Wireless Networks

Jazz, Zong and Ufone get 5G licences – two of them launch services

Jazz, Zong and Ufone get 5G licences – two of them launch services

Jazz, Zong and Ufone officially received their 5G licences from the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) on Thursday, after which Jazz and Zong immediately launched 5G services in various capital cities and metro hubs.

Zong (a.k.a. China Mobile Pakistan) said it has commercially launched 5G services in over 16 cities, including Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, and Quetta. The telco also said it is committed to deploy and upgrade over 1,000 5G sites across Pakistan this year.

Zong – which has been trialling 5G since 2019 – said its 5G strategy will focus on delivering a superior customer experience in terms of network performance, digital offerings and customer care. Zong also plans to target the enterprise sector with integrated 5G-powered solutions such as cloud platforms, enterprise digitisation tools, IoT ecosystems and CCTV solutions.

Zong also said it will leverage AI for use cases such as personalised products and bundles recommendations, intelligent automation, predictive network optimisation and proactive problem detection.

Veon-owned Jazz also officially launched 5G services on Thursday, saying the first phase of its 5G network is live across around 180 sites across all provincial capitals and key metro hubs including Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar, Quetta, Multan, and Faisalabad.

Jazz also said that it’s continuing to expand and upgrade its nationwide 4G network alongside its 5G rollout.

In terms of strategy, Jazz touted the amount of 5G spectrum it bought at the PTA’s auction earlier this month as a key advantage. Jazz said it not only secured the largest amount of spectrum overall (190 MHz), but was also the only telco to acquire spectrum across all key bands – 700 MHz, 2300 MHz, 2600 MHz, and 3500 MHz.

Jazz said this gives it “a uniquely powerful, multi-layered network capable of delivering both deep coverage and high-capacity performance.”

PTCL’s Ufone – which also received its 5G licence on Thursday, but stopped short of announcing a commercial service launch – also played up its spectrum pool, saying in a statement that it holds the largest share of key 3500-MHz spectrum, while its 120 MHz contiguous spectrum will support wider 5G channels, translating into higher peak speeds, faster and more stable data throughput.

Ufone also said that once its merger with Telenor Pakistan is officially approved by the PTA, the resulting "MergeCo" will hold 292.4 MHz worth of spectrum across low, mid, and high frequency bands, which is 8 MHz more than the closest competitor.

“[Ufone] now controls the largest share of the global standard 3.5 GHz spectrum, twice as much as any competitor, giving us the ability to set the benchmark for speed and performance in Pakistan,” said PTCL and Ufone president and CEO Hatem Bamatraf in a statement. “Especially post-Telenor Pakistan integration, we will become the largest spectrum holder in the market, which will put us in a position to take digital services to the next level, delivering faster speeds, broader coverage, and experiences that truly matter to our customers.”

Telenor completed the sale of its Telenor Pakistan business to PTCL at the end of December 2025, after the PTA issued a No Objection Certificate earlier that month. PTCL filed its official merger application to the PTA in late January, but to date the PTA has not yet approved it.



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