ISLAMABAD, Aug 19: The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has completed the process of bidding for 14 telecom regions for the grant of Wireless Local Loop (WLL) licences with the conclusion of the auction of spectrum in Southern Telecom Region- V (STR-V) and Karachi Telecom Region (KTR) here on Thursday.

According to a press release, the bidding for the 14 telecom regions for allocation of spectrum in 1.9 GHz, 450 MHz, 479 MHz and 3.5 GHz was likely to fetch investment to the tune of Rs14 billion and about 180 WLL licences were expected to be issued for operation in various regions.

In his remarks, the PTA chairman Maj-Gen (retired) Shahzada Alam said the launching of WLL service in the country would bring a revolution in the telecom sector and the process would fetch huge investment. He said the completion of spectrum bidding was the culmination of the deregulation of telecom sector.

He said WLL was the modern technology which best suited to the prevailing environment in Pakistan and the service would prove very useful in the rural areas. In the bidding of spectrum in 1.9 GHz in STR-V, one block was taken by the PTCL at the highest bid of Rs79 million while two other blocks were secured by Tele card and World Call.

In the bidding for the spectrum of 450 MHz, both the carriers were won by DV Com at the highest bid of Rs32 million each. Only one block in the frequency of 479 MHz was available which was offered to World Call at the highest bid of Rs11 million.

Seven blocks in the frequency of 3.5 GHz were available and one each was obtained by Tele card, DV Com, PTCL, World Call, Burraq Telecom, Warid WLL and Sachal Soft Tech at the base price of Rs58,000.

Out of the three blocks in the KTR, the PTCL gave the highest bid of Rs1.204 billion for one block in the spectrum of 1.9 GHz while the other two blocks were allocated to Tele card and DV Com at the matching cost.

In 450 MHz band, three carriers were available out of which two were allotted to World Call at the highest bid of Rs88 million for each carrier, while the third carrier was taken by Microtech links on the highest bid of Rs37 million for one block in the spectrum of 3.5 GHz, while six other blocks each were awarded to Tele card, DV Com, PTCL, Burraq Telecom, Warid WLL and Cyber Internet.