In a positive development, Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) said on Wednesday that the internet slowdown is expected to be fully resolved in the next few days.
The telecom company issued an update on the issue of the AAE-1 submarine cable, saying that it has added an additional bandwidth that has largely resolved the internet slowdown issue.
“However, META-related services (WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram) may experience a slowdown in working hours,” PTCL said.
PTCL and Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) are working diligently to ensure a resolution at the earliest, the statement added.
The PTA revealed last week that a fault in the submarine cable AAE-1 near Qatar could cause disruptions to internet and broadband users.
A fault was reported in submarine cable AAE-1 near Qatar, one of the seven international submarine cables connecting Pakistan for international internet traffic.
Earlier, the authority solved the problem by adding a temporary bandwidth to the system.
Later, Minister of State for Information Technology and Telecommunication (IT) Shahza Fatima Khawaja said that efforts are underway to reroute the additional 200 gigabytes per second soon.
In a statement, the IT minister said that 630 gigabytes per second of the affected traffic has already been diverted.
“The disruption in Internet services due to the fault in the AAE-1 submarine cable affected 1,000 gigabytes per second of data traffic,” it had confirmed.
Pakistan has been plagued by slow internet speeds since last year, with the government constantly blaming submarine cable failures, while reports hint at a possible “firewall” experiment by the authorities.
The internet slowdown has been particularly difficult for freelancers, who number over two million and contribute to the country’s growth.
Not only have the courts been sent to court against slow internet as well as social media disruptions, but government allies have also expressed frustration over persistent problems inside and outside Parliament.
According to the list released by Okla Speedtest Global Index, Pakistan ranks 100 out of 111 countries in mobile internet speed with a download speed of 20.61Mbps and an upload speed of 8.53Mbps.
Meanwhile, the index ranked the country 141 out of 158 countries in broadband speed with a download speed of 15.60Mbps and an upload speed of 15.53Mbps.
New submarine cable
However, in a positive development last month, it was revealed that a major undersea internet cable is 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 the installation of this 45,000 km long cable.
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.