Compliance with QoS benchmarks: CMOs’ failure prompts PTA to begin action

ISLAMABAD: Cellular Mobile Operators (CMOs) have failed to meet several prescribed Quality of Service (QoS) benchmarks, particularly in mobile broadband, prompting the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to initiate legal action against the concerned operators and direct them to ensure compliance with licensed parameters.

According to the PTA’s independent QoS survey for the second quarter (Q2) of 2026, conducted during April-June, operators collectively achieved 85 percent compliance in mobile broadband, compared with 98 percent in coverage, 92 percent in voice and 97 percent in SMS services.

The survey, conducted under the Cellular Mobile Network QoS Regulations, 2021, assessed all four CMOs against licenced Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) covering coverage, mobile broadband, voice and SMS services across 11 major cities.

The overall city-wise assessment showed Jazz with 130 compliant and two non-compliant KPIs, Zong with 128 compliant and four non-compliant, Ufone with 121 compliant and 11 non-compliant, while Telenor recorded 112 compliant and 20 non-compliant KPIs out of 132 checks per operator.

The regulator said the survey results indicated that SMS and voice services generally performed well nationwide, although variations were observed in mobile broadband performance across different areas.

The most significant shortfall was recorded in broadband services. In 4G coverage, Jazz, Zong and Ufone met the prescribed signal-strength benchmark in all 11 surveyed cities, whereas Telenor was compliant in only five cities.

In auto-mode broadband download throughput, Jazz secured the highest speed in nine cities and Zong in two, with Ufone and Telenor ranking third and fourth, respectively.

Zong led upload throughput in seven cities, while Jazz secured the top position in four. Ufone and Telenor ranked third and fourth.

The third-party application tests produced a broadly similar pattern, with Jazz recording the highest download throughput in eight cities and Zong in three. In upload throughput, Zong led in six cities and Jazz in four.

Latency performance also exposed gaps. Telenor was non-compliant in five cities under auto-mode testing, while Ufone failed the applicable latency threshold in four cities. Zong remained compliant in all 11 cities, followed by Jazz in 10, Ufone in seven, and Telenor in six.

For webpage loading, Ufone and Zong were compliant in all 11 cities, while Jazz and Telenor achieved compliance in nine cities each.

In voice services, Jazz recorded 55 compliant KPIs with no non-compliance. Zong and Telenor each achieved 53 compliant and two non-compliant KPIs, while Ufone recorded 51 compliant and four non-compliant KPIs.

In SMS services, Jazz and Zong shared the top position with 22 compliant KPIs each and no non-compliance. Ufone recorded 19 compliant and three non-compliant KPIs, while Telenor had 17 compliant and five non-compliant KPIs.

The survey covered Peshawar, Abbottabad, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore, Multan, Faisalabad, Quetta, Hub, Sukkur and Karachi West. PTA said routes were selected to cover the maximum population area of the respective cities.

The authority’s broader Q2 survey also covered focused and rural areas as well as AJ&K and Gilgit-Baltistan, highlighting continuing digital inclusion gaps and unserved or underserved coverage areas.

The PTA identified prolonged load shedding, theft and vandalism of telecom infrastructure, fibre cuts, right-of-way (RoW) constraints and security limitations in remote areas as persistent challenges affecting network expansion and service quality.

In focused and rural areas, around 3,300 voice/SMS tests and 24,000 broadband samples were conducted, while approximately 4,100 voice/SMS tests and 3,960 broadband samples were collected across six high-altitude sites in AJ&K and GB.

The PTA said that efforts were under way to extend services to unserved and underserved areas through the Universal Service Fund (USF), while coordination with federal and provincial governments was also being undertaken to streamline RoW approvals and facilitate uninterrupted commercial power for telecom infrastructure.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2026