Tech Desk 
Jan 12, 2026
After months of patience, netizens across Pakistan are on the verge of a treat as the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has shared details about the spectrum bands, lot structure, and limits for the Next Generation Mobile Services (NGMS), also known as the 5G auction, planned for 2026.
According to official details, a total of 597.2 MHz of spectrum below 6 GHz will be offered to mobile service operators. The 5G spectrum is said to be sold through a structured, multi-band auction process.
PTA said that the 5G spectrum auction will cover six different frequency bands, which include:
- 700 MHz.
- 1800 MHz.
- 2100 MHz.
- 2300 MHz.
- 2600 MHz.
- 3500 MHz.
Both Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) and TIme Division Duplex (TDD) bands will also be included in auction. Some of these bands, such as 700 MHz, 2300 MHz, 2600 MHz, and 3500 MHz, will be made available to cellular operators in Pakistan for the first time.
PTA has split the available spectrum into 62 lots of different sizes. The 700 MHz band will have three lots of 2×5 MHz each, 1800 MHz band will include three lots of 2×1.2 MHz, and the 2100 MHz band will have four lots of 2×5 MHz.
The authority has set some limits on how much spectrum any single bidder can own, which will maintain a fair competition during the 5G spectrum auction. The maximum overall cap os 348.5 MHz, which equals 40% of the total spectrum available.
A separate limit of 55 MHz has been placed on low-band spectrum. There are also band-specific caps, including 140 MHz for the 2600 MHz band and 200 MHz for the 3500 MHz band.
