Zong to Get Alternate Spectrum for its 3G Services by Month End

Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and Zong have reached an agreement that will resolve Zong’s long-pending spectrum issues it was facing due to distortion caused by cord-less phones in its 3G spectrum, we have checked with sources.

According to details we have received, Zong will be allotted an alternate spectrum by end of current month for its 3G services.

Sources said that the changing of Zong’s spectrum will take place by the end of December; however it would not affect subscribers.

A PTA official confirmed us that Zong has agreed with the proposal, which would be implemented by the end of current month.

It maybe recalled that Zong had sent a legal notice to PTA and Frequency Allocation Board (FAB) for putting the defective spectrum up for auction despite the fact that interference in the band was there since before the auction.

PTA and FAB had been put on 15 days notice that expired on November 23, 2015.

Zong had also demanded a compensation of $40 million dollars for loss of revenues during last 12 months, loss of market share, incremental costs incurred during this time in network optimization, cost of additional resources deployed to identify, evaluate and combat interference.

There wouldn’t be any cost involved in changing of spectrum: PTA Official

After today’s agreement between both the parties, Zong is likely to withdraw from its compensation demands, PTA official said. “There wouldn’t be any cost involved in changing of spectrum”, said the PTA official.

Dr. Ismail Shah Chairman PTA had stated that matter would be resolved amicably very soon. Chairman PTA agreed that Zong’s spectrum is being used by DECT 6.0 phones that create noise and distortion in the spectrum, however, according to Chairman, Zong had itself opted for this block of spectrum at the time of spectrum allotment.

It maybe recalled here that Zong had participated in the spectrum auction in 2014 and was awarded frequency spectrum band of 1920-1930 and 2110-2120MHz for 3G network and services.

Moreover, DECT 6.0 devices — that are imported from abroad — operate in the same 1920-1930MHz — that create interference in Zong’s spectrum.

PTA has said that it will continue to clean-up the distortion caused by DECT 6.0 phone in 3G spectrum so that it is made available for sale to any upcoming demand from mobile operators.


  • Good for both Zong and end users. I am already getting 800 Kbps to 1.6 MBps downloading speed in Faisalabad on Zong 3G. And I hope it will get better after new spectrum

    • for me 1 MBps is more then enough for browsing and streaming but i am getting less then it from mobilink at my home location also tried telenor and ufone as well same issue. but on some locations i get impressive speed from mobilink.

      • In my location at Faisalabad I still dont have coverage of Mobilink 3G where even Warid 4G works. So Mobilink is cheap company for me due to pathetic coverage in Fsd and contnously switching among H+, H and 3G. On Zong 4G I am getting 3.5 to 4 MBps downloading speed even on torrent.

        • Mobilink doesn’t work good around central jail due to jammers. Don’t know why but others are unaffected.

          • It even dosn’t have coverage after Jalvi Market at Jaranwala road. and after Kashmir Pul at Canal Road etc. And where it works, it continuously changes among H+, H and 3G

            • and All Faisalabad is not Covered Original LoL to Mobilink from my end
              Pathetic 3G Network Ever

            • You wanna know something funny?
              The road outside my house i get full 3G signals and 1MBps+ speed. Whereas in my house i dont get 3G signals at all. This issue has been there since there launch. I guess Mobilink decided to troll me.

                • Lahore. Yeah i am going to get Zong. But one thing i hate about Zong is there 3G and 4G packages are same so they are comparatively expensive compared to other telecom companies.

  • So if I understood this properly, only Zong 3G will improve? 4G will remain as is? because for last month my Zong 4G went from Super awesome to Super Shitty.

    see for yourself: http://www.speedtest.net/result/4862348462.png

    And yes a 77% packet lost to most European IPs:

    ———————————————————————————-
    C:UsersDivines Light>ping 206.127.159.111 -n 9

    Pinging 206.127.159.111 with 32 bytes of data:

    Reply from 206.127.159.111: bytes=32 time=282ms TTL=109

    Request timed out.

    Request timed out.

    Request timed out.

    Request timed out.

    Request timed out.

    Request timed out.

    Reply from 206.127.159.111: bytes=32 time=278ms TTL=109

    Request timed out.

    Ping statistics for 206.127.159.111:

    Packets: Sent = 9, Received = 2, Lost = 7 (77% loss),

    Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:

    Minimum = 278ms, Maximum = 282ms, Average = 280ms

      • Bhai I’ve been in touch with Zong’s help center for last one month about this, they never intimated about Undersea cable cuts, even Warid 4G works better than Zong in my area. So I don’t think it’s Undersea cable cut problem for one whole month.

        • Zong’s help center? the world “help” does not exist in Zong’s dictionary! Their internet is no doubt the most impressive among all other Telcos but their customer support is just pathetic!

          • Pta ni they are very responsive at least, even though masla hal ni howa :P But I just email them they always call at the same day and at least try?

