Bringing 3G to a city near you
By: Dr Basit Riaz Sheikh
The writer holds a PhD degree from Cornell University and is currently Adviser, Ministry of IT and Telecommunication
Pakistan is the only country in the South Asian region not to have tasted the wonders of 3G mobile services. Twice this year alone, the process of bringing 3G mobile services to Pakistan had to be aborted prematurely. Incompetence and vested interest both have been at play. This alone is costing us roughly 68 million rupees every day in opportunity cost.
The first question that comes to mind is what is 3G? Short for 3rd generation of mobile telecommunications technology, 3G is an upgrade on the currently deployed 2G technology in Pakistan. To put it in layman terms, 3G is to 2G what motorway is to GT road: faster, smoother and wider, 3G enables high-speed broadband connectivity in your handheld device. Speed comparisons in India have shown Internet on a 3G network to be 20 times faster than on a 2G network.
A question that is often asked is why not 4G instead? It is important to understand that like most countries in the world, Pakistan practises a technology-neutral regime. The Government of Pakistan only auctions the frequency lots. The choice of a particular technology is left to the mobile operators. In the current scenario, the reason the impending auction is commonly referred to as a 3G auction is primarily because the spectrum being auctioned is preferable for 3G services, its ecosystem has fully evolved, whereas for 4G, the price of terminal devices is still too high for wide-scale adoption.
The next pertinent question is why should a common man care about 3G? Tomorrow, 3G can enable a student in a far-flung area of Balochistan to benefit from online lectures of top global universities from the palm of his hand. A farmer in a remote area could explore new techniques of harvesting without having to travel long distances. A lady health-worker in a rural area could bring state of the art health care to every doorstep by linking her digital ultrasound machine with a specialist doctor stationed hundreds of miles away.
Access to 3G mobile connectivity will empower people by bringing essential and richer communication to their doorstep. As per the World Bank study, every 10 per cent increase in 3G broadband proliferation leads to a 1.4 per cent growth in a country’s GDP. In short, it is a digital revolution that will not only benefit the country at large, but also the people at every tier of society.
There are many who have already written off the possibility of 3G services coming to Pakistan any time soon. But as the legend goes, when there is a will, there is a way; we have not only managed to keep the process going against all odds, with the hiring of renowned international telecommunication consultants, we are just a few steps away from the actual proliferation of 3G mobile services across Pakistan.
Dr Rob Nicholls, who will be advising on spectrum valuation and regulatory issues and Mr Dennis Ward, who will be the lead auction design expert, have amongst each other conducted frequency spectrum auctions yielding over 10 billion dollars in licence fees across the globe. Their enriched experience will help ensure a fully transparent and optimal auction, which could generate valuable foreign exchange of over one billion dollars in licence fees for Pakistan. It would lead to approximately another one billion dollars in infrastructure development over the next couple of years and create over 40,000 jobs.
An auction facilitation centre would be set up to keep media and all stakeholders abreast of all developments. To further enhance transparency, the actual auction would be conducted in the presence of leading media personnel. Our goal is to make it a model auction with transparency and optimal yield as prime objectives. We look forward to ideas and suggestions (which can be emailed to [email protected]) from everyone to further enhance its optimality.
The last few months have been a roller coaster ride. Without the unflinching support of the president, the prime minister and the finance minister, this auction would have been long sabotaged. With the internationally reputed consultants onboard, the wheels have been set in motion and the end goal is within two months sight. The government is fully determined, the regulator is all geared up, the mobile operators are zealous and the consumers have long awaited this. All that is needed now is the collective will and ownership of all of us to cross the finish line. Together, we shall.
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