PTA Pushes Telcos to Adopt AI to Improve Mobile Network Quality

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has asked Cellular Mobile Operators (CMOs) to adopt AI-driven network management and analytics to improve service quality, citing spectrum scarcity, infrastructure gaps, and power-related challenges as key constraints.

In a written reply submitted to the National Assembly Standing Committee on IT and Telecom, the regulator said the quality of service is largely dependent on spectrum availability. It noted that Pakistan currently has only 274 MHz of spectrum allocated to CMOs, which is among the lowest in the region.

PTA informed the committee that spectrum resources are planned to be expanded by an additional 600 MHz, representing over a 200 percent increase compared to existing allocations.

Auction and licensing of this spectrum are expected in the first quarter of 2026. The authority added that the last spectrum auction was held in 2021, during which only 10 MHz was awarded, leaving spectrum scarcity as the primary bottleneck. Demand has since increased significantly with the addition of around 48 million mobile broadband subscribers.

The regulator also highlighted international connectivity constraints, stating that Pakistan currently relies on six operational submarine cables that face intermittent issues. Four additional submarine cables are under deployment to improve redundancy, capacity, and quality of service. However, PTA pointed out that the country’s low fiber-to-tower ratio remains a major structural challenge. To address backhaul limitations, capacity enhancement is being explored and will be made mandatory in upcoming licensing frameworks. Advisory directions have also been issued to CMOs to deploy AI-based network optimization tools.

PTA further flagged persistent power-related issues, including unannounced and prolonged load shedding, which disrupt telecom operations. While operators maintain three-layer backup systems comprising generators, solar solutions, and batteries, theft and vandalism of telecom infrastructure continue to undermine service delivery and network stability.

Under its statutory mandate, PTA said it regularly conducts nationwide Quality of Service (QoS) surveys against license and regulatory thresholds. The results are published on the authority’s official website, and enforcement action is taken where required. In addition to planned surveys, complaint-based assessments and system parameter analyses are carried out, supported by crowdsourced QoS and Quality of Experience analytics.

The regulator added that national roaming has been implemented along the Karachi–Gwadar coastal highway and in various areas of Balochistan and Sindh. During the fourth quarter, QoS surveys were conducted in 20 cities, with results to be published. Over the past three years, PTA conducted 98 surveys in 2025, including 55 complaint-based surveys, 74 surveys in 2024, with 65 complaint-based, and 81 surveys in 2023, of which 47 were complaint-based.