Telenor Tops Cybersecurity List for Third Year
Telenor tops cybersecurity rankings in Pakistan for a third consecutive year, after Pak Telecom Mobile Limited (PTML)’s brand, Telenor Pakistan, secured the No. 1 position in Cybersecurity Excellence at the Telecom Cyber Security Awards 2026, hosted by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA). The award was announced on Thursday, 29 October 2026.
Federal Minister for IT and Telecommunication Shaza Fatima Khawaja presented the award to PTML Chief Technology Officer Awais Vohra and Chief Corporate Affairs Officer Shan Haq. Senior government officials, the PTA chairman, and leaders from the telecommunications and technology industries attended the ceremony.
The award follows the PTA’s rigorous audit and revalidation process, which recorded one of the highest compliance scores in the industry for Telenor Pakistan under the Critical Telecom Data and Infrastructure Security Regulations (CTDISR). The score highlights the consistency of the company’s cybersecurity governance and its efforts to maintain robust security standards across its operations.
Telenor tops cybersecurity: what the audit measured
The CTDISR framework governs how telecom operators protect critical data and infrastructure. Under it, the PTA audits operators against security requirements for the networks and systems that carry calls, messages, mobile data and payments for millions of users. A high compliance score therefore reflects documented controls, tested processes and consistent practice, rather than a single product or a single campaign.
Telenor Pakistan’s third consecutive No. 1 position means it has now led that assessment in three successive years. That run matters because cybersecurity in telecom is not a one-off purchase. Networks change constantly, with new equipment, new software and new threats, so a score that holds for three years suggests that security work is being repeated and rechecked, not just completed once.
Commenting on the achievement, Awais Vohra, Chief Technology Officer of PTML, said: “Cybersecurity is fundamental to building trust in a hyper-connected society like ours. We are thrilled to secure the top position for the third consecutive year, in recognition of our robust security standards, compliance with regulatory requirements, and efforts to protect critical telecom data and infrastructure. We remain committed to contributing to a more secure and resilient digital environment in the country.”
Why this award lands in a worrying week for users
The award arrives in the same week that the PTA chairman warned about the scale of online fraud facing ordinary Pakistanis. Feature Pakistan reported the PTA’s warning that online fraud is very active in Pakistan, with citizens receiving fraudulent calls and one-time password messages, and fake videos circulating online. The chairman said cyberattacks were taking place around the clock and warned that the telecom sector was also vulnerable to digital threats.
That warning and this award belong to two different parts of the same picture. The award measures how well a telecom operator protects its own critical infrastructure and data, under a formal audit. The fraud warning describes what users face on their phones every day, from callers and messages that try to trick them into sharing codes or money. A secure network does not stop a user from answering a fraudulent call, and a careful user cannot fix a weak network on their own.
The PTA’s own work connects the two sides. The regulator runs the audit that produced Telenor’s award, and it also works with the Federal Investigation Agency, NADRA and PEMRA on wider system security, as noted in the fraud warning coverage. Schools and institutions are also being drawn into that effort, as shown by Pakistan’s cybersecurity council work in schools. For a reader, the practical lesson is simple. A top-ranked operator still cannot protect a customer who shares a one-time password with a stranger, and a careful customer still depends on the operator to keep the network itself safe.
Telecom networks now underpin far more than phone calls. They carry banking, payments, business systems, government services and family contact. That is why the CTDISR audit focuses on critical infrastructure, and why a consistent top score is treated as a sector signal, not just a company trophy. The regulator also audits network quality, and recently found mobile network issues at 166 sites.
