To: Pakistan Telecommunication Authority and Farooq Awan
PTA: Auction 3G Licenses in Pakistan
We call upon the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority and Government of Pakistan to take immediate notice of the lack of progress on this issue and immediately start the process of auctioning of 3G licenses in Pakistan.
Why is this important?
Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and Ministry of Information Technology (MoIT) has been dragging its feet for the past several years on the issue of auctioning of 3G licenses in Pakistan. Various reasons are given for this, from lack of interest from the Government to the Telcos not being ready for the migration from 2G to 3G. The country is not only far behind internationally (4G networks are already being rolled) but also regionally where even a war-torn country like Afghanistan has migrated to 3G. And the interesting part is that the Government is expected to earn a good 1-2 billion dollars (depending upon various estimates) from the auctions alone (not to mention the countless jobs that would be added to a stagnant Telco market).