VEON's Jazz Gains Spectrum in Pakistan
VEON announced that its Pakistan subsidiary, Jazz, secured the largest allocation of 190 MHz in the country's mobile spectrum auction. The auction almost tripled the spectrum available to mobile operators, with the Pakistani Government pushing for reform.
Jazz secured 190 MHz of spectrum in Pakistan's recent auction, paying $239.375 million. This acquisition triples Jazz's total spectrum holdings from 94.4 MHz to 284.4 MHz. VEON plans to invest $1 billion in Pakistan over the next three years. The spectrum acquisition includes 50 MHz in the 3500 MHz band, 70 MHz in the 2600 MHz band, 50 MHz in the 2300 MHz band, and 20 MHz in the 700 MHz band. The 700 MHz band is particularly suited for extending high-quality connectivity to rural areas. Jazz CEO Aamir Ibrahim stated that 5G test trials will be available at 180 towers for Jazz customers starting Wednesday. The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) offered 597 MHz of spectrum in the auction, selling 480 MHz and raising $507 million. Besides Jazz, Ufone acquired 180 MHz and Zong acquired 110 MHz. The government expects 5G services to roll out initially in major cities like Islamabad, Lahore, and Karachi. VEON has invested over $11 billion in Pakistan's digital infrastructure since 1994 through JazzWorld. In February 2026, VEON launched the "Invest in Pakistan, NOW!" initiative to attract foreign investment. VEON's JazzWorld serves 100 million customers in Pakistan. Pakistan has over 190 million mobile phone users in a country of over 240 million people. The country's digital transformation is expected to significantly boost its economy. Digital adoption is projected to create up to PKR 9.7 trillion (USD 59.7 billion) in economic value annually by 2030.
