Pakistan’s major cellular operators delivered varied performance across services and cities during the fourth quarter of 2025, according to a benchmarking report released by Pakistan Telecommunication Authority in collaboration with Opensignal. The report analyzed over 1.25 billion measurements collected from real smartphone users in 161 districts between October 1 and December 29, 2025, assessing download speed, upload speed, video experience, gaming experience, and time on network. Overall, the national average download speed across all devices was 18.60 Mbps, rising to 30.80 Mbps on high-end devices, while average upload speed stood at 5.59 Mbps. Video experience averaged 44.44 out of 100 and gaming performance scored 40.26, with users connected to networks 93.64 percent of the time.
At the national level, Zong 4G led in both download and upload speeds. Zong recorded an average download speed of 18.24 Mbps and upload speed of 7.09 Mbps, with Jazz taking second place in both categories and Telenor ranking lowest. City-level analysis across ten major metropolitan areas highlighted a close competition between Zong 4G and Jazz. Jazz led download speeds in Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Peshawar, Quetta, and Faisalabad, while Zong 4G topped Lahore, Karachi, Multan, Hyderabad, and Gujranwala. The highest download speeds at the city level were observed in Quetta (Jazz, 20.61 Mbps) and Multan (Zong 4G, 20.63 Mbps).
For video streaming, results closely mirrored download speed rankings, with Zong 4G and Jazz alternating leadership across different cities. Ufone, meanwhile, emerged as the preferred network for gaming, securing the top position in nine out of ten cities, including major hubs like Islamabad, Karachi, and Peshawar, while Zong 4G led only in Lahore. In terms of network availability, measured as “Time on Network,” Zong 4G consistently outperformed competitors, leading all ten cities with an average nationwide connection rate of 96.47 percent, and achieving 97.82 percent availability in Lahore.
PTA highlighted that Opensignal’s methodology relies on real-world user experiences rather than controlled laboratory testing, providing insights into actual conditions faced by consumers while using mobile applications. The report underscores that while Zong 4G leads in speed and availability, Jazz remains competitive in city-level download speeds, and Ufone excels in gaming performance, reflecting a diverse and competitive mobile network landscape across Pakistan.
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