ISLAMABAD: Finance and Revenue Minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh has said that maximum sale of telecom spectrum would contribute significantly to the overall economic growth, besides improving the quality of broadband services in the country.
Dr Shaikh was chairing a meeting of the Advisory Committee on Next Generation Mobile Services (NGMS) Spectrum on Thursday.
The minister urged the newly-hired consultants to follow a proactive approach and meet the given deadlines effectively, emphasising that the time is of essence in the release of NGMS spectrum. “The entire process of auction must be transparent so that communications/IT services across the country could be expanded.”
Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) Chairman Maj Gen (r) Aamir Azeem Bajwa briefed the committee about latest developments in the sale of available NGMS spectrum in the country.
The committee was also briefed that the hiring process for the consultants was completed in December 2020 as per procedure, and that the newly-hired consultants are on board for the sale of available spectrum within the current financial year.
Science & Technology Minister Fawad Chaudhry, IT and Telecommunication Minister Syed Aminul Haque, Adviser to PM on Commerce Abdul Razak Dawood, IT secretary, Frequency Allocation Board executive director and other senior officials participated in the meeting.
The follow-up meeting of the advisory committee is expected to take place in March 2021.
