By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will auction 5G spectrum on Tuesday as the government moves to address chronic connectivity bottlenecks and roll out next-generation mobile services in the country’s five largest cities, officials said on Monday.
The sale comes amid growing strain on the South Asian nation’s telecommunications infrastructure, where more than 240 million people and a surging digital economy are squeezed onto limited airwaves. Users and businesses routinely complain of sluggish speeds and outages, even as Pakistan has expanded to more than 130 million broadband connections.
The auction, set for 10 a.m. local time at Pakistan Television headquarters in Islamabad, will be conducted electronically and streamed live for transparency, according to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority. It marks the first concrete step toward commercial 5G services, initially in Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar and Quetta, before a phased nationwide expansion.
In the first phase, six spectrum bands will be offered exclusively to the three existing mobile operators — Ufone, Zong and Jazz — followed by bidding on five additional bands through 4 p.m., PTA Director-General for Licensing Aamir Shahzad told reporters. The process will not use open outcry; each band will be auctioned separately after a successful mock trial and operator briefings.
PTA Chairman Hafeez-ur-Rehman said the government is determined to improve digital infrastructure without raising costs for consumers. “The introduction of 5G will not raise data prices and there will be no additional burden on consumers,” he said.
Information Technology Minister Shaza Fatima Khawaja added that authorities are pushing local production of 5G-compatible handsets to accelerate adoption. About 95% of mobile phones in Pakistan are already manufactured domestically, and roughly 500,000 5G-enabled devices have been produced in recent months, with five local makers ramping up output further.
Pakistan currently relies on just 274 megahertz of spectrum — much of it allocated since 1987 — one of the lowest levels in the region. Tuesday’s auction is expected to lift total available spectrum to 600 megahertz. The government has drawn up a nine-year roadmap under which operators will install about 3,000 new network sites annually, with initial 5G download speeds targeted at 50 megabits per second.
The push arrives as Pakistan’s technology sector shows resilience. IT exports climbed to a record $3.8 billion in fiscal 2024-25, an 18% increase from $3.2 billion the prior year, according to the Pakistan Software Export Board. Yet broadband access remains patchy, and officials acknowledge that spectrum scarcity has become a drag on both consumer experience and economic potential.
Shahzad said the PTA views consumer protection as paramount. Pakistan already offers some of the world’s cheapest mobile data, he noted, and the authority will ensure that remains the case after 5G arrives. The auction is limited to the three incumbents in the initial phase, reflecting a strategy to leverage existing infrastructure rather than invite new entrants at the outset. Full nationwide coverage will depend on how quickly operators can densify their networks and how quickly consumers upgrade devices.
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