Indus Valley Civilisation. Subsequently it was the recipient of Hindu, Persian, Indo-Greek, Islamic, Turco-Mongol, and Sikh cultures through several invasions and/or settlements. As a result the area has remained a part of numerous empires and dynasties including the Indian empires, Persian empires, Arab caliphates, Mongol,Mughal, Sikh and British Empire. Pakistan gained independence from the British Empire in 1947 after a struggle for independence, led by Mohammad Ali Jinnah, that sought the partition of India and the creation of an independent state for the Muslim majority populations of the eastern and western regions of British India.[9] With the adoption of its constitution in 1956, Pakistan became an Islamic republic.[10] In 1971, an armed conflict in East Pakistan resulted in the creation of Bangladesh.[11]
Pakistan is a federal parliamentary republic consisting of four provinces and four federal territories. With over 170 million people, it is the sixth most populous country in the world[2] and has the second largest Muslim population after Indonesia.[12] It is an ethnically andlinguistically diverse country with a similar variation in its geography and wildlife. With a semi-industrialized economy, it is the 27th largest in the world in terms of purchasing power. Since gaining independence, Pakistan's history has been characterised by periods of military rule,political instability and conflicts with neighbouring India. The country faces challenging problems including terrorism, poverty, illiteracy and corruption.
Pakistan has the seventh largest standing armed force and is the only Muslim-majority nation to possess nuclear weapons. It is designated as a major non-NATO ally of the United States and a strategic ally of China.[13][14] It is a founding member of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (now the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation)[15] and a member of the United Nations,[16] Commonwealth of Nations,[17] Next Eleven economies and the G20 developing nations.
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