- Internet speed in Pakistan not up to world standards: IT minister.
- Says work is underway to complete the auction in the first week of February 2026.
- Pakistan ranked 97th, 146th for mobile and broadband speed.
ISLAMABAD: The Economic Coordination Committee has approved auction of 600 MHz spectrum, which will not only improve internet speed but also pave the way for the rollout of 5G internet in the country, Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunications (IT) Shaza Fatima Khawaja said on Tuesday.
Addressing a joint presser along with Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, the IT minister said the federal government was eyeing to conduct the internet spectrum auction by early 2026 after the ECC’s nod.
Elaborating on the matter, IT Minister Khawaja said that the spectrum advisory committee’s recommendations will be brought to the cabinet soon and consultation with other relevant parties, including the telecom sector, will be ensured during the process.
“Due to lack of spectrum, internet speed in Pakistan is not up to world standards,” the minister noted, adding that the government will hold an auction of 600 MHz spectrum.
Shaza further said that there were efforts to roll out 5G in six months.
Emphasizing that the Internet formed the basis of the entire digital system, she said that the government will increase both the speed and internet access and work is underway to conduct the auction in the first week of February 2026.
The spectrum auction announcement comes as slow internet speed, coupled with intermittent outages and limited access on various occasions, is not uncommon for netizens in the country.
According to the Ookla Speedtest Global Index, Pakistan ranked 97th globally in terms of mobile internet speed, which was measured at 24.79 Mbps in November. The statistics were much worse for fixed broadband speed, with the country ranked 146th with a download speed of just 18.27 Mbps.
But last month, the country significantly expanded its international Internet capacity with the launch of the Southeast Asia-Middle East-Western Europe (SEA-ME-WE) 6 undersea cable system.
The 19,200 kilometer high capacity fiber network connects the country to major digital hubs between Singapore and France.
The system, which offers over 100 terabits per second (Tbps) of total capacity, provides one of the lowest latency routes between Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Western Europe.
During the rollout, Pakistan had been allocated 13.2 Tbps, of which 4 Tbps have been activated immediately – a huge boost that will support cloud computing, data centres, fintech, e-commerce, streaming platforms and the wider digital economy.
The new SEA-ME-WE 6 network has more fiber pairs and more than double the capacity of previous SEA-ME-WE systems, ensuring greater resilience across high-traffic Asia-Europe routes.
