Jazz has emerged as the top-ranked mobile network in Pakistan according to PTA’s Quality of Service survey for the first quarter of 2026, recording the highest overall Key Performance Indicator compliance rate among the four major operators tested. PTA conducted its survey across 18 cities in Pakistan, measuring cellular network performance across six dimensions: coverage, download and upload speeds, latency, web browsing, voice calls, and Short Message Service delivery.
Jazz recorded an overall KPI compliance rate of 95 percent, with 205 compliant checks out of 216, placing it at the top of the overall rankings. Zong followed closely with 93 percent, while Ufone stood at 89 percent and Telenor at 78 percent. The results reflect a clear two-tier split in the survey, with Jazz and Zong performing significantly above the industry average and Telenor finishing last in the overall ranking, largely due to weaker results across coverage, speeds, web browsing, and Short Message Service performance.
The category-by-category breakdown tells a more nuanced story. In coverage, Zong took the lead when both 4G and 3G fallback results are considered. In 4G coverage specifically, Jazz, Zong, and Ufone all met the required threshold in 16 cities and were jointly ranked first, while Telenor ranked second. However, Zong’s dominance in 3G fallback coverage gave it the edge in the combined coverage category overall. Jazz was the clear winner in download speeds, ranking first in 13 cities in auto-mode testing and leading third-party app download testing by ranking first in 11 cities. Zong ranked second in both download categories. For upload speeds, however, the positions reversed, with Zong taking first place by ranking highest in 12 cities in auto-mode testing and 11 cities in third-party app testing, making it the preferred network for users who upload frequently. In latency, Ufone recorded the lowest average at 68 milliseconds, followed by Jazz at 86.82 milliseconds, Zong at 90 milliseconds, and Telenor at 108 milliseconds. Jazz, Zong, and Ufone jointly led web browsing performance, with all three meeting compliance thresholds in all 18 surveyed cities. Zong led in voice call quality, recording 88 compliant voice KPIs, while Jazz led in Short Message Service performance with 34 compliant SMS KPIs.
Jazz’s lead in the overall ranking reflects its strength across the widest range of categories, including download speeds, Short Message Service, auto-mode latency, and total KPI compliance, giving it the most balanced performance profile of the four operators. Zong, despite finishing second overall, outperformed Jazz in several technically significant areas including upload speeds, voice quality, and coverage depth, making it the stronger network for specific use cases. The survey results arrive at a particularly significant moment for Pakistan’s telecom sector, which has just completed its 5G spectrum auction and is in the early stages of rolling out next-generation network services across 22 cities, a transition that will reshape the network performance rankings significantly in the quarters ahead.
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