5G services to be launched in 10 months, says caretaker minister

5G services to be launched in 10 months, says caretaker minister

Islamabad: Caretaker Federal Minister for IT and Telecommunication Dr Umar Saif has decided that the 5G services will be launched within 10 months.

The development emerged after a meeting between Saif and Chairman Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), Maj Gen (R) Hafeezur Rehman.

Both the minister and the chairman noted that that Pakistan ranks very low in terms of quality of service for cellular users at 79 out of 100 by the Inclusive Internet Index.

The PTA officials told the minister that telecom operators in Pakistan only have 274 MHz spectrum to serve the 7th largest number of telecom users in the world, whereas, a single telecom operator in Australia uses over 345 MHz.

Dr. Umar Saif expressed unwavering determination to eliminate hurdles by establishing a priority-based criterion. He specifically highlighted that challenges related to taxation, telecom density, and spectrum management would be actively addressed.