The government of Pakistan is planning to allocate 700MHz bands for deploying 5G services in Pakistan. This is likely due to the coverage and efficiency advantages of the 700MHz band, this frequency band also known as n28.
The Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication has evaluated the following bands for adoption of 5G services as low bands, mid bands and high bands:
- (a) 700 MHz;
- (b) 2.3 GHz;
- (c) 2.6 GHz;
- (d) 3.5 GHz;
- (e) MiIIi8meter wave bands;
- (f) C-Band (3.6-4.2) GHz and
- (g) Unlicensed Backhaul Frequency bands (P2P & P2MP).
“Framework for Frequency Spectrum re-farming” is under consideration by authorities to manage the spectrum dynamically and make it available for newer applications such as 4G, 5G, broadband wireless access, digital broadcasting, etc.
As per the Telecom Policy 2015 section 8.5.1, Spectrum will be re-farmed where its current use is not in the best social and economic interests of Pakistan, it is underutilized, used inefficiently or its use is inconsistent with international allocations. Incumbent users/licensees, as per the details of this framework, will vacate their spectrum assignments in a particular band either partially or completely so that the band may be allocated to other users.