ISLAMABAD: Responding to complaints about poor telecom services across the country, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has started physical inspections of backup power arrangements at telecom towers to ensure uninterrupted mobile services during power outages.

The directives were issued by PTA Chairman retired Maj Gen Hafeezur Rehman to the authority’s zonal offices to conduct the inspections regularly.

Teams from PTA zonal offices in Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Quetta, Abbottabad, Peshawar, Multan, Faisalabad and Muzaffarabad have started visiting telecom towers in urban and rural areas within their respective zones.

The teams will inspect batteries, generators and solar power systems, with particular attention to areas affected by loadshedding.The PTA has also decided to include local representatives and their nominees in the inspection teams to identify locations where mobile signals become weak or services become unavailable during power outages.

Published in Dawn, September 25th, 2026