1 GB
Valid for 7 days
$6.99
$6.99 per GB
eSIM for Pakistan
Pakistan runs on mobile data. Ride apps replaced street haggling in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad, hotels in Hunza confirm rooms on WhatsApp, and the Karakoram Highway is a long drive where the only way to tell a family guesthouse you are two hours late is a message. Cash is still king in the bazaars, but the arrangements happen on a phone.
A FairSIM eSIM roams onto Jazz or Telenor Pakistan. Both run 4G LTE across the cities, the motorways and the Grand Trunk Road, with 3G and 2G filling in behind. There is no consumer 5G in Pakistan, so plan for solid 4G and nothing faster. You install the plan at home over Wi-Fi, land, switch the line on, and you are online before passport control.
One local rule matters more than any other. A handset used with a Pakistani SIM has to be registered with the PTA under the DIRBS system, and after a grace period of roughly 60 days an unregistered foreign phone stops working on local networks. Buying a local SIM also means a passport, a visa copy and a fingerprint scan at a franchise. A travel eSIM roams on a foreign profile instead, so none of that paperwork applies to a short trip.
Pakistan eSIM plans
Wholesale rates in US dollars, with nothing added at checkout. Buy in the FairSIM app and the plan is on your phone in seconds.
How long is your trip?
All plans. Pick a trip length to narrow the list.
- Get it in the app for Pakistan
3 GB
Valid for 30 days
Get it in the app for Pakistan$14.99
$5.00 per GB
- Best value
10 GB
Valid for 30 days
Get it in the app for Pakistan$29.99
$3.00 per GB
Unlimited
Valid for 15 days
Get it in the app for Pakistan$69.99
Speed policy shown in the app
Coverage in Pakistan
- 4G LTE
- 5G
- JazzThe largest operator in the country, listed on the coverage sheet as Pakistan Mobile Communications Limited. 4G LTE across the big cities, the motorway network and most district towns, with 3G and 2G as fallback.
- JazzA second Jazz entry on the same sheet carrying only 2G and 3G. Your phone may attach to it in older-network areas where LTE has not been deployed.
- TelenorTelenor Pakistan, a long-established national network with 4G in the cities and wide 2G and 3G reach in rural Punjab, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Typical speed: Expect steady 4G rather than fast 4G. Pakistan's median mobile speeds sit low by regional standards, which is fine for maps, messaging, calls and social media, and slow for large downloads or long video uploads.
Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Multan, Peshawar and Quetta are well covered, as are the M1 to M5 motorways and the GT Road. Coverage thins fast in the mountains. In Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir the dominant operator is SCO, which is not a roaming partner, so parts of Hunza, Nagar, Skardu, the upper Swat valleys and the road to Khunjerab can be dead zones on any travel eSIM. Download offline maps before you head north.
How much data do you need in Pakistan?
It depends on how you travel. Find your trip below, then pick the plan that matches. You can always top up in the app.
Lahore and Islamabad city trip
A week between the Walled City, museums, food streets and the Margallas.
Why data matters: Careem and inDrive for every ride, Google Maps in traffic that ignores lane markings, Foodpanda at midnight, and constant WhatsApp with hosts and drivers.
- 7 days
- 5 GB
- 14 days
- 10 GB
- 30 days
- 20 GB
Karakoram Highway road trip
Islamabad to Gilgit, Hunza and the Khunjerab Pass by jeep or bus.
Why data matters: You need offline maps and downloaded guesthouse details, because coverage drops for long stretches. Data comes back in Gilgit and Karimabad for photo uploads and the next booking.
- 7 days
- 5 GB
- 14 days
- 10 GB
- 30 days
- 20 GB
Visiting family
Overseas Pakistanis home for a few weeks or a wedding season.
Why data matters: Video calls back to the UK, US or Gulf, shared photo albums, and a hotspot for relatives during load shedding. Long stays eat data.
- 7 days
- 10 GB
- 14 days
- 20 GB
- 30 days
- Unlimited
Trekking and mountaineering
Fairy Meadows, Nanga Parbat base camp, Concordia and the K2 trek.
Why data matters: Almost none of the trail has a signal. Data matters in Skardu and Gilgit for permits, porters, weather and the flight or bus back, so download everything before you walk out.
- 7 days
- 3 GB
- 14 days
- 5 GB
- 30 days
- 10 GB
Business in Karachi or Lahore
Factory visits, textile buying, meetings in Clifton or Gulberg.
Why data matters: Teams and Zoom on the move, Personal Hotspot for the laptop when hotel Wi-Fi drops with the power, and email through long traffic jams.
- 7 days
- 10 GB
- 14 days
- 20 GB
- 30 days
- Unlimited
What your home carrier charges in Pakistan
Daily roaming passes look small until you multiply them by the length of the trip. FairSIM plans for Pakistan start at $6.99 and never bill per day.
