Pakistan telecommunications regulation and service quality

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has identified significant disparities in the country’s telecommunications market. Initial reports highlighted wide tariff gaps across mobile postpaid and fixed-line broadband sectors, with varying entry-level costs and premium tier pricing among providers such as Jazz, Telenor, Zong, Ufone, PTCL, and Transworld.

Following consumer complaints regarding poor service quality, the PTA has escalated regulatory actions, imposing fines exceeding 3.41 billion rupees on mobile and internet service providers. These penalties follow hundreds of quality of service assessments conducted by the regulator.

To address these issues, the PTA issued 86 show-cause notices and 20 warning letters, mandating that companies install 1,000 new sites annually and eliminate coverage gaps in cities like Islamabad and Rawalpindi by October 2026. Additionally, the 480 MHz spectrum has been increased to support higher 4G and 5G speeds. Service providers continue to face operational challenges, including electricity load shedding, equipment theft, and ‘Right of Way’ disputes, which have left approximately 17% of the nation’s 9,000 mobile sites inactive, particularly in KP, Balochistan, and Gilgit-Baltistan.