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Poor internet quality plagues Pakistan, even in major cities, lawmakers told
🇵🇰 Pakistan /Technology

Poor internet quality plagues Pakistan, even in major cities, lawmakers told

From Dawn · () English

Translated from English, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • Pakistan's National Assembly Standing Committee on Information Technology and Telecommunication expressed concern over poor internet services nationwide, affecting major cities.
  • The committee noted that frequent power outages significantly disrupt telecom infrastructure, leading to slow speeds and dropped connections.
  • Lawmakers proposed utilizing renewable energy sources like wind and solar for telecom infrastructure and urged encouraging local assembly of smartphones by international brands.

Internet services in Pakistan remain unsatisfactory, even in major cities like Karachi, according to a National Assembly Standing Committee on Information Technology and Telecommunication meeting. Users experience slow speeds and frequent connection failures, the committee observed.

Users frequently experienced slow internet speeds and repeated call connection failures despite multiple attempts.

— Syed Aminul HaqueChairman of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Information Technology and Telecommunication, describing the state of internet services.

A key challenge identified is the impact of prolonged power outages on telecom infrastructure. The committee noted that loadshedding of up to 10 hours daily severely affects mobile towers and broadband services. The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) chairman informed the committee that the issue has been raised with energy regulators and distribution companies. A high-level committee has also been formed to find a sustainable solution for uninterrupted power supply to telecom towers.

one of the major challenges affecting the quality of mobile and broadband services was shortage of electricity for basic telecommunications infrastructure.

— Committee MembersNoting the impact of power outages on telecom services.

Lawmakers suggested exploring alternative energy sources, particularly wind power, given Pakistan's wind corridor potential. They recommended that the IT ministry encourage telecom operators to gradually install renewable energy systems at their sites. The committee also discussed mobile phone taxes, with the PTA chairman stating that 92% of smartphones in Pakistan are locally manufactured or assembled, while only 8% are imported, mainly high-end devices like iPhones. The panel asked the IT ministry to encourage brands like Apple to assemble locally.

the matter had been taken up with Nepra and the relevant power distribution companies, which had been brought on board to address the issue.

— Hafeezur RehmanPTA Chairman, discussing efforts to resolve power supply issues for telecom towers.

The PTA chairman also reported that the total available spectrum increased to 754MHz after the 5G auction, with services launched in 22 cities. However, he clarified that 5G is currently enabled on existing infrastructure, and new deployments will take six to eight months to improve speed and quality.

alternative energy sources, particularly wind energy, should be utilised to power telecom infrastructure, noting that Pakistan possessed a significant wind corridor with considerable potential.

— The committeeRecommending solutions for powering telecom infrastructure.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Dawn in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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