The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has released its findings from the Q2 2025 Quality of Service (QoS) Survey, ranking the country's major cellular networks based on performance. The ranking is reportedly based on mobile coverage in 19 cities across Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh.

 

The survey covered cities from across Pakistan. In Punjab, these included Bahawalpur, Chiniot, Multan, Sheikhupura, Mandi Bahauddin, Pindi Bhattian, Hasanabdal, Fateh Jang, Shakargarh, and Jatoi. In Sindh, the surveyed cities were Karachi, Jacobabad, Larkana, Matiari, and Umerkot. Cities from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa included Buner, Mansehra, Mardan, and Risalpur.

 

The survey was conducted between April and June 2025. Results show that Jazz and Ufone performed exceptionally well during this period.

 

As per the details, PTA tested more than 340,000 broadband performance samples, along with an estimated 43,000 SMS and voice calls. Reports suggest that the PTA also compared the performance of four Cellular Mobile Operators (CMOs) based on their signal strength standards for 4G and 3G networks.

 

The aforementioned test was reportedly carried out by calibrating testing devices to “technology auto-detect mode”. For reference, auto-detect mode refers to mobile devices automatically switching between available network technologies such as 2G,3G, and 4G during the survey.

 

The results of the tests indicate that Telenor ranked last in the signal reliability test, as it was reported to have the most non-compliant cities. Zong performed better than Telenor, with Jazz and Ufone leading PTA's rankings for signal reliability.  

 

While the PTA survey establishes Jazz and Ufone to be the most reliable cellular networks, these rankings are subject to change and may not remain in the same order as cellular companies may work to maintain or improve their rank in the upcoming surveys.

 

Reports reveal that it took over 70 days for the PTA to collect the data, as they travelled a distance of over 2,500 kilometres to collect data on signal strength from high population regions in each of the cities under the survey. The collection of this data was done via uniform drive-testing procedures.

 

While Jazz and Ufone have emerged as top performers in the sphere of mobile coverage, reports have suggested that rankings on metrics such as voice quality and mobile broadband performance are yet to be released. For users looking to subscribe to a network carrier, it would be worthwhile to wait for the publication of these results as well, allowing them to make an informed decision to discern which carrier will be best suited to their needs.