Succesfull Auction of 3G in Pakistan

Islamabad, April 23, Pakistan raised 1.1 billion U.S. dollars in its first auction for 3G and 4G mobile phone networks on Wednesday and China Mobile Pakistan, or Zong, emerged the sole winner of Pakistan 4G spectrum license and one of four winners of the country's 3G spectrum licenses. This is just the first step in a telecommunication revolution that will soon engulf Pakistan and we will very shortly be launching 3G services to enable an even better telecommunication experience. Using the power of 3G. The auction was held at a local hotel in the presence of the international and local media people and hundreds of the representatives of mobile companies. Zong was declared successful of getting the licenses for 10 MHz spectrum in 2100 MHz radio frequency band in the auction conducted by the state-owned Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA). Zong has also got 10 MHs segment in 1800 MHz frequency. The company bid a total of 516 million U.S. dollars for the 3G and 4G spectrum. licenses. Besides Zong, Russian-owned Mobilink, Norway's Telenor, and Ufone - a company jointly owned by the Pakistan government and the United Arab Emirates' Etisalat also won the 3G licenses. Mobilink has got 10 MHz segment in 2100 MHz frequency band. Ufone and Telenor got 5 MHz segments in 2100 MHz frequency. One 10 MHz segment in 1800 MHz band would be sold separately.Warid Telecom Pakistan, another company operating in the country, did not show interest in the bidding.

3G Launch in Pakistan

Pakistan does not have any 3G mobile operators yet, though Pakistan Telecommunication Authority has plans to auction off blocks of the relevant spectrum. In the non-mobile sector, Pakistan's biggest telecommunication company PTCL launched its 3G network, EVO, in mid-2008 and has since then established itself in this sector. It provides 3G services in 105 cities across Pakistan. Omantel's WorldCall also provides 3G services in 50 cities Pakistan-wide. They provide mobile broadband service via dongles and modems. On 14 August 2010. Pakistan became the first country in the world to experience EVDO's RevB 3G technology that offers maximum speeds of 9.3 Mbit/s. At present the services of EVO Nitro (brand name) are available in Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore and Karachi. The RevA network, with speeds if up to 3.1 Mbit/s is available in over 100 cities of the country.
3G and 4G has launched in Pakistan Apr 23,14.