ISLAMABAD: The Economic Coordination Committee has approved auction of 600 MHz spectrum which would not only improve the internet speed but also pave way for the roll out of 5G internet in the country, Information Technology and Telecommunication (IT) Minister 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 completing the internet spectrum auction by early 2026 after the ECC’s nod.
Expanding on the matter, IT Minister Khawaja said that spectrum advisory committee’s recommendations will be taken to the cabinet soon and that consultation with other relevant parties, including the telecom sector, will be ensured during the process.
“Due to a lack of spectrum, internet speed in Pakistan is not up to world standards,” the minister noted, adding that the government is going to hold an auction of 600 MHz spectrum.
Shaza further said that efforts were underway to roll out 5G in six months.
ٓAn overview of internet speeds across country. — Ookla website
ٓAn overview of internet speeds across country. — Ookla website
Highlighting that the internet formed the basis of the entire digital system, she said that the government will increase both the speed as well as internet access and that efforts were being made to complete the auction in the first week of February 2026.
The spectrum auction announcement comes as slow internet speed, coupled with intermittent outages and restricted access on various occasions, are not uncommon for the netizens in the country.
As per Ookla Speedtest Global Index, Pakistan ranked 97th globally with regards to mobile internet speed which was measured at 24.79Mbps in November. The statistics were much worse for fixed broadband speed where the country ranked 146 with download speed of mere 18.27Mbps.
Province-wise overview of internet speeds across country. — Ookla website
Province-wise overview of internet speeds across country. — Ookla website
However, last month, the country significantly expanded its international internet capacity with the launch of the South-East Asia-Middle East-Western Europe (SEA-ME-WE) 6 submarine cable system.
The 19,200-kilometre high-capacity fibre network connects the country to major digital hubs between Singapore and France.
The system, offering 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.
Under the deployment, Pakistan had been allocated 13.2 Tbps, of which 4 Tbps has been activated immediately — a major boost that will support cloud computing, data centres, fintech, e-commerce, streaming platforms and the broader digital economy.
The new SEA-ME-WE 6 network features more fibre pairs and more than double the capacity of earlier SEA-ME-WE systems, ensuring greater resilience across high-traffic Asia-Europe routes.
