ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s parliamentary panel on information technology and telecommunication on Thursday criticized the quality of mobile services in the country while raising concerns about possible collusion between telecom operators and their regulator over a lack of financial penalties, according to its chairman.

Mobile users in Pakistan have frequently struggled with patchy phone and Internet connectivity, with weak signals and disrupted services reported even in major cities, as authorities say they are expanding a recently launched 5G network.

Syed Amin ul Haq, chairman of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Information Technology and Telecommunication, said the panel had directed the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to improve the quality of mobile services nationwide and summoned the country’s three cellular operators, Jazz, Zong and Ufone, to its next meeting.

“Merely issuing show-cause notices or warning letters is not a solution to the problem,” Haq told Arab News after a committee meeting, adding that the PTA “should also impose financial penalties” on telecom companies.

“When we tried to get information about financial penalties, we found out that in the past year, it was not done,” he added. “This means there appears to be a collusion somewhere between the PTA and the mobile companies.”

The NA committee has repeatedly raised concerns over poor telecom coverage and service quality across Pakistan. In July, it said poor connectivity was affecting remote areas as well as major cities, with users facing slow Internet speeds and repeated failures to connect calls.

PTA said at the time that increased spectrum following Pakistan’s 5G auction and the gradual deployment of new infrastructure would improve services over the coming months.

Haq said the issue extended to Islamabad, where mobile signals remained weak or unavailable in some areas despite its status as the federal capital.

He added that the committee had also emphasized the need to expand 5G coverage in Islamabad as well as Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar and Quetta.

The committee also called for efforts to make smartphones more affordable as Pakistan expands domestic handset manufacturing.

“We urged them [the PTA representatives] to engage with Apple and ensure they come to Pakistan too, and that smartphone prices should be kept as low as possible so that youth and people living in all cities of Pakistan can afford them,” Haq said.