Islamabad: Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication (MoITT) has finalized the draft of the first-ever Telecom Airwaves Spectrum Refarming Framework.
The framework on spectrum refarming is first of its kind prepared with recommendations from PTA, PEMRA, FAB and Industry Stakeholders after multiple consultations.
In a statement on Tuesday. Syed Amin UI Haque, Federal Minister for IT and Telecommunication said the draft has been uploaded on the Ministry of IT and Telecommunication website for open consultation before approval of the Federal Cabinet.
He said frequency or airwaves spectrum refarming is a process governing the repurposing of frequency bands that have historically been allocated for legacy cellular services for new generation of mobile technologies, including emerging technologies, Internet of Things and 5th Generation Technology for on ground inclusion of 4th Industrial Revolution.
Syed Amin UI Haque added that in view of the increasing demand for cellular and radio communication services worldwide, emerging technologies, Spectrum refarming is considered a powerful and innovative approach to manage the spectrum dynamically so as to make it available for newer commercial applications 5G, Internet of Things, broadband wireless access and digital broadcasting.
The framework shall enable the effective utilization of the available frequency spectrum for front end and backhaul frequencies, increase potential business viability for licensees, better quality and coverage of mobile broadband services and emerging technologies including additional revenues for the national exchequer.
The frame work shall enable Operators to have sufficient contiguous spectrum to support the simultaneous operation of multiple technologies in a frequency band.
Based on international developments, including but not limited to, technological trends, the vendor reports, Telecom operators’ feedback, R and D landscape, survey reports and most importantly the recommendations from ITU, IEEE, ETSI, 3GPP, 3GPP2, GSMA and other standard framing bodies, PTA/PEMRA and FAB will recommend to MOIT and T the requirement to reform any given frequency band for efficient utilization.