Opening the spectrum
Until the packages are rolled out we will not know how much 3G or 4G services are going to cost the average user.
It may be that the new services will ‘spark’ the smartphone market, but with the vast majority of users still using 1 or 2G technologies there is much that is speculative about the near future. PHOTO: FILE
There is much to be quietly satisfied about in respect of the auction of next-generation telecoms spectrums. It should have happened years ago and has been delayed at least twice, but Pakistan has taken a significant step in the right direction.
It may be remembered that the previous government was at one point talking of raising up to $4 billion from the sales, which was never realistic and the $1.112 billion that the sale raised on April 23 slightly exceeded government expectations. The auction appears to have been conducted in a transparent manner and was widely followed both online and on the TV channels. Nobody has cried ‘foul’ and it is now for the telecom providers to see who is going to be the first to roll out genuine 3G or 4G services. However, claims by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar that the introduction of the new technologies will create ‘hundreds of thousands’ of new jobs have to be viewed with a degree of scepticism.
As to what the sale is going to mean to the average user in Pakistan, the picture is far from clear. Firstly, there is the matter of just how many users are going to get the most from the new services.
Pakistan Telecommunication Authority figures as of January 2014 say that teledensity in Pakistan is over 77 per cent and that there are almost 130 million mobile phone users. However, only under five per cent of these are smartphone users. Another concern is tariffs and pay-plans. Until the packages are rolled out we will not know how much it is going to cost the average user, but whatever it is, it is going to be more than they pay currently. Data-hungry internet apps like game downloads and multiplayer games will become accessible — but only to the minority with the upmarket handsets able to maximise their online experience.
It may be that the new services will ‘spark’ the smartphone market, but with the vast majority of users still using 1 or 2G technologies there is much that is speculative about the near future. Caveats aside, this is good news which we welcome wholeheartedly.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 26th, 2014.
It may be remembered that the previous government was at one point talking of raising up to $4 billion from the sales, which was never realistic and the $1.112 billion that the sale raised on April 23 slightly exceeded government expectations. The auction appears to have been conducted in a transparent manner and was widely followed both online and on the TV channels. Nobody has cried ‘foul’ and it is now for the telecom providers to see who is going to be the first to roll out genuine 3G or 4G services. However, claims by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar that the introduction of the new technologies will create ‘hundreds of thousands’ of new jobs have to be viewed with a degree of scepticism.
As to what the sale is going to mean to the average user in Pakistan, the picture is far from clear. Firstly, there is the matter of just how many users are going to get the most from the new services.
Pakistan Telecommunication Authority figures as of January 2014 say that teledensity in Pakistan is over 77 per cent and that there are almost 130 million mobile phone users. However, only under five per cent of these are smartphone users. Another concern is tariffs and pay-plans. Until the packages are rolled out we will not know how much it is going to cost the average user, but whatever it is, it is going to be more than they pay currently. Data-hungry internet apps like game downloads and multiplayer games will become accessible — but only to the minority with the upmarket handsets able to maximise their online experience.
It may be that the new services will ‘spark’ the smartphone market, but with the vast majority of users still using 1 or 2G technologies there is much that is speculative about the near future. Caveats aside, this is good news which we welcome wholeheartedly.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 26th, 2014.