Mobile Signal in Rural Pakistan: PTA's Q2 2026 Test of 14 Villages for Jazz, Zong, Ufone and Telenor

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) published the results in its Q2 2026 report on focus and rural areas, released on 18 September 2026. If you live in a village, or are buying a SIM for a family member in one, this is the only official test that names rural places. The table below lists each village and how many of the 12 checks Jazz, Telenor, Ufone and Zong passed there.

All four networks passed in 9 of the 14 villages

In 9 villages all four operators were tested and each passed at least 10 of 12 checks. Six of them, in Lower Dir, Thatta, Sukkur and Lahore, saw every operator pass all 12. The weakest results were 10, for Telenor in Islam Pura and Zong in Waraich.

Each figure is out of 12. Seven checks cover calls and SMS, and five cover mobile internet: download speed, upload speed, 4G coverage, delay and web page load time.

Five villages have areas no operator claims to cover

In Chak 254TDA (Karor Lal Esan, Layyah), Jhok Chapri (Taunsa Sharif, DG Khan), Dhok Baba Lal and Dhok Awan (Pindigheb, Attock) and Village Banahal (Kallar Syedan, Rawalpindi), PTA's tables mark some operators as "unclaimed coverage area".

The term marks a place that the operator does not claim in its coverage, so its service there is not measured against PTA's limits. For a resident, expect a weak or missing signal from that network. For the two Attock villages, the note reads "unclaimed 4G coverage area".

PTA's press release says the rural surveys showed "critical digital inclusion gaps". It adds that PTA is working to cover unserved areas through the Universal Service Fund and with federal and provincial governments.

The 12 checks PTA used in villages

PTA tests calls, SMS and mobile internet against the Cellular Mobile Network QoS Regulations 2021. For a village, a network passes the internet test if download is above 4 Mbps and upload above 1 Mbps, among other limits.

The full set of limits is explained in PTA's mobile network quality standards.

Zong led 4G coverage in the 13 town focus areas

The same report also tested 13 focus areas on the edges of Lahore, Islamabad, Karachi, Peshawar and Faisalabad. Zong met the 4G coverage limit in 11 of them, Jazz and Ufone in 10, and Telenor in 6. Jazz had the fastest download in 9.

These focus areas include Faisalabad's Chak 58, 61, 66, 70 and 73 and Chak 225 and 255, Lahore's Bhatti Darbar and Ring Road, and Peshawar's Mashogagar and Badabar. In Faisalabad's Chak 225 and 255, Zong recorded 50 Mbps download and Jazz 47.26 Mbps. The Islamabad housing areas in the test are covered in the best network in DHA and Bahria Town Islamabad.

How to pick a network for a village home

Start with the PTA table if your village is in it. If it is not, check each operator's coverage map, then test a borrowed SIM at the house for a day before you buy. Signal inside thick brick walls is often weaker than outside.

1. Look for your village or the nearest one in the PTA table above.
2. Check the operator's coverage map for your area, for example the Ufone coverage map.
3. Ask a neighbour to lend a SIM from each network and test calls and internet at home.
4. Test at different times, including the evening, when more people use the network.
5. Buy the SIM that works best, and keep the others' results for a complaint if service drops.

If your network used to work and has dropped, complain to the operator first, then to PTA with the complaint number. The steps are in how to file a telecom complaint with PTA. For a wider choice between networks, see choosing a mobile network using PTA's two surveys.

Common questions

Which villages did PTA test in Q2 2026?

Balambat and Shabqadar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa; Chak 254TDA, Jhok Chapri, Dhok Baba Lal, Dhok Awan, Gajju Matta, Islam Pura, Waraich and Village Banahal in Punjab; and Dhabeji, Gharo, Kandhra and Salehpat in Sindh.

What does unclaimed coverage area mean?

It marks a place that an operator does not claim in its coverage. Its service there is not measured against PTA's limits, and the signal is usually weak or missing.

Which network is best in villages?

In the 9 villages where all four were tested, results were close. Telenor passed all 12 checks in 8 of them, Ufone and Zong in 7, and Jazz in 6. Your own village can differ, so test before you buy.

Did PTA test villages in Balochistan?

No. The Q2 2026 rural areas were in Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh only.

When was the test done?

From April to June 2026. PTA published the report with its press release of 18 September 2026.

How we verified this

What we checked and where we read it.

We checked PTA's report "PTA and CMOs Independent Quality of Service Survey in Pakistan, Focus and Rural Areas, Second Quarter 2026" on 14 November 2026. It is linked from PTA's mobile QoS survey page, and the press release is on PTA's press releases.

In the PDF, the rural results for the Layyah, DG Khan, Attock and Kallar Syedan villages are printed as merged cells, so it is not always clear which operator each "unclaimed" note belongs to. We list only the village level finding for those five. Some table captions in the report also swap the words download and upload; we read the column headings.