Pakistan
Opensignal is the independent global standard for analyzing consumers' connectivity experiences. Our industry reports are the definitive guide to understanding what happens when people use their mobile and broadband connections in their daily life.
Pakistan
Opensignal is the independent global standard for analyzing consumers' connectivity experiences. Our industry reports are the definitive guide to understanding what happens when people use their mobile and broadband connections in their daily life.
Key Findings
Zong remains the operator to beat in Pakistan
Winning six out of ten award categories outright this time, Zong continues to dominate Pakistan's mobile network experience landscape. Zong is top in terms of users' Download Speed Experience, Upload speed experience, Video experience, Games experience, as well as Availability and 4G Coverage Experience. Additionally, Zong remains the joint winner of the Voice App Experience award alongside Jazz.
The fastest mobile experience in Pakistan is with Zong
Our users on Zong's network observe the fastest average download and upload speeds, measured across all generations of mobile technologies in Pakistan. This makes Zong the outright winner of both the Download Speed Experience and Upload Speed Experience awards. Zong users reported a Download Speed Experience of 15.6Mbps — 3.4Mbps (27.5%), faster than those on second-placed Jazz's 12.2Mbps. Our Zong users saw overall upload speeds of 4.8Mbps. However, its lead over second-placed Jazz is much more modest with a difference of just 0.2Mbps separating their scores.
Zong wins the Video and Games Experience award outright
Our users on Zong's mobile network enjoy the best available quality of experience when streaming videos in Pakistan. Therefore, Zong wins the Video Experience award outright and breaks through the joint win it shared with Ufone last time. Zong now holds a lead of 4.5 points over second-placed Jazz. Our users also enjoyed the best multiplayer mobile gaming experience with Zong
Zong is top for Availability and 4G Coverage Experience
Zong is the 4G Coverage Experience award winner with six points, ahead of Jazz's score of 5.6 points (out of 10). Zong reigns supreme in Availability with 96.1% — around 1.5 percentage points greater than statistically tied Jazz and Ufone. While Availability assesses the proportion of time subscribers spend connected to mobile broadband services (3G or better), on the other hand, 4G Coverage Experience analyzes the locations where customers of a network operator receive a 4G signal relative to the locations that users of all network operators visit.
Ufone has the most consistent experience
Ufone wins both the Excellent Consistent and Core Consistent quality awards for the second time in a row in Opensignal mobile network experience reports. This indicates that Ufone users saw the greatest proportion of tests that met the minimum thresholds to support both regular and more demanding mobile applications.
Jazz is now the sole winner of 4G Availability
Jazz and Zong shared the 4G Availability award in the previous report. However, this time Jazz wins outright, as our users on its network spend the highest proportion of time connected to 4G data services. However, when we look at the proportion of time connected to overall mobile data services (3G and above), Zong reigns supreme in Availability with 96.1% — around 1.5 percentage points greater than statistically tied Jazz and Ufone.
Mobile Experience Awards
Market Overview
Opensignal's analysis shows that Zong remains the operator to beat in Pakistan. Once again, Zong wins the lion's share of our awards outright — six out of 10. In addition to the four award categories it retains from last time — Download Speed Experience, Games Experience, Availability and 4G Coverage Experience — Zong wins two more categories outright this time — Video Experience and Upload Experience — after winning them jointly with Ufone and Jazz respectively.
Our results also show that Jazz now leads the pack in Pakistan regarding 4G Availability, while Ufone remains the winner on both measures of consistency.
While these changes are apparent on Opensignal's awards table, a lot is happening under the hood — the mobile network experience in Pakistan is improving. Since the previous report in August 2022, our users across all four networks have observed improvements across most categories. For example, while Zong users reported the greatest improvement in Games Experience (18.6%) and Download Speed Experience (37.1%), this was the case for Ufone regarding Voice App Experience (10.3%), Upload Speed Experience (13.7%) and 4G Availability — up from 68.7% to 77.5%. On the other hand, Telenor users saw the biggest surge in Availability — from 88.8% to 90.6%.
In this report, we've analyzed the mobile network experience of Pakistan's four national operators — Jazz, Telenor, Ufone and Zong — in the 90 days starting on October 1, 2022, and ending on December 29, 2022, to see how they measure up.
Overall Experience
National Analysis
Our users on Zong enjoy the best quality of experience when streaming videos over mobile internet in Pakistan. As a result, Zong is the outright winner of the Video Experience award with a score of 49.6 points, which places it in the Fair (48-58) category. Meanwhile Jazz, Ufone and Telenor place one category lower, with Poor rating (under 48).
