No Mobile Operator Fully Meets PTA Quality Standards in Q1 2026

None of Pakistan’s four cellular mobile operators achieved full compliance with the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority’s quality-of-service standards during the first quarter of 2026, despite passing a majority of the regulatory tests.

The PTA’s independent survey assessed Jazz, Zong, Ufone, and Telenor across 18 cities between January and March. The 75-day exercise covered 2,705 kilometers and included thousands of voice, SMS, browsing, speed, latency, and network-coverage measurements under the Cellular Mobile Network Quality of Service Regulations 2021.

The findings show that service quality remained uneven across operators and cities. Jazz produced the highest overall compliance score, but it did not lead every category. Zong performed best in voice services, uploads, and network coverage, while Ufone recorded the lowest average latency. Telenor remained last in overall compliance and most mobile-broadband rankings.

Survey scope

PTA tested 12 major indicators in each of the 18 cities, producing 216 KPI checks for every operator.

Table 1: Survey overview

The cities covered were Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Sialkot, Mailsi, Malakwal, Taunsa, Pir Mahal, Karachi West, Hyderabad, Sujawal, Moro, Hub, Ghazi, Haripur, Pabbi Town, Swabi, Loralai, and Zhob.

Jazz leads, but misses full compliance

Jazz complied with 205 of the 216 indicators, giving it an overall compliance score of 95 percent. Zong followed with 200 compliant indicators, or 93 percent.

Ufone achieved 89 per cent compliance, while Telenor passed 169 indicators and failed 47, placing it last with 78 percent.

Table 2: Overall KPI compliance

The results underline the central finding of the survey. All operators met most benchmarks, but none provided consistently compliant performance across coverage, broadband, voice, and SMS services.

Operators split the major service categories

Jazz ranked first in download throughput and SMS performance, while Zong led voice services, upload throughput, and network coverage.

Ufone performed strongly in latency and achieved the lowest overall average delay. Telenor remained fourth in most throughput categories and recorded the highest average latency.

Table 3: Overall category leaders

*Jazz, Zong and Ufone each met the 4G coverage benchmark in 16 cities, though Zong was placed first when 3G fallback coverage was also considered.

Jazz delivers the fastest average downloads

PTA’s overall averages showed Jazz delivering the highest download throughput at 33.96Mbps. Zong followed at 23.54Mbps, while Ufone averaged 13.72Mbps.

Telenor’s average download speed was 4.83Mbps, only slightly above the regulator’s minimum threshold of more than 4Mbps.

Zong led upload performance at 22.55Mbps, ahead of Jazz at 20.47Mbps.

Table 4: Overall data-performance averages

Ufone recorded the lowest average latency at 68 milliseconds, followed by Jazz, Zong, and Telenor. Lower latency generally produces a more responsive experience for video calls, gaming, and other real-time services.

However, PTA noted that latency compliance varied considerably by city and testing method.

Download leadership varied by city

Jazz ranked first in auto-mode download testing in 13 cities and led third-party application download testing in 11 cities.

Zong led auto-mode downloads in Mailsi, Loralai, Zhob, Moro, and Hub. In third-party testing, it ranked first in Mailsi, Loralai, Taunsa, Zhob, Pabbi Town, Moro, and Hyderabad.

Table 5: Selected auto-mode download results

Speeds are in Mbps.

Jazz’s highest third-party download result was 68.40Mbps in Malakwal, while Zong reached 57.64Mbps in the same city. Jazz also recorded 63.53Mbps in Karachi West and 63.52Mbps in Swabi.

Zong dominates uploads

Zong ranked first in auto-mode upload throughput in 12 cities and led third-party upload measurements in 11.

Its strongest third-party upload performance was recorded in Karachi West at 40.53Mbps, followed by Taunsa at 36.29Mbps and Zhob at 33.54Mbps.

Table 6: Selected auto-mode upload results

Speeds are in Mbps.

