Islamabad: Pakistan will hold an
auction for its first licences for third-generation (3G) mobile telecom
services on March 29, an official at the country’s telecoms authority
said on Tuesday.
Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) Chairman Mohammed Yaseen said the base price for the auction would be $210 million.
“We’re expecting 10 to 15 potential investors in the initial bidding process,” Yaseen told Reuters.
He said the amount bidders would deposit with initial expressions of interest to indicate the seriousness of a bid would be $31.5 million and licence terms would be from eight to 15 years.
Pakistan had more than 111 million mobile phone users in October 2011, according to the PTA, equivalent to around 65 percent of all Pakistanis.
Pakistan’s existing operators include Mobilink, Telenor, Warid Telecom, Zong and Ufone, according to the PTA website.