A Fair rating means that our users were, on average, able to stream video at 720p or better with satisfactory loading times and substantial stalling. Whereas a Poor rating means users, on average, encountered very high loading times or high levels of stalling or were only able to stream the video at resolutions below 720p.
Definitions
Opensignal’s Video Experience quantifies the quality of video streamed to mobile devices by measuring real-world video streams over an operator's networks. The metric is based on an International Telecommunication Union (ITU) approach, built upon detailed studies which have derived a relationship between technical parameters, including picture quality, video loading time and stall rate, with the perceived video experience as reported by real people. To calculate video experience, we are directly measuring video streams from end-user devices and using this ITU approach to quantify the overall video experience for each operator on a scale from 0 to 100. The videos tested include a mixture of resolutions — including Full HD (FHD) and 4K / Ultra HD (UHD) — and are streamed directly from the world’s largest video content providers.
In addition to Video Experience, we report on the following metrics related to video experience:
- 5G Video Experience: The average Video Experience of Opensignal users when they were connected to an operator’s 5G network.
- Video Experience – 5G Users: The average Video Experience of Opensignal users with a 5G device and a 5G subscription across an operator's networks. It factors in 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G video experience along with the availability of each technology.
- 4G Video Experience: The average Video Experience of Opensignal users on an operator's 4G network.
- 3G Video Experience: The average Video Experience of Opensignal users on an operator’s 3G network.
National Analysis
Zong continues to lead in terms of overall Games Experience, this time with a score of 45.6 points on 100-point scale. This means that our Zong users have the best available experience when playing multiplayer mobile games over cellular connections in Pakistan.
Since the last report, the Games Experience in Pakistan has improved across all four networks, with Zong users reporting the biggest increase of 7.2 points. However, there is much room for improvement, given the typical Games Experience in Pakistan rates from Poor to Very Poor.
Definitions
Opensignal’s Games Experience measures how mobile users experience real-time multiplayer mobile gaming on an operator’s network. Measured on a scale of 0-100, it analyzes how our users’ multiplayer mobile gaming experience is affected by mobile network conditions including latency, packet loss and jitter.
Games Experience quantifies the experience when playing real-time multiplayer mobile games on mobile devices connected to servers located around the world. The approach is built on several years of research quantifying the relationship between technical network parameters and the gaming experience as reported by real mobile users. These parameters include latency (round trip time), jitter (variability of latency) and packet loss (the proportion of data packets that never reach their destination). Additionally, it considers multiple genres of multiplayer mobile games to measure the average sensitivity to network conditions. The games tested include some of the most popular real-time multiplayer mobile games (such as Fortnite, Pro Evolution Soccer and Arena of Valor) played around the world.
Calculating Games Experience starts with measuring the end-to-end experience from users’ devices to internet end-points that host real games. The score is then measured on a scale from 0 to 100.
In addition to Games Experience, we report on the following metrics related to games experience:
- 5G Games Experience: The average Games Experience of Opensignal users when they were connected to an operator’s 5G network.
- Games Experience – 5G Users: The average Games Experience of Opensignal users with a 5G device and a 5G subscription across an operator's networks. It factors in 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G games experience along with the availability of each technology.
- 4G Games Experience: The average Games Experience of Opensignal users on an operator's 4G network.
- 3G Games Experience: The average Games Experience of Opensignal users on an operator's 3G (e.g. UMTS/HSPA or CDMA 1X EV-DO) network.
National Analysis
Jazz and Zong are once again top for Voice App Experience, winning this time with statistically tied scores of 70.9-71.1 points on a 100-point scale. This means our users on Jazz and Zong enjoy the best available experience when using over-the-top (OTT) voice services — mobile voice apps such as WhatsApp, Skype and Facebook Messenger.
Definitions
Opensignal's Voice App Experience measures the quality of experience for over-the-top (OTT) voice services — mobile voice apps such as WhatsApp, Skype and Facebook Messenger — using a model derived from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) approach for quantifying overall voice call quality and a series of calibrated technical parameters. This model characterizes the exact relationship between the technical measurements and perceived call quality. Voice App Experience for each operator is calculated on a scale from 0 to 100.
In addition to Voice App Experience, we report on the following metrics related to voice app experience:
- 5G Voice App Experience: The average Voice App Experience of Opensignal users when they were connected to an operator’s 5G network.
- Voice App Experience – 5G Users: The average Voice App Experience of Opensignal users with a 5G device and a 5G subscription across an operator's networks. It factors in 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G voice app experience along with the availability of each technology.
