Efficient emission at $1.38\mu \mathrm{m}$ wavelength from holmium $\left({\mathrm{Ho}}^{3+}\right)$ -doped low-phonon-energy gallate bismuth lead (GBL) oxide glasses, owing to the ${\mathrm{Ho}}^{3+}$ : $({}^{5}S_2,{}^{5}F_4)\to {}^{5}I_5$ transition, was observed, and the stimulated emission cross section was calculated to be $2.4\times {10}^{-21}{\mathrm{cm}}^2$ . Population inversions between the $({}^{5}S_2,{}^{5}F_4)$ and ${}^{5}I_5$ levels have been achieved, and a broad gain bandwidth from $1350\text{to}1450\mathrm{nm}$ was obtained. The large product of emission cross section and measured lifetime also support this characteristic. The results indicate that a ${\mathrm{Ho}}^{3+}$ -doped GBL glass system is a promising candidate for the development of E-band $(1360–1460\mathrm{nm})$ fiber-optic amplifiers.