Pakistan raises $1.1 billion with 3G, 4G licence auction

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Wednesday raised more than $1.1 billion in its long-delayed auction of next-generation telecommunications licences, snapped up by the country´s four existing mobile network providers.

The government sold off four licences to provide 3G services, which allow broadband-speed internet on mobile phones, and one for superfast 4G connections.

The total is close to the $1.2 billion estimated for the sale in the federal budget for 2013-14 but below a bullish prediction of $2 billion made by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar in January.

The government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was elected last year on a platform of boosting Pakistan´s floundering economy and ministers hope the licence sale will bring a boost by improving communications.

Pakistan has more than 132 million mobile phone subscribers but has lagged behind its neighbours in setting up 3G, which is now the norm in many countries.

Even Afghanistan, Pakistan´s far less developed western neighbour with a weaker economy and more fragile state, has had the technology since 2012.

The successful bidders for 3G services were Norway´s Telenor, Russian-owned Mobilink, Ufone, owned by the Pakistani government, and Zong -- part of China Mobile.

All four operators are already established players in the Pakistani mobile market.Zong also won one of two licences available for 4G services. The second will be auctioned later.

Sikanadar Naqi, a Zong advisor, told AFP the company would begin 3G services in the cities of Lahore and Karachi immediately.

The final bids for the 3G licences totalled $902.82 million, while the 4G licence went to Zong for the reserve price of $210 million.

Dar said the government would receive half of the money up front and the rest in five annual installments.

The chief executive of Mobilink congratulated fellow bidders and the Pakistan Telecommuncations Authority (PTA) on what he said had been a "transparent" process.

"After this auction, not only 132 million subscribers but the whole Pakistani nation has taken the road of progress," Rashid Khan said. A study by the UK-based Plum consultancy in August last year said 3G could boost Pakistan´s GDP by between 380 billion and 1,180 billion rupees ($3.8 billion to $11.8 billion) by 2020.Up to 900,000 extra jobs could be created and between 23 billion and 70 billion rupees in additional tax revenue generated by 3G, the Plum report said.

Cheap mobile phone telephony took Pakistan by storm in the early 2000s, but only 3.3 million people are signed up to broadband internet, according to PTA figures, offering a huge, untapped market for faster web speeds.

Information Technology Minister Anusha Rehman hailed the auction as a boon for Pakistanis unable to afford computers and fixed-lined internet connections.

"Through this, the cheap mobile phones of the under-served people having a price of eight to ten thousand rupees will be become their computers," she said.

But while many welcomed the long-awaited advent of 3G, some on social media lamented the continuing government ban on video-sharing website YouTube.

‘3G auction begins today’

Mehtab Haider

ISLAMABAD: The stage is set to hold an auction for the next generation spectrum 3G/4G technology on Wednesday (today) with the expectation to sell out five licences for Rs133 billion.There is also a risk that the offered spectrum of 50 MHz might not sell out in the auction process, which would result in lower revenue.

“All arrangements have been finalised to hold the spectrum auction today in which four qualified parties will participate in web-based bidding process while sitting in their offices here in Islamabad,” a PTA spokesman said here on Tuesday.

Sharing experience of different countries, the sources said that in Sweden, on 8-5-2008 Sweden’s Post & Telestyrelsen, PTS concluded an electronic 16-day SMRA (Simultaneous multiple-round ascending) auction, for nine 15-year 4G-licences for a total bandwidth of 190 MHz in the 2.6 GHz band.

In Spain, 900MHz and 2.6GHz was auctioned in 2011 with total revenues of £161m.

In Hong Kong, 2.5/2.6 GHz was auctioned in 2013 through SMRA with revenues of £131m.

In Belgium, 4G was auctioned in 2011 through the SMRA mechanism by generating revenues of £68m.

In Norway, 3.5GHz was auctioned in 2004 through the SMRA with augmented switching for £4m.

In India Auction 2014, clock auction lasted for over 30 days time with unsold spectrum in 1,800 band.

The PTA, the sources said, also granted designated rooms in the headquarters of the regulator to safeguard security checks for saving the bidding process from attack of any hackers.

With the arrival of the next generation mobile services, 133.7 million users will be able to have an access to high speed data connections on their mobile devices.

In the first phase, the winning bidders will be bound to start their 3G/4G services in selected cities within a few days and subsequently within the next couple of months.

The qualified bidding parties had already started giving 3G services to their employees in the jurisdiction of their offices in Islamabad on testing basis and found unprecedented speed on cell phone in data communication.

