The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has released its latest Quality of Service (QoS) survey results for mobile network operators in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), and SCOM ranked first among all telecom operators in the region for the second quarter of 2026. The survey placed SCOM ahead of major national operators including Jazz, Telenor, Ufone, and Zong in overall service quality across these mountainous and often hard-to-cover territories.
The best mobile network AJK Gilgit 2026 ranking was determined through PTA’s independent drive-testing methodology, which is designed to reflect real-world usage conditions rather than operator-reported figures. Field teams conducted testing across a mix of urban and remote locations, capturing performance data during peak and off-peak hours to ensure the results represent a realistic picture of network reliability for everyday consumers.
How the Survey Was Conducted
The assessment was carried out under the Cellular Mobile Network Quality of Service Regulations 2021, which lay out standardized benchmarks that every licensed operator in Pakistan must meet. In AJK, testing locations included Muzaffarabad, Lower Plate, Upper Plate, and Assembly Hall Lower Chattar — areas chosen for their mix of dense population centers and terrain challenges. In Gilgit-Baltistan, PTA’s teams tested coverage in Astore, Gorkot, and Rattu, regions where mountainous geography makes consistent signal delivery particularly difficult for any operator.
Six core parameters were measured during the drive tests: network coverage strength, download speed, webpage loading time, call setup and voice quality, latency, and SMS delivery success. Each operator was scored against PTA’s minimum thresholds for these metrics, and the cumulative results were used to produce the final rankings released this week.
What This Means for Consumers
For residents and businesses in AJK and Gilgit-Baltistan, these rankings offer a rare, independently verified benchmark when choosing a mobile carrier — something that is especially valuable in regions where switching providers later can be inconvenient due to patchy retail coverage. SCOM’s strong showing reflects sustained infrastructure investment in areas that larger national operators have sometimes deprioritized due to lower population density and challenging terrain.
PTA has indicated that these regional QoS surveys will continue on a quarterly basis, meaning operators including Jazz, Telenor, Ufone, and Zong will have further opportunities to close the gap with SCOM in future assessments. The regulator has also reiterated that operators failing to meet minimum QoS benchmarks face regulatory action, including fines, giving consumers additional assurance that service standards are being actively enforced rather than left to self-reporting.
Telecom analysts note that consistent, independently verified performance data like this PTA survey is increasingly influencing how consumers in remote regions choose their network provider, particularly as more government services, banking, and education move online and reliable connectivity becomes less of a convenience and more of a necessity.
The timing of this survey release is notable, as telecom penetration in AJK and Gilgit-Baltistan has been steadily rising alongside government efforts to expand digital access to underserved regions. With more residents relying on mobile data for everything from mobile banking to remote work and online education, network quality rankings like this one are becoming an important reference point rather than just a technical formality. Operators are widely expected to respond by accelerating tower rollouts and backhaul upgrades in the surveyed districts ahead of PTA’s next quarterly assessment.
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