Pakistan has moved closer to launching 5G services after ECC approves a framework for its biggest spectrum sale, which signals faster digital expansion.
The Economic Coordination Committee on Tuesday approved recommendations for the upcoming spectrum auction, ministers said.
Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb and Information Technology Minister Shaza Fatima Khawaja during a joint press briefing said that ECC had approved recommendations of the spectrum auction advisory committee while removing a key hurdle for Pakistan’s long-delayed 5G rollout.Govt Finally Sets Meeting to Finalise 5G Plans
Finance Minister Aurangzeb said they would send an approved plan to the federal cabinet for final clearance. He added that the government was accelerating its broader Digital Pakistan agenda. He said improved connectivity was very critical for boosting economic growth, export competitiveness, and productivity gains across services and industry.
IT Minister Shaza Fatima Khawaja said the government was preparing to auction around 600 megahertz of spectrum. She called it the largest spectrum auction in Pakistan’s history by volume.
She maintained that the auction process may take place by late January or early February, after approval of the cabinet. She further said that commercial 5G services could begin within four to six months after spectrum allocation.
Pakistan, with a population of roughly 240 million, is currently operating commercial mobile services on only about 274 MHz of spectrum.
Khawaja said this imbalance had created persistent network congestion, leading to slower data speeds, and frequent service disruptions, particularly in dense urban centres.
She added that releasing additional spectrum was essential for launch of 5G, saying that it will also result in improving the quality of existing 3G and 4G services.
According to data from the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, mobile broadband subscribers have crossed 125 million in 2024 which led to increase in data consumption more than 30 percent year-on-year.
Industry analysts argue that spectrum scarcity has become one of the main structural constraints on network performance. They are of the view that traffic growth has far outpaced frequency allocations made in previous auctions.
Pakistan’s utilisation of International Mobile Telecommunications spectrum has remained well below global averages for commercial cellular services.
Many comparable emerging markets operate with more than 500 MHz which is assigned for mobile broadband to enable higher speeds and lower latency.
Officials said optimal use of available frequency bands had become now critical to expand mobile broadband coverage, improving service quality, and advancing Pakistan’s 5G roadmap.
The government held spectrum auctions last between 2014 and 2021, periods that had witnessed mixed investor appetite due to high reserve prices, currency volatility, and sector taxation.
Since then, telecom operators have been repeatedly calling the authorities for adopting a more sustainable auction design. They have also been warning that excessive upfront costs could limit investment in network rollout.
Khawaja said the government had engaged telecom companies and industry stakeholders ahead of the planned auction.
She also added that government would continue consultations with industry stakeholders to ensure the framework balanced and maintain a level playing field for all participants.
Officials said that the government would conduct the future spectrum releases under the oversight of a high-level advisory committee which was constituted by the federal cabinet.
They added that transparency and predictability would be central to the auction process, aimed at restoring investor confidence in a telecom sector which had witnessed a declining average revenues per user in recent years.
The IT minister had also linked the spectrum plan to the upcoming Connect 2030 initiative, which is likely to launched by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
Under the plan, users may receive minimum internet speeds of 100 megabits per second over the next five years, and substantial upgrades would require to mobile and fibre infrastructure nationwide.
The World Bank has projected a 10 percent increase in broadband penetration can lead to raise GDP growth by up to 1.4 percentage points in developing economies.
In Pakistan’s case, improved connectivity has facilitated digital payments, e-commerce, remote work, and the expansion of IT-enabled exports.
