5G in Pakistan now runs on 1,782 mobile sites across 24 cities, IT Minister Shaza Fatima Khawaja said on Friday, seven months after operators signed their licences. The numbers show a rollout that is real but lopsided: one operator has built more than half the network, three cities hold most of it, and the cheapest compatible phone still costs about Rs36,000. For businesses weighing whether to plan around faster mobile data, the map matters as much as the headline figure.
The short version
- Pakistan has 1,782 live 5G sites in 24 cities, up from more than 1,200 sites in 23 cities reported in August.
- Jazz runs 1,015 sites (57%), Zong 640 (36%) and Ufone 127 (7%).
- Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad hold 1,034 sites, or 58% of the total (Knock-On calculation).
- No timeline has been set for making 5G affordable for ordinary users.
What happened
According to Business Recorder, the minister shared the deployment figures on 23 October. Jazz leads in Karachi, Lahore, Faisalabad and Multan, while Zong has a stronger presence in Peshawar, Quetta, Sheikhupura and Sialkot. Under the first phase of a four-phase plan approved by the federal government, operators must cover the federal and provincial capitals; beyond that, they expand according to their own business models.
The rollout follows the 10 March spectrum auction, in which 480 MHz was sold for $507 million, Dawn reported. Jazz bought 190 MHz, Ufone 180 MHz and Zong 110 MHz. Licences were signed on 19 March and service began the next day.
Jazz has built 57% of Pakistan’s 5G sites; Ufone, with the second-largest spectrum haul, has 7%
Live 5G sites by operator, 23 Oct 2026 (spectrum bought in the March 2026 auction in brackets)
Why it matters
5G in Pakistan is meant to do more than speed up phone browsing. When the auction closed, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb described the goal as “faster, cheaper, better” connectivity, and the IT minister said the sale would double the spectrum available to operators, who had worked with 274 MHz since 1997. Better mobile data supports payments, logistics tracking, remote work and IT exports at a time when the World Bank says average incomes are rising only 1.6% a year. But coverage is concentrated where demand and income already are.
Three cities hold 58% of all 5G sites
Live 5G sites by city, 23 Oct 2026
The knock-on effects
First order: 5G in Pakistan is a big-city service for now
Firms in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad can start testing 5G-dependent services. Elsewhere, coverage is thin: outside the ten best-served cities, 14 cities share 64 sites between them, according to the ministry’s breakdown.
Second order: handsets set the pace of take-up
Local assemblers produced 607,093 5G-capable handsets between January and August, and existing 4G SIMs work on the new network. With the cheapest compatible phone at about Rs36,000 and the government setting no date for affordability, demand is likely to grow from higher-income users first. That is an analysis, not a forecast from the ministry.
Third order: competition between operators
Ufone bought 180 MHz but has switched on 127 sites, while Jazz has built roughly eight times as many. If that gap persists, customers in contested cities may shift to the network with the widest 5G footprint. Growth in data-heavy services also depends on wider demand, which slowed sharply late last year, as Pakistan’s revised GDP figures showed.
Who could benefit
- Jazz: the largest 5G footprint, leading in four of the biggest cities.
- Local handset assemblers: more than 600,000 5G-capable phones were assembled in eight months.
- Urban digital businesses: fintech, e-commerce, logistics and IT firms in the three main cities get faster mobile data first.
Who may face pressure
- Ufone: a large spectrum holding with a small live network.
- Smaller-city businesses: 14 of the 24 cities share just 64 sites.
- Price-sensitive consumers: no affordability timeline and a Rs36,000 entry-level phone.
What to watch
- The start of later phases of the four-phase rollout plan beyond the capitals.
- Any government timeline for cheaper 5G handsets or packages.
- Official 5G subscriber numbers from the PTA; the last widely reported figure was about 1.3 million in August.
- Operators’ input costs: power is a major expense for networks, and the 2027 electricity tariff rests on a Rs27.31 power cost.
Sources
- Business Recorder, Pakistan deploys 1,782 5G sites in 24 cities, 23 October 2026
- Dawn, ‘Faster, cheaper, better’: 480MHz sold for $507m as 5G spectrum auction concludes, 10 March 2026
- ProPakistani, Pakistan’s 5G reaches 1.3 million users across 23 cities, 19 August 2026
This is analysis, not investment advice. Figures are as of 23 October 2026.
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