Consultants shortlisted by PTA for Sale of additional Spectrum

December 14, 2020

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Pakistan’s Telecom Regulator has shortlisted seven consultants for renewal of cellular license and additional spectrum auction in 1800 and 2100 MHz bands after technical evaluations for the calculation of the base price/benchmark.

The short-listed firms will proceed to the financial evaluation stage and the consultancy assignment will be given to the lowest bidder based on the evaluation criteria as mentioned in the Request for Proposal (RFP). The finaliztion of Consulting Firms is expected by Year end.

PTA had previously set October 2020 as the deadline for receiving of initial bids for the hiring of consultants for the spectrum auction and license renewal, which was extended to 30 November.

PTA received favourable responses and seven consulting firms applied for RFP. The auction committee evaluated their technical bids and all the firms have qualified for the next stage of financial bids.

The telecom authority has started the process of auctioning the spectrum from available at 1800 and 2100 MHz bands to cellular Mobile phone operators for improving the quality of services while generating additional revenue.

PTA has titled the auction as ‘Spectrum Auction Pakistan 2020-21’ which mainly is focused on regulatory consistency for the investors, mobile broadband proliferation, and the future sustainability of the cellular mobile communication sector with an overall economic growth of Pakistan.

The consultant(s)/consulting firm(s) will carry out the assignment in light of the detailed RFP which includes but not limited to:

Cellular license renewal
Additional spectrum auction
Spectrum rationalization plan

The aim of the consultancy is to prepare a strategy for existing mobile cellular license renewal; an additional spectrum auction in 1800 and 2100 MHz bands in the light of international best practices suited for the telecom market; focused on regulatory consistency for the investors, mobile broadband proliferation, and future sustainability of cellular sector with an overall economic growth of the region.

Moreover, a transparent and competitive spectrum auction plan with an optimal outcome, promoting mobile broadband proliferation, growth of cellular services, and prevention of collusion among the bidders is also required as per the consultancy assignment.