Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has confirmed that nearly 9,000 mobile network sites, accounting for roughly 17% of all sites nationwide, continue to experience availability issues due to prolonged power outages, limited access to commercial electricity, delays in securing Right of Way (RoW), and instances of theft and vandalism. These disruptions have affected service quality across several regions, particularly Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, and Gilgit-Baltistan, where network accessibility remains a challenge for both voice and data services. PTA officials noted that resolving infrastructure and logistical hurdles is critical to maintaining reliable connectivity for residents in these areas.
Despite the availability issues, PTA’s recent analysis indicates that cellular operators generally met service benchmarks for call completion and data throughput between January and June 2025. According to the OSS KPI report, average call completion stood at 99.05% nationwide, with data throughput averaging 6.73 Mbps. However, network availability fell short of the regulatory 99% threshold due to energy shortages and limited on-ground access to some sites. PTA highlighted that these constraints underline the need for ongoing infrastructure investment and coordinated efforts between operators, authorities, and local stakeholders to address persistent network gaps.
During the first half of 2025, PTA received 8,003 complaints through its Complaint Management System (CMS) related to poor coverage and service quality. Of these complaints, 7,937 or 99.17% were resolved following investigation and coordination with operators. In addition, PTA conducted 89 planned and 78 complaint-driven quality of service surveys across major cities, highways, motorways, and railway routes to evaluate network performance. Officials emphasized that enforcement measures are applied when operators fail to meet service standards, and follow-ups with licensees are conducted to ensure timely rectification of deficiencies.
Over the past five years, PTA has issued 39 show cause notices and 17 warning letters to operators for non-compliance with service requirements, resulting in financial penalties totaling Rs 68.9 million. To date, Rs 13.6 million has been recovered, while 11 cases remain under litigation. PTA encouraged stakeholders and the public to report network trouble spots to facilitate faster resolution and improve service quality. Authorities noted that addressing these operational and infrastructure challenges is essential to sustaining a reliable mobile network and ensuring Pakistan’s telecom sector continues to meet growing digital connectivity demands.
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