Ministry informs parliamentary panel: Launch of 5G cellular services not possible

ISLAMABAD: A parliamentary panel was informed on Tuesday by officials of the Ministry of Information Technology that the launch of 5G cellular services in Pakistan is not possible owing to various issues, especially because the profit margin has reduced significantly due to the existing economic crisis.

While briefing the National Assembly Standing Committee on Information Technology held under the chairpersonship of Naz Baloch, the officials of Information Technology, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), and representatives of cellular companies said that the 5G technology launch in Pakistan would be impossible amid the electricity price hike and other related matters.

The telecom sector representatives told the committee that the profit margin of the industry has reduced significantly due to the recent economic crisis. The officials informed the panel that out of the total profit earned by the mobile companies 1.5 percent was going to the Universal Service Fund.

They said that owing to the serious financial crunch facing the country, cellular companies could not import telecom-related gadgets, as letters of credit could not be opened, which is hampering service.

They asked the committee to forward recommendations to the federal government to solve their problems. Officials of the IT Ministry told the meeting that the reason for financial crimes was illegal SIMs and recently some 52,000 such SIMs were confiscated. The PTA had launched live biometric verification to counter the issuance of illegal SIMs. Now, he said, the SIMs would not be issued through dummy fingerprints.

The PTA officials said that the stringed several challenges and impediments including low handset and optic fibre cable (OFC) penetration, increasing inflation, low average revenue per user (ARPU), and rising operating expenses (OPEX) coupled with high taxation to launch 5G services in the country.

They said that to begin with, 5G handset penetration in the Pakistani market is a major impediment; the percentage of 5G-supported handsets in the country is less than one per cent.

The officials said that while many developed countries have deployed 5G technology, Pakistan is beset with challenges in offering the said services. Further, low OFC penetration, fewer potential use cases, lower tower density, increasing inflation, low ARPU, and rising OPEX such as an increase in the prices of fuel and electricity, coupled with high taxation are some of the key factors that can potentially impact the 5G launch.

International projections suggest that by the end of 2026, 5G will attract 3.5 billion subscriptions, thereby, generating approximately 45 percent of the world’s total mobile traffic data.

According to officials, Pakistan’s large population, coupled with its potential for further economic growth, make access to 4G and the timely launch of 5G services an absolute imperative. 5G is creating unprecedented opportunities for people and businesses alike, more so because its usage transcends the ICT sector. The officials further stated that the introduction of 5G is extremely important for Pakistan to keep pace with regional developments. Despite challenges, which need to be addressed before a comprehensive 5G policy is issued by the government, the PTA and the MoITT are making joint efforts to formulate the Infrastructure Sharing Framework, Spectrum Re-farming Framework, Spectrum Sharing, National Roaming, and Ease-of-Doing Business to accelerate 5G deployment.

Once policy directions are in place for the commercial launch of 5G services, the PTA will accordingly seek the services of a consultant to devise a suitable auction design with comprehensive recommendations including incentives for investors, rollout models, implementation models, and diverse use cases development involving verticals.

Aligned to the government’s 5G roadmap, the PTA will also work with the industry and other stakeholders to provide detailed recommendations on 5G rollout in Pakistan. To support 5G, we need to increase the percentage of Fibre-To-The Tower/Site (FTTT/FTTS). Other technological developments and innovations for broadband proliferation such as Wi-fi 6E for enhanced latency Augmented and Virtual Reality (AR/VR) etc. will also be facilitated.

Furthermore, the PTA will augment its ongoing efforts for national and international collaborations to achieve the ‘Leading’ G5 regulator status, and to proactively implement the ‘Digital Pakistan’ vision.

The documents noted that alongside the government’s policy on the availability of 5G services, the MoITT and the PTA are also planning spectrum auction for enhanced proliferation of LTE, Voice over LTE (VoLTE), and 5G services soon. Successful 5G tests have already been carried out in the country. The PTA will also pursue the availability of large contiguous bandwidth and prioritize and facilitate the roll-out of 5G.

The upcoming 5G services will require massive deployment of OFC, which connects micro base stations and edge nodes in the 5G network infrastructure; this will be an important factor driving the growth of fibre optic demand. The government of Pakistan needs to set suitable targets and take appropriate policy measures to accelerate fiberisation in Pakistan. Expecting a 5G-ready infrastructure will require strengthening of the 4G network, especially an increase in the percentage of FTTT/Site from the current 11 percent of the total deployed OFC, the authority added.

The optical network and transmission system; however, is beset with challenges such as installation difficulty, preliminary installation cost, fibre cable cuts, and difficulty in tracing faults, among others.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023