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4 mobile operators qualify for 3G, 4G auction(Daily Pakistan Today Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Pakistan Telecommunications Authority Chairman Ismail Shah said on Thursday that the bids of four mobile operators of Pakistan qualified for the auction of 3G and 4G licenses. Talking to a private TV channel, he said the four companies namely Mobilink, Telenor, Ufone and Zong were not defaulters of the government and the legal aspects of their bids had been scrutinised by the PTA and its consultants. Another senior official said SD210m had been received as a non-refundable pre-bid deposit, which was 15 per cent of the base price of the bid amount and was required to qualify for the participation in the auction. Pakistan is set to hold long-awaited auctions for 3G and 4G network licenses on April 23. Finance Minister Ishaq Dar had said on Wednesday that the auction of next generation licences was expected to fetch the national exchequer $1.3 billion and create employment opportunities for about 100,000 people. Bids to the long-awaited auction of next-generation cell phone spectrum licences were submitted on April 14 about which the PTA had said that the response received from four existing cellular mobile operators of Pakistan was very encouraging and satisfactory for the PTA", while also rubbishing reports of a dismal response by a foreign news agency. Pakistan is the only major country in the region that still does not offer 3G services. Its neighbor, war-ravaged Afghanistan, launched 3G services in 2012. |