PEMRA to award three DTH licenses through open bidding

 JournalismPakistan.com |  Published: 9 November 2015

PEMRA is set to award three DTH licenses following an open bidding process scheduled for December 7, 2015. This initiative is expected to boost investment and job creation in Pakistan's media sector.

Summary

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) has received 10 applications from prospective applicants for three Direct to Home (DTH) licenses to be awarded through open bidding on December 7, 2015. An official of PEMRA told APP Monday that November 6 was the last date for submission of applications, and now the applicants will be short listed/pre-qualified on the basis of eligibility criteria. The short listed applicants will then be invited for bidding/auctioning on December 7 and licenses to successful bidders will be awarded on completion of all legal requirements, payment of requisite fee and approval of PEMRA, he said. The PEMRA official said it is expected that the successful launch of DTH services in Pakistan will result in investment of millions of dollars in the country along with creation of thousands of direct and indirect jobs. The availability of legal DTH platform in Pakistan, he said, will also help curb the proliferation of illegal Indian DTH which is causing loss of billions of rupees to the national exchequer annually. The launch of this service will be a step forward towards meeting the direction of International Telecommunication Union (ITU) for digitalization of broadcast media and distribution service. It will also provide an opportunity to the Pakistani satellite operator for utilizing its available capacity for the DTH service. - APP