Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), the country’s regulator, said only Telenor applied to bid for 2x10MHz of 850MHz spectrum by the 1 June deadline.

This means Mobilink, Ufone and China Mobile’s Zong will not participate in the auction due to take place on 20 June, a week later than initially planned.

The spectrum in question was unsold in an auction two years ago and will reportedly be sold at a base price of $395 million.

With Telenor being the only bidder, it is likely to get the spectrum at the base price, or perhaps even lower, given reports of possible interference issues.

The government ordered PTA in March to hold the sale by mid-June. The sale was postponed twice last year after all five operators (including Warid, which is now set to merge with Mobilink) said they would not participate.

The push comes despite a report from a consultant, hired by the telecoms regulator, that found the market was not ready for another auction. It said operators are struggling with low margins and aren’t interested in investing in the spectrum within the next 12 months.

Pakistan’s finance minister last month approved a proposal to auction off the 850MHz band before holding an auction for the 1.8GHz spectrum, which was also unsold in the 4G sale in 2014.