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Pakistan isn’t 5G ready yet

World Bank's final report and a sad verdict for Pakistanis about 5G technology
Pakistan isn’t 5G ready yet

Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunications commissioned World Bank to publish a report examining Pakistan’s readiness to adopt 5G. The report published under the name of “Pakistan Telecommunications Advisory Assistance, 5G Readiness Plan for Pakistan”.

The World Bank report stated, “Pakistan is not yet 5G ready as there exist a considerable number of factors to address in facilitating market readiness, especially the lack of large contiguous blocks of affordable spectrum, broader access to fiber backhaul, and widespread availability of affordable 5G smartphones and other devices, which are necessary preconditions to make it a success”

The report included analysis of Pakistan’s telecommunications market compared to markets of neighboring countries to determine readiness for 5G.

It was reported that the highly populated mobile network, dynamic urban centers and accessibility of 4G/5G can be a great boost to Pakistan’s economic growth given that the fixed-line infrastructure is improved.

It was stated by Pakistani MNOs that the readiness of a project is highly dependent on supply and demand factors, the framework that the project will consume and viability of the product in the commercial market.

1.     5G bands such as 700 MHz, 2.6 and 3.5 GHz should be kept at minimum possible prices so that MNOs can focus on services and development of a 5G ecosystem in Pakistan.

2.     The added taxes on handsets and data packages should be removed to ensure that the new technology is being adopted.

3.     A plan to enhance wireless frequencies should be made alongside implementation of fiber proliferation.

The report highlights how Pakistan’s IMT spectrum management has made the entire sector reluctant in investing in deployment of 4G networks. It also shows how the high pricing of IMT spectrum has limited reach to only market leaders instead of all telecommunication providers.

It was also highlighted that the launch of 4G and 5G at reasonable costs is more economically beneficial than the money lost by optimizing 5G spectrum prices. Hence, Pakistan must follow special strategies for investing and launching 5G services compared to the path followed by other nations.

By 2022, an announcement must be made regarding government support for 5G deployment highlighting three important conditions for its success which includes; backhaul capacity should have upgrades to transmission capacity, policy to ensure consumers are getting more affordable 4G and 5G devices and the pricing spectrum should be affordable having a goal of 840 MHz of IMT spectrum in low-mid bandwidths while any mmWave spectrum will be additional.

This also means that current 3G and 4G users will get an advantage. Apart from this, all regulations should be removed allowing autonomy to Pakistani MNOs to switch off 2G and 3G networks.

5G adoption and readiness can be guaranteed if market readiness is increased; proper interventions are carried out by regulatory authorities, and supporting policies are implemented.

With the recent acceleration of 5G and Fixed Wireless Access, PTA has a great chance of supporting investments in high-speed services by promoting both mobile and fixed competition. It should be realized that to gain advantages of 5G, huge investments are to be made for its deployment which will in-turn have great economic impact.

However, as of August 2021, it can be concluded that Pakistan's market is not yet ready for 5G services. There are significant investments to be made in this sector which will only be made once people realize the advantages of these high-speed network services of 4G and 5G.

There are various recommendations provided by World Bank in this report. Some of them are:

1.     The GoP, PTA and FAB should encourage 5G services in Pakistan and provide facilitative steps, such as spectrum management, backhaul transmissions and making affordable 4G/5G devices to motivate MNOs to invest in this technology.

2.     The GoP should domestically produce applications that require 5G services to gather a range of use cases.

3.     The GoP, PTA and FAB should increase regulatory certainty and provide a 5G spectrum future. This can be done if they are prepared to achieve the ITU’s IMT Spectrum Target of 840 MHz (excluding mmWave spectrum)

The report also highlights how changes to the 2020 Spectrum Rolling Strategy can achieve results, which are:

1.     Pricing for 1800/2100 MHz bands, reserved by IMT spectrum, should be reasonable and non-market leaders should have representation ensuring that all MNOs should provide 4G services and in the future, can provide 5G services.

2.     The optimal 5G bands for Pakistan, given that the device supports 5G, are 3.5 GHz and 2.3 GHz, both of which are easily available. The 2.3 GHz can also be used by MNOs in 4G before shifting to 5G.

3.     While the availability of 2.6 GHz band will ensure 4G/5G spectrum in urban areas, 700 MHz band will ensure services in outer areas of Pakistan. The 2.6 GHz band can be released simultaneously with the 2.3 GHz band if desired.

4.     While 3.5 GHz is used for 5G harmonization, other bands can be used for 5G as well. This helps MNOs deploy 4G and shift to 5G based on local research.

5.     The allocation of high spectrum bands 2.3, 2.6, 3.5, the synchronization between MNOs should be in a 4:1 frame structure and must be checked every 5 years. Under ITU assistance, Pakistan and its neighboring countries should work on synchronization to avoid harmful interference.

Other Telecommunications policy recommendations

6.     New policies and regulatory reforms regarding improved fiberization of backhaul, site access for tower and small cell rollout and policies on infrastructure sharing, should be formed by MoITT and PTA to facilitate 5G deployment.

7.     PTA should join hands with other stakeholders and organize educational campaigns to create awareness regarding 5G among the users and encourage them to use the service.

8.     Talking about digital infrastructure, for 5G to become a success; ROW should be improved by implementing national infrastructure database to minimize costly damage to disruption in infrastructure and service, and there should be an improved access to towers and sites for 5G deployment.

PTA should work with industries and regulate models to ensure sharing of infrastructure and encourage infrastructure rollout by providing monetary incentives. Commercial terms should be used in active sharing rather than regulations imposed by the government. Cloud infrastructure and international transmission capacity should be encouraged to ensure that it will result in convenience and lower latency rates for companies within Pakistan. MNOs should also be encouraged to deploy Internet of Things (IoT) devices in Pakistan.