Pakistan third generation, or 3G, spectrum will be auctioned in the next three to four months, the Daily Times reported on its website Tuesday, citing Pakistan Telecommunication Authority Chairman Dr Muhammad Yaseen, speaking at a seminar entitled Demand for 3G and Beyond.

"We (the PTA) will offer cellular operators spectrum as they are already license holders of the regulator but they are not bound to launch 3G or 4G because we will give them a choice, so it's up to them," the website quoted him as saying.

Would be good to finally see 3G happening in Pakistan. The interesting parts for me will be how they phase out the coverage for such a relatively large country. I'm guessing the major cities like Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi will be priority with poorer areas coming later.

Another exciting trend to monitor will be apps and services and the introduction (or increase) of the latest smartphones. Pakistan has lots of talented developers for which we would have seen their skills mainly on the web until now. Will be great to see how the mobile app market will grow with more great high-end mobile apps for iPhone, Android etc for the local market.

A major factor in the uptake of 3G services will be pricing of course with the average disposable income amount less than many other countries who have 3G networks.