The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), the country's telecom regulator, has found that several fixed broadband operators fell short of its quality benchmarks in the third quarter of 2026. The findings cover July to September 2026 and point to weak upload speeds, network congestion and delays in service in several cities. The PTA said the operators breached prescribed standards under the Fixed Broadband Quality of Service Regulations, 2022.
The regulator ran two separate surveys. The user-end survey covered 12 broadband operators in 15 cities, while the network-end survey covered 23 operators across 21 cities. The PTA said its Enforcement Division carried out field tests and inspections of network operation centres, the control rooms from which providers monitor their networks.
Where user-end performance fell short
The weakest user-end result came from Multinet Pakistan's Rawalpindi operation, which met only two of the eight prescribed quality indicators, a compliance score of 25%. Cyber Internet Services scored 37.5% in Lahore and 50% in Islamabad. Wide Band Communications in Peshawar was the only operator in the user-end survey to meet all eight indicators.
Upload speed was the most common weakness. Under PTA standards, upload speeds must be at least 25% of advertised package speeds on xDSL connections, which run over copper telephone lines, and above 50% on other technologies. Download speeds must exceed 80% of the advertised figure. Multinet, Cyber Internet, Connect Communications, Nexlinx Networks, PTCL, Naya Tel and Burak Tech were all flagged for download shortfalls.
Other faults included latency, which is the delay before data begins to travel, and jitter, which is the variation in that delay. Multinet, NTC, Cyber Internet and PTCL were flagged for local latency, and Multinet also failed the international latency benchmark. PTCL, NTC, Cyber Internet, Nexlinx and Multinet were flagged for excessive jitter. Packet loss above the 1% limit was recorded at Cyber Internet, PTCL, Connect Communications, Naya Tel, Multinet and SCO. Cyber Internet and Nexlinx also exceeded the four-second webpage loading benchmark.
Network-end results and specific cases
The network-end tests presented a better picture. All surveyed operators met the prescribed latency thresholds and the minimum throughput of four megabits per second for downloads and two megabits per second for uploads. However, bandwidth utilisation went above the 80% threshold in some networks, which the PTA linked to congestion and slower speeds during peak hours.
Of 28 city-operator entries in the network-end assessment, 16 achieved full compliance across seven performance indicators. The remaining entries scored between 57.14% and 85.71%. The lowest network-end score, 57.14%, belonged to Pace Telecom and Broadcasting (Pvt) Ltd in Abbottabad. Its core network availability was 99.73% against a required 99.9%, and its access network availability was 97.13% against a benchmark of 99%.
Falcon Broadband in Vehari recorded jitter of 40.61 milliseconds, well above the prescribed maximum of 15 milliseconds. That is roughly 2.7 times the limit. High jitter can disrupt video calls, online gaming and other real-time applications that need a steady connection.
What happens next
The PTA has asked non-compliant operators to take corrective measures. These include adding capacity, optimising networks, managing congestion, improving routing, strengthening network availability and reducing jitter. The regulator said follow-up testing will be carried out to verify whether the operators have fixed the deficiencies.
Aasan alfaaz mein
PTA ne July se September 2026 ke darmiyan kai fixed broadband companies ki internet quality ko standards se neeche paya. Multinet Rawalpindi, Cyber Internet aur Pace Telecom jaisi companies ke naam is list mein shamil hain. Iska matlab hai ke upload speed, congestion aur jitter ki wajah se kuch ilaqon mein internet ka tajurba behtar nahi tha. PTA ne companies se kami door karne ko kaha hai aur baad mein dobara tests hongay.
