The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) said on Thursday that a submarine cable AAE-1 near Qatar has developed a fault which may affect the internet and broadband user experience across the country.
In a statement for general public information, PTA said that a fault was reported in submarine cable AAE-1 near Qatar which is one of the seven international submarine cables connecting Pakistan for international internet traffic. is one of
“The concerned teams are working to rectify the outage. PTA is monitoring the situation and will continue to update telecom customers accordingly,” the statement said.
Netizens in Pakistan have been grappling with a ban on the social media platform – X (formerly Twitter) for months, as well as constant internet disruption and speed issues.
This matter was discussed several times in both houses of the Parliament but to no avail.
As a result of this disruption, the country’s IT industry also suffered financial losses.
Citing internet disruption and speed issues, the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Information Technology earlier today sought an in-camera briefing from the home minister as government and opposition lawmakers debated the issue of virtual private Includes possible ban on networks (VPNs).
During today’s session, Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Umar Ayub strongly opposed the blocking and registration of VPNs. He also called for the formation of a sub-committee to conduct a thorough review of internet outages and slowdowns.
Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) MNA Sharmila Farooqui suggested that representatives of the Ministry of Interior be called in the committee to brief the legislators on the long-standing issue. Another PPP legislator Syed Ali Qasim Geelani also supported the proposal.
Criticizing the federal government, Farooqui added that her husband was also involved in freelance business and had suffered due to internet problems.
Meanwhile, NA body chairman Syed Aminul Haq said that he should take a briefing from Pakistan Software Houses Association (P@SHA) chairman to determine the financial impact of the internet shutdown.
In response, Minister of State for IT and Telecommunication Shahza Fatima said that the chairman of P@SHA had already informed the country’s IT industry about the loss of $8 billion.
Haq said the government has also set a target of $15 billion in IT exports. He urged the government to improve the system of uninterrupted internet services for the citizens.
Later, the NA body called for an in-camera briefing of the Home Minister and P@SHA Chairman in its next meeting.
New undersea cable for Pakistan
Last month it was revealed that a huge undersea internet cable was being laid, which is expected to significantly increase internet speed and reliability.
The project falls under the 2Africa Submarine Cable System, facilitated by PTA through Trans World Associate (TWA) as the landing party for the cable in Pakistan.
The 2Africa cable, spanning 45,000 km, uses the latest SDM1 technology with a capacity of 180Tbps, connecting 46 locations in Africa, Europe and the Middle East.
The cable is expected to go live in Pakistan by Q4 2025, with the support of a global consortium that includes Meta and Vodafone, PTA announced in a press release.
Installation began on 1 December 2024, as the first phase of work, the pre-lease end (PLSE) installation included cable landing at Hawksbay, Karachi. The second phase of deep-sea cable laying is planned to start on April 1, 2025.
Once operational, the cable will provide 24 terabytes of bandwidth to Pakistan. A French company is involved in laying 45,000 km of cable, Geo News reported.
Better bandwidth will also improve the performance of platforms like Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram.
Currently, Pakistan relies on about 8 terabytes of bandwidth provided by seven existing cables. The new system connecting the African region to Pakistan aims to improve connectivity and address longstanding complaints of slow internet speeds.