            • brother the thing is when you call them from a “prepaid” number their helpline goes busy always! and they add insult to the injury when they charge you the helpline call for almost 1 Rupee and an additional 1 Rupee to talk to the customer support representative. Your call never goes through and if you try 10 times you will lose almost 20 Rupees! I ported to Zong from Warid and their GSM was pathetic but the internet was plain awesome. Also, there are no customer support issues if you are a Postpaid subscriber. I changed my plan to Prepaid before porting back to Warid and those 10 days were a nightmare!

              Long story short, if Zong will improve their GSM (Frequent call dropping and low signals) and their customer support, It can be the best Telco out there!

        • bro i am still facing this issue slow speed and sgnls fluctuating 3 to 1,i live in karachi.. tell me your update.

    • Aqalmand insaan. Server Bristol (England) select karo gy tu shitty speed hi aye gi na. Select server closer to Pakistan or in Pakistan for correct measure of download and upload speed

  • I normally get 6-8 Mb/s downloading on Zong 3G but uploading has decreased significantly from some time.

  • Aamir bhai
    Pehhly 1920-1930 MHz spectrum tha or ab 2110-2120 MHz mily ga Zong ko ???
    Please brief !

    • All 3G spectrums are 2*5 or 2*10. 1 3G spectrum based on 1 downlink and 1 uplink frequencies. In pakistan Ufone and telenor has 5 MHz uplink spectrum in 1900 MHz block and 5 MHz downlink spectrum on 2100 MHz block and same for Zong and Mobilink with 10 MHz.
      I hope this will help you

      • Zafar bhai zong k spectrum mein kia change aaya ha ?
        Pehly kitny MHz tha or ab kitna ha ?

        • Brother if you look into above chart, Zong has 10 MHz spectrum for uplinking between 1920 to 1930 MHz in 1900 MHz block which was faulty, Now probably Zong will get same 10 MHz spectrum of 1900 MHz block from 1950 to 1960 MHz.

          • I do not remember the term but Band Gap is surely needed between two frequency bands to avoid interference.
            I believe this is not a technical document so, it does not feature that analogy.

  • First you said that issue was with 4G service now you say that new 3G spectrum… Also define what spectrum will change?

  • First they pulled out all dect 6.0 devices from market and now they decided to give them different spectrum. Man these people are insane. They caused huge loss to sellers of dect. They shouldn’t had auctioned that spectrum in the first place.

  • completely wrong advice. No one is hosting their servers in Pakistan they are mostly hosted in USA. So what if the speed in Pakistan is super duper fast. It’s the speed to USA where all the sites are hosted that is important.

  • Plz Tell Me agr frequnccy chang hui to humry smrt phone bhi new frequncy ko spurt krn gy ya ni???

    • It will remain same in range of 1900 MHz frequency. previously it was 1920 to 1930 and now it will probably 1950 to 1960

  • As @MySchizoBuddy:disqus pointed out, bhai mera use hi UK services ka ha and uspe connectivity issue ha to wahin test karunga na?

    Always check bandwidth on some international server for correct measure of speed.

  • Does anyone have any idea of when the 3g/4g services are being launched in Azad Kashmir and GB?
    Is it true, the operators are being granted licenses in december to start services in 2016 january february?
    Can someone please provide an update?

    • WOW dude that’s amazinggg!!! The max I get in Karachi Gulistan e Johar is 20Mbps which is a lot itself to be honest.

      • I have been reading comments on other sites regarding the unfair deduction from the monthly quota by zong. E.g. Your bundle Gets used up quite early then expected… Did u guys also experienced something similar to it.

  • Can anyone tell me, Is there any problem with zong Mbb devices…. I m living in Rawalpindi in sadiqabad and connection often gets lost and speed isn’t v impressive too

  • China Mobile brand Zong should be grateful to our regulatory authority the leverage for a fresh spectrum to your satisfaction. It is understood 3G iniated in China on the occasion of Olympics in Beijing on the indigenuous technology 1st time ever on the protocols never tested before anywhere in the world. Being one of the first customer and friendly we’re subjected to Beta Trails of the networks outside China. If you could clarify whether the 4G networks are compliant to ETSI, which is the defacto standards worldwide. Could you please give a credit and compensation to all 3G/4G customers due to Access issues to the subscribers of Zong, which was due to various reasons not beyond the horizon of the subscribers, and internal issues of spectrum. Would the regulatory authority please clarify to the consumers in Pakistan about the spectrum issues, and what is the stance of consumers who were only put on hold todate. Zong as company has recieved compensation, behind the court. Would the RFI (Right For Information) Constituional Right of Citizen seek to reveal all information in the national media between the PTA stance and the Zong, issues. What is the assurance in future for the re-occurance. Can we seek help from ETSI and ITU to assist the consumers get their rights via the regulator, and ask how its regulating the bandwidth issues, and QOS criteria. Does it matches the ETSI protocols, or like classified project it is classified. Will Zong please reveal the communication between Zong and the regulatory authority regarding QOS and spectrum bandwidth. The naive consumer of Pakistan has their first exposure to mobile broadband and they do not know their rights.


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