ISLAMABAD:
The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has reported a fault in the AAE-1 submarine cable near Qatar, one of the seven international undersea cables used to connect Pakistan for global internet traffic. This issue is expected to affect the internet and broadband experience across the country.
Teams are currently working to resolve the problem, and the PTA is closely monitoring the situation, providing updates to telecom users as necessary.
The Africa-Asia-Europe (AAE-1) cable, which began operations in 2017, links countries including Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Pakistan, India, Oman, the UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Greece, Italy, and France.
In 2024, disruptions due to faults in the cable caused frequent slowdowns for internet users in Pakistan. While some businesses and internet service providers blamed government monitoring of internet traffic, the PTA clarified in August that the issue was due to the damaged submarine cable.
Despite improvements in mobile and fixed broadband speeds in October, Pakistan continues to have some of the slowest internet speeds globally, according to international speed test data.
In related news, members of the Senate Standing Committee on Information Technology raised concerns on Wednesday about the practice of internet shutdowns, often prompted by directives from the Interior Ministry. PTA Chairman clarified that such shutdowns, which have been occurring since 2016, were recently ruled unlawful and that the Interior Ministry must provide a final legal stance on the matter.
