Mobile Phone users in Pakistan has been enjoying the 3G and 4G services in almost 150 cities nationwide. Meanwhile, the residents of Gilgit Baltistan still awaits this facility despite one year of auction has passed.

This is because according to 3G/4G license terms the rollout is valid for whole Pakistan except AJK and GB. Following are the terms and conditions of license. “A License for spectrum awarded in the NGMSA provides exclusive use of the frequencies licensed to that Operator. The services permitted are governed by each specific License .The territorial extent of each License is the whole of Pakistan excluding Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK) and Gilgit Baltistan (GB).”

The above statement affirms that that GSM license were issued not allowing the 3G/4G services to the regions of AJK and GB. Telecom operators were given extension in GSM license against a flat fee of USD 1 million in 2005 after massive earthquake hit northern areas.

Ministry of IT and Telecom, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority and Kashmir Council are three bodies which can allow to offer 3G and 4G services in AJK and G&B. Kashmir Council still has to respond to a request where a regulator had applied for 3G and 4G services awaiting AJK government’s consent for allowing operators to start this.  After the consent will be issued by Kashmir Council, MoIT will grant a policy directive to PTA for arrangement of 3G and 4G networks in AJK and G&B.

But the 3G/4G services seem far off idea for these regions apparently because the auction does not contain much money.