ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s telecom operator Zong on Thursday said it became the first company to commercially launch fifth-generation (5G) services in more than 16 cities, including Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar and Quetta, marking one of the country’s first large-scale rollouts of faster mobile connectivity.
Pakistan, a country of more than 240 million people, is one of the world’s largest telecom markets by population, with over 190 million mobile phone users.
However, most networks still operate on 4G infrastructure, and the rollout of 5G has been delayed in recent years due to regulatory, economic and spectrum allocation challenges.
Zong said its 5G services will provide high-speed and low-latency connectivity to support smart industries, transform health care and advance precision agriculture in a bid to drive sustainable growth and nationwide digital innovation.
“Ushering in a new era of digital connectivity, innovation, and economic acceleration, Zong has a strategic commitment to deploy and upgrade 1,000+ 5G sites nationwide in 2026, driving scale, speed, and impact across Pakistan’s digital ecosystem,” the company said in a statement.
“This launch reflects a clear strategic commitment: to lead Pakistan’s transition into a fully digital, intelligent, and connected future,” it added.
Zong said its 5G strategy focuses on three pillars including delivering an enhanced customer experience such as immersive gaming and ultra-high-definition video streaming, improving issue resolution times and expanding a diversified portfolio of products and services.
Zong highlighted it will also leverage artificial intelligence and intelligent automation to deliver personalized products, optimize the network predictively and detect problems proactively.
On March 10, Pakistan launched the auction of spectrum for next-generation mobile services (NGMS), or 5G, a key step toward faster mobile broadband and the expansion of the country’s digital economy.
According to Pakistani officials, the 5G rollout could significantly boost Internet speeds and support sectors such as e-commerce, fintech, and cloud computing.
Six spectrum bands were initially offered to the country’s three mobile network operators: Ufone, Zong and Jazz.
Officials say Pakistan currently uses around 274 megahertz of spectrum, much of it allocated decades ago.
Under the government’s rollout plan, telecom operators are expected to add roughly 3,000 new network sites annually to support the expansion of 5G services.
