ISLAMABAD: The first auction of licences for direct-to-home (DTH) television services successfully concluded early on Thursday morning, fetching the national exchequer around Rs14.7 billion.

The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) announced that the successful bidders for the three licences were MAG Entertainment Pvt Ltd, Lahore, with the bid of Rs4.91 billion, Star Times Pakistan Communications Pvt Ltd, Islamabad, with Rs4.90bn, and Shahzad Sky Pvt Ltd, Islamabad, which bid Rs4.89bn.

“Media has entered a new era after the auction of DTH licences; this shows the potential of growth in this industry,” Pemra chairman Absar Alam said after the auction.

However, under the rules of the auction, the lowest rate among the top three bidders would be applicable to both other companies.

Therefore, the licence fee for all three successful bidders would be Rs4.89bn, but the operating licence will be awarded by Pemra only after clearance from the interior ministry and other security agencies.

Successful bidders will be required to submit 15 per cent of the licence fee in the first instalment, 35pc in the second and the remaining in the third instalment.

The auction was held after the Supreme Court gave Pemra the go-ahead to proceed, but barred the authority from awarding contracts.

Bidding began around 1pm on Wednesday from the Rs200 million-mark and concluded 15 hours later, at around 4am on Thursday morning.

The sealed bids were opened and announced in front of all bidders, mediapersons and various stakeholders present there.

Among the successful bidders, two companies — MAG Entertainment and Shahzad Sky — are Pakistani business groups that are entering the broadcast business for the first time.

Star Times Pakistan is a subsidiary of Star Times China and has entered the broadcast market as a local partner of the Chinese firm. Star Times China has vast experience in DTH business, holding DTH licences in 16 African countries.

Apart from the investors and their business partners, a large number of back-end suppliers — many of them from China — were also present at the auction.

“Almost everybody here is our client; we are here to observe the interest of investors,” said an official representing a Chinese firm that supplies IT and telecom equipment.

“Our parent company in China has recently launched DTH equipment,” she added.

Pakistan is the only country in South Asia that has yet to launch DTH services.

Published in Dawn, November 25th, 2016