Ufone and Zong pony up US$30m to play in Pakistan’s 5G spectrum auction

Details: John Tanner; Category: Operators; 25 February 2026; 9818 views

PTCL’s Ufone and China Mobile Pakistan (CMPak, a.k.a. Zong 4G) have reportedly deposited pre-bids of US$15 million each to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to participate in its upcoming 5G spectrum auction.

According to a report from Business Recorder on Tuesday, citing informed sources, both telcos submitted their pre-bid deposits ahead of the PTA’s February 27 deadline for submission. The deposit is required to qualify for the auction.

The report also said that Veon-owned Jazz is also expected to submit its US$15 million deposit by the deadline.

According to a government directive published in January, a total of 597 MHz of 5G spectrum is up for grabs in the 700 MHz, 2300 MHz, 2600 MHz and 3500 MHz bands.

The 5G auction, originally scheduled for this Thursday, is now set to happen March 10, the report added. The auction has been delayed for years due to a variety of factors, to include waiting for the merger between PTCL and Telenor Pakistan to be completed, which finally came to pass at the start of this year.

The PTA has said it will only consider the auction a success if it unloads at least half of the spectrum on the block, or 300 MHz, the report said.

The PTA is also hoping to rake in over US$634 million from the auction, depending on the level of competition and final price discovery during the bidding process, the report added.

That said, there have been concerns over the financial viability of rolling out 5G too quickly. The PTA directive requires telcos to roll out 1,000 new sites per year and upgrade 10% of their existing towers to 5G in the first year. The directive also requires telcos to invest US$150 million to US$200 million annually, not including the spectrum fee.

Even so, telcos have been making plans for 5G. Zong has recently been prepping on the device front, having signed an MoU with ZTE and its authorised local distributor Siccotel in January to deliver affordable 5G smartphones to Pakistan. Earlier this month, the telco also announced a strategic partnership with Samsung for its Galaxy S26 Series of 5G devices, which launched globally today.