Daily passes are priced per day and per line. On a two-week trip in Pakistan they cost several times what a data eSIM does, and the pass zones for South Asia are usually the expensive ones. Always confirm Pakistan is on your carrier's list before you fly.
| Carrier | Roaming charge | FairSIM |
|---|---|---|
| AT&T International Day Pass (US) | $12 a day per line, $6 for each extra line, in the destinations AT&T lists. Confirm Pakistan is included on your plan. | from $6.99, no daily fee |
| Verizon TravelPass (US) | $12 a day where it applies, with high-speed data then slowed. Check Verizon's country list for Pakistan. | from $6.99, no daily fee |
| T-Mobile International Pass (US) | $5 for 1 day and 512 MB, $35 for 10 days and 5 GB, $50 for 30 days and 15 GB. | from $6.99, no daily fee |
| EE (UK) | Pakistan sits outside EE's inclusive European roaming. A Travel Data Pass or a Roam Abroad style add-on applies, and standard out-of-bundle rates are high. Check your zone. | from $6.99, no daily fee |
| Vodafone UK | Pakistan is not in Vodafone UK's European roaming zones, so you pay Rest of World rates or buy a day pass for it. Check the zone list. | from $6.99, no daily fee |
| Orange or Telekom (EU) | Pakistan is outside EU roam-like-home. Both sell world day passes with small data allowances; standard out-of-bundle charges are far higher. | from $6.99, no daily fee |
| Telstra Day Pass (Australia) | A$10 a day for 2 GB in the countries on Telstra's list. Confirm Pakistan is covered, otherwise pay-as-you-go rates apply. | from $6.99, no daily fee |
Carrier prices as published on their roaming pages at the time of writing. They change often; check your own plan before you fly.
How FairSIM works
- 1
Pick a destination and a plan
Choose the country or region and the data you need. The price you see is the price you pay.
- 2
Tap install
On iPhone (iOS 17.4+) the eSIM installs in one tap, no QR code. Do it at home while you still have Wi-Fi.
- 3
Land and connect
Turn on data roaming for the FairSIM line when you arrive. Your plan starts when it first connects.
Connectivity tips for Pakistan
Install and test the eSIM at home over Wi-Fi, then turn the line and data roaming on after you land. It saves you the passport and fingerprint routine at a SIM counter.
Download Google Maps offline for Punjab, Sindh and the whole Karakoram Highway corridor before you head north. SCO is the main operator in Gilgit-Baltistan and travel eSIMs do not roam on it.
Expect no 5G anywhere in Pakistan. 4G in the cities is fine for maps, calls and messaging, less so for large uploads.
Mobile data is occasionally suspended in specific cities during processions, protests or exams. Keep tickets, bookings and addresses saved offline.
Pakistan has been tightening rules on VPNs and some services stop working. Do not build anything essential around one.
Carry a power bank and a Type C or D adapter. Load shedding is routine outside the top hotels, and a dead phone in Lahore traffic is a bad afternoon.
Keep your home SIM active for bank one-time codes, with its data roaming switched off so it cannot rack up charges.
Parts of Balochistan and some districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa require a No Objection Certificate and sometimes a police escort. Arrange that before you travel, not on the road where you may have no signal.
Apps you will actually use
- Careem the main ride-hailing app, with cars, rickshaws and bikes in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad.
- inDrive name-your-price rides, widely used and often cheaper than Careem outside peak hours.
- Bykea motorbike rides, parcel delivery and errands, mostly in Karachi and Lahore.
- Foodpanda food and grocery delivery in every major city, with cash on delivery.
- Google Maps good in cities. Download Punjab, Sindh and the northern routes offline before you travel.
- WhatsApp how hotels, drivers, guides and shops actually communicate. Calls and messages both work.
- Daraz the big local marketplace, useful for a charger, an adapter or a SIM tray pin.
- Pakistan Railways booking train tickets between Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi and Peshawar without queuing at the station.
Uber left Pakistan in 2022 and its business went to Careem, so do not expect the Uber app to find cars here. JazzCash and Easypaisa run most local digital payments, but both need a Pakistani number and a CNIC, so travellers stay on cash and cards. Mobile data is sometimes suspended in parts of the country during protests, processions and exam periods, and social platforms have been blocked or throttled at times, so keep offline copies of anything you need.
Can you rely on free Wi-Fi?
Hotel and café Wi-Fi is normal in Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi and usually good enough for email and calls. Two things break it. Load shedding cuts power for hours in many areas and only the better hotels have a generator or inverter behind the router. And a lot of public networks ask for a Pakistani mobile number to send an OTP, which you will not have. In the north, guesthouse Wi-Fi in Hunza or Skardu is often a shared connection that collapses in the evening. Treat Wi-Fi as a bonus, not a plan.
Local SIM card or eSIM in Pakistan?
