The winners of the bid included Mag Entertainment Lahore offering Rs 4,910 mln, Shehzad Sky Islamabad offering Rs 4,900 mln and Startimes Islamabad which offered Rs 4,898 mln.
After getting conditional permission from the Supreme Court, Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) on Wednesday had started auction process of first three licences for the direct to home (DTH) service.
The bidding started from Rs 200 mln and culminated at 4,910 mln. Out of 12 short-listed companies, 11 participated in the bidding process while Mastro Commissions failed to appear for the bidding.
The companies participating in the auction include Mag Entertainment Lahore, Sardar Builders, Islamabad, Smart Sky Islamabad, Startimes, Islamabad, Orient Electronics, Lahore, IQ Communion, Karachi, Shahzad Sky, Islamabad, Skyflix, Islamabad, HB DTH, Islamabad, Naya Tel, Islamabad and Parus Media and Broadcast, Islamabad.
The start of bidding process scheduled to start at 11:00 am was delayed for one hour as the PEMRA Chairman along with his legal team had gone to the Supreme Court to get permission for the auction as LHC bench had given stay against the auction of DTH licences on Tuesday.
Speaking on the occasion, PEMRA chairman Absar Alam said that it was a historic day as Paksitan finally joined the club of the nations having thier own DTH service. He said the entire process was held in an open and transparent manner.
He said the DTH service would prove to be a game changer in the cable and media industry of the country. The winners of the bid will be issued licences after their security clearance.