The Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication has formally submitted Pakistan’s official fifth generation rollout plan to the National Assembly, laying out a structured four-phase deployment framework that will govern how telecom operators expand fifth generation coverage across the country over the next nine years. The plan establishes binding rollout obligations, fibre network targets, and quality of service thresholds that operators must meet at each phase, while also confirming that digital foreign direct investment commitments exceeding $700 million have already been secured as international confidence in Pakistan’s technology sector grows.
The four-phase structure is designed to sequence the rollout geographically, starting with the highest-population urban centres before progressively extending to secondary and tertiary cities. In Phase 1, spanning two years, operators are required to deploy fifth generation on 10 percent of their existing fourth generation sites annually in federal and provincial capitals, while achieving a Fibre-to-the-Site ratio of 20 percent. Phase 2, also covering two years, extends the obligation to 10 additional cities with a minimum of two per province, with the FTTS ratio rising to 25 percent. Phase 3 follows the same structure across another 10 cities and a 30 percent FTTS target over two years. Phase 4 runs for three years and covers 15 additional cities with a minimum of two per province, bringing the FTTS obligation to 35 percent. By the conclusion of all four phases, fifth generation services will have reached at least 35 cities beyond the provincial and federal capitals, giving Pakistan a fifth generation footprint that extends meaningfully beyond its largest urban centres.
On quality of service, the ministry has simultaneously mandated significant improvements to baseline data speeds across both fourth and fifth generation networks. The current minimum fourth generation data rate requirement has been raised from 4 Mbps to 20 Mbps, with a further target of 50 Mbps to be achieved progressively. Fifth generation networks are required to launch with a minimum data rate of 50 Mbps, with an end-state target of 100 Mbps, giving Pakistan a defined speed benchmark that operators will be contractually obligated to work toward rather than a vague aspiration. These quality of service thresholds apply alongside the geographic rollout obligations, ensuring that expanded coverage translates into materially improved user experience rather than nominal fifth generation signal availability at speeds that offer little practical improvement over existing fourth generation service.
The rollout is structured entirely around market-driven, operator-led investment, with telecom companies responsible for funding network deployments, capacity upgrades, and spectrum acquisitions from their own resources. The Universal Service Fund will continue its existing mandate of extending connectivity to underserved and remote areas, ensuring that the commercially driven fifth generation rollout is complemented by a subsidised programme for areas that private investment alone cannot reach. To support the broader regulatory environment required for next-generation services, the ministry also confirmed it is preparing several accompanying frameworks, including an MVNO licensing framework, a new Fixed Satellite Service licensing regime, updated Internet of Things and Short Range Device regulations, and spectrum sharing and reframing reforms. Together these regulatory updates are intended to remove the bottlenecks that have historically slowed infrastructure deployment and create a more enabling environment for Pakistan’s fifth generation era to develop at the pace the rollout plan demands.
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