Peak-Hour Congestion, High Latency & Jitter Still Undermining Pakistan Broadband

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has released its Fixed Broadband Quality of Service (QoS) Survey for Q3 2025, exposing three major issues that continue to affect fixed broadband users in Pakistan.

• Network congestion during peak hours.
• High latency in international routing.
• Persistent jitter affecting real-time services.

Despite improvements in some regions, the findings show that many broadband service providers (BSPs) are still struggling to deliver consistent quality and speed.

Peak-Hour Congestion Remains a Major Bottleneck

The survey, conducted between July 1 and September 30, 2025, covered 66 broadband operators across 34 cities at 84 different locations. It revealed that several networks experience high bandwidth utilisation during peak hours, leading to slower internet speeds and reduced reliability.

Bandwidth Utilisation Benchmark: ≤ 80%

Bandwidth utilisation measures how much of the total internet capacity is being used. When it exceeds 80%, the network becomes congested, meaning too many users are trying to access data at the same time.

PTA observed that some BSPs operate close to or above this limit, resulting in slower browsing, buffering videos, and lag during online gaming. When utilisation spikes in the evening, performance drops for most users.

The report noted:

“High bandwidth utilisation, especially during peak hours, has led to network congestion and slower internet speeds, significantly degrading user experience.”

This congestion often results from insufficient network capacity or a lack of infrastructure upgrades, especially in urban areas where internet traffic peaks in the evening.

Latency in International Routing Still High for Many Operators

Latency refers to the delay between sending a request and receiving a response, like how long it takes a web page to start loading after you click. Lower latency means faster response times. PTA’s benchmarks set limits at ≤ 40 milliseconds (ms) for local networks and ≤ 110 ms for international routes.

However, the report found that many operators failed to meet these targets, particularly for international segments.

High latency means data packets take longer to reach international servers, which leads to slower website loading, lag during online meetings, and streaming delays. The PTA linked these problems to inefficient routing paths and limited international bandwidth.

Jitter Still Affecting Gaming and Video Calls

Jitter measures the variation in network delay; in simple terms, it’s how inconsistent your internet connection is over time. When jitter is high, data packets arrive out of order, causing choppy video calls, distorted voice, or lag spikes in online games.

PTA’s Benchmark for Jitter: ≤ 15 milliseconds

According to the report, high jitter is often caused by network congestion or poor Quality of Service (QoS) prioritisation, where real-time data, such as voice or video, is not given sufficient priority. This leads to frequent call drops, lagging meetings, and unstable gameplay.

PTA Urges Operators to Upgrade Networks

PTA has notified all non-compliant service providers, urging them to improve their performance through bandwidth optimisation, better routing, and infrastructure expansion.

The authority stated that it will continue real-time monitoring and that operators must meet regulatory standards to ensure reliable service for customers.

The report concluded:

“By addressing these performance gaps, BSPs can enhance network stability, meet regulatory standards, and deliver a higher quality of service to end users.”

With PTA’s continued oversight, broadband providers are expected to modernise their networks, optimise capacity, and finally deliver the fast, stable, and low-latency connections users expect across Pakistan.