Pakistan to evaluate terms of mobile license renewals

The Pakistani government has established a technical committee tasked with evaluating the terms of the upcoming renewal of the nation's mobile operators, as well as the award of additional spectrum.

The committee will oversee a process which is expected to generate between $1 billion and $2 billion in revenue for the government, the Business Recorder reported.

According to the report, the license renewal of two of the market's mobile operators – Telenor Pakistan and Jazz - is due in May, with Zong's license due for renewal in October.

But the government has yet to establish any policy guidelines for the renewal, which is causing uncertainty for the industry.

To address this shortcoming, the government has established a committee headed by the secretary of the nation's Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication, and made up of officials from regulator PTA, the Ministry of Finance, Law and Justice and the Frequency Allocation Board.

This committee will evaluate various models for the renewal, as well as benchmarks and legal and financial concerns, and will submit recommendations to the government.

Based on these recommendations, spectrum will be priced based on license renewal terms, with additional spectrum priced based on the applicable spectrum pricing methods.