Pakistan gears up for 3G, 4G auctions in April 2014

Pakistan will hold long-awaited auctions for 3G and 4G telecoms licences this April, the finance minister said on Friday, a step that could help boost the cash-strapped country’s foreign reserves.

A 3G licence will cost $295 million and a 4G licence will cost $210 million, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said.

Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) will auction 50 MHz of spectrum (30 MHz in 3G band and 20 MHz in 4G band). The base price will be $295 million per 10 MHz for 3G and $210 million per 10 MHz for 4G.

Dar confirmed the figures and added that the reserved price for new entrants would be $291 million with three licences for 3G spectrum and two licenses for 4G spectrum will be auctioned.

The government has approved the draft information memorandum prepared by the consultants, and that the license will be offered for 15 years.

As per policy‚ the successful bidder will have to pay 50 per cent price forthwith while the rest would be payable in five years with interest rate three per cent above LIBOR.

He said the government would be looking for full payment, or a 50 per cent payment with the rest to be paid in five equal installments over five years, with an interest rate of three per cent.

There are about 132 million mobile phones in use in Pakistan, a country of 180 million people, according to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority.

The telecommunications market was deregulated in 2004 and foreign firms such as Etisalat have invested heavily in recent years.

Huawei profits tumble as global economy falters

Huawei said that although sales revenue for the period increased 5.1 per cent from the same time last year to 102.7 billion yuan (£10.4bn), operating profits tumbled 22 per cent to 8.79bn yuan (£886m), thanks to the slowing global economy which hampers industry growth.
In an e-mailed statement generated by Huawei, Operating profit in the first six months was 8.79 billion yuan ($1.4 billion), while the revenue gained 5.1 percent to 102.7 billion yuan.
A spokesperson had the following statement: The telecom industry is seeing a sluggish growth in 2012 owing to the global economic downturn, which has caused customers to reduce investments while the competition in this industry remains fierce. This has resulted in the operating profit in 2012 H1 being lower than that in 2011 H1.

ZTE said this month its first-half profit may have declined as much as 80 percent because of reduced investment income, foreign-exchange losses and delayed network contracts.

Ericsson, the world’s largest maker of mobile-phone networks, last week posted second-quarter profit that missed analysts’ estimates as carriers curbed spending to cope with a slowing economy.
Alcatel-Lucent SA (ALU), France’s largest phone-gear supplier, has predicted it will miss a 2012 profit target.