The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has directed all mobile operators to fix network coverage and service quality problems found during a week-long field drive in October 2026. In a statement issued on October 16, the regulator said its 10 Zonal Offices ran monitoring visits from October 8 to 14 across six regions, checking mobile coverage, voice-call quality, and internet performance in areas with the worst consumer complaints.
What PTA Found During the Field Drive
Field teams from PTA’s 10 Zonal Offices visited the selected regions together with local stakeholders to assess telecom services on the ground and identify the issues affecting consumers. The monitoring focused on three things: mobile network coverage, the quality of voice calls, and the performance of internet services. The teams looked for coverage gaps, weak signal areas, and service problems in the places where customers had complained the most.
Areas Covered in the October 8–14 Sweep
The October drive covered a wide geographic spread, from the coast of Sindh to the northern mountains:
- Thatta – Sindh
- Dera Ghazi Khan – Punjab
- Mandi Bahauddin – Punjab
- Quetta – Balochistan
- Faisalabad – Punjab
- Gilgit-Baltistan
This sweep was not a one-off exercise. In the week just before it, from September 30 to October 7, PTA teams had already inspected 115 telecom sites across the country — 39 in Lahore, 17 in Karachi, 16 in Sukkur, 14 each in Multan and Rawalpindi, 8 in Quetta, 4 in Abbottabad, and 3 in Gilgit. During those inspections, the teams checked network performance, voice and data service quality, coverage, and the availability of backup power at the towers.
Operators Told to Fix Issues on Deadline
After the October 8–14 visits, PTA instructed the telecom operators to resolve all the identified problems — relating to coverage, voice quality, and internet services — within the stipulated timeframe. The authority also confirmed that one issue found during the sweep, the closure of a telecom site in Faisalabad, had already been successfully resolved.
PTA said it will continue working closely with relevant organisations, telecom operators, and local administrations to make sure consumers get improved, reliable, and quality telecom services.
Why It Matters for Mobile Users
This enforcement push comes against a weak record. Earlier this year, a PTA survey found that during the first quarter of 2026, not a single cellular operator had fully complied with the PTA Quality of Service (QoS) standards across all key performance indicators — compliance was only partial everywhere.
For mobile users, especially those outside the big cities, this matters directly. Weak coverage means dropped calls, failed call connections, and slow internet speeds. By taking its monitoring into the field and setting fixed deadlines for repairs, PTA is shifting from desk-based regulation to on-the-ground enforcement. The real test now is whether operators carry out the fixes on time and whether the improvements reach the areas that need them most.
FAQs
Which areas did PTA visit during its October 2026 monitoring drive?
PTA’s 10 Zonal Offices visited Thatta, Dera Ghazi Khan, Mandi Bahauddin, Quetta, Faisalabad, and Gilgit-Baltistan between October 8 and 14, 2026. These areas were picked because they had the most persistent consumer complaints about mobile coverage and internet quality.
What exactly did PTA check during the drive?
The teams evaluated mobile network coverage, voice-call quality, and internet service performance, focusing on the problems consumers complain about most — coverage gaps, call connection failures, dropped calls, and slow mobile internet.
What have operators been told to do?
Telecom operators have been directed to resolve all the issues identified during the field visits within the stipulated deadlines.
What happened to the closed telecom site in Faisalabad?
PTA confirmed that the issue relating to the closure of a telecom site in Faisalabad was successfully resolved during the monitoring sweep.
Why is PTA running these field drives?
A PTA survey earlier in 2026 found that no cellular operator had fully met the regulator’s Quality of Service standards across all key performance indicators in the first quarter of 2026. The field drives are part of PTA’s intensified monitoring to improve service quality and address consumer complaints.
Conclusion
The October field drive shows PTA taking a firmer line with mobile operators: visit the worst complaint areas in person, identify the coverage and quality problems, and set deadlines for fixing them. With one site closure already resolved in Faisalabad and 115 sites inspected the week before, the regulator is running a sustained monitoring programme rather than a single exercise. For consumers, the measure of success will be simple — better signal, clearer calls, and faster internet in the areas PTA has visited.