Despite the official claims of improving residents of the newly developed sectors of Islamabad, I-14 and I-16, poor network coverage and incredible data services are faced.
Responding to a question in the Cabinet Division, the Minister said that the two sectors still face signal distortion and limited contact due to the low trade interest of Viral Population and Telecom operators.
According to the government’s written response, the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) has reported that in the last two years, some additional sites have been installed or upgraded, with nine dedicated mobile towers in two sectors. In Sector I-14, two new towers were added, while an existing site was upgraded earlier this year, where two new sites were deployed in Sector I-16. The PTA claimed that an independent survey showed that the quality of the network was “significantly improved” after the upgrade.
However, the same report acknowledges that at least one tower in the area keeps recording an average network down time, while voice services are contradictory. Although the average Internet has accelerated the range of at least 4 MBPS, residents in these fields still face repeated call drops and data. According to the PTA, the issue has been repatriated to the relevant cellular company for correction.
In an extraordinary recognition, the Cabinet Division also acknowledged that population density and weak trade profits are discouraging telecom operators from expanding infrastructure in these new residents. The statement further acknowledges that both I-14 and I-16 are in the “low priority” areas for investment due to income capacity, which has not been kept immediately.