PTA Chooses US Consulting Firm for Pakistan’s 5G Auction

An international consulting firm based in the United States was chosen to provide consulting services to the Government of Pakistan for the spectrum auction/release of IMT Spectrum in order to improve Next Generation Mobile Broadband Services in the nation. The firm placed in the top two technical bids and had the lowest financial bid of $0.750 million.

In order to help the government plan to finish the 5G spectrum auction by April 2025, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has sent a letter of intent (LOI) to NERA, which has seven working days to respond.

One of the leading consulting firms on the spectrum, NERA has offices in Europe and the Far East in addition to its headquarters in the United States. It specializes in economic and commercial modeling for government agencies and the telecom industry, particularly when it comes to spectrum evaluation.

NERA had the lowest financial bid of $0.750 million, while Aetha Consulting Limited and NERA were on equal footing in terms of technical bids.

In technical bids for consulting services to the Pakistani government, all five of the foreign consultants met the requirements. On October 3, 2024, the five companies’ financial proposals were opened. All parties were granted time to complete the PPRA due diligence, but no issues were brought up about NERA in the technical or financial review. Consequently, PTA sent a letter of intent to the consulting firm.

Aetha Consulting Limited, Detecon Consulting FZ-LLC, Frontier Economics Limited, KomKonsult (Private) Limited, and National Economic Research Associates Inc. were among the foreign consultants and firms who had filed their financial and technical proposals. The consultant will offer recommendations on necessary policy changes and actions for greater investment in infrastructure, the expansion of broadband, and the sustainability and expansion of the business and sector.

In order to identify the discrepancy and propose a phase-wise auction of paired spectrum in the 700 MHz, 1800 MHz, and 2100 MHz bands and unpaired spectrum in the 2300 MHz, 2600 MHz, and 3500 MHz bands, compare Pakistan’s current cellular/IMT spectrum assignments with regional patterns.

For the spectrum bands listed in (b) above, the per MHz spectrum pricing is determined in USD and PKR with forecasts for the next three years utilizing both supply-side and demand models, as well as creative payment options including flexible/dynamic installment plans. different alternatives based on scenarios for each MHz pricing in relation to rollout requirements, payment conditions, etc.

A study on spectrum valuation is also included, along with forecasts for the next three years. It includes the base price in USD and PKR for paired spectrum in the 700 MHz, 1800 MHz, and 2100 MHz bands and unpaired spectrum in the 2300 MHz, 2600 MHz, and 3500 MHz bands.