LAHORE – A fresh PTA survey across 11 Pakistani cities now revealed which telecom operators delivered, and where users may be facing serious service gaps.
For many users, network quality is something they notice only when a call drops, a message fails to send or mobile internet suddenly slows down. But a new PTA survey shows that the experience can vary considerably depending on where you are in Pakistan.
Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) tested major cellular operators across 11 cities during its Q2 2026 Quality of Service (QoS) survey), covering more than 2,000 kilometres over a month to assess networks in real-world conditions. The teams followed routes covering heavily populated areas of each city and assessed operators against 12 key performance indicators (KPIs) covering voice calls, SMS and broadband services.
Telcos Service in Pakistan
The biggest headline from the survey is Jazz’s performance. Jazz secured the top position in 10 of the 11 cities covered by the assessment. It ranked first in Quetta, Peshawar, Multan, Lahore, Islamabad, Sukkur, Hub, Abbottabad, Faisalabad and Rawalpindi.
The only exception was Karachi West, where Zong took first place and Jazz finished second.
In other words, Jazz topped the rankings almost everywhere covered by the survey, while Zong managed to break its run in just one location.
The survey also found four cities where all major operators delivered a particularly strong performance. In Hub, Abbottabad, Faisalabad and Rawalpindi, Jazz, Ufone, Telenor and Zong all recorded 100% compliance across all 12 KPIs.
For users in these areas, that means all four networks met the regulator’s prescribed benchmarks across the full range of services measured during the assessment.
Telenor
While some cities produced strong results across the board, Telenor faced notable gaps in several locations.
The operator’s weakest result came in Quetta, where it failed to meet the required standard on five KPIs and recorded an overall compliance rate of just 58%.
Telenor also struggled in Sukkur, failing four KPIs and posting 67% compliance.
The operator finished fourth in Quetta, Multan, Lahore, Islamabad and Sukkur, according to the city-wise rankings.
Telenor’s performance comes at a time of major change for the company. PTCL completed its acquisition of Telenor Pakistan at the end of 2025, and the operator is now going through a network integration process involving the migration of its legacy infrastructure to Ufone’s network.
The survey paints a mixed picture of Pakistan’s cellular landscape. While several cities recorded strong compliance, the findings also show that operators still have room to improve, particularly when it comes to mobile broadband.
As more people rely on mobile internet for work, education, payments, entertainment and everyday communication, maintaining reliable broadband performance is becoming just as important as keeping calls and SMS services stable.
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