KARACHI: Internet users on Monday faced major internet connectivity issues across the country, especially in the port city as they struggled to browse, download or share media online.
Users of Meta’s instant messaging app, WhatsApp, are facing severe slowdowns in both Wi-Fi and mobile data services while trying to send or receive media files, such as photos, videos and voice notes. Continue to report problems.
Additionally, these internet issues were confirmed by Downdetector.com which saw an increase in WhatsApp outages for the second day today (Monday) around 9am.
In Sindh’s provincial capital, notable hard-hit areas include Saddar, Liaquatabad, FB area, and Gulistan Johar, as users complained of long delays in transmission of audio, video and image files.
Meanwhile, many residents of various neighborhoods expressed frustration over intermittent internet services, especially those who work from home, freelancers, digital marketers, and students attending online classes, who Dependent on reliable internet access.
However, there is no specific reason for today’s slow internet speed.
Talking about the state of Virtual Private Networks (VPN) in Pakistan on Geo News’ program ‘Jeo Pakistan’, Shehzad Arshad, Chairman, Wireless and Internet Service Providers Association of Pakistan (WSPAP) highlighted that VPNs are “internet ) users”.
He said that he had requested the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to extend the VPN registration time while stressing that there were internet speed issues which did not seem to be resolved.
“ISPs still don’t have a solution for slow internet speeds,” Arshad said, echoing people’s complaints about social media apps not working properly for the past few days.
Internet disruptions are not uncommon in Pakistan, as the country has been experiencing sporadic outages and access disruptions for several months now, for various reasons.
Last week, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)’s “Do or Die” protest in Islamabad resulted in the suspension of internet and mobile services.
Additionally, the current government has conducted multiple tests of its Internet firewall, with the first and second trials conducted in July and August respectively.
On both occasions, the trials slowed down internet speeds and disrupted digital platforms.
IT experts say that the country’s economy is losing billions of rupees on a daily basis due to the extremely poor condition of the Internet in Pakistan.