Under the Simultaneous Multiple Round Ascending (SMRA) auction, which is going to be adopted on Wednesday, all lots are auctioned simultaneously over a series of rounds.In each round, bids will be submitted on individual lots at the announced prices.

At the end of each round, a standing high bidder is identified for each lot. The standing high bidder is committed to the lot and cannot withdraw. The standing high bidder is released from its commitment when outbid by another bidder.

When a lot receives at least one bid, the price for the lot increases in the next round. This will be a web-based auction.The salient feature of an SMRA auction included ascending prices for each spectrum block, standing high bidders after each round and auction continues until no more bids are placed.

The PTA will be able to see activity for each bidder but the parties concerned will not be able to know how much any other party is offering for this share of spectrum.However, chairman PTA Dr. Syed Ismail Shah held a meeting with Muneer Farooqui, CEO Warid Telecom, in Pakistan.

3G, 4G auction draws dismal response

 

ISLAMABAD: A dismal response in this week’s auction for next-generation cell phone spectrum licences means cash-strapped Pakistan will struggle to fund its budget this year, finance and IT ministry officials and telecom industry executives told Reuters.
Pakistan is set to hold long-awaited auctions for 3G, 4G network licences on April 23, a step the government projects will raise $2 billion (1 billion pounds) to boost foreign reserves.Officials said there had been scant interest in Monday’s bidding process and estimate Pakistan will raise no more than $850 million.

“The finance minister (Ishaq Dar) is very angry, so much so that he wants to call off the auction if we are so embarrassingly off target,” said an official on his team, who declined to be identified as he was not authorised to speak officially on the matter.

“This has happened because of an over enthusiastic IT Ministry which oversold an undercooked plan to its fiscal managers. It looks like heads may roll on this one.”Pakistan is the only major country in the region that still does not offer 3G services. Its neighbour, war-ravaged Afghanistan, switched to 3G services in 2012.

There are about 132 million mobile phones in use in Pakistan, a country of 180 million people, according to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA).Pakistan’s telecommunications market was deregulated in 2004 and foreign firms such as Etisalat have invested heavily.

The Finance Ministry said in February that Pakistan would sell both the 3G and the more advanced 4G LTE Spectrum. Selling just 3G licences could raise $2 billion, and bundling them with 4G spectrum could generate between $4 billion and $5 billion, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar had estimated.

The 3G spectrum auction was expected to raise Pakistan’s gross domestic product by $8 billion and indirectly create up to 900,000 new jobs, a government-commissioned study by Plum Consulting said.

But when bidding closed at 4 pm on Monday, only four out of five cellular mobile companies operating in Pakistan had submitted bids and no new companies showed interest, sources privy to the bidding told Reuters.

Khurram Mehran, a PTA spokesperson, sent a statement saying “the response received from four existing cellular mobile operators of Pakistan is very encouraging and satisfactory.”Telecom companies Mobilink and Zong bid for 10 MHz. Telenor and Ufone both bid for 5 MHz.

Warid Telecom Pakistan, owned by the privately-held conglomerate Abu Dhabi Group, did not submit a bid, said a source in the company. Neither did Turkcell and Saudi Telecom Company, two foreign companies who had earlier shown interest.

“There are four available 3G blocks in 1800 MHz: two 10 MHz and two 5 MHz. The base price for 10 MHz block is $291 million and 5 MHz is $146 million,” said a finance ministry official close to Monday’s bidding.

“The auction is thus expected to go for $863 million, nowhere close to $2 billion.”Bids for 4G LTE licences were to start at $210 million. No operator has shown any interest.“It looks like 4G won’t fetch any money,” the finance ministry source said. “The disappointing bids are deepening the budget hole by almost $1.7 billion and are such a big hit the finance minister is ready to postpone the whole auction process.”

Spokesmen in the Finance Ministry, the IT Ministry and telecom companies taking part in the bid said they were not authorised to officially comment on the issue.The disappointing response will pile further pressure on embattled Information Technology Minister Anusha Rahman, who is overseeing the auction.

She drew criticism last month after appointing her husband to the Board of Directors at Ufone, one of the companies bidding for licences and partly owned by the government. He later resigned. – Reuters

Online adds: Meanwhile, with reference to the Reuters’ news story, a spokesman of PTA has denied assertions made as incorrect and baseless.The spokesperson said that the response received from four existing cellular mobile operators of Pakistan was very encouraging and satisfactory for the PTA.

