PTA drafts new radio licensing rules with 10 year terms and a Rs5,000 application fee
The telecom regulator wants one online process for private radio networks, microwave links, mobile satellite services and amateur radio, and has opened the draft to public comment.
A company that runs radio links for a port, a utility or a factory would apply to one regulator, through one online system, for a licence that lasts 10 years. That is the core of the draft Radio Based Services Licensing Regulations, 2026, which the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority published for comment on 21 October.
The rules would cover private land mobile radio networks that run on very high frequency (VHF), microwave links, mobile satellite applications and services, and amateur radio. The authority describes the category as including trunking systems, telemetry, weather radars and SCADA systems, the control networks that utilities, ports and factories depend on.
Four licence categories
Applicants fall into four categories: private radio networks, aircraft mobile stations, maritime mobile stations and amateur radio operators, with a separate junior category for young amateurs. A private network operator must first win a spectrum assignment through the Frequency Allocation Board portal. The PTA would check an application for completeness within seven working days. Applicants would get 15 days to fix each set of deficiencies, and a file could be sent back for correction no more than three times. For a complete application, the authority sets itself a target of 15 working days to decide.
Fees and renewals
Standard licences would run for 10 years and junior amateur licences for five. Every applicant pays a Rs5,000 processing fee that cannot be refunded, and an initial licence fee of Rs10,000 applies where relevant. An amateur licence costs Rs2,000 for 10 years, and the junior licence carries no fee. Aircraft and maritime mobile station licences cost Rs100,000 each for the full term, with a further Rs250,000 for an Inmarsat terminal on board.
Private radio networks would pay annual charges from a formula that weighs base price, frequency band, assigned frequencies, bandwidth, output power and location, with higher factors for more urban sites. Renewal applications would be due at least three months before expiry, and spectrum revalidation at least six months before. Operators who apply on time, clear their dues and leave their network unchanged could get a streamlined renewal even if the board has not finished revalidating their spectrum, subject to the later revalidation.
Type approval and existing licensees
Type approval would become mandatory for radio equipment, with exemptions for certain aircraft and vessel gear. The PTA could refuse a licence it judges a risk to national security and could inspect equipment, with notice or, where it suspects harmful interference, unauthorised spectrum use or a security threat, without it. Amateur operators must be at least 18, belong to the Pakistan Amateur Radio Society and produce a police clearance certificate. People aged 14 to under 18 could apply for a junior licence with sponsorship and parental or institutional consent.
Existing licensees would have to register their details on the PTA's online system within six months of the rules taking effect, at no charge, and their current licences would stay valid until expiry. Licensees and other stakeholders can send comments on a prescribed form that names the organisation and licence category, the regulation concerned, the change proposed and the reason. The notice gives no closing date.
