5G service activated on 440 towers in Pakistan, claims of improvement in internet speed

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has claimed that significant progress has been made in improving the quality of internet services in the country, and 5G technology has been activated on 440 telecom towers so far. According to officials, the average internet speed has also improved due to measures to increase network capacity.

The PTA chairman said this while briefing the National Assembly Standing Committee on IT and Telecom. He said that in the past, the internet speed used to decrease significantly as one moves from Islamabad to the suburbs, but after investment in network upgradation and infrastructure, the situation has improved compared to before.

The PTA chairman said that the internet speed was very low in some areas, and only 1 Mbps speed was available in his own area, but as a result of recent measures, they have succeeded in providing relatively better service to the users. He said that 5G technology has been introduced on 440 towers across the country, which will play an important role in the promotion of modern mobile broadband services in the future.

During the meeting, the chairman of the PTA also highlighted the power supply issues faced by the telecom sector. He said that an average of 10 hours of power load shedding was recorded in the country during May, while in some areas this period reached 18 hours, due to which maintaining the continuity of mobile and internet services became a major challenge.

He further said that the federal government has started steps to ensure continuous power supply to telecom towers, and a special committee has been formed on the instructions of the Prime Minister, which is preparing recommendations regarding exempting telecom towers from load shedding.

According to experts, fast and stable internet has become a basic requirement for the promotion of digital economy, online business, e-governance and improvement of modern communication systems in the country. In such a situation, the expansion of network infrastructure and the uninterrupted supply of electricity can play an important role in further improving the performance of the telecom sector in the future.