CMOs miss most of KPIs amid deteriorating telecom services

ISLAMABAD: Amid deteriorating telecom services in the country, the cellular mobile operators (CMOs) missed most of the key performance indicators (KPIs), set in their licences and the applicable regulations with respect to voice services, webpage loading and latency, an independent survey about quality of service carried out by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) revealed.

Official sources revealed that since the start of these surveys, the CMOs have yet to meet all KPIs. The PTA was earlier issuing showcase notices and later imposing penalties; however, since August 2023, the authority has not imposed penalties despite poor quality of services as evident from PTA’s own surveys.

Asking about the reason for not taking any action, top PTA official confirmed that they do not want to frighten telecom operators any more.

The PTA has carried out independent Quality of Service (QoS) survey in 17 cities of during 4th quarter 2024. During the survey, the performance of CMOs has been assessed in accordance with the Cellular Mobile Network QoS Regulations 2021.

Survey comprised of approximately 46,000 voice calls and SMS while 0.33 million samples were checked to measure the broadband performance of CMOs.

Summary of the drive, city wise and overall results are below: 2270 KMs travelled, 64 days survey, 17 cities tested.

Based on compliance with KPIs, the CMOs were ranked on mobile network coverage, voice services, and broadband speeds. Operators utilising advanced technologies, such as LTE Carrier Aggregation and Voice over LTE, demonstrated superior service quality. However, certain voice KPIs fell below licensed thresholds in specific areas. Operators have been directed to take corrective actions to improve service standards.

During the survey, Quality of Services tests were conducted in the areas of Voice, Mobile Broadband (Throughput, Latency and Web Browsing) and Short Messaging Service (SMS).

Latency, while not a traditional KPI (non-service KPI), is a vital metric for Mobile Broadband Performance, as it directly affects user experience. During the survey, Network Latency was measured by calculating the ping between different websites and 3rd Party Test servers. However, all of the four operators partially or in most cases missed the KPI and were found non-compliant in most of the cases.

Web Page Loading Time is an important Quality of Experience (QoE) metric, which, although not a traditional service KPI (non-service), provides valuable insights into the performance of CMOs in delivering seamless web browsing experiences. Web Page Loading Time of different national and international websites were tested, where not a single operator was found compliant in all of the surveyed areas. The operators met the KPI partially.

5x QoS KPIs (i.e. Network Accessibility, Call Setup Success Rate, Call Setup Time, Call Completion Rate and Mean Opinion Score) have been measured while testing voice services in the surveyed cities. However, KPIs were partially met.