Pakistan’s 100 million WhatsApp users send around 12 billion messages every day, according to figures shared by Pakistan Telecommunication Authority Chairman Major General (retd.) Hafeez ur Rehman. He gave the numbers while briefing the National Assembly Standing Committee on Information Technology and Telecom on Tuesday, in a briefing on the use of social media and digital communication platforms in the country. The figures show how heavily the country relies on messaging apps for everyday communication, work and business, and they work out to an average of about 120 messages for each user every day.
The numbers came up at a meeting where committee members raised serious concerns over the quality of telecom services, including unreliable mobile networks and frequent call disruptions. One member complained that WhatsApp calls were being disconnected even in Islamabad, and asked how telecom companies could be expected to provide better services when users in major cities were facing connectivity problems. The complaint put the large user numbers in a different light, since a platform used by this many people depends on mobile networks that work consistently. Voice and video calls over apps are especially sensitive to weak signals and slow data, so interruptions are easy for users to notice.
The PTA chairman acknowledged that there was considerable room for improvement in telecom services. He said the regulator had inspected mobile towers and visited 41 districts together with telecom operators to identify the problems that affect network quality. This follows PTA’s recent field inspections of 115 telecom sites across the country between September 30 and October 7, which looked at coverage, voice and data quality and backup power. The authority has also directed operators to fix coverage gaps in Islamabad and Rawalpindi, and its quarterly quality of service survey has compared operators across 11 cities.
Rehman also named electricity outages as one of the major obstacles to improving telecom services, saying better power availability could significantly improve network performance. Mobile towers need a steady supply of power, and when it fails, backup batteries or generators must keep them running or the signal drops. The briefing did not set out new targets or timelines for improving service, so lawmakers’ concerns about call quality remain to be addressed through the corrective measures PTA says it is asking operators to carry out. The committee’s questions suggest that scrutiny of operators’ network quality will continue in parliament.
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