Jazz 119 Sites Zong 111 Ufone 27 As Of Early August 2026. Karachi Ahead Of Lahore 241 And Islamabad 192. Speeds 100-400 Mbps Outdoors But Most 5G Still Running On Existing 4G Towers. Only 15-18% Of Sites Fibre-Connected. Phase-I Nationwide Target 2,632 Sites With 1,000-1,200 Live
According to The Express Tribune, Karachi leads Pakistan’s early 5G deployment with 257 active sites as of early August 2026. Jazz operating 119, Zong 111 and Ufone 27, placing it ahead of Lahore with 241 sites and Islamabad with 192. Yet the city has only reached approximately a quarter of its Phase-I target of 1,000 sites, and the nationwide rollout of five months remains extremely sluggish compared to regional peers.
Commercial 5G services went live in March 2026 following a spectrum auction on March 10 that raised roughly $507 million and allocated mid-band frequencies to all three operators. In Karachi, coverage remains concentrated in DHA, Clifton, Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Bahria Town, areas around Jinnah International Airport, universities such as IBA and NED, and select commercial corridors. Real-world speeds in well-covered outdoor locations typically range from 100 to 400 Mbps, with community tests reporting median downloads around 220 Mbps.
The critical structural constraint is infrastructure. PTA Chairman Hafeez ur Rehman told the National Assembly Standing Committee on IT that no new dedicated 5G infrastructure has yet been deployed; current 5G runs on existing 4G towers in a non-standalone configuration. Only 15 to 18 per cent of cell sites are fibre-connected, forcing most towers to rely on microwave links that cannot support 5G’s full capacity. New dedicated infrastructure is expected over the next six to eight months.
Pakistan entered 5G years late. It is now rolling it out on 4G towers. That is not a 5G network; it is a 5G signal on 4G infrastructure.
Check out our previous coverage of Pakistan’s tech sector on The Trusted Times.
