Page 159 - SAMENA Trends - September-October 2022

REGULATORY & POLICY UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

Pakistan

In order to discuss the adoption of Wi-Fi 6E technology in Pakistan, recommendations from PTA, PEMRA and FAB. The draft has been
the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecom held a uploaded on the Ministry of IT and Telecommunications website
meeting under the chairmanship of Member Telecom Omar Malik. for open consultation.” “In view of the increasing demand for
The meeting deliberated on the inclusion of upcoming indoor- radio communication services worldwide, Spectrum ReFarming
outdoor Wi-Fi 6E band technology and devices in Pakistan. It is considered a powerful and innovative approach to manage
was attended by Meta Asia Pacific Policy Head Dr. Ismail Shah, the spectrum dynamically so as to make it available for newer
Director General Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) applications such as 4G, 5G, broadband wireless access and
Strategy and Development Mudassar Naveed, Director Frequency digital broadcasting,” read the statement. “The framework shall
Allocation Board, DG Wireless MoITT, Director Pakistan Space facilitate in the effective utilization of the available spectrum, better
and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO/ quality and coverage of mobile broadband services and additional
PAKSAT), and other government officials, For the adoption of Wi-Fi revenues for the national exchequer,” explained the IT ministry.
6E technology, a committee has been formulated already under After the open consultation, the final draft shall be submitted to
PTA to conclude the timely inclusion of the Wi-Fi 6E emerging the Federal Cabinet for its final approval.
technological ecosystem in Pakistan. Existing Wi-Fi technology (October 9, 2022) www.tribune.com.pk
for end users creates a latency and capacity showstopper for
next-generation technological inclusion of augmented reality (AR), The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has updated the
virtual reality (VR), industrial and domestic robots Adoption of Wi- rules regarding service quality for the provision of fixed broadband
Fi 6E, Metaverse, and mass adoption of ultra-low latency gaming services with a view to keeping pace with developments in the
and animation industry business cases irrespective of the standard sector. The Fixed Broadband Quality of Service (QoS) Regulations,
current home routers or outdoor Wi-Fi device are connected to 2022 replaces the Broadband Quality of Service Regulation, 2014,
optic fibre. The Inclusion of the Wi-Fi 6E standard shall set a base and includes updated minimum speeds for fixed broadband
for cutting-edge technologies which shall be unlicensed and free services, thresholds for upload and download speeds and a
spectrum to be widely adopted in Pakistan. Wi-Fi 6E requires new new nationwide monitoring scheme. Under the new rules fixed
hardware on both broadcasting and receiving ends. Apart from Wi- broadband connections must provide speeds of at least 4Mbps
Fi 6E, for the interest of new enterprises and small and medium downlink (previously 256kbps) and 2Mbps uplink. Operators must
enterprises (SMEs), the Internet of Things regime has already been also ensure that download speeds experienced by customers
opened in Pakistan for wide adoption of agri tech, smart homes, are at least 80% of the advertised rate of their plan, whilst upload
safe cities, disaster management, industrial automation, remote speeds must be 50% of the advertised rate for all technologies
sensing, and lighthouse networks. (October 16,2022) technologytimes.pk except xDSL, for which the uplink threshold is 25% of the rate
specified in the user’s plan. To monitor compliance with these rules
The government of Pakistan plans to generate billions of dollars the update also set standards for measurement and testing of
in revenue by centralizing ‘spectrum’, available with different relevant indicators and provides for the establishment of a National
departments and organizations in the country, under the Spectrum Measurement of Broadband (NMB) Program. Under this program,
Refarming Framework. At present, local telecom companies volunteers from a wide range of demographics and geographies
are using 400 MHz. According to rough estimates, 300 MHz will have a device pre-configured to measure internet performance
spectrum was available with different organizations which the installed in their homes. The PTA notes that the new rules also set
government wanted to offer to telecom companies. Officials more stringent thresholds for existing Key Performance Indicators
stated that the government had auctioned spectrum in 2021 at (KPIs) – such as latency and packet loss – based on technological
a price of $30million per MHz and therefore could generate $9 advancements in fixed broadband network. Further, new KPIs have
billion by offering 300 MHz to different telecom companies. “The been introduced including Web Page Loading Time and Bandwidth
government will compensate the organizations and departments Utilization. (September 27, 2022) www.pta.gov.pk
which had spectrum available to make their functioning smooth
under the Spectrum Re-Farming Framework,” said sources. The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has carried out an
government also plans to launch 5G technology in the coming independent Quality of Service (QoS) Survey in 14 cities of Punjab,
months and therefore, may fetch better prices by centralizing Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Balochistan in order to measure the
‘spectrum data’. Telecom companies in Pakistan are not utilizing performance and quality of Cellular Mobile Operators' (CMOs)
enough spectrum and, as a corrective measure, the government services being provided to their customers. During the survey, KPIs
hopes to auction more spectrum in the near future. Meanwhile, enlisted in the Next Generation Mobile Service (NGMS) license and
the IT ministry in a statement said that “as per Section 8.5.2 Cellular Mobile Network Quality of Service (QoS) Regulations 2021,
of the Telecommunication Policy 2015, the Ministry of IT and were checked using state-of-the-art automated QoS monitoring
Telecommunication is glad to share the first of its kind draft and benchmarking tool, said a news release. The checked KPIs
Framework for Frequency Spectrum Re-Farming prepared with pertained to voice, network coverage, SMS and mobile broadband,

159 SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2022