Syed Saif Ul Hassan 
Sep 19, 2025
As Pakistan's long-standing mobile and internet issues remain intact, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has attributed these connectivity issues to back-to-back delays in the 5G spectrum auction, which is overdue for months.
In the wake of these issues leading to sluggish internet speeds and poor availability of networks, the Senate Standing Committee on Information Technology and Telecommunication in Pakistan also raised concerns in a meeting.
During the meeting, Senator Kamran Murtaza also reflected on the deliberately inflicted internet connectivity issues in Balochistan, urging the authorities to provide extensions on data packages for affected users.
The PTA chairman acknowledged the problems in several districts of the province and assured that appropriate measures would be taken to address them.
It was also outlined by the committee chairperson that mobile service quality issues in Pakistan are not restricted to Balochistan but are prevalent nationwide. In response, the PTA chairman maintained that the ultimate solution lies in the spectrum auctions.
The long-awaited Ufone-Telenor merger was also discussed during the meeting, with officials from the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) stating that the merger would be completed within two weeks. It must be noted that the 5G spectrum auction is heavily reliant on this merger.
Considering these issues, compounded by the delay in the spectrum auction, the need of the hour is a timely resolution to pave the way for spectrum allocation and the subsequent improvement in telecom and internet services across Pakistan.
