‘3G auction begins today’
April 23, 2014
ISLAMABAD: The stage is set to hold an auction for the next generation spectrum 3G/4G technology on Wednesday (today) with the expectation to sell out five licences for Rs133 billion.There is also a risk that the offered spectrum of 50 MHz might not sell out in the auction process, which would result in lower revenue.
“All arrangements have been finalised to hold the spectrum auction today in which four qualified parties will participate in web-based bidding process while sitting in their offices here in Islamabad,” a PTA spokesman said here on Tuesday.
Sharing experience of different countries, the sources said that in Sweden, on 8-5-2008 Sweden’s Post & Telestyrelsen, PTS concluded an electronic 16-day SMRA (Simultaneous multiple-round ascending) auction, for nine 15-year 4G-licences for a total bandwidth of 190 MHz in the 2.6 GHz band.
In Spain, 900MHz and 2.6GHz was auctioned in 2011 with total revenues of £161m.
In Hong Kong, 2.5/2.6 GHz was auctioned in 2013 through SMRA with revenues of £131m.
In Belgium, 4G was auctioned in 2011 through the SMRA mechanism by generating revenues of £68m.
In Norway, 3.5GHz was auctioned in 2004 through the SMRA with augmented switching for £4m.
In India Auction 2014, clock auction lasted for over 30 days time with unsold spectrum in 1,800 band.
The PTA, the sources said, also granted designated rooms in the headquarters of the regulator to safeguard security checks for saving the bidding process from attack of any hackers.
With the arrival of the next generation mobile services, 133.7 million users will be able to have an access to high speed data connections on their mobile devices.
In the first phase, the winning bidders will be bound to start their 3G/4G services in selected cities within a few days and subsequently within the next couple of months.
The qualified bidding parties had already started giving 3G services to their employees in the jurisdiction of their offices in Islamabad on testing basis and found unprecedented speed on cell phone in data communication.
Under the Simultaneous Multiple Round Ascending (SMRA) auction, which is going to be adopted on Wednesday, all lots are auctioned simultaneously over a series of rounds.In each round, bids will be submitted on individual lots at the announced prices.
At the end of each round, a standing high bidder is identified for each lot. The standing high bidder is committed to the lot and cannot withdraw. The standing high bidder is released from its commitment when outbid by another bidder.
When a lot receives at least one bid, the price for the lot increases in the next round. This will be a web-based auction.The salient feature of an SMRA auction included ascending prices for each spectrum block, standing high bidders after each round and auction continues until no more bids are placed.
The PTA will be able to see activity for each bidder but the parties concerned will not be able to know how much any other party is offering for this share of spectrum.However, chairman PTA Dr. Syed Ismail Shah held a meeting with Muneer Farooqui, CEO Warid Telecom, in Pakistan.
