ISLAMABAD ( STAFF REPORT )
Federal Minister for IT Syed Amin Ul Haque launches Rolling Spectrum Strategy 2020-2023 Federal Minister for IT and Telecommunication Syed Amin Ul Haque launched Rolling Spectrum Strategy 2020-2023 on Monday. A ceremony in this regard was held at the committee room of the Ministry of IT on Monday. Federal Secretary Ministry of IT and Telecommunication Shoaib Ahmad Siddiqui, Chairman Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) Major Gen (R) Amir Azeem Bajwa and Executive Director Frequency Allocation Board (FAB) were also present on the occasion. Addressing the ceremony, Federal Minister for IT Syed Amin Ul Haque said it is the major achievement of the Ministry of IT and Telecommunication that it has finalized Rolling Spectrum Strategy in consultation with all the stakeholders. Efforts of the Ministry of IT, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and Frequency Allocation Board (FAB) are laudable, he added. He said the present government, in line with its vision of Digital Pakistan, gave highest priority to the Telecommunications Sector issues, particularly Spectrum. The Federal Minister for IT said that Rolling Spectrum Strategy will be helpful to telecom companies for formulating their business plan. Rolling Spectrum Strategy will be also become basis for the 5 G technology in the country, he said. He said that steps are being taken for the promotion of IT and telecom sector in the country. He said that transparency is vital in the auction of spectrum. Syed Amin Ul Haque said that provision of the broadband services in the country is the topmost priority of the Ministry of IT. It may be noted that the Rolling Spectrum Strategy provides a future roadmap for spectrum allocation as well as spectrum-related policy reviews that are anticipated to take place between 2020 and 2023. The publication of the spectrum roadmap will help commercial operators with their network planning investments. The strategy report discusses global trends around wireless communications, the challenges faced by spectrum managers and spectrum management needs to cope with these trends. It stresses the requirement for Spectrum Sharing and Trading and adoption of Spectrum Pricing – Administrative Incentive Pricing (AIP) to promote efficient utilization of frequency spectrum. The strategy discusses current utilization and future frequency spectrum outlook for mobile broadband services, broadcast services, fixed services, aeronautical and maritime services, public safety and land communication systems, satellite services and unlicensed bands for short range devices.