- 4G Voice App Experience: The average Voice App Experience of Opensignal users on an operator's 4G network.
- 3G Voice App Experience: The average Voice App Experience of Opensignal users on an operator's 3G (e.g. UMTS/HSPA or CDMA 1X EV-DO) network.
National Analysis
Zong users continue to observe the fastest overall download speeds in Pakistan. Zong is, therefore, the outright winner of the Download Speed Experience award, this time with a score of 15.6Mbps. While our Zong users saw the greatest improvement in average download speeds — up by 37.1% since our last report — those on Jazz and Telenor saw their speeds improve by 14.6% and 16.6%, respectively. Meanwhile, users on Ufone did not observe a statistically significant change in their average download speeds.
Definitions
Measured in Mbps, Download Speed Experience represents the typical everyday speeds a user experiences across an operator’s mobile data networks.
In addition to Download Speed Experience, we report on the following metrics related to download speeds:
- 5G Download Speed: The average download speed observed by Opensignal users with active 5G connections.
- Download Speed Experience – 5G Users: The average download speeds experienced by Opensignal users with a 5G device and a 5G subscription across an operator’s networks. It factors in 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G download speeds along with the availability of each technology.
- 4G Download Speed: The average downlink speed observed by Opensignal users when they were connected to 4G.
- 3G Download Speed: The average downlink speed observed by Opensignal users when they were connected to 3G (e.g. UMTS/HSPA or CDMA 1X EV-DO).
National Analysis
Our users across every major operator in Pakistan have observed improvement in their average upload speed since the last report. Ufone users saw the greatest increase of 13.7% in their Upload Speed Experience, followed by those on Telenor (13.7%). Meanwhile, Jazz and Zong's scores improved by 4.4% and 10.6%, respectively. As a result, Zong breaks through the statistical tie it held with Jazz last time and now commands a lead of 5.1% over ex-winner Jazz, with users' overall speeds averaging 4.8Mbps.
Definitions
Upload Speed Experience measures the average upload speeds for each operator observed by our users across their mobile data networks. Typically upload speeds are slower than download speeds, as current mobile broadband technologies focus resources on providing the best possible download speed for users consuming content on their devices. As mobile internet trends move away from downloading content to creating content and supporting real-time communications services, upload speeds are becoming more vital and new technologies are emerging that boost upstream capacity.
In addition to Upload Speed Experience, we report on five supporting metrics related to upload speeds:
- 5G Upload Speed: The average upload speed observed by Opensignal users with active 5G connections.
- Upload Speed Experience – 5G Users: The average upload speeds experienced by Opensignal users with a 5G device and a 5G subscription across an operator’s networks. It factors in 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G upload speeds along with the availability of each technology.
- 4G Upload Speed: The average uplink speed observed by Opensignal users when they were connected to 4G.
- 3G Upload Speed: The average uplink speed observed by Opensignal users when they were connected to 3G (e.g. UMTS/HSPA or CDMA 1X EV-DO).
Coverage
National Analysis
Zong is the outright winner of the Availability award with a score of 96.1% — around 1.5 percentage points ahead of nearest rivals Jazz and Ufone, which statistically tie for second place. Meanwhile, Telenor placed last with 92.6%. These scores mean Pakistani smartphone users, on average, spent 92.6-96.1% of time connected to 3G or better signal mobile broadband services.
Definitions
Our availability metrics are not a measure of a network’s geographical extent. They won’t tell you whether you are likely to get a signal if you plan to visit a remote rural or nearly uninhabited region. Instead, they measure what proportion of time people have a network connection, in the places they most commonly frequent — something often missed by traditional coverage metrics. Looking at when users have a connection rather than where, provides us with a more precise reflection of the true user experience.
We also keep track of the instances that leave mobile users most frustrated: when there is no signal to connect to at all. The most common dead zones users struggle with occur indoors. As most of our availability data is collected indoors (as that’s where users spend most of their time), we’re particularly astute at detecting areas of zero signal.
Our availability metrics take a user-centric, time-based approach that complements the user-centric and geographical-based methodology used by our reach metrics.
Availability shows the proportion of time all Opensignal users on an operator’s network had either a 3G, 4G or 5G connection.
