KARACHI: With Pakistan Telecommunications Corporation Limited (PTCL) laying new fibre optic cables in Karachi, residents with landlines in many areas, including Defence Housing Authority (DHA), are being told by the phone utility to buy their internet package or lose their landline.
“Our landline has been dead for over a month. Now I received a phone call on my cell phone from the PTCL to inform me that they have done away with their copper wire system and laid new fibre optic lines, which is why our phone was dead for so long. But it will become functional again if we buy their internet package. Otherwise the landline will be disconnected,” a PTCL consumer in DHA Phase 1 told Dawn.
“But I already had my PTCL internet disconnected some six years ago because it failed me several times during the Covid-19 lockdown when I needed it badly for my university online classes. I had opted for a private internet service provider then which has been serving me very well,” the consumer informed.
“Buying PTCL internet would mean paying them the same amount as what I’m paying my private internet provider. I don’t want to lose my landline but I also don’t want to lose my old internet provider. Money doesn’t grow on trees. I’m being forced to buy the PTCL internet,” the consumer complained.
DHA residents say they don’t want to lose their decades-old phone numbers, but they’re also not interested in using PTCL’s internet connection
Other consumers from the same area also shared similar stories.
“Soon after getting our landline installed several years ago, PTCL started calling me to buy their internet too. I have resisted till now because I hear that it is not that great. But they are forcing me to get it now or lose my landline. Can they do that? It sounds like blackmail,” another consumer asked.
“I went to the PTCL office in DHA Phase II to get to the root of the matter as I thought that the lady who had called me may not be explaining it well. But there it turned out to be exactly what she had said,” said yet another consumer.
The new PTCL fibre optic cable is providing 5G internet. PTCL has also promised to not bill consumers, who buy the package from them and retain their landlines, for three months.
“So is that a three-month trial period? Can we reject the offer after that?” A confused consumer inquired over a residents’ WhatsApp group.
“Well, no. Because they have already charged me in advance. Now after my paying them for the package, they promise not to bill me for the coming three months,” it was cleared by a resident of the same area who has accepted the PTCL package.
“It is OK. I’ll keep my private internet provider too as a backup,” he said.
A PTCL consumer in Nazimabad shared a similar complaint. “PTCL representatives call me almost every day to tell me to get my copper landline converted to fibre optic cable, otherwise, I will lose my PTCL connection.”
The consumer said the procedure would cost him a lot, and his monthly PTCL bill would also increase several times. He said he already had an internet connection from a private internet service provider, which was running smoothly, and he didn’t want the PTCL internet. However, PTCL representatives “annoyed” him almost daily with their calls and warnings that if he didn’t switch to PTCL fibre optic cable, he would lose his landline connection.
Another consumer in DHA said that he got the following written response from the PTCL when he complained about receiving the call from their representative, which said: “With reference to your complaint, we would like to inform you that your services have been converted into flash fibre in which the internet is our primary product and we cannot provide only landline services. Your understanding is highly appreciated and we sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused.”
Similar complaints were also received from Gulistan-i-Jauhar, parts of Gulshan-i-Iqbal and Federal B Area and other parts of the city.
Dawn tried reaching out to PTCL several times for their version but the phone company spokesperson did not respond.
Published in Dawn, April 7th, 2026
