Govt Admits the Truth: Islamabad’s New Sectors Still Suffer from Terrible Network Coverage

The residents of Islamabad’s newly developed sectors I-14 and I-16 continue to face poor mobile network coverage and unreliable data services, despite official claims of improvements. The Minister in charge of the Cabinet Division, responding to a question in the National Assembly, acknowledged that both sectors still face signal distortion and limited connectivity due to sparse population and low commercial interest from telecom operators. According to the government’s written reply, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) reported that nine dedicated mobile towers have been set up across the two sectors, with a few additional sites installed or upgraded in the past two years. In Sector I-14, two new towers were added while one existing site was upgraded earlier this year, whereas in Sector I-16, two new sites were deployed. PTA claimed that an independent survey showed network quality had “significantly improved” after the upgrades. However, the same report admitted that at least one tower in the area continues to record average network downtime above the acceptable limit, while voice services remain inconsistent. Although the average internet speed exceeded the minimum 4 Mbps threshold, residents in these sectors still face frequent call drops and data interruptions. The issue, according to PTA, has been referred back to the concerned cellular company for rectification. In a rare acknowledgment, the Cabinet Division also admitted that limited population density and weak commercial returns are discouraging telecom operators from expanding infrastructure in these new residential sectors. The statement further conceded that both I-14 and I-16 remain “low priority” areas for investment due to low revenue potential, leaving citizens with no immediate relief in sight.