ISLAMABAD

Pakistan’s National Assembly Standing Committee on IT and Telecom voiced concern over deteriorating mobile services on Tuesday, with lawmakers proposing to summon all major telecom operators to explain persistent quality issues.

Briefing the committee, Federal IT Minister Shaza Fatima Khawaja defended the pace of the proposed telecom legislation, saying early passage of the bill would accelerate the rollout of reforms across the sector.

“The sooner the legislation is passed, the sooner the rollout can begin,” the minister said, adding that the government agreed internet services across the country needed significant improvement.

The committee chairman described Ufone as having the worst-performing mobile service, while another lawmaker warned that service quality could deteriorate further following the proposed merger of Telenor Pakistan and Ufone if regulatory oversight remained weak.

The committee chairman directed that officials from PTCL and Ufone be called to explain the poor quality of services, while members proposed summoning all three major mobile operators at a future meeting over network performance and customer complaints.

Shaza Fatima said prolonged electricity load-shedding remained one of the major factors affecting mobile network performance, alongside other infrastructure challenges facing the telecom sector.