CMOs partially meet KPIs amid reports of deteriorating quality

ISLAMABAD: Amid reports of deteriorating quality of telecom services in the country, cellular mobile operators (CMOs) partially met key performance indicators (KPIs) set in their licences and the applicable regulations with respect to voice services, webpage loading, and latency, an independent survey about the quality of service carried out by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) revealed.

Official sources said that since the start of these surveys, CMOs have yet to meet all KPIs. The PTA had previously issued showcase notices and later imposed penalties; however, since August 2023, the authority has not imposed penalties despite the poor quality of services, as evident from the PTA’s own surveys.

PTA has conducted an independent Quality of Service (QoS) Survey in 17 cities and on two roads in Pakistan during the third Quarter of 2025. During the survey, the performance of CMOs has been assessed in accordance with the Cellular Mobile Network QoS Regulations 2021. The survey comprised approximately 46,000 Voice Calls and SMS, while 0.33 million samples were checked to measure the broadband performance of CMOs.

The Quality of Service Survey was conducted in 17 cities of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, Balochistan, and Sindh, and on two roads in Punjab in July, August, and September 2025. Survey routes were properly selected to ensure the coverage of the most populated areas of the respective surveyed cities.

During the survey, QoSs tests were conducted in the areas of Voice, Mobile Broadband (Throughput, Latency, and Web Browsing), and Short Messaging Service (SMS).

Latency, while not a traditional KPI (non-service KPI), is a vital metric for Mobile Broadband Performance, as it directly affects user experience. During the survey, Network Latency was measured by calculating the ping between different websites and third test servers. However, operators partially met the traditional KPI.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025