National Analysis
Jazz is now the sole winner of Opensignal's 4G Availability award, which means that our users in Pakistan spent the greatest proportion of time with 4G when connected to Jazz's network — 90.6 %. Compared to the previous report, the 4G Availability on Jazz has surged by 5.8 percentage points compared to the 4.2 percentage points increase seen on Zong's network. As a result, Jazz breaks the deadlock it held with Zong last time and now has a modest lead of one percentage point over it. However, our Ufone users observed the biggest boost of 8.8 percentage points in 4G Availability, followed by those on Telenor (6.1 percentage points).
Definitions
Our availability metrics are not a measure of a network’s geographical extent. They won’t tell you whether you are likely to get a signal if you plan to visit a remote rural or nearly uninhabited region. Instead, they measure what proportion of time people have a network connection, in the places they most commonly frequent — something often missed by traditional coverage metrics. Looking at when users have a connection rather than where, provides us with a more precise reflection of the true user experience.
We also keep track of the instances that leave mobile users most frustrated: when there is no signal to connect to at all. The most common dead zones users struggle with occur indoors. As most of our availability data is collected indoors (as that’s where users spend most of their time), we’re particularly astute at detecting areas of zero signal.
Our availability metrics take a user-centric, time-based approach that complements the user-centric and geographical-based methodology used by our reach metrics.
4G Availability shows the proportion of time Opensignal users with a 4G device and a 4G subscription — but have never connected to 5G — had a 4G connection.
National Analysis
Jazz remains the sole winner of the 4G Coverage Experience award. It wins this time with a score of six points on a 10-point scale, giving it a lead of 0.4-0.6 points over Jazz and Telenor. Ufone is in last place with 2.7 points. However, Ufone's score has risen the most since the last report, a gain of 0.3 points, followed by Jazz, Telenor and Zong.
Definitions
4G Coverage Experience measures how mobile subscribers experience 4G coverage on an operator’s network. Measured on a scale of 0-10, it analyzes the locations where customers of a network operator received a 4G signal relative to the locations visited by users of all network operators.
In simple terms, 4G Coverage Experience measures the mobile coverage experience in all the locations that matter most to everyday users — i.e. all the places where they live, work and travel. It considers all the areas that Opensignal users visit, the portion of locations that 4G is available to them, and locations that more users visit have higher importance to them.
Consistency
National Analysis
Once again, Ufone wins Opensignal's Excellent Consistent Quality award. The operator met the minimum recommended performance thresholds for HD video, group video conference calls and gaming in 43.5% of users' tests — a noteworthy 14.5 percentage points greater than second-placed Telenor.
Definitions
Consistent Quality measures how often users’ experience on a network was sufficient to support common applications’ requirements. It measures download speed, upload speed, latency, jitter, packet loss, time to first byte and the percentage of tests attempted which did not succeed due to a connectivity issue on either the download or server response component.
Full details on how the Consistent Quality metrics — Excellent Consistent Quality and Core Consistent Quality — are calculated can be found here.
Excellent Consistent Quality is the percentage of users’ tests that met the minimum recommended performance thresholds to watch HD video, complete group video conference calls and play games.
National Analysis
Like Excellent Consistent Quality, Ufone also wins Core Consistent Quality award for the second time in a row in Opensignal mobile network experience reports, scoring 69.4% — ahead of Telenor's score of 54.8%.
Definitions
Consistent Quality measures how often users’ experience on a network was sufficient to support common applications’ requirements. It measures download speed, upload speed, latency, jitter, packet loss, time to first byte and the percentage of tests attempted which did not succeed due to a connectivity issue on either the download or server response component.
Full details on how the Consistent Quality metrics — Excellent Consistent Quality and Core Consistent Quality — are calculated can be found here.
Core Consistent Quality is the percentage of users’ tests that met the minimum recommended performance thresholds for lower performance applications including SD video, voice calls and web browsing.
Related Analysis
Our Methodology
Collecting billions of individual measurements daily from over 100 million devices globally, Opensignal independently analyzes mobile and broadband user experience on every major network operator around the globe.
About Opensignal
Opensignal is the leading global provider of independent insights into consumers' connectivity experiences and choice of carrier. Our proprietary insights into mobile and broadband networks give operators the solutions they need to profitably compete and win, from executive level scorecards and public validation to pin-point level engineering analytics and consumer decision dynamics.
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Confidence Intervals
For every metric we calculate statistical confidence intervals indicated on our graphs. When confidence intervals overlap, our measured results are too close to declare a winner. In those cases, we show a statistical draw. For this reason, some metrics have multiple operator winners.
In our bar graphs we represent confidence intervals as boundaries on either sides of graph bars.
In our supporting-metric charts we show confidence intervals as +/- numerical values.
Why confidence intervals are vital in analyzing mobile network experience