PTA Says Pakistan's Internet Problems Will Be Addressed by October 2026
PTA's chairman told the Senate internet problems would be addressed by October 2026. Here is what PTA has said, what slows the internet and what you can do.
PTA's chairman told the Senate's IT committee on 14 September 2026 that Pakistan's internet connectivity problems would be addressed by October 2026. He linked some of the disruption to the Ufone and Telenor merger and to the 5G rollout. PTA has not published a plan, a target speed or a way to measure that promise.
The promise is on the record because the Senate published it. We read the Senate's own press release for that meeting. We then read every PTA press release from July to 30 September 2026. None of PTA's releases repeats the October date.
So the promise exists, but it has no yardstick.
What PTA's chairman told the Senate about October 2026
The Senate's release says the committee raised "persistent network connectivity issues, including in major cities". The PTA chairman blamed some disruptions on the merger and on 5G, and "assured the committee that the connectivity issues would be addressed by October 2026."
The meeting was chaired by Senator Palwasha Mohammad Zai Khan. At the same meeting, a sub-committee reported on internet connectivity and on diesel reported missing from telecom towers. The committee was told that the Prime Minister has formed a committee to keep networks available and reduce the effect of load shedding on internet and mobile services.
PTA also told senators that no Starlink licence application was pending before it, which fits the Starlink status in September 2026 that we checked on Starlink's own map.
Four official causes of slow internet in Pakistan
PTA's own releases name load shedding, fibre cuts, theft of tower equipment and delays in getting permission to lay cables. The chairman added the merger and the 5G rollout. A fault in an undersea cable also slowed the whole country in July.
| Cause | What the official record says | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Undersea cable fault | PTA said a fault in the SEA-ME-WE 5 cable caused "intermittent degradation" and traffic was rerouted. It said the cable was fully restored the next day. | 2 and 3 July 2026 |
| Power cuts at towers | PTA's survey release names "prolonged load shedding". PTA teams began checking tower batteries, generators and solar systems. | 18 and 24 September 2026 |
| Fibre cuts, theft and vandalism | Named as persistent challenges in PTA's quality survey release, with "RoW constraints" and security limits. | 18 September 2026 |
| Merger and 5G rollout | The chairman linked some disruptions to both, in the Senate. | 14 September 2026 |
"RoW" means right of way: the permission a company needs from a city or province to dig and lay cable. PTA says it is working with federal and provincial governments to speed these approvals up.
The merger is the PTCL purchase of Telenor Pakistan, which brings Telenor and Ufone networks together.
What PTA has done since the Senate meeting
In the two weeks after 14 September, PTA published its April to June service survey, began checking backup power at towers and released a crowd-sourced speed report. It also said it had started legal action against operators that missed their licence targets.
- 18 September: PTA published quality surveys for 11 major cities, rural areas, Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan. It found strong results for calls and SMS but "disparities" in mobile internet, and started legal action against non-compliant operators.
- 24 September: PTA teams in nine zones, from Karachi to Muzaffarabad, began visiting towers to check backup power in areas hit by load shedding.
- 29 September: PTA and Opensignal, a company that measures speed from users' phones, published a report on 4G in 20 cities and where 5G is present.
None of these sets a target for October. The quality survey for October to December, if PTA follows its usual pace, will not be public until well into 2027. The survey for April to June came out on 18 September.
What PTA counts as good mobile internet
PTA's quality survey tests each operator against its licence. A mobile internet connection should download faster than 4 Mbps, upload faster than 1 Mbps, respond in under 75 milliseconds and load a web page in under 5 seconds.
| Measure | PTA survey threshold |
|---|---|
| Download speed | More than 4 Mbps |
| Upload speed | More than 1 Mbps |
| Latency, the delay before a response | Less than 75 milliseconds |
| Web page loading | Less than 5 seconds |
These are the bars PTA uses in its own reports. They are a fair test for your own connection too. If your 4G sits well under 4 Mbps in October, the promise has not reached your street.
What you can do if your internet is still slow
Test your speed at the same place and time on three different days, and note the results. Complain to your operator first and keep the complaint number. If nothing changes, file a complaint with PTA online or call its helpline on 0800-55055.
- Run a speed test three times, on different days, and screenshot each result.
- Note the location, the time and whether the power was off.
- Complain to your operator and write down the complaint number.
- If it is not fixed, complain to PTA about slow internet on its complaint portal, attaching your screenshots.
- For a sudden outage across a whole city, check whether PTA has confirmed a cable fault before you spend time on complaints.
A citywide outage is a different problem from a slow line. The fibre cut in Islamabad and Rawalpindi on 27 September came from one operator's network, not from your phone or router.
Common questions
Did PTA say internet in Pakistan will improve by October 2026?
Yes. PTA's chairman told the Senate IT committee on 14 September 2026 that connectivity issues would be addressed by October 2026, according to the Senate's release.
Has PTA published a plan for the October promise?
No. We found no PTA release, target or deadline for it up to 30 September 2026.
Why is the internet slow in Pakistan in 2026?
Officially: load shedding at towers, fibre cuts, theft, cable permission delays, the Ufone and Telenor merger and the 5G rollout. An undersea cable fault also hit in July.
What speed should mobile internet give in Pakistan?
PTA's survey threshold is more than 4 Mbps download and more than 1 Mbps upload.
What is PTA's helpline number?
0800-55055, as listed on PTA's website.
How we verified this
What we checked, where we read it, and what we could not confirm.
Last checked on 30 September 2026. The chairman's October 2026 assurance, the causes he gave, the sub-committee report, the Prime Minister's committee and the Starlink statement are read in the Senate of Pakistan's press release of 14 September 2026. The cable fault and restoration, the quality survey findings, the tower power checks and the Opensignal report are read in PTA's own press releases of 2 July, 3 July, 18 September, 24 September and 29 September 2026. The speed thresholds are from PTA's April to June 2026 city survey report, on its quality of service page. We did not run speed tests for this article.
About the author
Tax, Bills and Technology Writer
Ali Akhtar is a young and curious voice here at Pakistan Era. He is currently pursuing his A-Levels and has a growing interest in Pakistan’s changing industrial landscape and educational trends. Ali likes to write in a way that helps him explain and explore the world around him. His writing reflects the perspective of the new generation navigating the evolving trends of Pakistan where technology, youth innovation, and shifting opportunities are reshaping the country’s future.
