The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has identified broadband quality issues at several internet service providers across Pakistan. Pace Telecom failed network availability standards, while Falcon Broadband exceeded the permitted jitter limit.
The findings come from the PTA’s third-quarter 2026 Quality of Service (QoS) survey. The assessment covered 23 operators across 21 major cities between July and September 2026. The regulator also found excessive bandwidth utilization in some networks. This could affect internet speeds, especially during peak traffic hours.
Pace Telecom and Falcon Broadband Fail to Meet PTA Standards
According to the survey, Pace Telecom and Broadcasting (Pvt) Ltd failed two network availability benchmarks in Abbottabad. Its core network availability reached 99.73 percent, below the required 99.9 percent.
Meanwhile, its access network availability stood at 97.13 percent against the prescribed 99 percent benchmark. These shortcomings affected the operator’s overall compliance score in the city. The PTA also flagged Falcon Broadband in Vehari for exceeding the permitted jitter limit. Its jitter reached 40.61 milliseconds, against the required threshold of less than 15 milliseconds.
High jitter can affect services that need stable internet connections. These include video conferencing, online gaming, and other real-time applications.
The survey assessed seven key performance indicators (KPIs). These included bandwidth utilization, core and access network availability, local and international latency, jitter, and download and upload speeds.
Under PTA regulations, bandwidth utilisation must remain below 80 percent. Core network availability must exceed 99.9 percent, while access network availability must remain above 99 percent. The regulator also requires local latency below 40 milliseconds. For international terrestrial connections, the limit stands at 110 milliseconds.
Most Internet Providers Meet PTA’s Performance Requirements
Despite these issues, most surveyed operators met the regulator’s prescribed standards. All operators complied with local and international latency requirements. Similarly, every surveyed operator met the minimum throughput requirements. These include download speeds of 4 megabits per second and upload speeds of 2 megabits per second.
However, some providers exceeded the bandwidth utilization limit. The PTA warned that this could reduce internet speeds during periods of high demand. The operator-wise assessment covered 28 city-operator entries. Of these, 16 achieved full compliance across all seven KPIs.
The remaining entries recorded compliance scores of 85.71 percent or 57.14 percent. Pace Telecom’s Abbottabad operation recorded the lowest score at 57.14 percent. It met only four of the seven assessed indicators. However, its Swat operation performed better, achieving 85.71 percent compliance.
Other operators also had individual KPIs requiring improvement. These included Net-Cloud Telecom in Dadu, New Millennium Network in Haripur, and TES Media in Islamabad.
The list also included GH Wireless Internet Service in Islamabad, Gerry’s Information Technology in Karachi, and Khyber Internet Services Provider in Mardan. Wateen WiMax in Quetta and Multinet Pakistan in Rawalpindi also required improvements.
Other flagged operators included D3 Advertising and Communications in Shaheed Benazirabad, Wavecomm in Usta Muhammad, and Falcon Broadband in Vehari.
The PTA’s Enforcement Division conducted the survey through inspections at operators’ network operation centers (NOCs). It covered fixed broadband technologies, including DSL, copper, and fiber-optic networks.
The regulator said the assessment aimed to check network reliability, service availability, and compliance with the Fixed Broadband Quality of Service Regulations, 2022. It has called on non-compliant operators to address the identified issues. Required measures include increasing network capacity, improving availability, and reducing jitter to meet regulatory standards.
