Load Shedding Is Disrupting Mobile Towers and Internet Services Across Pakistan

Prolonged power outages — including up to 10 hours of daily load shedding in some areas — are directly degrading mobile tower performance and internet connectivity across Pakistan, the National Assembly's Standing Committee on Information Technology and Telecommunication was told on Tuesday. The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) confirmed that the electricity supply problem has been formally raised with NEPRA (the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority) and the relevant power distribution companies (DISCOs).

Load Shedding Is Pushing Mobile Towers Onto Backup Batteries

Committee Chairman Syed Aminul Haque flagged what many Pakistani consumers experience daily: slow internet speeds and repeated call connection failures even in major urban centres like Karachi. The committee's observation confirms that poor connectivity is not confined to remote or underserved areas — it is widespread, and one of its primary drivers is the electricity shortfall continuing to strain the national grid.

Members noted that in certain areas, load shedding of up to 10 hours per day is forcing mobile towers onto backup battery systems. Batteries degrade in performance the longer they run without a grid recharge, meaning every consumer connected to an affected tower — potentially thousands of households and businesses — faces reduced data speeds and weakened call reliability during outage windows. The longer the outage, the worse the degradation.

PTA Has Formally Raised the Issue With NEPRA and DISCOs

PTA Chairman Hafeezur Rehman told the committee that the authority has taken up the electricity supply problem directly with NEPRA and the relevant DISCOs. Telecom tower sites are typically billed as commercial or industrial consumers under DISCO tariff schedules, and ensuring reliable supply requires coordination between the PTA, the Power Division, and distribution companies such as LESCO (Lahore Electric Supply Company), IESCO (Islamabad Electric Supply Company), MEPCO (Multan Electric Power Company), K-Electric in Karachi, and others depending on the region.

No specific regulatory directives, named DISCOs, or relief timelines were disclosed in the committee briefing. Under Pakistan's electricity regulatory framework, NEPRA has the authority to issue quality-of-supply directions to DISCOs — including standards for critical infrastructure consumers — but no formal order on telecom tower sites has been announced.

5G Is Live in 22 Cities — But on Existing, Already-Strained Towers

PTA Chairman Rehman also briefed the committee on Pakistan's 5G rollout. Available national spectrum has expanded from 274 MHz to 754 MHz following the recent 5G auction, and operators have activated 5G services in 22 cities. However, the PTA confirmed that no new 5G-specific tower hardware has been deployed yet — the service is running entirely on the same existing infrastructure already affected by load shedding.

Dedicated 5G infrastructure is expected to be rolled out in phases over the next six to eight months, which the PTA said would meaningfully improve internet speeds and service quality. That timeline depends partly on whether tower operators can secure stable electricity at new and existing sites, tying the 5G improvement story directly back to the unresolved power supply question.