To measure the performance and quality of Cellular Mobile Operators’ (CMOs) services being provided to their customers, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has carried out an Independent Quality of Service (QoS) Survey in seventeen (17) cities of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, and Sindh.
The cellular mobile operators (CMOs) have missed some of the key performance indicators (KPIs) set in their licences and the applicable regulations with respect to voice and latency, an independent survey about quality of service (QoS) carried out by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has revealed.
Additionally, a joint QoS survey along with CMOs was carried out in seven (07) x cities of Gilgit Baltistan during 3rd quarter i.e. July~ Sep 2023.
PTA issued necessary instructions to the operators for taking corrective measures so as to ensure improvement in the service quality up to the standards.
During the survey, Mobile Network Coverage along with QoS KPIs of Voice, SMS, and Mobile Broadband were checked using state-of-the-art automated QoS Monitoring and benchmarking Tool to ascertain conformance with Next Generation Mobile Service (NGMS) licenses and Cellular Mobile Network Quality of Service Regulations 2021.
Based upon the compliance level of each KPI against the threshold defined in the respective licenses and QoS Regulations, CMOs have been ranked between 1st to 5th position in Mobile Network Coverage and Voice Services as per compliance level in surveyed cities.
Similarly, in the Mobile Broadband Speed segment, the ranking is concerning the highest data download and upload speed, network latency, and webpage loading time.
Mobile Network Coverage Ranking (Punjab, KP, Sindh)
|
Operator |
Ranking |
||||
| Compliant | Non-Compliant | ||||
| 4G | 3G | 4G | 3G | ||
| Ufone | 14 | 12 | 3 | 2 | 1st |
| Zong | 15 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2nd |
| Jazz | 14 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 3rd |
| Telenor | 10 | 9 | 7 | 3 | 4th |
Mobile Network Coverage Ranking (Gilgit Baltistan)
|
Technology |
SCOM Compliance Level- Number of Cities |
Ranking |
|
| Compliant | Non-Compliant | ||
| 4G | 7 | 0 | 1st |
| 3G | 7 | 0 | 1st |
The performance of the CMOs was also benchmarked using the Ookla ® Speed Test mobile application to gauge the performance of Upload and download Throughputs and Network Latency.
Mobile Broadband Service Ranking (Punjab, KP, Sindh)
(Download)
| Operator | Highest Throughput – Number of Cities | Standing | ||||||||
| 4G | 3G | 4G | 3G | |||||||
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | |||
| Zong | 8 | 9 | – | – | 5 | 10 | 2 | – | 1st | 2nd |
| Jazz | 8 | 8 | 1 | – | 11 | 5 | 1 | – | 2nd | 1st |
| Ufone | 1 | – | 12 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 3 | 3rd | 3rd |
| Telenor | – | – | 4 | 13 | – | – | 3 | 14 | 4th | 4th |
(Upload)
| Operator | Highest Throughput – Number of Cities | Standing | ||||||||
| 4G | 3G | 4G | 3G | |||||||
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | |||
| Jazz | 11 | 5 | 1 | – | 8 | 4 | 5 | – | 1st | 1st |
| Zong | 4 | 10 | 3 | – | 6 | 6 | 5 | – | 2nd | 2nd |
| Ufone | 2 | 2 | 13 | – | 3 | 7 | 7 | – | 3rd | 3rd |
| Telenor | – | – | – | 17 | – | – | – | 17 | 4th | 4th |
Mobile Broadband Service Ranking (Gilgit Baltistan)
| Operator | Technology | Highest Throughput – Number of Cities | Standing | |||||||
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 4G | 3G | ||||
| SCOM | 3G/4G | 14 | 1st | 1st | ||||||
| Zong | not available | not available | not available | not available | not available | not available | not available | not available | not available | not available |
| Jazz | not available | not available | not available | not available | not available | not available | not available | not available | not available | not available |
| Ufone | not available | not available | not available | not available | not available | not available | not available | not available | not available | not available |
| Telenor | not available | not available | not available | not available | not available | not available | not available | not available | not available | not available |
Voice Call Quality Ranking (Punjab, KP, Sindh)
| Operator | Voice QoS KPIs | Standing | |
| Compliant | Non-Compliant | ||
| Zong | 110 | 5 | 1st |
| Telenor | 113 | 6 | 2nd |
| Ufone | 111 | 8 | 3rd |
| Jazz | 110 | 9 | 4th |
Voice Call Quality Ranking (Gilgit Baltistan)
| Operator | Voice QoS KPIs | Standing | |
| Compliant | Non-Compliant | ||
| SCOM | 49 | – | 1st |
| Ufone | 34 | 1 | 2nd |
| Telenor | 34 | 1 | 2nd |
| Zong | 33 | 2 | 4th |
| Jazz | 26 | 4 | 5th |
The survey results revealed that CMOs are compliant with upload and download speed to a great extent, while improvement is observed in network latency and webpage loading time as compared to earlier surveys. Similarly, some of the Voice KPIs have also been found below the licensed threshold in a few areas.
Necessary instructions have been issued to the operators for taking corrective measures to ensure improvement in the service quality up to the standards.
Overall Telecom Operator Ranking (Punjab, KP, Sindh)
| Service | STANDING | ||
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | |
| Mobile Network Coverage | Ufone | Zong | Jazz |
| Mobile Broadband | Jazz | Zong | Ufone |
| Voice | Zong | Telenor | Ufone |
Overall Telecom Operator Ranking (Gilgit Baltistan)
| Service | STANDING | ||
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | |
| Mobile Network Coverage | SCOM | Other Networks Unavailable | Other Networks Unavailable |
| Mobile Broadband | SCOM | Other Networks Unavailable | Other Networks Unavailable |
| Voice | SCOM | Telenor and Ufone | Jazz |
The survey results are available on PTA’s website.
The service quality monitoring activity is being carried out by PTA field teams with the ultimate aim to pursue the operators for the provision of better mobile services and to promote healthy competition among the operators.
