The Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication has released the Telecommunication Competition Rules 2026 marking a significant step toward advancing the national digital infrastructure ensuring market equity and optimizing the utility for consumers. The much awaited regulatory draft allows Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to legally force the dominant operators with Significant Market Power (SMP) to offer national roaming to competitors. This next approach moves the existing telecom business model into an extremely managed open access infrastructure sandbox, so as not to fall into a trap with monopolistic markets.
For sovereign network planners expanding data in the broadband footprint to more remote areas continues to be a priority with sharing infrastructure a primary consideration. The draft rules provide for roaming obligations to be imposed on fair, transparent and non-discriminatory terms with regard to the technical feasibility and arrangements as well as the duration of the scope of coverage for roaming operations. Recent proposals have proposed to use a 25 percent market share threshold in addition to spectrum holdings and network access barriers in determining if market power exists.
| Regulatory Variable | Mandated Market Threshold | System-Vetted Enforcement Protocol |
| SMP Initial Trigger | 25% Market Share Cap | Combined audit of spectrum and infrastructure assets. |
| National Roaming Access | Fair & Non-Discriminatory | Touchless regulatory dispute resolution framework. |
| Schedule I Filings | Prescribed Fee System | Replaces legacy manual reasonable fees models. |
Sector specific competition guidelines run in parallel with the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP). A coordinated approach to building infrastructure is shifted to a state wide rollout of infrastructure that is mandated to be shared throughout the country thereby effectively reducing localized connectivity problems decreasing capital expenditure for infrastructure to receive incoming connections and safely mitigating public digital trust indices.
