The National Assembly Standing Committee voiced sharp frustration with the telecom regulator on Wednesday after officials admitted that mobile and internet service across the country remains unreliable, with lawmakers citing failures ranging from a major public hospital to universities that paid for connectivity that was never delivered.
The National Assembly Standing Committee on IT and Telecommunication, chaired by Syed Aminul Haq, heard from the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) that enforcement against poor-performing operators has been limited.
Only four show-cause notices were issued to telecom companies in the past six months, officials said, against a backdrop of 48 notices and 22 warning letters issued over several years.
Fines collected so far total Rs 68.9 million, well short of the Rs 350 million maximum penalty PTA is empowered to impose. Aminul Haq said the shortfall in enforcement was reflected in daily frustrations for subscribers, who often must dial a number three times before a call goes through.
Committee members painted a bleak picture of coverage nationwide. Ahmed Atiq put the share of the country affected by service problems at 70 percent, though members later agreed the true figure could be as high as 90 percent.
Dr Mahesh Kumar said Ufone’s network barely functions, while Shazia Fareed said even the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, the country’s largest public hospital, cannot reliably place calls. Dr Zulfiqar Bhutti added that a university in Sargodha had paid PTCL for service that was never provided.
Secretary IT Zarar Hashim pointed to outdated equipment as a contributing factor and said a joint committee with K-Electric had been set up to shield mobile towers from load-shedding, after member Atiq Ahmed noted that diesel backup had been scrapped due to theft, leaving towers dependent on batteries alone.
By the end of the meeting, the committee had summoned Jazz, Zong and Ufone to appear before it, instructed PTA to draft legislative recommendations for parliament, and endorsed a proposal from Ali Qasim Gilani to form a sub-committee overseeing coordination with the regulator.