The spokesperson said that it was entirely wrong to say that no cellular mobile operator had shown interest in 4G (1,800 MHz) as it could possibly be the writer’s own wish but not the fact.

It is also denied that representative of the Ministry of Finance was at the bidding. First, no bidding happened and second, the bids were received and processed by PTA only.Similarly, details of the bids of the operators, contained in the said story, were also found to be incorrect. As per the Information Memorandum issued by PTA, no operator could bid for 5MHz. The minimum slot for which bid could be submitted was 10MHz.

The spokesperson also said that PTA had already issued an official statement on April 14, 2014 stating that the demand was higher than the supply, therefore, auction would happen. Further, it was a matter of commonsense. Had there been less or even same demand from bidders/operators there would have been no reason to go for the auction on April 23, 2014 and bidders would have the spectrum straight away.

The spokesperson deeply regretted that a world-renowned news agency like Reuters had run a fabricated story on 3G/4G auction and had failed to seek the version of PTA, the sole body responsible for auction. PTA reserves the right to proceed for appropriate legal action against the Reuters. In fact, the auction process is progressing efficiently and transparently in accordance with the rules.

Fundraiser auction offers chance to fly with Shah Rukh Khan on his private jet

 

The auction list also includes invitation for dinner at Kiran Rao and Aamir Khan's home. 

 

A starry fundraising auction will offer a chance to fly with superstar Shah Rukh Khan on his private jet, win a dinner date with heartthrob Ranbir Kapoor and spend an entire day with Bollywood diva Priyanka Chopra.

Swades Foundation, founded by former UTV boss Ronnie and wife Zarina Screwvala, which works towards upliftment of people living in rural India, is organising the fundraiser gala evening on April 10.

The event to be hosted by filmmaker Karan Johar will also be attended by Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan, who is the guest of honour along with his wife Jaya.

The evening will feature an auction gala where other unique experiences and products from luxury and art will go under the hammer to raise funds for the charity.

“I am very excited as well as nervous to be organising a fundraiser of this magnitude. We have a perfect blend of films, fashion and art at the auction table. It is an interesting mix of things. And I would call them ‘Money Can’t Buy’ experiences,” Zarina.

  

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The auction list also includes invitation for dinner at Kiran Rao and Aamir Khan’s home, a retreat in Jaipur for two, hosted by the Royal Family, invite for the Pucci Fashion Show as their VIP guest in Milano, holiday in Champagne (France) and an opportunity to get a portrait done by Jaideep Mehrotra.

“The who’s who from the world of films, fashion, business are set to attend the event. We have made special efforts and promise it is going to be a unique experience,” Zarina added.

will also be unique fashion show with leading personalities from Bollywood who will walk the ramp along with villagers of Raigadh, where Swades works.

Celebrities like Sonakshi Sinha, Bipashsa Basu, Neha Dhupia, Dia Mirza, Malaika Arora Khan, Shiamak Davar, Leander Paes, Ayan Mukherjee among others will walk the ramp wearing ace designer Vikram Phadnis’ creations.

500-year-old rare Chinese cup to fetch 38.6 million at auction

The 'chicken cup', one of the just four left in the world, is expected to set a new record for Chinese porcelain at auction, with estimates of between USD 25.7–38.6 million.

A 500-year-old extremely rare Chinese ‘chicken cup’ belonging to the Ming Dynasty is set to fetch a record-breaking 38.6 million at an auction.
The ‘chicken cup’, one of the just four left in the world, is expected to set a new record for Chinese porcelain at auction, with estimates of between USD 25.7–38.6 million.
The cup produced during the Chenghua reign (1465-87), will feature in Sotheby’s spring sale in Hong Kong next month, a news agency reported.
The Chenghua ‘chicken cups’ were produced in small numbers and now there are just four left in the hands of private owners around the world.
Only a handful of museums worldwide have the cups in their collection including the British Museum and the Victoria and Albert (V&A) Museum.
“Ever since the Ming Dynasty when they were produced, Chenghua period ‘chicken cups’ have been praised and treasured by emperors and connoisseurs alike,” said Nicolas Chow, international head of Sotheby’s Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art.
“Given their extreme rarity, they are by definition the crowning glory of any collection of Chinese porcelain,” Chow said.
The creation of ‘chicken cups’ reached its peak during the Chenghua period, and they were celebrated for their tactile material, elegance of colour arrangement and distinctive painting style, the report said.