Faster phones, worse video on 4G

According to The Express Tribune, Pakistani smartphone users face a paradox: 4G networks are getting slightly faster while video playback is getting worse. The Opensignal benchmarking report cited by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority put the national average download at 18.9 Mbps, rising from 18.6 Mbps recorded in the first quarter. Over the same period, the video score, which tracks whether a stream looks clean and avoids stalling, dropped to 37.53 from 44.97 on a 100-point scale.

Upload fell to 5.32 Mbps from 5.81 Mbps, while game scores rose from 40.93 to 43.85. Figures come from crowdsourced user measurements taken across 90 days during Q2 2026, spanning national and city-level results. Every operator recorded a lower video score, with Jazz dropping from 47.00 to 41.51, Zong from 47.06 to 41.66, Ufone from 42.33 to 36.64 and Telenor from 34.84 to 30.3.

Downloads can complete even when live streams keep buffering, and the article links flat speeds plus a falling video score to congestion or uneven capacity during peak periods. The handset still matters, since high-end phones averaged 31.3 Mbps nationally, well above the 18.9 Mbps figure for all devices. Zong led national download, upload and time-on-network, Ufone won the games measure, and Telenor trailed the other three operators across speed, upload, video and games.