KARACHI: Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has announced that auction for license/spectrum regarding 3G /4G/LTE will be held on March 28 and 29.

This was announced at the second investment awareness conference held here on Saturday which was also attended by Finance Minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh.

Addressing the Conference, Hafeez Shaikh assured the investors that the bidding of 3G licenses would be transparent, fair and all rules and regulation would be followed accordingly.

The minister said that the introduction of 3G technology would increase opportunities in education, health, agriculture and banking sectors of the country.

Chairman PTA, Mohammed Yaseen said that with the launch of 3G, local cell phone subscribers will be able to transmit and receive high speed data through their mobile phones.

Pakistan had more than 111 million mobile phone users in October 2011, according to the PTA, equivalent to around 65 per cent of all Pakistanis.

Yaseen had earlier told Reuters that existing license operators could start offering 3G services immediately after being awarded a license, while new operators would be able to provide 3G services from March 2013.