Amir Saeed

Pakistan’s telecom sector is making rapid strides in network expansion, with 93% mobile-based towers connected to commercial electricity, reports WealthPK.

According to documents available with Wealth Pakistan, out of 57,245 operational cellular sites across the country, 53,380 are connected to the commercial electricity grid, while the remaining 3,865 sites (7%) rely on generators and battery systems, which are often unable to withstand extended power outages.

As the backup power runs out, services such as voice calls and mobile broadband experience interruptions, leading to poor connectivity and user dissatisfaction. These power-related difficulties come at a time when the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has placed strict obligations on mobile operators to expand coverage.

Under the recently renewed licenses, the operators are required to extend both voice and mobile broadband services to an additional 3% of the population in each province annually. However, despite meeting the rollout targets, the companies are grappling with serious operational hurdles. Besides load shedding, they face delays in acquiring Right of Way (RoW) permissions for new infrastructure, as well as incidents of theft and vandalism affecting tower equipment.

These issues collectively slow down progress toward a fully reliable nationwide network. Despite these hurdles, the network expansion continues. The current plan includes the installation of 245 new towers in Punjab, 105 in Sindh, 65 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and 30 in Balochistan, with a focus on the underserved regions.

The operators are also upgrading their technology by deploying Massive MIMO, VoLTE, and Vo-WiFi while gradually shutting down legacy 3G networks to optimize spectrum use. The regulatory initiatives have further strengthened the sector, including frameworks for infrastructure sharing and the introduction of a national roaming facility along the Karachi-Gwadar Coastal Highway.  These measures are aimed at reducing costs and ensuring wider connectivity.

However, the PTA has warned that until the issue of unreliable electricity supply is resolved, the telecom users will continue to face service disruptions, especially during the peak load shedding hours. The sector’s growth momentum is evident, but uninterrupted power remains a critical prerequisite for achieving seamless nationwide coverage.

Credit: INP-WealthPk