The results indicate that users’ experience may differ depending on their activity. Jazz’s faster downloads would generally favor streaming and file downloads, while Zong’s upload advantage could benefit video calls, live streaming, and cloud uploads.

Coverage was broadly strong but not universal

The PTA measured 4G signal strength along survey routes using technology’s auto-detect mode. The compliance threshold required at least 90 per cent confidence in signal strength.

Jazz, Zong, and Ufone each met the 4G benchmark in 16 cities. Telenor complied in 11 cities and missed the benchmark in seven.

Table 7: 4G coverage compliance

When 3G fallback performance was included, Zong received the strongest overall network-coverage standing.

Table 8: Cities where operators missed the 4G threshold

Some results were particularly weak. Zong recorded 67.19 per cent coverage confidence in Ghazi, while Telenor recorded 67.26 per cent in Mailsi. Ufone’s Mailsi result stood at 75.05 percent.

Latency remained inconsistent

PTA classified latency as an important mobile-broadband performance measure because it directly affects responsiveness.

The auto-mode threshold was below 75 milliseconds. While many city results met that level, significant exceptions were reported.

Table 9: Selected auto-mode latency results

Latency is measured in milliseconds; lower is better.

Jazz’s 650.36ms result in Loralai and Telenor’s 607.87ms result in Zhob were among the most pronounced failures.

Third-party application latency was generally better, with most operators falling below the 75ms threshold in most cities.

City rankings reveal no nationwide winner

Jazz ranked first overall in 13 of the 18 surveyed locations. Zong led in four cities, while Ufone ranked first only in Islamabad.

Telenor did not lead in any city.

Table 10: City-wise operator rankings

The missing rankings in some cities reflect unavailable or excluded measurements rather than confirmed ties.

Voice quality favours Zong

PTA assessed network accessibility, call setup success, connection time, completion rate, and mean opinion score.

Zong recorded compliance in 88 of 90 voice indicators, placing it first overall. Jazz followed, while Telenor ranked third and Ufone fourth.

Table 11: Overall voice and calling averages

Zong recorded the highest mean opinion score at 3.9 out of five and the fastest average call connection time at 2.2 seconds.

Jazz achieved the highest call completion ratio at 99.6 per cent and the highest call setup success rate at 99.4 per cent.

Jazz leads SMS performance

PTA measured SMS success rate and delivery time. Jazz ranked first overall, followed by Zong, Ufone and Telenor.

Table 12: Selected SMS results

PTA’s SMS benchmark required a success rate of at least 99 percent and delivery within 12 seconds. Jazz’s first-place standing reflected its overall compliance across both indicators rather than being fastest in every city.

Telenor testing excluded in five cities

PTA said Telenor’s data measurements in Swabi, Rawalpindi, Hub, Hyderabad, and Pir Mahal could not be considered because the equipment used did not support mandatory fixed-size measurements.

The relevant third-party testing feature was also unavailable, preventing the results from being aligned with PTA’s methodology.

This means Telenor’s broadband comparisons in those cities remain incomplete and should not be interpreted as equivalent to full test results from the other operators.

High compliance does not mean uniform service

The survey presents a mixed picture of Pakistan’s mobile sector.

Jazz delivered the strongest overall result and led downloads and SMS. Zong was strongest in voice, uploads and coverage, while Ufone’s lower average latency represented a notable advantage despite weaker overall speeds.

Telenor’s 78 percent compliance, slower data performance, and missing results in five cities placed it at a clear disadvantage.

For consumers, however, national rankings tell only part of the story. An operator that performs strongly overall may still deliver weaker coverage, slower speeds, or higher latency in a particular city.

The PTA findings therefore suggest that Pakistan’s operators have moved close to compliance on many indicators, but consistent service across locations and technologies remains out of reach.

No operator passed every test—and the differences between cities remain large enough to materially affect customers’ everyday mobile experience.

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