ISLAMABAD: The Standing Committee on Information Technology and Telecommunications was informed that the 5G Spectrum Auction is under consideration and is likely to be auctioned in March 2025.
This revelation was made during a meeting of the Standing Committee on Information Technology & Telecommunications which was held on Tuesday under the Chairmanship of Syed Aminul Haq in Parliament House, Islamabad.
The committee recommended that the ministry may bind the telecom service providers to ensure the proper 5G services after its auctioning in major cities without compromising on quality.
The committee also recommended that the ministry may incentivise the service providers in the 5G Spectrum auction and ensure that these incentive amounts should properly be spent on the betterment of infrastructures for uninterrupted services of 5G in the country.
The standing committee discussed “The Establishment of Telecommunications Appellate Tribunal Bill, 2024” (Government Bill) in detail. The bill states that a tribunal is being established to expedite the pending cases in the telecom sector. These cases were previously pending in the High Court, causing delays in their resolution.
After the establishment of the tribunals, all such cases would be transferred to it, and the tribunal would be bound to make a decision within 90 days.
The committee was further informed that currently, there are 71 cases pending before the High Court and it would be transferred to the tribunal after the passage of the Bill.
Furthermore, the forum of appeal of such cases of Telecom Sector would be the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
The committee also inquired about the procedure for appointing the Tribunal’s chairperson and its appointing Authority. The Committee recommended that the ministry may consult with the Ministry of Law & Justice and come up with proposals/amendments if any, in the next meeting. Thereafter, the committee deferred “The Establishment of Telecommunications Appellate Tribunal Bill, 2024” (Government Bill) till its next meeting.
While briefing the committee, the Director of Universal Service Fund (USF) apprised that 1.5% of the revenue of all service providers goes into the USF which is used to provide services in underserved and unserved areas, ensuring the availability of data and voice services.
The USF also informed the committee that Rs 61 billion from their fund were taken by the federal government in the Federal Consolidated Funds in 2015, out of which Rs 45 billion are still outstanding despite their demand of return.
The committee recommended the ministry to ask every three months to the federal government for return of their funds.
MNAs namely Mukhtar Ahmad Malik, Ahmad Atteeq Anwar, Ammar Ahmad Khan Leghari, Dr. Mahesh Kumar Malani, Sadiq Ali Memon, Syed Mustafa Kamal, Pullain, Gohar Ali Khan, Umair Khan Niazi, and the officials of the Information Technology and Telecommunication Ministry attended the meeting.