Jazz, Telenor, Zong and Ufone all sell prepaid SIMs to foreigners, and local bundles are genuinely cheap in rupee terms. The friction is the process. You need your passport and a valid visa, and you have to do a biometric fingerprint scan at a company franchise or an airport counter, which is how every SIM in Pakistan is tied to an identity. Franchise staff sometimes decline foreign passports because the verification system rejects them, so it can take two or three attempts and part of a day. Airport counters exist at Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad but their hours are not dependable on late-night arrivals.
Then there is the handset rule. Once a Pakistani SIM is in your phone, the PTA's DIRBS system starts counting, and an unregistered foreign device is typically blocked from local networks after around 60 days, with duty payable to register it. That is fine for a two-week trip and a real problem for a long stay. A FairSIM eSIM avoids the whole chain: it installs before you leave home, roams on Jazz or Telenor, needs no passport at a counter, no fingerprint and no device registration, and it keeps your home number live in the other slot.
Good to know before you land in Pakistan
- Currency
- Pakistani rupee (PKR)
- Plug type
- Type C and Type D, with Type G in some newer hotels
- Voltage
- 230 V, 50 Hz
- Emergency number
- 15 for police, 16 for fire, 1122 for rescue and ambulance in Punjab and several other provinces
- Language
- Urdu is the national language and English is widely used in business and signage; Punjabi, Sindhi, Pashto, Saraiki and Balochi are spoken regionally
- Time zone
- UTC+5, no daylight saving
- Capital
- Islamabad
Pakistan eSIM questions
Does eSIM work in Pakistan?
Yes. An unlocked eSIM phone connects to Jazz or Telenor Pakistan with a travel eSIM. On iPhone that means XS, XR or newer; most recent Samsung, Google Pixel and other Android flagships also support eSIM.
Which network will my Pakistan eSIM use?
Jazz or Telenor Pakistan. Both run 4G LTE in the cities and along the main highways, with 3G and 2G behind it. The app shows the network for each plan.
Is there 5G in Pakistan?
No. Pakistan has not launched commercial 5G, so your eSIM will run on 4G LTE, dropping to 3G or 2G in weaker areas. Anyone promising 5G here is wrong.
Do I have to register my phone with the PTA?
Only if you use a Pakistani SIM. The DIRBS system blocks unregistered foreign handsets on local networks after a grace period of roughly 60 days. A travel eSIM roams on a foreign profile, so a normal tourist trip is not affected. Check pta.gov.pk if you are staying for months.
Will I have signal in Hunza, Skardu and on the Karakoram Highway?
Partly. SCO is the dominant operator in Gilgit-Baltistan and travel eSIMs cannot roam on it, so expect gaps in the upper valleys and on long highway stretches. Gilgit, Karimabad and Skardu towns are better. Download offline maps.
Can I use Personal Hotspot in Pakistan?
Yes. Every FairSIM plan supports Personal Hotspot, with no separate cap on tethered data.
Do WhatsApp calls work in Pakistan?
Yes. WhatsApp messages and calls are how most people here communicate, and they work on the eSIM. Quality depends on the 4G signal where you are, not on a block.
How much data do I need for a week in Pakistan?
A week of maps, ride apps and WhatsApp runs around 3 to 5 GB. Two weeks with video calls home is closer to 10 GB. Add more if you stream or work from the laptop.
Local SIM or travel eSIM for Pakistan?
A local SIM is cheap but needs a passport, visa copy and fingerprint scan at a franchise, can be refused to foreigners, and starts the PTA device registration clock. An eSIM installs before you fly and roams on the same Jazz or Telenor towers with no paperwork.
What is an eSIM?
A SIM card built into your phone. Instead of a plastic chip, you download a profile. Every iPhone since the XS has one next to the physical SIM slot, so your home number stays put while FairSIM supplies the data.
Is my phone compatible?
FairSIM works with eSIM-compatible, carrier-unlocked iPhones: the XS, XR and everything newer, on iOS 17.4 or later for the one-tap install with no QR code. iPhones bought in mainland China do not support eSIM at all, even when unlocked. Not sure yours is unlocked? Check Settings, General, About, Carrier Lock, or ask your carrier. The full list is on the How it works page.
When should I install my eSIM?
Before you travel, while you still have Wi-Fi. Installing does not start your plan; the validity typically starts when the eSIM first connects to a network at your destination.
Do FairSIM eSIMs come with a phone number?
No. FairSIM eSIMs are data-only by design, which keeps costs low. For calls and texts, your physical SIM stays active so you keep your existing number, and WhatsApp, FaceTime and iMessage work over data.
Traveling beyond Pakistan?
Get your Pakistan eSIM in the app
Plans from $6.99. Install before you fly, track your data live, and top up in seconds if you need more.
Download on theApp Store
iPhone XS or later · iOS 17.4+ for one-tap install
